Help! Just bought a small lizard at a local reputable pet shop. Wanted Sceloporus. They had one left. Told me it was occidentalis. Now not so sure. Head recently shed, a grayish color. A bit of lateral striping from eye to eye. But parietal region appears to be a "bulge," and not the indentation at the parietal eye found in occidentalis. Rest of body brown with the crescent markings on the back. No lateral striping as far as I could tell, (occidentalis-none). Back of forearms yellowish color, (occidentalis), but back of rear legs no yellow, (graciosus). Also back of legs have very, very small femoral pores. Scales appear granular, but as I've said, this lizard is very small. Also trying to sex this lizard. Has two blue belly bands, (no black lines), and some faint blue on the throat indicating a male, but there are no hemipenal bulges, and the tail is thin. Again, occidentalis vs. graciosus. Checked www.californiaherps.com for comparisons. Occidentalis, like all of the other Sceloporus males has the two large postanals. But the graciosus does not seem to have these. Just granular post- anals. So HELP! Do these lizards interbreed in overlapping areas? Would like to find a mate for this lizard, would also like to name it. But without a sex determination, cannot even name it. For now, it is the "Little One."

Thanks-Bonnie
Occidentalis vs. graciosus

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