The Salt Lizard

Anything to add?

So for my Badger's Challenge story, my new character, Lialla Templeton, is poisoned by her recently ex-captain. I wanted her to have side effects of this poison last for quite a while (until a cure was found), so in order to fit the story, I created a little creature known as the Salt Lizard. Below is the description I have written down already.

The Salt Lizard is a small to medium sized lizard, ranging from 12 inches, snout to tail, to 36 inches. It is not particularly aggressive and can be quite curious. However, since it was often viewed as prey to larger animals, through evolution, it has developed a defensive coating of poisonous mucus upon its skin which wards off threats upon one lick, as well as keeping its skin moist and cool. This evolved trait seemed particularly useful, as the creature itself lives within the Araz desert.

Although the Salt Lizard may appear amphibious, it is quite possible for the creature to live in a hot and dry atmosphere. It is reptilian, although may have mated with an amphibious creature to produce such moist skin. The skin of this animal, like poisonous amphibians, is brightly colored. It's primarily deep red with orange speckles only covering the top half of its face, body, and tail, the mucus making the colors seem a bit hazy. There are also two yellow lines encircling its snout, matching the creature's slit-pupiled eyes. These colors are meant to remind predators that the Salt Lizard is poisonous.

The Salt Lizard secretes a salty substance from its skin that, upon touch or ingestion, could cause hallucinations, paranoia, nightmares, irritability, and an excessive feeling of dehydration or cotton mouth. The poison is typically fatal in large doses, driving the victim insane to the point of death. Although once exposed to the poison, the victim may either choose to live the length of the dose, facing a slow death with exaggerated symptoms, or continue having small doses of the creature's poison until a cure can be made or found. This may gradually develop a slight immunity to the toxin's fatal effects, but the symptoms will remain. If the victim forgets to take a dose of the poison in order to continue living with the side-effects, they may risk death.

The secretion of the Salt Lizard is typically salty in taste, with a thin mucus-like texture and an aftertaste of sour lemons. The secretion keeps the lizard cool within the scorching desert of Araz and it rehydrates its skin at night by collecting moisture beneath rock outcroppings. They are typically seen during the day.

I'm wondering if any of these sounds plausible. Could you see a creature like this living in the desert in our world? I mean, I wanted it to have the skin of an amphibian and the typical anatomy of a reptile, so I decided to join the two through evolution. Sand Worms live in the Araz desert and they have moist skin, but they live underground during the day and only surface to gather moisture at night. Could I have this lizard survive during the day in the hot sun with its heavily mucused body, or should it be nocturnal? Also, is there anything else I should add? Thoughts? Questions? This thing is a major aspect of my story. Well, mainly its poison, but still.