Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
My boyfriend & I got a pair of beautiful new lizards, but unfortunately, no one seems to know much about them!, is there anyone out there who can give us some insight into what they are???, they are about 6"long & love to dig, burrow, climb & bathe.

Ive sent pics of them, the male is the most colourful, & the female is spotty.They are hyper cheery little guys*
Hope someone can help!???
Thank you kindly*
Gillian & David*

These look like some sort of Leiocephalus, aka `curly-tailed lizard'. I don't know the genus well enough to have any good guesses as to which one, but linked is a web page with pictures of three species from Cuba. I think all members of the genus are fairly similar in husbandry requirements, though, and it shouldn't be that hard to find caresheets for Leiocephalus generally even if you're not sure which species you have.

Patrick Alexander

These look like some sort of Leiocephalus, aka `curly-tailed lizard'. I don't know the genus well enough to have any good guesses as to which one, but linked is a web page with pictures of three species from Cuba. I think all members of the genus are fairly similar in husbandry requirements, though, and it shouldn't be that hard to find caresheets for Leiocephalus generally even if you're not sure which species you have.

Patrick Alexander
Link

Thank you kindly for your reply*
We are now getting on the right track, and you have been very helpful*.
The female im certain is the pic you sent, called Santa Domingo curly tail lizard, the male looks very similar to mine in your pic, but our male is chunkier and more vibrant in colour, but, hey at least we are on the right track*
Thanks again*
Gillian & David*

I did some more checking out of curiosity, and, so far as I can tell, the commonly available species are:
Leiocephalus schreibersi
Leiocephalus carinatus
Leiocephalus personatus

I would bet that yours are Leiocephalus personatus.

Patrick Alexander

Thank you kindly for your help & interest,after further research, I discovered we have Leiocephalus Personatus, as you said*, their common name being Jewelled Curly tailed lizards*
Our female has been digging a lot lately and we suspect she is gravid!.The worry is, we have only had her 3 days, cant find much on breeding, and dont know what to look for, would you happen to know, with curly tails in general, much about their eggs???, like size, colour etc????
Thank you for all your help*

Though I haven't seen Leiocephalus eggs, I've had a few other lizards lay this summer. So far as I know, all lizard eggs are white, and most clutches seem to be 4-6. From their size, I'd guess Leiocephalus eggs would be an inch or so long. With the lizards I've been keeping, I've been taking a tupperware or rubbermaid type tub, the width of which is something like 1.5 to 2 times the lizard's body length, cutting off one of the corners, filling it with about 1/3 with moist vermiculite, and putting it in the cage with the lizard... usually they'll lay in that. Otherwise eggs dry out quickly. A picture of one of these laying chambers with some greater earless lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) eggs in it is attached.

Patrick Alexander