# does anyone know about how to care for slow worms? (legless lizard)



## mwood (Apr 19, 2013)

I recently got some slow worms and I need some help as the internet tells me nothing about how to care for them. I have them in a plastic fishtank at the moment with compost and twigs in and a stone to bask on. They have a bowl of water but not sure if they need that and at the moment abit unsure of their diet. I'm getting some meal worms for the moment but when it rains next will get some slugs as a thread on this forum said the white ones are best! So if anyone knows anything about them then please get in touch as soon as possible please! I will go to any lengths to ensure they live good and enriched lives. I will not however be releasing them and hope to breed some next year. They are extremely rare in my area and have not been seen for many years (well over a decade) and I hope to help repopulate! I rescued them from a disgruntled turkish gardener who had already killed two before I intervened. I live in a flat without garden by the way.


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## RubyTiger (Dec 12, 2012)

How did you get them? Slow-worms are protected in the UK under wildlife and countryside act. Means it is illegal to kill/injure or sell/trade wild ones.

Apparently they do not make good pets and do not accustom to captivity very well. They'd be better off in the wild to be honest, particularly as the reptiles in the UK could do without factors which may affect their numbers but if you insist on keeping them they will feed on earthworms, slugs, snails and other invertebrates. For snails you could get some African land snails or similar species and breed them. The young will have a soft shell so you could feed those (see care sheet on pink tongued skinks for more info on this)

take a look at these links: 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizard-care-sheets/316264-slow-worm-care-sheet.html

The RSPB: Advice: Are slow-worms suitable to keep as pets?


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## HowseR21 (Nov 5, 2011)

I agree with the above, as a teenager our local woodlands was a haven for them. You literally couldnt lift a rock or tin sheet without finding a whole bunch of them.

We had a few at home because we were fascinated with them and thought how cool would it be to have one as a bet and maybe start to make possibly then UKs first CB baby slow worms, huge aspiration ya see 

They don't adapt well to being kept in a tank or whatever, whereas they're requirements are low.. They just dont like it.

They're best to be observed and appreciated rather than kept and bred.

I visited this haven at the tail end of last year and due to local construction and development the area that was once overflowing with these amazing creatures is now a rail way line and a drug den. I found 1 slow worm in a 4 hour search, now when I go there the only thing I take is photographs


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

As this post has been put in three different places on the forum, I'm going to lock this one and the one in snakes and leave the one in lizards.

:2thumb:


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