Mating Viv Lizards

[JonathanD]

Was supposed to meet Davey569 today for epic adventures, but it never transpired due to travel cock-ups. damned shame as it was a perfect day for reptiles and I clocked four species and some great behaviour.

I was up very very early as I had to do some surveying locally which has been neglected of late in favour of national commitments. Now this is a rare sight. I watched a full chase and mating display of two Common lizards, the male showing full on breeding colours and superb display with a young female who has only this year reached sexual maturity. It all ended in a successful mating about three inches from my foot. Apologies for the really poor pictures, I'd forgotten my camera and had to use my iPhone. Really annoyed as this is rare to witness in full, and with such perfect specimens of the species.

You can just make out the males head at the bottom of the females torso biting her midriff.

 

[ged]

Biting her midriff eh? It's got to be worth a try. :evilangel:

 

[JonathanD]

Biting her midriff eh? It's got to be worth a try. :evilangel:

All technical explanation and wording failed me there. I think a bad word crept in there and I was compensating. Lower abdomen was what I was aiming at.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Lovely to see and nice colours on the male.

 

[vizsla]

Very nice mate you must have a very keen eye.
I used to keep gekoes(spelt wrong) a few years ago, very tame and great to watch.
Not very often i get to see reptiles around derbyshire i guess you just need to no were to look. Thanks ash

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Did the female say no & meant yes or did she say maybe & meant no..?....the guy's a brute, it was her fist time as well.!...........................bit late in the season for such activity isn't it ?

 

[Bushwhacker]

Not very often i get to see reptiles around derbyshire i guess you just need to no were to look.

Wish I knew more about them to get looking too.
We've got all 6 species here in Dorset, yet I only ever see the odd snake or slo-worm once in a blue moon.
I think it's the early starts that are my first hurdle to get over as I'm too much of a nighthawk!

 

[robin wood]

Well there is a question answered from 20 years ago.

I saw this at Toys Hill in Kent, two lizards, similar size one pounced on the other getting a good firm hold and there followed lots of writhing, the one eventually dragged the other which was becoming less mobile back under a log. I was sure I had witnessed cannibalism or a viscous territorial dispute and was surprised. I couldn't imaging how the one planned to deal with the carcass of the other.

 

[JMHAZ]

Lucky sighting, Jonathan!

For those of you who think this is kinky, JonathanD will know that in my neck of the woods we have entire species of whiptail lizards that are all female, and which reproduce themselves through parthenogenesis - essentially self-cloning. But two females will often engage in an activity known as pseudocopulation, more or less replicating what you see in the above photos except without the actual mating - and that act spurs the internal cloning process.

 

[Opal]

Did the female say no & meant yes or did she say maybe & meant no..?....the guy's a brute, it was her fist time as well.!...........................bit late in the season for such activity isn't it ?

I don't think lizards are into that.

 

[Opal]

JD, a question, I've been browsing looking for info on snakes in the sand dunes, there are plenty around Merseyside, I was thinking of jumping the train sometime on a day off and do a walkabout on our coast.

I know I should be keeping my eyes pinned but what should I be looking for? don't say snakes!

 

[JonathanD]

You'll have to get up early unless it is a partially overcast day. When it is sunny, you will be lucky to spot anything after 11:00. Best places to look are south facing banks with large amounts of cover. Reptiles will be around the edges of these. Imagine you are the size of an action figure and want to sunbathe without getting eaten by predators and have quick access to safe cover. Find those spots you would feel safe in and you will find reps there too.