My Favorite, Most Underrated Lizard Species
As time goes on and my reptile family grows, I have learned that my preference in reptile species has changed tremendously. When I first started out in this hobby, I wanted all the big guys: bearded dragons, blue tongue skinks, monitor species, etc. I wanted a hands-on experience, with reptiles who tolerated being handled and some who would even “ask” for it. Now, I seem to be the complete opposite in that I search for species that don’t need as much hands-on attention and are fairly low-maintenance.
My first indication of this was when I brought home a crested gecko, which in comparison to my first reptile (bearded dragon), that little gecko was so much easier to care for. I liked that I could create an entire bioactive environment for him and then leave him to his business, handling him once every couple of weeks and feeding him every couple of days.
So without yapping too much, allow me to introduce a lizard species that has very quickly become one of my all time favorites: the Sakishima Grass Lizard, Takydromus dorsalis. While there are multiple different subspecies in the Takydromus genus, I only keep the dorsalis at the moment.
“Takydromus” – greek for “fast running”
“Dorsalis” – inspired by its small dorsal scales that are different from other species.
A little background information on the species that I personally love to get into: The Sakishima grass lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae, and is endemic to the Yaeyama Islands in southern Japan. They are diurnal species. The IUCN lists them as endangered due to habitat degradation and invasive peacocks as of 2016. Most of their range is within a national park, so they are considered to be in a protected area. They inhabit the sunny grasslands and open forests in the area, preferring the grasslands and shrubby areas on leaves and branches. The weather in the islands of southern Japan are considered to be subtropical; it is humid all year round and maintains temperatures around 60-89 degrees F depending on time of year.
These are incredibly fun species to keep because of how personable they can be, fast moving and entertaining, and the brightest, most beautiful green color. I have been keeping three of these guys since November of 2023 and they have been the most perfect addition to the reptile room. I kept them in a smaller enclosure for a little while, but I am now keeping them in a 18x18x24 enclosure. Truly these guys would use every inch of space that you offer them, so I will 100% be upgrading them again in the future, maybe adding a couple more to the group. They are super active species, and of course with a larger group you will need a larger enclosure.
Massive shoutout to The Jungle Vault (BreezeExotics + Alpha.Reptile) for specializing in the grass lizards, offering me advice, and of course bringing my favorite little lizard into my home. I think that talking about these smaller lizards is so important because they are easier to keep in your home (smaller enclosure compared to much larger, more popular species) and simpler to create the most perfect environment for them. Honestly, think about how difficult and expensive it is to fill a 6x4x4 foot enclosure in comparison to filling a 2x2x2 foot enclosure for example. You can put so much more effort into a smaller enclosure and turning it into an amazing “display vivarium” with a smaller species.
If you would like more care information on this species, alongside a couple of the other Takydromus species, the Animals at Home podcast did an amazing episode with HerpTime and Alpha Reptile that goes over everything you could want to know about this guys.
Overall, my experience in keeping Sakishima grass lizards over the short amount of time has been amazing. They are so willing to hop on your hand and kind of be curious as to what is going on outside, which is so interesting to me since they are so small. You would think that such a small species would be skittish of larger beings such as ourselves, but they are so personable and interested in what is going on in their surroundings.
I also love being able to keep several together in an enclosure, they truly do so well together in an enclosure. They have no aggression toward one another, they are fine to be in the same area, and overall just hang out together, in MY experience. That being said, mine are not sexually mature yet so that could change like they kind of discussed in the podcast episode.
But anyways – if you are in the market for a smaller and incredibly fun species to keep, I would highly recommend the Takydromus species. I would also highly recommend working with The Jungle Vault when they have their grass lizards available, they are wonderful to work with and chat with about the species. They are both super knowledgeable about the species they breed, and another thing that I love is that they specialize in a few species and are not breeding everything and anything under the sun. Such a green flag in regards to reptile breeding.
I am sure this blog post will be updated when mine are sexually mature, because I would be really interested to see their personality changes and potential breeding.
Thank you so much for reading and being here to enjoy the most underrated lizard species there is
References Used
Celeste. (2023, July 26). Seasons & weather – Discoveryaima – Guide to the Yaeyama Islands – travel tips for your travel to Japan [:]. DISCOVERYAIMA. https://discoveryaima.com/seasons-weather-ishigaki-typhoons-tyfoon/
Hidetoshi Ota (Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, U. of H., & Noriko Kidera (National Institute for Environmental Studies, J. (2016, December 3). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/96265980/96266039#habitat-ecology
