Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took this picture in my backyard in San Pedro, Los Angeles Co., California.
This is the greenest western lizard I have seen. At first I thought it was a whiptail but the nose is not sharp enough.
What is ID, and is this color unusual?
Thanx

Hi, it's an Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula. There are supposed to be several populations of this lizard in the U.S., Long Island, New York, Philadelphia. I don't know how common it is where you live (i'm from europe) but i never heard about a population in California. Maybe it's interesting to report it.

It's a male and he is coloured like he is supposed to be.
They make great pets and breed readily.

Greetings, jan.

This is a nice male, but colored differently from those on Long Island (some of which I have in my home, and they do make great pets). I would suspect, based on the difference in markings, that this little guy's origins are from southern Italian populations, which have more of the reticulated markings such as he has.

No, I have never heard of a Californian population of these lizards. That is very interesting. Have you seen others of this species there, or maybe he's just the odd escaped pet?

Please let me know, I have a special interest in Podarcis and where they're found.

It is the southern nominateform P.s.sicula indeed.
Are there much lacertidae enthousiastics in the U.S.? And how about that Long Island population, did you manage to find out wich subspecie you have?

I have kept and bred P.s.sicula and P.s.campestris for a few years and i thougt they were great until the point it became impossible to get rid of the young.

I caught my own P. sicula campestris on Long Island. I am unable to brumate them, as I don't have a spare room to keep cooler. I did see the male biting the flanks of one of the 3 girls a few weeks ago, but never caught them in the act itself. Part of the substrate, near their water bowl,is constantly damp. Could they reproduce without having brumated? They are very lively and beautiful animals, simply wonderful pets.

for your information. After I posted I looked in the Audubon herp guide and found it right away.
It called it a ruins lizard but now when I serch on ruins lizard I get a relative.
I will post on the lizard forum to see if others have found ferral Podarcis.