Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this Southern Alligator Lizard large enough to breed? The one at the top looks unusually large like it has just eaten (but it hadn't) and the other (lower one) is the typical size of others in my collection that are this length.
I am an adult that is six feet tall (to give you an idea of size comparison on my hand). Thanks, Leo

Skin & Scales

I'm not sure if your al is gravid. The way that the head is set off from the neck makes it look kind of like a male, but it could just be an effect of the angle. Do you have a straight down shot? It's a little early for them to be that far along too and the hind legs look very thin. I'm wondering if the bloating could be due to some other factor.

I've attached a picture of a mature male and female southern alligator lizard. Mature males will have much broader more triangular heads. You can start seeing a difference in head shape at about two years old, but it doesn't become really obvious until the lizards are at least four. Lizards the size of your guys will however be ready to breed.

-Alice

Hey, thanks ~ I'll try to get a better picture. I can't imagine any other contributing factors for the "bloated" look, thats why I was wondering.
I keep them together in a colony of about eight in a large tank and feed them sparingly this time of year.
I'll keep you posted and thanks for your quick response
Thanks, Leo
Skin & Scales

Egg binding from last season, or some kind of abdominal infection or growth could lead to bloating. Is this al eating and pooping normally?

Some males can become agressive towards other males and will bite them anywhere they can get a grip. If this al sustained such a bite to the mid section there is the possibility of internal injuries.

There are a lot of factors that could lead to bloating.

-Alice

Hey Alice ~ How are you? I haven't seen any aggressive behaviour in the Alligator Lizards at all. Up until now, I believed them all to be immature (not sexually mature). Now I don't know. That specimen is behaving normally. It burrows beneath the substrate, hangs out in the open and moves about without incidence. Its feeding well. I have known this lizard to look in this condition now for at least a week and i'm thinking if there was some form of trauma or infection to cause such bloating that a lizard of this size would have succumbed by now.
Like I said its in a colony with others and is the only one that seems to be in this condition.
I've moved her into one of my large incubators. she is in a semi-damp burrowing medium and i'm checking her everyday. Aside from her outward appearance, she seems to be fine.
Do you keep many Alligator Lizards yourself? I noticed that you are pretty frequent on this forum and seem to be partial to the Southerns. Thats great, its the only sub of this species that i'm really interested in keeping, it stems from a childhood experience I had with them. That female you posted a picture of is beautiful ~ shes very similiar in color to the one that got me interested in them in my youth.
Do you keep any other herps? Thanks Alice, Leo
Skin & Scales

That female southern has a really neat pattern - almost like some San Francisco alligator lizards I've found. I trust you know the difference as you are a guru, but if I found that one in the field - I'd probably get the ID wrong until I looked at the belly. I don't think I've ever seen a southern like that. But that's one of the neat things about them - so much variety. Is it California subspecies?
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3.5 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Are you talking about the gray girl? If so, she is a southern, California subspecies. Both she and the male were caught in the wood pile in my backyard (I live in the outskirts of Santa Maria on the central coast).

That was the first year I saw her, I saw her for two subsequent years (she lost her tail in the second) and then a pair of California kings showed up when they cleared the fallow field by my house and all of the resident als disappeared and I haven't seen them for over a year now. I ended up keeping one of the kings, since our yard seemed to be past carrying capacity with even the fence lizards becoming scarce.

I also saw the male regulary over that same span. Last summer around the same time the kings showed up, I found him with a bloodied head looking lethargic and very thin with sunken eyes. I ended up keeping him for a few months until he recovered. I'm hoping I'll see him again this spring.

-Alice

Hello Alicinwl,

Would you have extra southern AlIs that you would give away or sell?

thanks
El