Captive breeding of Regel’s racerunner (Eremias regeli, Reptilia, Lacertidae)

Abstract

The paper presents the results of laboratory reproduction of Regel’s racerunner (Eremias regeli). Offspring was obtained from natural individuals (2 females and 2 males) captured in the vicinity of the Bokhtar town (Khatlon region, Republic of Tajikistan). Captive-born animals (3 females and 2 males) began laying eggs at the age of 7 months. The lizards from nature reproduced twice a year, while the animals obtained in the laboratory lay eggs up to three times per season. The clutches of both natural and laboratory lizards contained from 2 to 4 eggs. In total, 9 fertile clutches and 26 eggs were studied, which 18 newborn lizards were obtained from. The mass of one clutch ranged from 28.97 to 54.68% of the female mass. The eggs had a length of 12.3–18.1 mm, a width of 7.3–9.4 mm and a weight of 0.53–0.95 g. Incubation lasted 56–99 days. The newborn lizards had a body length of 26.5–35.1 mm, a tail length of 41.1–60.0 mm and a mass of 0.60–1.11 g. Comparing the reproductive parameters of E. regeli with other representatives of the tribus Eremiadini, the authors note relatively small sizes of adult females, their low fertility, but large sizes of eggs and newborn juveniles.