Reptiles That Give Live Birth

Three types of Skink

• The Solomon Island skink, who as its name suggests, lives only in the Soloman islands and is only one of thee lizards in the world that gives live birth to its young.The blue-tongue skink is the second type of lizard to give live birth; it has a blue tongue and lives in the islands of Indonesia. The third type of lizard to give live birth is the shingle-backed skink. The shingle-back is a sub species of the blue-tongue and also lives primarily in Indonesia.

One Chameleon

• Jackson's chameleon lives in Kenya, Tanzania, East Africa, and generally prefers altitudes over 9,850 feet. They are often referred to as three-horned chameleons because the male lizards possess three brown horns. Jackson's are the only member of the chameleon family that give live birth, and do so after a five to six month gestation period. They generally give birth to 8 to 15 offspring at a time.

Boas

• Boas do not lay eggs, they give live birth to their young. This keeps the fetuses temperature consistent, provides food via an internal yolk sack and protects the young from predators. The young are forced out an opening in the snake called the cloaca during birth.

Vipers

• The second group of snakes giving live birth are vipers, or snakes from the Viperidae family. These snakes are found all across the world. Vipers are all venomous snakes, and are almost always equipped with sharp rear fangs to deliver to poison.

Garter Snakes

• The third type of snake that birth live young is the common garter snake, which is the most widely distributed snake in North America. They are nonpoisonous and eat things like mice, frogs and earthworms.