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Squamata · LacertidaeEntry 19,811 of 21,572
Asian Grass Lizard, Takydromus sexlineatus

Reptilia · Squamata

Takydromus sexlineatusDaudin, 1802

Asian Grass Lizard

Photograph by Satyaji Wibowo, CC BY, via iNaturalist

A day-active, meat-eating lizard from the Oriental region, reaching 70 mm snout to vent.

Also called Six-striped Long-tailed Grass Lizard.

Once published as Tachydromus sexlineatus — those names reach this page.

ReptiliaSquamataLacertidaeTakydromus

Grows to
70mm
greatest recorded
Eats
Carnivorous
Active
Diurnal
Lives up to
5years
Body length across Lacertidae

Longer than 54% of all species in Lacertidae anyone has measured.

54% of 372 species are smaller46% larger
35 mmthe whole family, smallest to largest444 mm

The bar is the rank itself: its length is the share of the family this animal exceeds. The chart below is the family’s real spread, on a logarithmic scale because body length here runs from 35 to 444 mm. The solid rule is this animal. Every bar is a count of real species, and nothing on this figure is estimated.

What is known

42 sourced facts, each taken from a named scientific dataset. How to read these.

Cited from a dataset unless a row is marked otherwise.

Standing in the world

Still living
Extant
Conservation status
Least Concern
Status assessed · the year the Red List last looked
2018
Population trend
Stable

The animal itself

Limbs
Four legs
Venomous
No
Fangs
None
Longest recorded life
5years

1.5 (Slavens and Slavens 1999), 5+ (http://grizzlyrun.com/Pets/Reptiles/Lizards/Long-Tailed_Grass/Default.htm)

Preferred body temperature · chosen in a laboratory gradientmeasured
31.5°C
Body temperature when active · measured in the wild
31.6°C89 °F

mean body temperature of active individuals in nature

Body temp in the wild · mean, when active
31.5–31.6°C89–89 °F

body temperature of active animals in nature

Size

Length snout to vent · greatest recorded
70mm2.75 in

max 70 mm SVL (Feldman et al. 2016)

Length snout to vent · adult female mean
55.8mm2.25 in
Largest female · snout to vent
55.8mm2.25 in

snout-vent length; the source column mixes this with straight carapace length

Hatchling length · snout to vent
19mm0.7 in
Largest juvenile · snout to vent
19mm0.7 in
Body mass · greatestcomputed
7.98g0.28 oz

computed from length by a family-level allometric equation, not weighed

Body mass · adult female, meanmeasured
3.35g0.12 oz

How it lives

Diet
Carnivorous

Arthropods (e.g., Vassilieva et al. 2016)

How it hunts
Active foraging

Banfi et al. 2023

Active
Diurnal

e.g., Vassilieva et al. 2016, Hawkeswood and Sommung 2017, Jenssen and Sy 2022

Where it lives
Arboreal, terrestrial

Terrestrial and Arboreal (Arnold 1997, see also Grismer 2011), arboreal (Jenssen and Sy 2022)

Habitat
Forest, Grassland
Biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Region
Oriental
Mainland or island
Mainland
Highest it lives · above sea level
2660m

max 2660 (Vassilieva et al. 2016), 0-850 (Jenssen and Sy 2022)

Range size
4,405,137km²

Breeding

Reproduction
Oviparous
Sex decided by
Genes, ZW/ZZ
Average clutch
2.2eggs
Eggs or young per clutch
1–5eggs

2-3 (Teynie and David 2010), 2-4 (Chan-ard et al. 2015), 3 (Pauwels et al. 2000, n=1), 2-4 (Vassilieva et al. 2016), mean 5 (Liang et al. 2021; too high?)

