13 Types of Lizards Found in Montenegro (2025)
Do you want to learn about the different lizards in Montenegro?
If so, you’ve come to the right place! In the article below, I have listed the lizards you can expect to see. For each species, you’ll find out how to identify that lizard correctly, along with pictures, interesting facts, and RANGE MAPS!
13 Lizards IN Montenegro:
#1. Green Lizard
- Lacerta viridis
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are about 15 cm (6 in) long with tails that reach 25.5 cm (10 in).
- They are green with small black spots all over, especially on their backs, and they have a bluish throat.
- Males have a larger head and a more pronounced blue throat.
Green Lizards in Montenegro are shockingly bright.
They look like an animal you might find in the jungle, but they prefer dense vegetation, hedgerows, open woodland, and bramble thickets. You can often spot them near embankments, basking in the late afternoon sun.
The Green Lizard feeds on small mice, invertebrates, insects, and bird eggs. They also eat some fruit, including berries and tree fruit.
Like some other lizards, this species will sever its tail to escape predators. However, this cagey lizard has another interesting defensive strategy. If a predator pursues it, it will run away in a zig-zag pattern to confuse its attacker. Once there is enough distance, it will suddenly stop, turn around, slowly creep back toward the predator, and hide. As the predator rushes to catch it, thinking it is ahead, it darts straight past the lizard hiding in a bush or under a rock!
#2. Italian Wall Lizard
- Podarcis siculus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are 15-25.5 cm (6-10 in) long.
- Their coloring is green or brown on the back with a light green or white belly.
- Males have larger heads, and Females have a distinctive striped pattern.
Italian Wall Lizards in Montenegro can be difficult to identify.
Their colors are varied because they can change color to adapt to certain environments. For example, individuals that spend more time in green vegetation might be greenish, while those that live in rocky areas are more brown or tan.
You can often find Italian Wall Lizards basking in the sun to warm up after a chilly evening. For their habitat, they prefer shrubby vegetation, sandy and rocky shores, pastureland, rural gardens, and urban areas.
This species spends most of the day hunting for small mammals and other lizards. They also eat small mollusks, crustaceans, and occasionally plant matter. Interestingly, some populations have increased their plant diet in recent years, making them more omnivores than carnivores.
#3. European Glass Lizard
- Pseudopus apodus
Also known as Pallas’s Glass Lizard and European Legless Lizard.
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults can reach a maximum length of 135 cm (4.43 ft).
- Their coloring varies, but most commonly, they are brown and tan with scattered orange or reddish dots.
At first glance, this lizard in Montenegro might be mistaken for a snake!
You need to look closely to identify its tiny vestigial legs. They’re almost non-existent, so this reptile slithers on its belly instead of walking around. And while this might be the most obvious difference between it and other lizards, it’s not the only one! These amazing creatures have a lifespan of up to 50 years, much longer than most animals.
This species prefers dry areas like sparsely wooded hills or short grasslands but is more active in wet weather. Its favorite meal is snails, which they crack with their hard teeth and strong jaw. However, they won’t say no to arthropods or small mammals either.
There are a few key differences you can look for to determine if you’ve found a legless lizard in Montenegro or a snake:
- Legless lizards have eyelids and ear openings, which snakes lack.
- Snakes have wide jaws that can be unhinged to consume large prey, while legless lizards’ jaws are fixed.
- Legless lizards have unforked or notched tongues, whereas snakes’ tongues are completely forked.
#4. Dalmatian Wall Lizard
- Podarcis melisellensis
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults grow up to 6.5 cm (3 in) long, and their tails are twice as long.
- Their coloring is tan with brown stripes along the back.
- Depending on the individual’s morph, they have a patch of color near the vent that is yellow, orange, or white.
The Dalmatian Wall Lizard is one of the best climbers in Montenegro!
This species prefers temperate forests, rocky areas, and pastureland in the wild. However, one of the most common places to see them is your house! As their name suggests, they can climb walls and have a habit of invading houses in search of a warm spot to rest.
Males have three ventral color morphs (orange, yellow, and white) that attract females. Here are the characteristics of the three colors and how they attract females:
- Orange Dalmatian Wall Lizard males have a larger bite force to eliminate challenging males. They have large territories and few challengers. Females prefer orange males for their quality offspring.
