Slow worm
Anguis colchica (Nordmann, 1840)
Status not recordedlizards
The slow worm (Anguis colchica) is a species in the family Anguidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 9.31 g to 11.7 g, reach 18 cm in length and live up to 54 years.
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Quick facts about the slow worm
- Weight
- 9.31 g – 11.7 g
- Length
- 18 cm
- Lifespan
- 54 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 9
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 4.5 years
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.7
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the slow worm?
Where does the slow worm live?
Not recorded
Is the slow worm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the slow worm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyAnguidae
- genusAnguis
- SpeciesAnguis colchica (Nordmann, 1840)
Synonyms Anguis fragilis colchicus, Anguis fragilis var. colchica, Anguis incerta, Anguis orientalis, Otophis eryx colchica, Otophis eryx var. colchica
Other names and names in other languages (28)
- Eastern slow-wormEnglish
- Eastern SlowwormEnglish
- slepýš východníCzech
- Østlig StålormDanish
- BlindschleicheGerman
- Ανατολικό ΚονάκιGreek
- Lución orientalSpanish
- vaskitsaFinnish
- Orvet orientalFrench
- Kékpettyes LábatlangyíkHungarian
- Orbettino orientaleItalian
- トウブヒメアシナシトカゲJapanese
- Austrumu glodeneLatvian
- hazelwormDutch
- Padalec kolchidzkiPolish
- NăpârcaRomanian
- Южная веретеницаRussian
- slepúch východnýSlovak
- Источни слепићSerbian
- Yılanımsı KertenkeleTurkish
- Веретінниця колхідськаUkrainian
- Kolchische BlindschleicheGerman
- Östliche BlindschleicheGerman
- keleti lábatlangyíkHungarian
- Oostelijke HazelwormDutch
- Șarpele de sticlăRomanian
- Șopârla apodăRomanian
- колхидская веретеницаRussian
Relatives of the slow worm
Other species in the same genus Anguis.
Common slow worm
Anguis fragilis
Peloponnese slow worm
Anguis cephallonica
Italian slow worm
Anguis veronensis
Greek slow worm
Anguis graeca
CompareSlow worm vs Common slow wormSlow worm vs Peloponnese slow wormSlow worm vs Italian slow wormSlow worm vs Greek slow worm
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the slow worm?
An adult slow worm weighs 9.31 g – 11.7 g and measures 18 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the slow worm live?
The slow worm has a recorded lifespan of 54 years.
What kind of animal is the slow worm?
The slow worm (Anguis colchica) belongs to the family Anguidae in the order Squamata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · 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 - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Slow worm (Anguis colchica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/slow-worm
“Slow worm (Anguis colchica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/slow-worm.
@misc{slow_worm_2026,
title = {Slow worm (Anguis colchica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/slow-worm},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}