The northern caiman lizard can grow up to 4 feet long and weigh up to 10 pounds regardless of gender.

Even though it has a large heavy body, they still have short and powerful limbs. The northern caiman lizard’s bulky head is red or orange while its long and flattened tail is bright green with dark green bands.

Their bodies are made for the water as their caiman-like flat tail streamlines the swimming and diving process. Northern caiman lizards also have a third eyelid that activates when underwater that acts like a pair of goggles.

The northern caiman lizard can be found in areas throughout South America such as Brazil, Peru, Columbia, and more. They prefer swampy habitats or wooded areas that have become flooded since they are semi-aquatic. Northern caiman lizards are great climbers so they spend most of their time basking on branches, but if a predator appears, they can quickly drop into the water and swim away.

The northern caiman lizard is carnivorous, using its forked tongue to collect odors from the air to detect the direction of food. Their bulky heads have muscular jaws perfect for eating hard-shelled invertebrates. Even though the northern caiman lizard eats fish, clams, crawfish, and more, their specialty lies in snails. The lizard will take a snail into its jaws, raise its head so the snail slides back to crush it with its teeth, and then spit out the pieces of shell. The northern caiman lizard can even do this with the Amazon River turtle!

There is little information about the northern caiman lizard’s reproductive behavior. After mating, the female will dig a hole near the riverbank to lay her 5-7 eggs in and cover them up to protect them from predators. The eggs will hatch after about 6 months and the hatchlings will be totally independent.

Even though these lizards are available as pets, northern caiman lizards are extremely difficult to keep if you’re unprepared. Their bite is painful, they can grow up to 4 feet, and their enclosure requires a large pool, a place to burrow, logs, high humidity, and more.

A northern caiman lizard can use its tail as a whip or bite possible threats if cornered but they’d much rather flee than fight.

The northern caiman lizard is built and acts very similar to a tegu.