Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in Arizona USA and I know nothing about lizards except that we see them all the time.

After living here for 30 years, I've seen plenty of lizards, gila monsters, gekos, horned toads, etc., but today I found the most fascinating thing! Itis a geko-like, small, probably newborn (perhaps 3.5 inches long) lizard that is completely ALBINO!!! It has red eyes and skin that is almost transparent. I can see this lizard's internal organs.

When I found him, he was not moving fast as many other small lizards I have seen around here that look just like him but ar not "transparent." So, I am concerned that he may not be well. I put him in a Tupperware-type container and went to the web to find out what to do with the critter. I have seen suggestions that they eat crickets, but he's only about the size of two crickets end to end.

What would be your advice for a person finding a lizard in the wild, which may be genetically unusual, and may not be well, and is perhaps a newly or recently hatched lizard. Remember, I know nothing about these animals and I never trap them, but I HAD to have this one. Is an ALBINO really very unusual?

I saw a link to a web site that sells geko lizards and they had a picture of what they called a "Blizzard Lizard" which was gek-like and purely white, however, my lizard resembles a geko in that it has the same shaped head, five toes, etc., however it does not have bumps on its skin. The skin of this lizard is absolutely smooth from head to toe without the "wrinkled" tail seen in many of the geko pictures on the sales site. This lizard is so transparent, I can see its internal organs when placed in a well lit room. What do you think it is?

Thanks,

Charlie

Sounds like a strange colored banded gecko... they're related to leopard geckos... Might be worth some money to someone, if the color is genetic.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I live in Central Florida and we have something similar here. I believe it is in the Hemidactylus family ( House Geckos ). Full grown they are only about 3-3.5 inches long. They are opaque ( you can see organs fairly easy ) and they have a bright orange tail. I bet this is or is similair to what your seeing. Do a search for House Geckos on Google and see what you come up with. Chances are its not native.

Does it stick to the walls or side of the container or does it stay on the bottom? Does it have eyelids? Can you post a picture?
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Paul Morlock
of CaptiveCreations and
Retail Sales Rep. for Sandfire Dragon Ranch

What you have is a banded gecko. There are different ssp but the main one that you probably have is Coleonyx variegatus, Western Banded Gecko. They do very well in captivity. If it is going through a shed cycle they can have an "albino" look to them. The best thing to do would be to fire off a picture for us and then we can determine for sure what you have. The pictures I have below are of some banded geckos from California. Their colors can be quite variable.

This is a drab adult. They tend to lose their color as adults and are quite pale but not always.

This is a subadult male.

This is a baby, they are quite colorful at this age.

This is a high yellow animal a found in 2001 (subadult). Notice the regrown spotted tale.