Mean clutch
2.2eggs
Clutches in a year
4.5per year
Clutches a year
4–5per year

Naming and history

Suborder
Sauria
Infraorder
Laterata
Subspecies
Takydromus sexlineatus ocellatus (GUÉRIN-MÉNEVILLE 1829) Takydromus sexlineatus sexlineatus DAUDIN 1802
Described by
Daudin
Moved to another genus · since it was first described
No
Described in
1802
Type locality
Non given

Keeping one

11 in × 11 in × 11 in(28 × 28 × 28 cm)

Minimum length × width × height, for one animal. Bigger is always better.

The standard sizes ground species at 4 × 4 × 2.5 and climbing species at 4 × 2.5 × 4 times snout-vent length.

Recorded both on the ground and climbing, so this is the larger of the two rules in every dimension.

Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilien (Sachverständigengutachten), German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry, Animal Welfare Division, 10 January 1997. The standard states these floor areas are recommendations rather than binding limits.

From this animal’s own snout-vent length of 2.75 in (70 mm), at 4 × 4 × 4 times it, following the German federal welfare standard — how this is worked out.

In a laboratory thermal gradient this species settled at 89 °F (31.5 °C).

Preferred body temperature, recorded in a laboratory gradient where the animal could choose freely. A measurement of the animal, not a setting for a thermostat.

Feeding

A prey item should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes.

Widely used across reptile husbandry references. The stated reason is that the gap approximates the width of the throat, so wider prey is associated with impaction. This is established practice, not a measurement.

1kJ per day

Worked out for an animal of 8 g, the heaviest recorded for Asian Grass Lizard — so it is the top of the range, not a figure for a particular animal. Weigh yours and the number will be lower.

An upper estimate, not a feeding target, and not veterinary advice. The equation covers only what an animal burns staying alive, so a growing, gravid or recovering animal needs more — and it was measured on wild animals, which move far more than one in an enclosure. Body condition and a vet who knows the species are what a feeding decision should rest on. Where this comes from.

What nobody knows

These are not gaps in our research. No scientific dataset records them for this species — and saying so is information you cannot get from a reference that simply leaves a field out.

  • Length snout to vent · adult male mean
  • Length snout to vent · adult mean
  • Length nose to tail · greatest recorded
  • Female length · mean, nose to tail
  • Length nose to tail · adult male mean
  • Length nose to tail · adult mean
  • Largest male · snout to vent
  • Largest female · shell length
  • Largest male · shell length
  • Hatchling length · nose to tail
  • Largest juvenile · shell length
  • Egg length
  • Egg width
  • Body mass · a typical adult
  • Body mass at hatching
  • Eats arthropods
  • Eats vertebrates
  • Eats plant matter
  • How the young develop
  • Gestation or incubation
  • First breeds from · youngest recorded
  • First breeds by · oldest recorded
  • Hatchling length · smallest recorded
  • Hatchling length · largest recorded
  • Age at first breeding · female
  • Mature from · youngest recorded
  • Mature by · oldest recorded
  • Size at maturity · smallest recorded
  • Size at maturity · largest recorded
  • Colour on the back
  • Pattern on the back
  • Pupil
  • Red List criteria
  • Active season · shortest recorded
  • Active season · longest recorded
  • Density · lowest recorded
  • Density · highest recorded
  • Home range · largest recorded
  • Active in
  • Lowest it lives · above sea level

Others in Lacertidae

Take this data

Everything on this page is available as data under CC BY 4.0 — use it freely, credit it, no permission needed.

This species as JSON · the whole dataset

Cite this page

The Reptile & Amphibian Encyclopedia (2026). Takydromus sexlineatus. Retrieved 2026-09-08, from https://www.allanglescreatures.com/species/takydromus-sexlineatus

@misc{takydromus_sexlineatus_2026,
  title  = {Takydromus sexlineatus},
  author = {{The Reptile & Amphibian Encyclopedia}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://www.allanglescreatures.com/species/takydromus-sexlineatus}
}

Sources

  1. Meiri, S. (2024). SquamBase — a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography. Public domain (CC0).
  2. Oskyrko, O. et al. (2024). ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data. Used under CC BY 4.0.
  3. Catalogue of Life (dataset 3LR), used under CC BY.