Slow Worms - Anguis fragilis

Sent to you
by e-mail

Simply enter your details and hit the send button
more info

Click Here

Amphibians
Bats
Beetles
Birds
Birds of Prey
Ladybirds
Dolphins
Butterflies
Caterpillars
Wildlife Rescue
Creepy-crawlies
Spiders
Gift Shop
Hedgehogs
Mammals

Index > Identify It > Reptiles > Slow-worms >

Slow worms

Latin name: Anguis fragilis

Size: Grows to approximately 50cm in length.

Distribution: Found throughout Scotland, England and Wales. Absent from Northern Ireland.

Months seen: March to October.

Food: Slugs, spiders and beetles.

Habitat: Rough grassland.

Special features: Slow worms, or blind worms as they are sometimes called, look a lot like snakes, but is in fact they are legless lizards.

The body is almost the same thickness from head to tail, with the tip of the tail being blunt. Slow worms are covered in tiny scales which give them a metallic appearance. The males are usually brown with a copper or pink flush. Female slow worms and juveniles are a more golden colour, with a dark line running along the back. Some slow worms have faint blue markings along their body.

The head or the slow worm is short and rounded. The eyes have rounded pupils and they're equipped with eyelids - unlike snakes which have no eyelids. The mouth has backward facing, pointed teeth, and the tongue is notched, rather than forked like a snake.

During the winter slow worms hibernate underground.

NOTE: It's a criminal offence to kill or injure any of the UK's native reptiles. Slow worms are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981. It is an offence to kill, harm, injure, sell or trade them in any way.

Related Pages: