It is very similar to the western green lizard, but has a more spottet back, and the western green lizard is more uniformly green. The colour on the juveniles throat is also different. Both species gets about 35-40 cm and males often has a blue throat. They are protected in Europe under the Bern - Konvention, but captive bred animals are often sold especially from German breeders. They prey on various insects, spiders, worms, small lizards and even baby rodents. We have found, that they are not as shy as the western green lizard. There can be problems if the animals are kept inside. They get "black cancer" a skin disease that ends up killing the animals. To prevent that they should have plenty of UV- light. Kept outside we newer had this problem. They are very aggressive against each other and should be kept in pairs. Females are also very aggressive against other females. Keeping many together in small terraria is possible but not recommendable.

The lizard reaches a length of approximately 12 cm length from the tip of the muzzle to the cloaca. The tail can be up to twice the length of the body. This lizard sheds its tail (autotomy), to evade the grasp of a predator.

Males have a larger head and a uniform green colouring punctuated with small spots that are more pronounced upon its back. The throat is bluish in the adult males and to a lesser extent in the females.

The female is more slender than the male and has a more uniform coloration, often displaying between two and four light bands bordered by black spots.

It feeds on insects, small lizards and even mice. In springtime the female lays 6 to 20 eggs. About 2 to 3 months later brown-coloured young appear with a length of 3-4 cm.