Blue Spiny Lizard

ANIMAL:
Blue Spiny Lizard Sceloporus serrifer

Type of Animal:
Iguanid

Habitat:
Boulders, boulder fields, rocky escarpments, deserted buildings, bridge abutments, underground rocky crevices, rock piles, cliffs, bridges, dry creekbeds, rodent nests/burrows, rocky terrain in arid/semiarid environments, rocky hillsides, desert, shrubland

Location(s):
S Texas, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize

Appearance:
Stocky grayish-brown lizard w/ white spots on head/back, distinctive white-bordered black collar around neck, males have blue-green sheen to backs & blue chin/throat/belly, banded tail, females have gray throats & lack blue-green coloration instead having grayish to brownish color, both sexes have rough strongly keeled scales, males more colorful in breeding season

Food/Diet:
Beetle larvae, moth larvae, crickets, caterpillars, small roaches, flying insects

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding from zoos & private breeders

Lifestyle:
Harems of a male w/ 2-7 females or bachelor groups of nonbreeding males, sometimes w/ older dominant male. Some males solitary.

Additional Info:

Called:
Male
Female
Young: Neonate
Group: Leap/Colony
 
Weight:
3.175-7.05 oz

Gestation:
4 months 

Life Span:
3-4 years in wild, 7 years in captivity

Body Length:
Adult: 5-14 in
Young: 3 in

Tail Length:
8 in

These lizards ovoviviparous, w/ eggs hatching inside body, resulting in live young.
 
Females give birth to 6-18 young from February-June.
 
Sexually mature at a year old.
 
These lizards are very alert & agile.
 
Rough scales help protect them from potential predators. Especially effective for wedging itself into crevice.
 
In territorial disputes, males head-bob. If that doesn’t work, he’ll turn broadside, flattening body & displaying flowing blue belly.
 
Active during the day (diurnal).
 
Often bask in morning sun.
 
When not foraging, they spend lots of time sheltering avoiding temp extremes & predators.

Fun Fact(s):
These lizards can be very skittish.
 
Often catch flying insects in mid-air by leaping from rocks.
 
If grabbed by tail, they can shed at least part of if not all of tail. Tail eventually regenerates.

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