Sand Lizards in Ukraine

The Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis)

What are they and how do you care for them?

Description

Sand Lizards are larger and stockier than Common Lizards, are usually brown or gray, and have a pattern of ocellated dark spots in between two lighter stripes that run down the length of each lizard's body. During spring months (the breeding season, from April to May), just after they emerge from hibernation, male Sand Lizards develop bright green flanks, and are easily distinguishable. The green coloration fades in late May and early June, and the gender differences are no longer easily visible. Adult Sand Lizards are usually 18-20 cm long (body and tail). Sand Lizards are ectothermic, meaning they rely on their environment to regulate their blood temperature. During the day, they can often be found basking on the warm sand among the grass, and at night they retreat to their burrows. 

Lifecycle

Female Sand Lizards lay their eggs in (late May and early June) burrows that are dug in the sand. The eggs are incubated by the heat of the sun, and if all goes well, 4-14 babies will hatch late in the summer. The young lizards eat as much as they can before winter and grow about an inch before they have to hibernate. Each lizard will dig a winter burrow in the sand, and will stay in a torpid state until it gets warmer again. Sand lizards can live up to 14 years if they survive both hibernation and predation.  

Sand Lizard Range

Habitat

Sand Lizards usually occur in places with alternating sandy and grassy spaces. They need the sand to burrow in, hibernate is, and lay their eggs in. They need the grass to hide, and hunt. Some of the most common Sand Lizard habitats include low lying heathland, and coastal dunes where grass is present. I found both of my sand lizards on the bank of a river, with lots of sand and grass.

Sand Lizard General Care 

Housing

They key to housing any pet is to give it an enclosure that mimics its natural habitat as much as possible. You wouldn't want to house a desert lizard in a tropical setup, and vice versa. Sand Lizards need a place to bask in the "sun", lots of hiding places, and of course, sand. As for the size of their enclosure, the bigger the better. I choose to house my two Sand Lizards in the 55 gal. enclosure pictured above. As you can see, I started with a layer of sandy dirt on the bottom. By adding this layer, I made it more likely for the plants to survive (more on this later). After the sandy dirt layer, I added several inches of sand. When I planted the plants, I was able to dig through the sand, and plant their roots in the soil, to give them a better chance at surviving (because I didn't have access to plants that grow entirely in sand). After the substrate layers and the plants, I added the rest of the decoration. You should include lots of places for them to hide and climb, as well as a basking spot that is high in the tank, and close to the heating lamp. These lizards are very agile climbers and will enjoy the space that you give them to do so. Lighting is very important for these lizards, and reptiles in general. You will need to provide a heat lamp, and alternate tank lighting. For the heat lamp, I bought a UV Reptile Heat Bulb on Amazon, and put it in a lamp that we already have. For the other lighting, I used two full spectrum plant grow lights. 

Feeding

Feeding these lizards is the simple part, they will eat anything from earthworms, to crickets, and even some sweet fruits (they also supposedly eat flower heads but I haven't tried this). I raise a colony of superworms, and cockroaches, and will soon start breeding crickets. I use these feeder insects to feed the lizards, as well as my two tarantulas. I feed the lizards every day, and alternate between superworms, cockroaches, and wild caught grasshoppers (it is not recommended to feed your pets wild caught prey as they can potentially harbor diseases, pesticides, and parasites. I make sure to catch my grasshoppers in an area that is not sprayed, and have not had any problems).  I usually feed each lizard 1 superworm, 2-3 cockroaches, or several grasshoppers (crickets are very similar to grasshoppers in regards to size). If you keep any kind of carnivorous reptiles or invertebrates I highly recommend raising one or more feeder insects. I have seen them eat grasshoppers, worms, superworms, mealworms, grasshoppers, crickets, snails, rolly pollies, ant queens (I caught a few during their nuptial flight as an experiment) and even a raspberry. 

Both lizards eating a cockroach

Behavior

These lizards are active during the day, and spend most of their time basking. They also move around the tank exploring, digging, foraging, hunting, climbing, drinking water off of plant leaves, etc. They have been awesome lizards to keep so far and I have been glad for the opportunity. 

Videos I took of my Sand Lizards

Feeding Videos-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B23qz5HYjYPraVpkLTF0dW9GaDg/view?usp=sharing
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B23qz5HYjYPrRDBQbmdxT2NJY0k/view?usp=sharing
  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B23qz5HYjYPrQy1PdkhzVW4wNDA/view?usp=sharing

          https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B23qz5HYjYPra09scXhDRlhrTlk/view?usp=sharing

Handling Video- 

     https://drive.google.com/a/psi.kiev.ua/file/d/0Bzn4zRe7wF0EQ3JCdVBOX3U4dXM/view? usp=sharing

Drinking Video- 

           https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B23qz5HYjYPrdlMwQkJ6b29hbmc/view?usp=sharing