Mexican mole lizard is one bizarre looking animal that is shrouded by myths and scary stories. If you want to scare (and scar) your children, show them a picture of this fella and tell them that it will crawl through the toilet and start burrowing with its powerful legs up their intestines because apparently, that is what people of Baja California tell their kids.
Can you have a Mexican mole lizard as a pet? If you’re still not scared straight, technically you can have a Mexican mole lizard as a pet but you’ll still have a tough time finding one of these for sale to keep as a pet. The issue is of course that they are endemic to the Baja California area. When you combine that and the fact that it is not a commonly known animal, you see why it is so hard to find it as a pet.
For me, that makes it even more appealing and exotic. Their lifespan is okayish – one to two years and I do believe that they are not so hard to keep as a pet and to care for it.
They live in soil and are opportunistic carnivores – they feed on small creatures that are soft enough to chew on.
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Table of Contents
What Is A Mexican Mole Lizard?
A Mexican mole lizard is a peculiar animal that combines the look of a worm with a lizard. In fact, they are a species of amphisbaenian in the family Bipedidae.
Amphisbaenians, or worm lizards, is a group of usually legless squamates (order of reptiles), comprising over 180 living species.
Despite a superficial resemblance to some primitive snakes, amphisbaenians have many unique features that distinguish them from other reptiles.
Mexican mole lizards are endemic to the Baja California Peninsula. They live underground (hence the pink skin) and move by peristalsis of its segments.
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Peristalsis is a radially symmetrical contraction and relaxation of muscles that propagates in a wave down a tube, in an anterograde direction.
Like all other amphisbaenians, the Mexican mole lizard is a burrowing species that only surfaces at night or after heavy rain. They are burrowing through sandy soil with their reinforced heads while scooping back debris with those well-developed claws. No need for hind legs here!
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Where Does The Mexican Mole Lizard Live?
The Mexican mole lizard is found in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Guerrero, and Chiapas, in Mexico.
Mexican Mole Lizard For Sale
Let me tell you, they are not easy to find. Of all the reptile shops online, less than a handful carried Mexican mole lizards for sale. If you’d like one as a pet, you’ll have your work cut out for you my friend!
You might even have to pick up a phone and call a dozen or more reptile or exotic pet shops. Or head out to their natural habitat and find one yourself.
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Related Questions
What is the Mexican mole lizard’s scientific name?
The Mexican mole lizard’s scientific name is Bipes biporus, but friends call it Bipes. It’s also known as the five-toed worm lizard.
How long does a Mexican mole lizard live (lifespan)?
They do not have a spectacularly long lifespan. The Mexican mole lizard only lives around one to two years. I guess that’s an OK lifespan for such a small animal.
What does a Mexican mole lizard eat?
They are generalist predators that feed on easily accessible prey found in soil, debris, and dirt such as ants, termites, ground-dwelling insects, larvae, earthworms, and other small animals including other lizards.
It usually pulls its prey underground to chew on it.
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