Talk:Slow worm

Duplicate article
Both this article, and the Slow worm article exist. These need to be merged, and I'm not a wiki editor in the slightest. 28 June 2014, Pomax

Ref in first paragraph
in this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/RSPB-Pocket-Nature-Wildlife-Britain/dp/1405328606 by RSPB it says people wrongly call them blind can someone please reference that for us :S I know it doesn't explain the name origins but its a record of them being called that by a book 86.16.74.221 (talk) 21:06, 12 July 2013 (UTC)Baldavier

no headline
Tin and flat plastic do indeed attract slowworms. Warm day is a bit misleading. The lizzard regulates its body temperature by moving to suitable places. Optimum temp is neither too hot nor too cold. In cloudy day, the plastic is of no interest. In a sunny day the plastic tends to be warmer then the surrounding ground. So in the morning and in the spring it is preferable. In a hot summer day it is avoided, because it is too hot. --Etxrge 6 July 2005 12:14 (UTC)

50cm is nowhere near the longest lizard, since Komodo Monitors qualify as lizards and are well over 72cm.

How to eliminate them from my garden? I hate slowworms.


 * How can you hate slow worms? They are great! But anyway, serious point here - the article says they are known for their exceptionally long life; it has been said that a slow-worm is the longest living lizard.  How long is "exceptionally long"? Where is it said that "a slow-worm is the longest living lizard"? Quick google throws up "With at least one captive individual living beyond 50 years of age, wild individuals could possibly live for 20 years of more." but that's not very conclusive. MyNameIsClare   talk  20:22, 3 September 2006 (UTC)


 * You can't truly "eradicate" their presence. That would be like asking how to obliterate snails or slugs from your garden. However, if you are really serious about getting rid of them, the best way I know of is to get yourself a chicken. Let it roam free in your garden. It will spend 12 hours a day (for a very moderate pay check) searching for food in your garden. Every time it stumbles upon a slowworm, it will frantically hit it with its beak and thump it with its feet. The worm will quickly die and in most cases the chicken will eat it (partly at least). Chickens are fierce enemies of anything that vaguely resembles a snake (especially if it's not too big).

Naturally, the bigger your flock of chickens, the more efficient this totally natural technique will be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.57.12.119 (talk) 14:01, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

I have a pet slowworm. Her name is fluffy. She's very cute and likes to lie in my hands for the heat =)

For the insect, see sloe-worm ?
This link takes you to Prunus spinosa, which is not really an insect... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 57.66.138.14 (talk) 07:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

slow worm (anguis fragilis)
I work for London Underground Limited, and have recently discovered a slow worm population exisitng in a trackside environment. I am just starting to learn more about these beautiful creatures. Truly amazing animals. How can anyone say they want to 'eradicate' a population? Surely that's illegal? At least it is in the UK. My colleagues and I are taking positive steps to foster, conserve, and protect these animals. Thank goodness I work for a company which takes it's environmental responsibilities seriously. I get the support and encouragement to achieve these aims at every stage. Ian.62.60.98.134 (talk) 23:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Possible errors regarding the protection of slow worms
I've just had to look into the laws regarding slow worms and thought I may as well post my findings here...

They seem to be covered (in the UK) by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 – Schedule 5 lists the species covered by the act and the specific sections that apply to them http://www.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/waca1981_schedule5.pdf (Joint Nature Conservation Committee http://www.jncc.gov.uk/ ). The Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) is covered “in respect of Section 9(5) only”. This section (found at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/waca1981_part1.pdf - page 12 of the pdf file) states that it is an offence to sell any animal (live, dead, any part or derivative of), to transport these species for sale purposes or to publish an advertisement that conveys that you may buy or sell the species covered. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Variation of Schedules) Order 1988 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1988/Uksi_19880288_en_1.htm) - Variation of section 5: 2(4) The Viviparous Lizard (Lacerta vivipara), the Slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) and the Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica otherwise known as Natrix natrix) (which are already listed in Schedule 5 to the Act in respect of section 9(5) only) are hereby further listed in respect of section 9(1)so far as it relates to killing and injuring.

Again - I expect to see more to be added to this before it's ready to go into the finished article.

