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A recent review of the methods for study of reptile populations convincingly argued that data on age-specific survival, reproduction, immigration, and emigration are essential for testing all facets of life history theory (Dunham et al., 1994). These authors also noted that such data can only be obtained from long-term studies of populations in their natural habitats. However, the obstacles to conducting long-term field stud-ies are considerable. One difficulty is developing a method to mark animals so they may be identified reliably for long periods after they were initially captured. Ideally, the marks in long-term studies should (1) be permanent,(2) identify the animals as particular individuals,(3) be easy to use and to read in the field,(4) not cause excessive pain or discomfort to the animals, and (5) not affect the behavior or survival of the animals (Ferer, 1979). In studies of lizards, the technique that is used most frequently is …