Reptiles

The loggerhead sea turtle (scient. Caretta caretta) is the most important sea turtle species of Greece, which is strictly protected by the Greek laws. In Greece, two organizations are involved in the protection of sea turtles, namely ARCHELON and MEDASSET, actually doing a great job.

The Balkan whip snake (scient. Hierophis gemonensis or Coluber gemonensis) is a medium sized snake, which is commonly met in the island of Crete. It can reach a length of 1m, but is usually much shorter.

The leopard snake (scient. Elaphe situla or Zamenis situla) is the most beautiful species of snake in Greece, with characteristic orange-red markings on its back. In Crete it is called ochentri, which means viper, which is incorrect as the snake is completely harmless. This false impression has been caused by a V sign on its head, which is similar to that of vipers. 

The dice snake (scient. Natrix tessellata) is a kind of water snake, which occurs frequently in the permanent wetlands, the sea shores and rock pools of Crete. Many Cretans call it as water snake, but this name actually belongs to the relative species of Natrix natrix, which is absent from the island. Finally there is the suspicion that the dice snake of Crete belongs to a separate species, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The cat snake (scient. Telescopus fallax) is the only snake in Crete with venom. However, the poison is too weak to hurt humans and is excreted in the back of its mouth, making it actually harmless. The snake feeds on small lizards and uses the poison for relaxing their bodies.

The Turkish gecko (scient. Hemidactylus turcicus) or Mediteranean house gecko is one of the most common reptiles in Crete, which is closely related to the Moorish gecko. Indeed, many people tend to confuse the two species that have similar characteristics but do not belong in the same species.

In Crete, apart from the main subspecies Lacerta trilineata trilineata, there is also the subspecies Lacerta trilineata polylepidota. The green lizards are completely harmless, although some consider them poisonous.

The ocellated skink (scient. Chalcides ocellatus) (or the eyed skink or gongilo), is an impressive species of skink, which is native to to Italy, Greece and North Africa. In Crete holds the mistaken impression that they are deadly poisonous and people are afraid of them.