# Blue belly (*Sceloporus occidentalis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-belly  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The blue belly (Sceloporus occidentalis) is a species in the family Phrynosomatidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 7 g to 10.4 g and reach 7.29 cm in length.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 7 g – 10.4 g |
| Length | 6.76 cm – 7.29 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 7 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | desert, shrubland |
| Egg incubation | 44 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3 – 17 |
| Age at maturity | 18 months – 22 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 – 3 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Resting metabolic rate | 7.16 mW – 9.59 mW |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Recorded prey and predators

 Recorded predators: American kestrel (*Falco sparverius*), Striped racer (*Masticophis lateralis*), Greater roadrunner (*Geococcyx californianus*), California kingsnake (*Lampropeltis californiae*), Red-tailed hawk (*Buteo jamaicensis*), Bullsnake (*Pituophis catenifer*), Racer (*Coluber constrictor*), Southern rubber boa (*Charina bottae*), Longnose snake (*Rhinocheilus lecontei*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Phrynosomatidae
- genus: Sceloporus
- species: *Sceloporus occidentalis* Baird & Girard, 1852

Synonyms: *Sceloporus biseriatus nigro-ventris*, *Sceloporus longipes*, *Sceloporus smaragdinus*

## Common questions

### How big is the blue belly?

An adult blue belly weighs 7 g – 10.4 g and measures 6.76 cm – 7.29 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### What kind of animal is the blue belly?

The blue belly (Sceloporus occidentalis) belongs to the family Phrynosomatidae in the order Squamata.

### What eats the blue belly?

Animals recorded preying on the blue belly include american kestrel, striped racer, greater roadrunner and california kingsnake. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size](https://animaltraits.org/), CC0 1.0, 1.0.7. Herberstein, M.E., McLean, D.J., Lowe, E. et al. (2022) AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size. Scientific Data 9: 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01364-9. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6468938
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b

Cite as: Blue belly (Sceloporus occidentalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-belly