sand lizard

Reptile Awareness Day

September 28, 2023 by Admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

The 21^st October marks Reptile Awareness Day, and what better way to celebrate than to learn some interesting facts about our six native reptile species!

In the United Kingdom we have six native reptiles, three snakes and three lizards.

Our snakes are:

Grass snakes

Smooth snakes

and adders

Our lizards are:

Common lizards

Sand lizards

and slow-worm

Each of these reptiles have interesting facts about them that easily set them aside from their other reptile counterparts.

Firstly, lets look to our snakes. Adders are our only venomous species, though not particularly dangerous to most humans, it is best to keep your dog on a lead when walking in areas inhabited by adders. Adders are surprisingly small, usually measuring between 60cm and 80cm when fully grown. Females birth live young that are less than 20cm long.

Next, we come to the smooth snake. Just like their adder relatives, smooth snakes are quite short in length, usually growing to around 60-70cm. These are the rarest of our UK reptile species, only to be found in specific heathland sites. Smooth snakes are also the only snake in the UK to constrict their prey.

Our final snake is the grass snake. Easily the UK’s longest snake growing to around 150cm, they are also the only native snake to lay eggs rather than birth live young. This is a contributing factor as to why they are not found in Scotland as they need warm enough temperatures through the summer months for their eggs to incubate.

Our other three reptile species are types of lizard. Sand lizards are another rare UK reptile as their habitats are greatly limited to certain sandy heathlands. The sand lizard is our only lizard in the UK to lay eggs, which they bury under sand in sunny areas to allow for them to incubate. Like our other lizards, they can drop their tails as a defence mechanism against predators.

Common lizards are widespread throughout the UK, though their numbers are thought to be declining due to habitat loss. They are fairly often mistaken for newts as they are quite similar in appearance, the best way to tell the difference is to see the scaly skin of the lizard versus the smooth skin of the newt, they also move a lot faster.

Our final, and perhaps most confusing reptile is the slow-worm. Many could mistake a slow worm for a snake, given they have no legs, but they are, in fact, a lizard. They are distinguished from snakes by their ability to blink and drop their tails when threatened.

Reptiles

August 29, 2023 by Admin

Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee

In the UK, there are three resident snake species, the grass snake, the smooth snake, and the adder. Each species has a characteristic that makes it unique. The adder is our only venomous species, the smooth snake our only constrictor, and the grass snake is (rather surprisingly) the only one to lay eggs.

It is a common misconception that all reptiles reproduce by laying eggs, but besides the grass snake, the only other UK resident egg-laying reptile is the sand lizard. In our four other species, the females incubate their eggs internally, then ‘give birth’ to their young. This internal incubation gets rid of the need for nest making and laying on the eggs to keep them warm, which is particularly helpful given the unpredictable weather in the UK.

The need to keep eggs warm is a major factor in grass snakes being absent from Scotland since they rely on warmer temperatures for incubation. The best place for grass snakes to lay their eggs is in piles of rotting vegetation, since the process of rotting creates heat. It is for this reason, grass snakes are often found in compost heaps.

By the end of summer, the eggs will have hatched to reveal juvenile snakes that look exactly like their adult counterparts, except for being only a tenth of their length.

The best way you can help your local grass snake population would be to have a compost heap in your garden for them to lay their eggs, or a wildlife pond in which they can hunt.

You can find lots of tips on how to help grass snakes, as well as our other reptile and amphibian species here.

What our animals are doing this month…

August 24, 2023 by Admin

September is an exciting month for sand lizards. Females laid their eggs in May and June which they buried in the warm sand. These eggs have been incubating throughout the summer, and now they are ready to hatch!

Young sand lizards do not receive parental care, but they can be spotted hunting for invertebrates in pairs or small groups of fellow juveniles. They will feed up as much as possible during September and October before hibernating. Unfortunately the tiny juveniles can be vulnerable to predation from adult male sand lizards as well as a number of other predators including birds, mammals and reptiles.

Females will sometimes lay a second clutch later in the summer, and given the rate of global warming, we may well see this behaviour increase. Individuals that hatch later in the year may also hibernate later; this is because they need to spend as much time feeding as possible before hibernating to improve their chances of surviving their first winter.

Remember to record any reptile, amphibian or egg sightings to our FREE Dragon Finder App.

*As the name suggests, sand lizards occupy sandy heathland habitats where females bury their eggs in sand to keep them warm. Look out for juvenile sand lizards emerging throughout September!*

What our animals are up to this month…

March 27, 2023 by Admin

With Spring in the air April is the time our reptiles start to woo their mates. After emerging from brumation around March, they are ready to mate as the weather starts to warm up. This will continue into May.

