Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i caught this baby in my living room. my neighbor instantly said it was an alligator lizard, and we made a set up according to that. (pebbles, hiding hut, soil digging patch, rock basking spot, eating mealworms) now that i google image alligator lizards, i'm not so sure.
she/he is a light brown, with a head about as wide as its body. small, only slightly bulgy black eyes on side of head, with a tail only slightly longer than its body. darker brown on top of back, with small black dots down back. tail and all, its about 3- inches long. pink inside of mouth, black forked tongue.

please email me at laurel.obrien@yahoo.com ! thank you!

I'll put a few links to photos here you can check out. Each photo link has a description of the photo at the top. Originating site is University of California at Berkley. Site with thousands of photos of snakes, turtles, llizards, crocs, gators, plants, fungi, animals, more.

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 1001 0056

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=1111 1111 1111 0511

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 1001 0027

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 0904 0691

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 0903 0261

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 1001 0055

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 0502 0271

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 1200 0120

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 0705 0670

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000 0000 0104 0862

Actually though the black forked tongue makes me think of a skink. Does it have smooth scales or rough? What state are you in? Belly color? toe shape? (nails or pads?) A picture sure would help too.

**Kenn**

im in california. the scales are smooth, and its belly is a faint brown. the toes are very thin, with little or no apparent nails. i've never seen a skink, but this liz is only a couple inches long

Skinks do have smooth scales, and they start out pretty small.
Try checking out different types of skinks, there are different variations in coloring. The Blue-tongued skink is one of the most popular, but there are others, and they have the forked tongues. If I run across anything I'll let you know, please do the same (I'm curious too.)
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**Kenn**