- Yellow Dalmatian Wall Lizards provide protection and small territories, which entices females that aren’t necessarily attractive to orange males.
- White Dalmatian Wall Lizard males find a female by intruding on an orange male’s territory, mating with another male’s females, and then quickly getting away before the orange male notices.
This behavior is remarkably similar to that of the North American Common Side-blotched Lizard. I think it’s amazing how similar they are, despite being completely different species and living on opposite sides of the globe.
#5. Blue-throated Keeled Lizard
- Algyroides nigropunctatus
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are about 25 cm (10 in) long.
- Their coloring is light brown on the body with a white or yellowish belly. They develop black spots on their backs during mating season.
- They have blue throats, which are brighter on the males during mating season.
The Blue-throated Keeled Lizard in Montenegro is easy to recognize.
The V-shaped scales on its back, flanks, and tail, called keels, make it stand out among other European lizards. Additionally, this species’ blue throat helps researchers and enthusiasts recognize it. Look for them near fruit vegetation, pastureland, rural gardens, plantations, and city areas.
This lizard is extremely quick and rarely misses its prey, feeding mainly on worms, insects, and other tiny invertebrates. The Blue-throated Keeled Lizard is a protected species and cannot be removed from the wild for the pet trade. Keeping one in captivity is illegal, and it can result in fines or jail time.
Females lay between two and four eggs in spring and again in autumn. Although unusual, having two mating periods is a great way to maintain a healthy population. Like some other lizards, males grab the female by the throat during mating. However, the Blue-throated Keeled Lizard is more aggressive, bites the neck, and doesn’t release for some time.
#6. Balkan Green Lizard
- Lacerta trilineata
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are about 16 cm (6 in) long, with tails that reach 30 cm (11.5 in).
- Their coloring is grassy green with small black speckles.
- Females have faint stripes running down their bodies, and males have blue throats.
The Balkan Green Lizard prefers sandy shores, shrubby vegetation, pastureland, and rural gardens. They enjoy dense vegetation like bramble thickets, hedgerows, olive groves, and overgrown meadows. Climate change and habitat destruction threaten this lizards population in Montenegro.
Unlike most other reptiles, the Balkan Green Lizard is incredibly loud, and you’ll often hear one before you see it. They make a series of chirping and barking noises when threatened or startled. If you hear these, stop and try to spot these bright green lizards nearby!
To get a glimpse of one of these lizards, the best place to hang out is near an asphalt road. You will likely find one basking in the sun to warm up after a cool night.
#7. European Copper Skink
- Ablepharus kitaibelii
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults grow up to 15 cm (6 in) long.
- They are bronze with dark brownish-black sides.
- Females are slightly longer and heavier than males.
The European Copper Skink is often called the European Snake-eye because its eyelids are fixed, like snakes. In contrast, most lizards have movable eyelids. These skinks also move similarly to snakes because of their small and weak limbs.
This small, slim lizard has a plain diet consisting mostly of small snails and insects they find at night. They spend most of their time on the ground in meadows and fields.
In most other lizard species, the males are larger to defend their territory against other males. However, females have the size advantage in the case of the European Copper Skink. This size difference is thought to offer an advantage in attracting males during the mating season. They’re extremely shy and prefer to hide under leaves and rocks during the day.
#8. Kotschy’s Gecko
- Mediodactylus kotschyi
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are about 10 cm (4 in) long.
- Their coloring varies; individuals can be gray, yellowish, reddish-black, or dark brown.
- Males are slightly smaller than females.
- Females have slim tails and limbs with small tubercles on their backs.
Kotschy’s Geckos are named after explorer Karl Georg Theodor Kotschy. This small and beautiful lizard in Montenegro prefers dry stony areas, cliffs, and stone walls of buildings, mostly in lowland areas.
As a nocturnal species, Kotschy’s Geckos shy away from sunlight, but occasionally, you might find one in the early morning or late afternoon. They’re excellent climbers, even though they don’t have adhesive pads like some other geckos. However, they do prefer to stay closer to the ground.
This lizard’s size makes it easy prey for birds and other predators, so it shelters in dense undergrowth and rock crevices and even clings to the bottom of overhangs when threatened. You can probably recognize it by the high-pitched “chick” sound the male and female make during courtship.
