Amphibian & Reptile Identification

YOU MUST IDENTIFY THE SPECIES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE APPROPRIATE DIET AND CARE. YOU WILL KILL THE ANIMAL BY PROVIDING THE WRONG FOOD OR ENVIRONMENT! 

To help with identification see photos at http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Lizards/  or see descriptions at  http://www.anapsid.org/  or  http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/information/lizardclassfamilies.php#Lizard Classifications

AMPHIBIANS: Usually soft, smooth & moist, sometimes warts. See Amphibian Care Sheet
   No Legs = Caecilian (looks like a snake but smooth without scales) feed like Salamander
   With Legs & Tail = Salamander or Newt
   With Legs, No Tail = Frog or Toad
      Smooth moist skin with no warts = Frog
      Rougher dry skin with warts = Toad

REPTILES: Hard and scaly, sometimes smooth with small scales
   Hard Shell covers torso = Turtles & Tortoises. See Turtle & Tortoise Care Sheet
   Eyes and Nostrils on top of Head, Elongated Jaws = Crocodiles, Alligators, Caimans.Carnivores, feed meat (canned            chicken). Offer large water container with rocks.
   All other reptiles are Squamates (over 7,000 species) 
      No Legs = Snake or Worm-Lizards (eyes embedded beneath translucent skin).See Snake Care Sheet
      With Legs = Lizard (over 4,500 species) See Reptile (Lizard) Care Sheet

    COMMON LIZARDS:   

        Agamids: Includes Dragons, Uromastyx, and others with well-developed limbs & long tails, and often bizarre forms             with crest, dewlaps and expandable appendages. Males often brightly colored.
        Chameleons: Eyes bulge from the sides of their head and move independently, toes are fused into “mittens”, can             change color.
        Geckos: Widely spread toes, able to climb any surface. Most are petite, slender-bodied lizards that have a broad,             flat head, can produce sounds
        Iguanas: well developed limbs and short tongues that barely protrude. Most have long tails, crests, and dewlaps.             Males are bright and colorful.
        Monitors: have well developed limbs and long whiplike tail, elongated body, with a long head and pointed snout.             The jaws are very powerful.
        Skinks: have elongated circular bodies, little necks with small pointed heads. Legs are short, even absent, and             their tails vary, generally colorful.
        Tegus: some are limbless, but most have well developed limbs, long tails, large plate like heads, and extensible             forked tongue.

    LESS  COMMON LIZARDS: 

        Alligator lizards have elongated bodies and long tails. Limbs are very slight or gone. Moveable eyelids betray             them as lizards instead of snakes. They have either a notched or forked tongue. Carnivores (insects, meat).
        Basilisks, Helmet lizards, or Collared Lizards slender lizards with well developed long limbs, a helmet-like head             crest, a sail-like erectable crest down their back. Carnivores (insects, meat).
        Burrowing lizards legless, are wormlike with eye and ear openings that are covered with skin, and they             burrow. Carnivores (insects, meat).
        Crocodile lizards bony scales running along back and tail, giving it a crocodile-like appearance though it is much             smaller than actual crocodiles, only reaching 16 - 18 inches. Carnivores (insects, meat).
        Girdled lizards have flattened heads and bodies with enlarged rectangular scales, arranged in regular rows around             the body like girdles, and they are typically spiny. Carnivores (insects, meat).
        Night Lizards have fused eyelids and short tongues that do not protrude. Omnivores (insects and some             vegetables).
        Plated lizards are variable in form. Some species have four fully developed limbs while others have very reduced             remnants of hind limbs. Omnivores (insects, some fruits and vegetables).
        Typical Lizards (Wall lizards, True lizards, Lacertas, Lacertid Lizards, Old World Runners) have a collar of large             scales on the underside of the neck, slender elongated bodies with a narrow neck, a long extendable tongue that             is deeply forked, a long slender tail, and thin toes. Insectivores.
        Venomous lizards Gila Monsters and Beaded Lizards They have a stout body with a broad head, well developed             limbs, a short fat tail. Carnivores (insects and meat).