For those people who want a snake, but don't like snakes. Legless lizards are found throughout most of the world, including North America. This particular species is from south eastern Europe, Greece, etal. I keep this particular species, because the north american species are known to be more fragile physically, and stress easier. The european ones are larger, and tend to be a little more laid back.
Many people ask me, "Well, aren't snakes just lizards with no legs anyway?" No, most certainly they are not. They have evolved on a very seperate path - and while modern legless lizards may be on their way to evolving towards snakes, they are still very differently structured. Firstly, legless lizards have eyelids and can blink, where snakes do not. They have a large thick tongue, and sharp teeth and strong jaws for crushing invertibrates. Their jaws do not seperate like a snake's does for swallowing whole prey. They also have the remnant bone structure inside of what were once limbs. Their tails are extremely long, actually more than half the total length of the lizard, and it can be released to help them escape predators and regrow like many lizard species - snakes cannot do this.
Captive care is pretty easy, an enclosure large enough to allow them plenty of room to move around. Personaly, a 30 gallon is an absolute minimum, their bodies are not flexible like a snake and the more space the better, as well they are extremely active, diurnal animals. They are burrowers, so a loose substrate that they can dig down into is recommended. They should have UV light, and a warm basking spot that gets up to the mid 80s or so. Their natural habitat is not particularly warm, so at night their lamps can be turned off and they can be allowed to get into the low 70s. Diet is largely invertibrates: crickets, meal worms, earth worms, but they will often take small mice without a poblem, mine eats f/t mice when offered. They have a fairly high metabolism so eat quite a bit. I've noticed a fascinating feeding behaviour in mine; I feed him meal worms and crickets in a large bowl. He will take out the bugs one at a time, kill them and pile them up. When he has how many he wants, he'll eat the pile. If I over feed him, he doesn't kill them all, or gorge himself. He just takes what he wants and leaves the rest alive in the bowl. :)
http://www.ravnos.org/photos/lizards/gumby2.jpg
http://www.ravnos.org/photos/lizards/gumby8.jpg
Gumby is not particularly social, prefers to be left to his own devices and doesn't like being handled, but he makes a neat pet - watching his antics is hillarious sometimes. Definitely something for those people who want that pet that is just a little different. :)
Rav