#9. Sharp-snouted Rock Lizard
- Dalmatolacerta oxycephala
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are about 6.5 cm (2.5 in) long.
- Their coloring is grayish on the body. They have turquoise tails with brown or black stripes.
- Males have an intensely blue underside.
The Sharp-snouted Rock Lizard is one of the quickest in Montenegro!
These lizards are small, fast, and great at climbing. They’re known to quickly dart up a wall or rocky surface, startling predators and humans alike. This lizard prefers cliffs, outcroppings, buildings, rock pavements, and stone piles.
The Sharp-snouted Rock Lizard is a unique pattern of light and dark colors that blend with limestone and dark rocks in its habitat. Most lizards avoid the cold, but this one weathers even snow! However, that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy the sunshine, as they love to bask on rocks to warm up.
This lizard is tiny and prefers to eat small invertebrates and flying insects that land near it. They move quickly to pounce on their meal before it even realizes what’s happening.
#10. Common Wall Lizard
- Podarcis muralis
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are up to 20 cm (8 in) long.
- The pupils are round, and the eyes are large with immovable eyelids.
- Their coloring varies from shades of brown and gold to green and black.
European Wall Lizards are commonly found in urban areas and rocky outcroppings. They’re unafraid of people. You might find one scurrying across a sidewalk on a warm day!
These lizards are so comfortable around people that it’s just as likely to see them in a building as in the wild. They often prefer humid climates in the southern part of their range, but in the north, you can find them in dry habitats.
#11. Common Slow Worm
- Anguis fragilis
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are 40-45 cm (15-18 in) long.
- They are smooth, scaled, and legless, with heads that are the same width as their bodies.
- Often these lizards have stripes that run the length of their bodies, but some are solid in color. Common coloring is olive, brown, tan, and black.
Despite their name, Slow Worms are not worms at all but rather legless lizards. And if you’re wondering whether a legless lizard is just a snake, the answer is no! The reptile world can get confusing but no less fascinating when it comes to creatures like these.
Slow Worms spend most of their time buried in sand or underneath rocks and debris. They can be hard to find unless you’re willing to upend some stones in your search!
One of the most interesting behaviors of Slow Worms and many other lizards is the ability to sever their tail to escape a predator. This skill is called Caudal Autotomy. If a predator is chasing a Slow Worm or grabs its tail, the lizard simply breaks it off and continues to escape.
#12. Viviparous Lizard
- Zootoca vivipara
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are 5-7 cm (2-3 in) long.
- Their skin is mottled brown, tan, and black.
- They have long tails compared to their body; however, if their tails are lost to predators, only a short stub grows back.
These tiny lizards are tough when it comes to cool weather in Montenegro, and they will hibernate through the worst of winter, from October to March. They must bask in the sun to maintain their body temperature in the summer, so you’re likely to see them during the day.
Viviparous Lizards are named for their method of reproduction. Instead of laying eggs like most other reptiles, these lizards give birth to live young! It’s thought that this gives their offspring a better chance of survival because they don’t have to survive through a helpless stage of egg development. Interestingly, in some regions, this lizard does lay eggs, which may have to do with a lack of predators in the area.
#13. Sand Lizard
- Lacerta agilis
Identifying Characteristics:
- Adults are 18-20 cm (7-8 in) long.
- Males are green with a brown stripe on the back and brown hind legs.
- Females are light brown with darker brown mottling.
As its name suggests, this lizard prefers dry habitats in Montenegro.
Look for sand lizards in rock gardens, beaches, dunes, or rocky outcrops. They spend most of the day in the open, basking in the sun to retain as much heat as possible. You’re likely only to see one at a time because these territorial lizards rarely bask together.
While basking, Sand Lizards need to remain alert to the many predators that view them as a tasty snack. Birds of prey, foxes, and cats appear to be some of the most common dangers for these lizards. However, they’re also hunted by snakes and badgers. When confronted by danger, they use their exceptional speed to flee. They can also separate their tail from the rest of their body to get away!
Do you want to learn about MORE animals in Montenegro?
Check out these ID Guides!
-
The 29 MOST Common Birds in Montenegro!
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The Complete List of FROGS found in Montenegro
-
The VENOMOUS SNAKES that live in Montenegro
Which of these lizards in Montenegro have you seen?
Leave a comment below!
