Uncommon Pets 43 
cockroaches, mealworms and gentles. In the summer months the gentles will keep 
up the necessary supply of flies without troubling the owner of the reptiles unduly. 
Two of the prettiest of the skinks are the Ocellated Sand-Skink and the Greenish 
Sand-Skink, the names of both beimg sufficiently descriptive of them. 
The Glass-Snakes, although called snakes, and bearing externally at a first glance no 
trace of limbs, are nevertheless true lizards. They have all the appearance, although larger 
in size, of the common slow-worm. All the species are carnivorous, the larger kinds 
feeding on reptiles and other vertebrates, and the smaller varieties on worms, slugs, 
insects and spiders. Should any of my readers become possessed of a large specimen, 
they will find mice and voles not unacceptable. The glass-snake in freedom is a 
fierce and active reptile, showing no hesitation, if need be, in attacking and killing 
even the viper. Some specimens will feed on hard-boiled eggs, but worms are an 
unfailing attraction, and so are small frogs—not large ones, as the glass-snake, 
unlike the true snakes, has fixed jaws. In colour this reptile is reddish-brown, and 
in length about thirty inches. The American species is not so commonly imported 
to this country, and is a prettier reptile than the European kind.  Glass-snakes are 
best kept by themselves, since they sometimes eat up their companions in captivity. 
LE SEUER’S WATER LIZARD. 
For the Zonures artificial heat is a necessity, as the temperature must not fall 
below 70 degrees, so that a well-warmed greenhouse forms as good a place as any 
in which the case or vivarium containing this reptile may be placed. Cockroaches, 
tiny frogs and raw meat may form the diet. The rough and spinous appearance of 
the zonures renders them more attractive to the ordmary observer than the smooth- 
skinned lizard. 
The Green Lizard is one of the most popular lizards kept im captivity, this being 
due to its beautiful green colour and to the trifling cost it entails for the purchase— 
half-a-crown being a maximum price. This lizard very quickly becomes tame, and in 
many instances will take food from the fingers of its owner. The diet of the green 
lizard consists of imsects—either flies, mealworms, cockroaches, earwigs, or gentles—and 
also slugs and worms. The Hyed Lizard is another beautiful species, marked, as 
its name implies, with blackish or blue ocelli. It is a more expensive reptile than 
the preceding species, but is just as easily tamed. When first imported they are 
very often wild and refuse to feed, and sometimes get quite thin and weak; but after 
a short time they usually pick up, and soon regain all their former beauty. Those 
readers who may object to reptiles on the ground that they usually are only eaters 
