Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I bought this little guy a few months ago. HE was labeled as a Jungle Runner, which apparently is Ameivas, but I'm not sure which kind it is. I've been thinking Tiger Ameiva, but a lot of the pics on the internet appear to have blue tails. I'm now thinking he's a juvenile Green Ameiva? Any help appreciated. Also, I am from the UK, and the reptile selection over here is somewhat limited, so I'm thinking Green Ameiva more because they are more common in the trade.

Cheers,
Paul

While he does indeed have the amevia look and Amevia amevia are often sold in shops as "Jungle Runners", the stripes go the wrong way. Every Green Amevia/Jungle Runner I have seen has a strong rainbow blending head to tail and they don't have lateral stripes like your guy has, they have more of a tiger striped vertical banding.

Doing some searching on "Jungle Runner Amevia", I think I came up with what you have. Apparently they are indeed commonly called Rainbow Jungle Runners but are not Amevia amevia but rather Cnemidophorus deppei. They are also called Racerunners, Deppe's Whiptails and often they seem to be called simply Rainbow Runners or Rainbow Amevias.

Do a Google for Cnemidophorus deppei and you will find many pics, some more like yours and some less.

This was the first site I ran into with a good picture when I was searching for "Jungle Runner Amevia"

Good luck!

Todd

Cnemidophorus deppei image at Worldwidefuana.com