Do you know what class the brittle spindle belongs to? This animal is a reptile. It is very easy to confuse it with a snake. However, the brittle spindle (class Reptiles) is a small lizard that looks like a snake. The length of her body reaches 45 cm. Of these, 2/3 is her flexible tail.
Body structure
The brittle spindle is an example of the most complete reduction of limbs. She has no sternum at all, only one sacral vertebra with extended short ribs has been preserved. As for the belts of the hind and forelimbs, only a small bone remained from them on each side. There is no noticeable transition between the tail and the body of this lizard. Looking at it from above, it's hard to tell where the body ends and the tail begins.
Coloring
Smooth scales cover the body of this lizard. It is located in longitudinal even rows. The upper side of the scales is painted in gray or brown colors with a characteristic bronze tint. Thanks to this, the spindle began to be called"copper". However, do not confuse it with a snake that has a similar name. Copperhead and brittle spindle are different species.
The ventral side and sides of the lizard we are interested in are light. On the back, adult males have 2 rows of spots. They are usually bluish, but sometimes they can be dark brown. These spots are more visible in the sucker on the front of her back. It is very difficult to distinguish a female from a male by other external features.
Young spindles, barely born, are colored completely differently. These lizards are very beautiful. They have a golden cream or silvery white back. A narrow longitudinal strip passes along it (there may be two of them). This coloration contrasts with the underside of the body. It is also shiny, it can be either almost black or dark chocolate. The two contrasting colors on the sides are clearly demarcated. Brittle spindle babies are so different from adults that they were considered a separate species in the 19th century.
Albinos and melanists
Full albinos among spindles are more common than among other representatives of scaly reptiles. Obviously, their survival is facilitated by the hidden lifestyle of these lizards. The color of the body of albinos is grayish-white, with a pink tint, and the eyes are red. Sometimes there are melanists. This is what the black spindles are called.
Lizard Spread
This lizard is distributed almost throughout Europe. It is found in Asia Minor, Algeria, the Caucasus and Northern Iran. The spindle and viviparous lizard together make up"outpost" of reptiles living in the north of Europe. In our country, it is found mainly in the regions of the European part. The boundary of the range of this lizard in the east is the West Siberian Tobol. In the north, it is found in Karelia, and in the south it lives in Ciscaucasia.
Favorite habitats
This lizard prefers to settle in forests. It is found in both mixed and deciduous forests. In addition, it can be seen in meadows and edges. The brittle spindle enters gardens and fields. In the Caucasus, this lizard lives in mountain forests, on slopes with low vegetation, in forest meadows, as well as in the open steppe, where shrubs grow. It can climb mountains to a height of up to 2.3 km. Brittle spindle loves damp, shady places. However, it sometimes crawls out into a dry place or into the sun. However, this lizard does not go far from hiding.
Butterflies activity
The time of activity of the brittle spindle is morning and evening twilight. The rest of the hours she spends under stones. The lizard climbs into the loose soil that surrounds the roots of plants. She can also choose densely intertwined grass, deadwood, rotten stumps, burrows of small mammals as her shelter. The spindle itself is able to make a move in loose soil. To this end, she "drills" and pushes his head.
Like most lizards, it prefers a sedentary lifestyle. Small individual sections of the brittle spindle. Their radius is only a few meters. young individuals,that are born also spread over short distances.
Features of movement and hunting
Spindles, despite their serpentine appearance, are a bit clumsy and rather slow. They move in the following way - they bend their tail and body in waves. However, the movement of lizards is hindered by the bony shell. It serves to protect the animals from damage if they climb in heaps of deadwood or among stones. In an open and level place, their crawling is difficult because of it. Like snakes, the spindle is able to swim. But she does not like to do this, she gets tired quickly, so she only enters the water when necessary.
Due to sluggishness and poor eyesight, the brittle spindle is a reptile that is a poor hunter. She is not able to distinguish colors, as other lizards do. Moreover, the brittle string barely recognizes even shades of gray. However, this does not play a big role in the semi-underground hidden lifestyle that she leads. The brittle spindle, or tinsel, compensates for the weakness of vision with a developed sense of smell. She picks up scents, like snakes, with a forked tongue, which she often sticks out.
Food
Her constant food is the same slow earthworms and slugs. They also prefer a semi-underground lifestyle. In a humid place, finding them is not difficult, so there is no need to crawl much, and a large individual area is also not required. There is no need for spindles to examine and pursue prey. The copperhead, having discovered the victim, is in no hurry. First, she "sniffs" her with her tongue, and then begins to swallow. For about half an hour, and sometimes longer, eating large prey can continue.
The brittle spindle also extracts snails from shells by pulling them out with its backward-curving teeth. On occasion, it can also profit from wood lice, centipedes and caterpillars. Like snakes, this lizard is capable of swallowing large prey, so occasionally other lizards, young suckers, become its victims. It happens that snakes become its prey.
Protection from enemies
The protection of these animals is a hidden way of life, as well as bone mail, located under the scales. In addition, they can drop their tail, as well as "shoot" excrement. Unusual defensive behavior is noted in juveniles. In case of danger, young suckers turn over on their back, showing a dark abdomen. Apparently, such a color change produces an effect of surprise.
However, this arsenal is not enough, so the spindle often becomes a victim of various predators. And ground beetles (predatory beetles), and various snakes, and toads eat young lizards. Martens, foxes, hedgehogs, badgers, nocturnal and diurnal birds (there are more than 25 species of birds that feed on suckers) - this is not a complete list of enemies of the species of interest to us. It is curious that among the snakes, the copperhead is especially often swallowed by the copperhead. People also destroy these lizards very often. In different states there is a strange superstition abouttheir "terrible poisonousness", although in fact the spindles are absolutely harmless.
A lizard in hand doesn't even bite.
Brittle spindle: content
In order to arrange a comfortable place for a couple of lizards, a small terrarium of 30 liters or more will be enough. It is best to do top ventilation. Brittle spindles suffer from stagnation of air less than from drying out. This is understandable - these lizards are burrowing animals.
Soil can be peat, coconut, sphagnum. You can also use forest bedding soil. Moss patches are best for decoration and hiding places. However, unpretentious plants like tradescantia can also be planted in a terrarium.
Temperatures between 20 and 22°C are the optimum temperatures for lizards to be most active. UV lamps are not required as we are dealing with a burrowing animal that avoids UV exposure.
What to feed suckers
The best food for lizards is earthworms and small snails. You can also give zofabas larvae or mealworm. Occasionally, you can feed the spindles with large bloodworms. They also eat mobile animals (crickets, cockroaches), but only if they are very hungry.
Reproduction and feeding of cubs
The brittle spindle lizard usually does not breed at home. However, pregnant females that have been caught in the wild often give birth. Copperheads areviviparous, the egg stage occurs in the mother's womb. Feeding newborn spindles is not easy, as they need small, inactive objects. The easiest way is to go to a wasteland and find a plant that is heavily affected by aphids. Break off the branch with aphids and place it in the terrarium. The spindles will pluck off parasites. Slightly grown lizards begin to eat small worms, bloodworms, small wood lice. They grow quite quickly and double their size in six months. The life expectancy of suckers is 9-12 years, but often in terrariums they live up to 20-30 years. The record age for a captive lizard is 54.
