Classification
Order: squamata
Family: lacertidae
Genus: lacerta
Species: Lacerta agilis.
Subspecies: 9 subspecies. L. a. agilis, L. a. argus, L. a. boemica, L a. bosnica, L. a. brevicaudata, L. a. chersonensis, L. a. exigua, L. a. grusinica, L. a. iorensis.
A number of other subspecies have been described but not all of them are defined as subspecies.
Habitat
The sand lizard is distributed across most of Europe, including Russia.
L. a. agilis can be found from the south of England and the west of France to Denmark and southern Sweden to the north and to the Pyrenees to the south. The eastern border of the habitat goes through Germany, between the rivers of Elbe and Weser, along the western border of Bavaria and reaches the Alps in Austria.
L. a. argus is distributed from the eastern border of the nominative subspecies’ habitat to the eat of Poland. It can be seen in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and western Romania as well as in western Moldova and western Ukraine.
L. a. boemica is found in piedmount areas of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. In the western part of the habitat there is intergradations with the subspecies L.a.exigua.
L. a. Bosnica is found in the former Yugoslavia countries as well as in western Bulgaria and Romania and Greece.
L. a. brevicaudata is found in the north and west of Armenia, in the south of Georgia, on the southern slopes of the Caucasus and in south-east of Turkey.
L. a. chersonensis lives in the north-east of Bulgaria, in the eastern Romania, in Moldova and Ukraine, in the eastern Poland, in Belarus and the Baltic countries up to southern Karelia and St. Petersburg.
L. a. Exigua: the western border goes through Novgorod, Tver, Moscow, Kursk, Dnepropetrovsk and the Crimea. It can be found to the Caucasus and northern Kazakhstan on the south and to Tuva, Irkutsk, north -west of Mongolia and north-west of China in the east and–to Arkhangelsk region in the north.
L. a. grusinica live on the coast of the Black Sea and in the south-west of Krasnodar region, in Abkhazia and Georgia, as well as in the north-east of Turkey.
L. a. iorensis is found in the Caucasus, in Georgia. They have an isolated habitat.
The sand lizard dwells in a variety of terrains. It prefers open spaces, meadows, sunny areas and fields. Often it can be seen near the residential areas: in villages and even towns. It is also found in semi deserts and on sand dunes. In the mountains this species lives up to 3500 m above the sea level.
Outward appearance
The sand lizard is a small species. On average males reach 20 cm in length; females are smaller. Males are more powerful and brightly coloured, their preanal pores are more visible. The adult males have yellow-green belies, and females have white or light yellow ones. During the mating season the sides of the head, the throat and the edges of the belly of males become blue, and the rest of the body gets bright green. Different subspecies have various kinds of coloration, but males are always more brightly and vividly colored than females who are usually brown with darker spots.
Sometimes purely black lizards can be found.
Character
The sand lizard is a diurnal and terrestrial species that can also climb trees and bushes, but it never goes high.
For hiding places they use rodents’ holes, piles of stones, old stubs, sometimes they dig own holes up to 70 cm long. The sand lizards are territorial, they protect their areas.
This species is not aggressive towards people.
Males are aggressive towards each other and cannot be kept together.
Maintenance care
The sand lizard needs a horizontal tank. A couple of lizards needs an enclosure at least 40x30x30 cm, but the bigger the better. You can keep sand lizards in harems (one male and several females), but then you will need a bigger tank. For substrate you can use coconut husks or pine tree bark, or just sand 7-10 cm thick so that the lizard can dig holes. For hiding places you can use stones or logs. You can have real plants, then it is better to use a layer of drainage covered with gardening soil. A big water bowl is desirable. The water should be changed daily.
The temperature at the basking spot should be about 30-35°С, and around 20-22°С at night. The basking spot can be created with the reflector or a heating lamp.
The air humidity should be about 50 – 60 %, so you will have to mist daily, preferably in the morning to imitate the dew.
The sand lizard needs 10-12 hours of light a day of UV and fluorescent lamps.
Feeding
In the wild sand lizards eat insects or smaller lizards, and also hatchlings of their own species.
In captivity they are usually fed with crickets, cockroaches, mealworm and superworm as well as with grasshoppers. They also like pink mice and small snails. You should feed the lizards daily or every second day.
You will have to add to the food vitamins and calcium supplements.
Features
The sand lizard is a good species for beginners.
They are easily tamed, can be handled and fed from tweezers.
They bite very rarely.
This species is easy to feed and to care for.
They require live feed.
When they are in danger, the lizards can drop tail. The new tail doesn’t get as long or as beautiful.
Diseases
The sand lizard is very easy to care for and sturdy. They rarely get ill. Illnesses occur mainly dut to poor husbandry.
Young lizards sometimes develop rachitis, then their limbs and spine get distorted. It can be prevented with adding calcium supplements to the food.
Lizards caught in the wild can have mites. They are easily seen in the places with smaller cales. If the lizard has mites, it becomes lethargic, sluggish, loses appetite. The lizard scratches a lot.This illness can be cured with the solution of frontline (the medicine used against ticks in cats and dogs).
Breeding
The sand lizard is sexually mature at the age of 2 years old. It is an egg-laying species. In winter you will need to organize brumation period: you should gradually decrease the amount of hours of light and when it reaches 6 hours, you should stop feeding the lizards. One week later you can put them in a light-proof and ventilated container filled with wood cuttings or sphagnum. The temperature during brumation should be around 8-10°С. You will need to mist weekly to maintain humidity and from time to time put a water bowl in the container. The brumation period lasts up to 2 months. It is finished in the same way: the temperature and the amount of hours of light are gradually increased. When the lizards get 6 hours of light a day, you can start feeding them. After brumation the lizards have to be fed extensively; then they shed and get bright coloration. Then you can put together males and females. Males show bright color of their throat and belly, rising on their hindlegs and bowing their heads. If the female is ready, it moves its head and tail. Then males follow females and hold them with their teeth during copulation. If the female is not ready, it opens its mouth and bows its head and the male usually retreats. 55-65 days after copulation females lay 3-16 eggs in a hole. It’s best to take away the eggs and place them in an incubator. The eggs are incubated to 40-55 days under the temperature of 27-29 degrees. The hatchlings start eating insects when the yolk sac dissolves.
Average life span is 5-6 years.
