Snakes & Lizards

Home › Animals › Reptiles

In Britain we have ten species of reptile living in the wild: four snakes (adder Vipera berus, grass snake Natrix helvetica, smooth snake Coronella austriaca, and Aesculapian snake Zamenis longissimus) and five lizards (viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara, sand lizard Lacerta agilis, wall lizard Podarcis muralis, slowworm Anguis fragilis, and green lizard Lacerta bilineata) and one terrapin (red-eared terrapin or slider Trachemys scripta elegans).

Species

European adder

Vipera berus

Europe's most northerly-distributed snake and Britain's only venomous reptile, the snake with the zigzag along its back is instantly recognisable to many of us.

European slowworm

Anguis fragilis

A familiar legless lizard, common throughout Europe and frequently found in gardens.

Questions

What is hibernation?

Hibernation is more than a winter sleep. It's a complete physiological readjustment.

Bibliography

Britain’s Reptiles & Amphibians - by Howard Inns
WildGuides Ltd. -- 2011 -- ISBN: 978-1903657256

Collins Field Guide: Reptiles & Amphibians of Britain & Europe - by Nicholas Arnold & Denys Ovenden
HarperCollins -- 2004 -- ISBN: 978-0002199643

Field Guide to the Amphibians & Reptiles of Britain & Europe - by Jeroen Speybroeck, Wouter Beukema, Bobby Bok & Jan Van Der Voort
Bloomsbury Natural History -- 2016 -- ISBN: 978-1472935335

RSPB Spotlight Snakes - by Jules Howard
Bloomsbury Wildlife -- 2020 -- ISBN: 978-1472971692

The Adder - by Peter Stafford
Shire Publications -- 1987 -- ISBN: 978-0852638798

The British Amphibians and Reptiles - by Malcolm Smith
HarperCollins Publishers -- 1969 -- ISBN: 978-0002130295

The Private Life of Adders - by Rodger McPhail
Merlin Unwin Books -- 2011 -- ISBN: 978-1906122294