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Ocellated Lizard

🔤 Taxonomy

Timon lepidus is the currently accepted scientific name. In older books, conservation documents, and some trade listings it is often found as Lacerta lepida.

Older names and combinations associated with the species include:

  • Lacerta lepida
  • Lacerta ocellata

English common names used in the hobby:

  • Ocellated lizard
  • Jeweled lacerta
  • Jewelled lizard

German common names used in the hobby:

  • Perleidechse

📌 Description

The ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) is a large, powerful, diurnal lacertid from south-western Europe. It is active, alert, fast, and visually striking, with green to olive body colour and bright blue side spots in many adults.

Adults commonly reach 45-60 cm total length, and large males can be longer. The head is broad, the jaws are strong, and the tail makes up much of the total length. With good care, captive animals can live 15-20 years or more.

This is not a small display lizard for a simple tank. It needs space, intense light, strong basking heat, deep dry substrate, secure cover, and a keeper who accepts that many individuals remain nervous and do not enjoy handling.

🌍 Distribution

The species is native mainly to the Iberian Peninsula, southern and western France, and a small north-western Italian range. It lives in dry open habitats rather than dense humid forest.

Typical habitat features include:

  • Mediterranean scrub and open woodland edges
  • Stone walls, rocky slopes, ruins, and terraces
  • Sunny grassland with bushes and refuges
  • Warm dry summers and cooler seasonal winters
  • Burrows, cracks, roots, and dense low vegetation for retreat

Captive care should copy the function of that habitat: bright open basking areas, secure retreats, dry digging substrate, and a clear warm-to-cool gradient.

Range map

⚖️ Legal status

As checked against current official sources in April 2026, Timon lepidus was not found in the CITES Appendices and no specific EU wildlife-trade Annex listing was found for this species.

The species is listed under the Bern Convention Appendix II through the older name Lacerta lepida, meaning it is treated as a strictly protected European fauna species. In parts of its native range it is also covered by national protection and conservation plans.

Do not collect animals from the wild. Keep only captive-bred animals with clear proof of origin. Local and national rules on possession, transport, sale, breeding, import, export, and release may still apply, especially in European countries and in countries where the species is native or protected.

🤌 Husbandry

One adult needs a large, secure, horizontally oriented enclosure. A practical minimum for a single adult is about 180 × 60 × 60 cm, and larger is strongly recommended. Very active males and pairs need more floor area.

The enclosure should provide:

  • A hot basking end and a cooler shaded end
  • Deep diggable substrate
  • Several tight hides, not only one shelter
  • Rocks, cork, roots, and low branches fixed securely
  • Strong ventilation without constant dampness
  • Front access for maintenance with minimal chasing

Keep adults singly unless there is a specific breeding plan and enough space to separate animals immediately. Males can fight, and pairs can create chronic stress or repeated breeding pressure.

💡 Lighting

This is a heliothermic, day-active lizard and needs very bright light. A dim enclosure often produces poor appetite, weak basking behaviour, and stress.

Use a strong daylight source together with high-quality UVB. A T5 HO desert-style UVB tube over the basking zone is usually appropriate in a large enclosure, combined with separate halogen basking lamps. The animal must be able to move from strong UV and heat into shade.

For UV planning, treat the species as a Ferguson Zone 3-4 lizard. Aim for roughly UVI 3-5 at the back height in the basking zone, with shaded retreats near zero UVI. Measure with a Solarmeter 6.5 when possible because mesh, reflector, distance, and lamp age change real exposure.

Provide about 10-12 hours of light daily, adjusted seasonally if a winter rest is planned. Do not use visible night lights.

🌡 Heating and temperature

Heat should come from above, mainly from halogen basking lamps. Create a strong gradient rather than warming the whole enclosure evenly.

Useful targets:

  • Basking surface: 38-45°C
  • Warm air near basking zone: 28-32°C
  • Cool end: 20-25°C
  • Night: 16-22°C for normal maintenance

Measure basking surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes. Lamps must be positioned so the lizard cannot touch them. Heat rocks are not suitable.

💧 Humidity and water

Ocellated lizards need a mostly dry, well-ventilated enclosure, but they should not be kept in a bone-dry box. Provide a moisture gradient.

Offer a heavy shallow water dish at all times. Lightly dampen part of the deeper substrate or one hide so the animal can choose a slightly humid retreat, especially during shedding. Avoid wet stagnant substrate and poor ventilation.

🌿 Enclosure and decoration

The enclosure should allow running, digging, hiding, climbing over low structure, and basking in the open. Empty tanks make this species more nervous and harder to maintain.

Good materials include:

  • Soil, sand, and clay-style substrate, deep enough for digging
  • Flat basking stones under the heat lamps
  • Cork tubes and bark slabs
  • Stable rock piles with no collapse risk
  • Low branches and roots
  • Dry grasses, hardy plants, or artificial cover

Block side visibility if the animal constantly nose-rubs against glass. Give several retreat options so routine maintenance does not require lifting the only hide.

🪳 Feeding

The species is mainly insectivorous to omnivorous. In captivity, most meals should be varied feeder insects, with occasional plant matter and rare treats.

Suitable feeders include:

  • Crickets
  • Locusts
  • Dubia or discoid roaches
  • Red runner roaches
  • Silkworms
  • Black soldier fly larvae
  • Snails from safe captive sources only

Adults usually do well with several feedings per week, adjusted to body condition. Juveniles need smaller prey more often. Dust insects with calcium and use a controlled multivitamin schedule; do not use supplements to compensate for missing UVB.

Fruit, soft greens, and flowers may be accepted occasionally, but they should not replace a varied insect diet. Avoid wild-caught insects from pesticide areas and avoid oversized prey.

🩺 Common problems

Common problems are usually linked to small enclosures, weak light, low basking temperatures, dehydration, retained shed, obesity, injuries, and stress from excessive handling.

Watch for:

  • Nose rub or damaged scales from escape attempts
  • Poor appetite despite offered food
  • Lethargy or constant hiding
  • Soft jaw, tremors, or weak limbs
  • Retained shed on toes or tail tip
  • Weight loss, loose droppings, or visible parasites
  • Bite wounds or tail injuries after cohabitation

Check temperatures, UVB, diet, hydration, and hiding security first. Weight loss, swelling, mouth injury, breathing signs, weakness, or long refusal to eat requires a reptile veterinarian.

📌 Conclusion

The ocellated lizard is a spectacular European lacertid, but it is a demanding captive animal. It needs a large dry enclosure, intense light, strong overhead heat, legal captive-bred origin, and minimal forced handling.

Keep it like an active sun-loving predator with a need for choice and security, not like a small tame pet lizard.

📚 Sources and further reading