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Burton's Legless lizard/ Burton's Snake lizard Of Western Australia |
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Burton's Legless lizard/ Burton's Snake lizard Of Western Australia |
Harmless
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This is the largest legless lizard (pygopodid). The tail is 11/2 times the body length. Its length from snout to vent is approx 290mm. Its colours are extremely variable. The ones I have seen here in Perth have been greyish/cream in colour and grey with dark stripes. Occurs throughout Australia excluding high altitudes and the deep south-west of Western Australia. Present in all habitats. Shelters beneath rocks, logs and leaf litter (garden mulch) and in hummock grasses and abandoned burrows. |
Photographed at the Armadale Reptile Centre in Perth |
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The female lays 2 eggs per clutch. A nest may be used by several legless lizards under rocks and logs. |
You can tell its a Burton's legless lizard by the pointy nose which is tilted skyward when it is resting. It is most active in the early evening. Go here to see our video of the Burton's legless lizard from the Armadale Reptile Centre in Perth.
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This is its tail. |
What does it eat? The Burton's legless lizard is a predator feeding mainly on skinks and small lizards and will catch small snakes, geckos and other legless lizards around the chest and suffocate it by ambushing or stalking their prey. The Burton's legless lizard has sharp teeth that are hinged at their base which is unique among lizards. They swallow the prey head-first when they come too close to where the legless lizard is waiting. It can go days without eating. They have a flexible skull that allows them to swallow large prey.
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Legless lizards have a thick fleshy tongue not long and slender like a snake although some legless lizards will flick their tongue quickly like a snake. They slither like a snake when moving fast.
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Update: I saw this Burton's Legless Lizard in March at Brixton Street Conservation Park in Perth
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It was seen in the sand dozing in the late afternoon
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graphical Copyright © Wildlife Education Services 2003. |