The territorial adder dances a duel to compete for females this month. These females, like most of the UK’s reptiles, give birth to ‘live young’. The eggs have been incubated internally and this process is called Viviparity. This method of producing young protects the developing eggs from predation, disturbance or just getting too cold in our climate to survive. Only Grass snakes and sand lizards lay eggs. The sand lizard lay their eggs under a sunny patch of sand and the grass snake in rotting vegetation like a compost heap that creates heat during decomposition.

During April, May and September our reptiles are at their most active so now is the time to see them out and about. Early morning basking as they top up their temperature for a day of hunting ahead is a good time for spotting. Check out sunny spots that are sheltered from the wind. If you do spot anything report this on our make sure to let us know through Froglife’s free Dragon Finder app on Google Play and Apple Store!

Scotland’s Secret Lizards

February 28, 2022 by Admin

Sand Lizards are one of the UK’s rarest and most elusive reptiles. They are restricted to sandy heathland and sand dune habitats in the south and west of the UK which provide the warm microclimates that they need. They also bury their eggs in hot sand to incubate until they are ready to hatch, so open, sunny, and undisturbed sandy areas are essential. Even in these warmer habitats, Sand Lizards will typically hibernate for longer than other reptiles to avoid cooler conditions, sometimes even from the end of August.

Given Sand Lizards are so reliant on warm, sunny microclimates, it’s hard to imagine that they could ever survive or breed on a Scottish island. Yet, there is a single population of Sand Lizards which has been thriving on the Isle of Coll off the west coast of Scotland for 50 years. In the 1970s, scientists released a population of Sand Lizards on Coll in an experiment to see how they would cope so far north, and they have fared surprisingly well. Coll has plenty of open sandy dunes which are largely undisturbed given the low number of visitors to the island, with patches of vegetation to hide in should a predator appear. Furthermore, Coll is known for being extremely sunny, and as a result, the island may be far better suited to Sand Lizards than we would first think.

Sand Lizards seem to be very dependent on habitats which are being degraded and lost due to factors such as increased urbanisation, human disturbance, dune erosion, and heathland fires. However, if their UK range were extended, perhaps there is still some hope for this rare lizard. Sand Lizards are often thought to be limited by latitude, yet they appear to be thriving on Coll and other more northerly ranges outside of the UK such as Sweden. So why are they so rare here? Well, in addition to limited habitat, it is very difficult for Sand Lizards to colonise new areas due to a lack of habitat corridors and unsympathetic land management. Reptiles generally tend to be an overlooked group, and land management rarely takes their needs into consideration.

The Sand Lizards of Coll demonstrate that they do have the potential to occupy a wider range in the UK than we might think, but achieving this would require more wildlife corridors, and more reptile-friendly approaches to habitat management. This would enable increased movement and give Sand Lizards more opportunities to colonise new habitats, and perhaps provide some hope for this dwindling species.

Discovering Reptiles with Citizen Science

January 27, 2022 by Admin

Reptile conservation within the UK is currently facing a big challenge; the lack of data. To develop targeted and effective conservation strategies, it is essential to have sufficient data on the species you want to conserve. This presents a real problem for UK reptiles, as there is very little public data available. However, we can remedy this if more people are aware of our wonderful native reptiles, any and all sightings are recorded, and survey effort is increased across the UK.

Every single reptile sighting, whether it is a one-off chance encounter or a planned survey, provides a valuable data point. So, how can you turn your wildlife encounter into useable data? Well, we’ve made it quick and easy for you with our free Froglife Dragon Finder App! Whenever you spot a reptile (or amphibian!), simply record your sighting on the app there and then.

If you are not sure you can ID the animal in front of you, not to worry. The app is full of information and ID tips to help. You can also select ‘Identify Species’ on the home page and you will be led through a series of questions to a final species ID. Download the app today for free, or find out more about it here! If you’re still unsure, try to take a photo or make a note of the animal’s appearance, and send this to mirran.trimble@froglife.org. Mirran is the Discovering Reptiles Project Officer, and she can help you identify any reptile sightings.

Citizen science is a key tool for collecting data and building the scientific knowledge needed to develop conservation strategies. For reptiles, citizen science has huge potential to make a real difference moving forward. If you know there are species in your garden, allotment or local green space, go find them and record your sightings! If you’d like to go a step further, we desperately need more people undertaking reptile surveys across the UK. These are straightforward to do and you can commit as much or little time as you have. To learn more about how to survey for reptiles, see our handy online guide here.

We can all do our bit to protect the UK’s native reptiles, and the Dragon Finder App has made it easier than ever to contribute! All sightings recorded on the Dragon Finder App will help us to build a more accurate picture of reptiles in the UK and develop appropriate conservation priorities. All recordings uploaded onto our app are also sent to the National Biodiversity Network and are publicly available.

sand lizard

Our snakes are:

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