Seyemon (talk) 22:39, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Longevity and blue spots
The article states "it has been said that a slow-worm is the longest-living lizard, living about thirty years in the wild and up to fifty-four years in captivity (this record is held by a male slow worm that lived at the Copenhagen Zoo from 1962 to 2009)". I question the Copenhagen part of this, because (1) neither of the references cited mentions Copenhagen, (2) 2009 - 1962 = 47, not 54, and (3) I remember a figure of fifty-something years being bandied around several decades ago, long before 2009 when the Copenhagen slow-worm allegedly died. Can anyone find a better source? Old Guinness books of records perhaps?

Also, I have seen blue-spotted slow-worms on the Isle of Wight, where somebody told me that only (some of the) males had this feature. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.53.69.150 (talk) 19:27, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Contradiction
One of the biggest causes of mortality in slow worms in suburban areas is the domestic cat, against which it has no defence.

Like many other lizards, slow worms autotomize, meaning that they have the ability to shed their tails in order to escape predators. 82.32.235.134 (talk) 20:50, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Nothing contradictory about that. Palosirkka (talk) 11:00, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

In Shakespeare
In Shakespeare's MacBeth (Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong), blind-worms are mentioned in a light of being dangerous. I'm not sure what the connection is to this species here or what species to which he might have been referring. Jason Quinn (talk) 17:42, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Danger to people?
I think the article should explicitly state something on the subject. As it now reads they are defenseless against cats, they probably don't pose much or any risk to people but a real reference would be nice. Palosirkka (talk) 11:00, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Video of rejected tail - cruelty to animals?
The video of the rejected tail shows a boot next to the slow worm just before the tail is rejected. Did the video maker step on the worm's tail to cause the rejection? If so, is this a moral thing to show? We should show the rejected tail if it is rejected naturally, but including a video of this if a human caused it is surely immoral and might encourage others on WP to harm animals to 'get their video included'. Thoughts? Malick78 (talk) 12:35, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

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Requested move 3 April 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: moved to Slow worm. (non-admin closure) Vpab15 (talk) 14:46, 20 April 2021 (UTC)

Anguis fragilis → Slow-worm – WP=COMMONNAME, this is by far the common name for this species in the English language. PaleoMatt (talk) 20:27, 3 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Oppose both "slow worm" and "slowworm" appear to be more common terms than the hyphenated version. And all three variants could also refer to any species in the genus Anguis as well as A. fragilis specifically (which could then be more precisely referred to as "common slowworm"). Nomination presents no evidence that proposed title is the "most commonly used (in reliable sources)" (i.e. WP:COMMONNAME)for this exact subject; nomination merely proposes a title that is not the scientific name. The scientific name best fulfills the title criteria of WP:PRECISION and WP:CONSISTENT (most reptile species articles uses scientific name titles). Plantdrew (talk) 03:58, 5 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Support (conditional) - The Anguis fragilis is commonly referred as «Slow worm» per at least one source. Naming_conventions_(fauna) also restate what WP:COMMONNAME says. Doesn't seem that Guideline contradicts much to the Policy, neither I see it as abusive so summarily I support move to «Slow worm» (without hyphen).-- AXO NOV  (talk) ⚑ 16:39, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Support move, probably to slow worm. They are common enough that the vernacular name is almost certain to be more familiar to the general reader than the scientific name. Perhaps relist to gather evidence? Andrewa (talk) 10:57, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Move to Slow worm per WP:COMMONNAME. Rreagan007 (talk) 02:48, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

I'm fine with "slow worm" without the hyphen. PaleoMatt (talk) 15:01, 19 April 2021 (UTC) The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

"wean"?
I doubt very much that the female 'weans' them. 142.163.194.82 (talk) 20:45, 2 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Fixed, thanks for the heads up! Bibby (talk) 21:38, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Photograph for consideration


I just uploaded this photo to Wikimedia Commons but am reluctant to add it to the main article because other images present are quite similar. But equally, go ahead and transfer it if you think it would contribute. RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 22:51, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

Contradiction pertaining overlap of its scales
20240511: In the beginning of the article it's said that the scales on their skin do overlap and further down the article the opposite is stated! Lodi09 (talk) 10:21, 11 May 2024 (UTC)