BLUE-TONGUED LIZARD. 
UNCOMMON PETS. 
A series of articles on the Care and Keep of Animals in Captivity. 
By P. WELLINGTON FARMBOROUGH, F.Z.S., F.E.S., ete. 
VIII. LIZARDS. 
F lizards there are many that form interesting pets, both from a financial point 
of view and from a naturalist’s point of view. lizards can be purchased from 
sixpence each upwards to practically as much as one would care to give. Like 
snakes they are easily tended, require but little more attention, and are an equal 
source of attraction to visitors. 
The case described in the article on Snakes, Vol. I, pp. 312 and 313, is equally 
suitable for lizards, and will hold half-a-dozen ordinary-sized ones very comfortably 
without overcrowding. The choice of species made by the would-be owner is usually 
a financial determination, and therefore in this article I will confine myself to the 
less expensive kinds and their cost. 
The Bearded Lizard costs from 15s. each; Skinks from 5s. to 10s. (except the 
Giant Cyclodus, which costs about £2); Glass-Snakes, 5s. to 10s.; Derbian Zonure, 
about 15s. to 25s.; the Green Lizard, ls. to 2s. 6d.; Eyed Lizards, 2s. 6d. to 7s. 6d.; 
Geckos, 2s. 6d. to 15s. 
The Bearded Lizard, during the winter months and at such other times as the 
weather is chilly, should have its case placed in a warm room. Snails, slugs, small 
pieces of meat and bits of fruit form its staple diet. Another interesting lizard of 
the same family (Agamide) is the Variable Lizard, a very handsome reptile which 
derives its name from the power it possesses of changing its colour, beimg in this 
respect more truly chameleon-lhke than the chameleon itself. The changes are most 
marked when the reptile is basking in the sun, when the head is yellowish, tinged 
with red, the body red, and the remaiming parts black. The food for the variable 
lizard may be cockroaches, beetles of various kinds (with the exception of the Devil’s 
Coach-horse and the Bombardier, both of which ‘are unsuitable as articles of diet), tiny 
lettuces and a little ripe fruit. These lizards are arboreal, and a growing plant of 
some kind should be provided for them to climb up and disport themselves. 
The Skinks require an extra supply of mould and sand in which they may burrow; 
six inches will not be too great a depth, as, when in a state of freedom, they have been 
known to bury themselves several feet down in the ground. Some species of skinks are 
addicted to cannibalism, and therefore it is not expedient to put other lizards in the 
same case with them, as, if smaller than the skinks, they will soon disappear. Flies 
are a very favourite diet of these creatures, and a few should be caught whenever 
possible and turned into the case for the skinks to feed on; other food may be 
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