What Do Garden Lizards Eat

If you’ve spotted a little reptile scurrying through your flower beds, you might wonder what do garden lizards eat. Understanding their diet is key to appreciating these helpful visitors. As a gardener, I see them as natural pest control. They’re not just interesting to watch; they play a crucial role in the health of your outdoor space. Let’s look at what keeps them coming back to your yard.

Garden lizards are primarily insectivores. This means their diet consists almost entirely of insects and other small invertebrates. They are opportunistic hunters, eating whatever small prey they can catch and subdue. Their menu changes with the seasons and what’s available in your specific garden. This adaptability is one reason they thrive in so many different environments, from dense forests to suburban backyards.

Common Insects on the Lizard Menu

Your garden is likely a buffet for a hungry lizard. Here are their most common targets:

Crickets and Grasshoppers: A staple food source, rich in protein.
Beetles and Weevils: Including many species that are harmful to plants.
Flies and Mosquitoes: Lizards will snap these pests right out of the air.
Moths and Butterflies: They eat both the flying adults and caterpillars.
Aphids and Leafhoppers: Tiny but plentiful, these sap-suckers are easy prey.
Spiders and Millipedes: Another source of protein, though some millipedes can be toxic.

Beyond Bugs: Other Dietary Items

While insects make up the bulk of their diet, some garden lizards will consume other things. This is more common in larger species or when insects are scarce.

Small Snails and Slugs: A good source of moisture and calcium.
Earthworms: Especially after a rain when worms come to the surface.
Other Small Lizards: Occasionally, larger lizards may eat smaller ones or their own young.
Vegetation and Fruit: In very small amounts, usually by accident while capturing prey on a plant. True herbivory is rare in common garden lizards.

How Garden Lizards Hunt and Forage

These reptiles use two main hunting strategies. Many are sit-and-wait predators. They find a sunny spot, stay perfectly still, and wait for an unsuspecting insect to wander by. Then, with lightning speed, they dart out their sticky tongue to capture it. Others are more active foragers. They constantly move through leaf litter, under rocks, and along plant stems, actively searching for eggs, larvae, and hiding bugs. Their excellent eyesight helps them detect the slightest movement.

The Importance of Water

Water is a critical part of a lizard’s diet, though they don’t often drink from standing water. They usually get moisture from their prey or by licking droplets from leaves after rain or morning dew. Providing a shallow water source, like a saucer with pebbles in it, can help them during dry spells.

What Baby Garden Lizards Eat

Baby lizards, often called hatchlings, eat the same foods as adults—just smaller. Their tiny size means they target very small insects. Think fruit flies, tiny aphids, pinhead crickets, and small spiderlings. They have to eat frequently to fuel their rapid growth. Its amazing how quickly they can grow when food is plentiful.

Creating a Lizard-Friendly Garden

If you want to encourage lizards to take up residence and help with pest control, you need to provide food, water, and shelter. A healthy, diverse garden naturally attracts more insects, which in turn attracts lizards. Here’s how to make your space inviting.

Step 1: Cultivate a Diverse Insect Population

Stop using broad-spectrum pesticides. These chemicals kill all insects, removing the lizard’s food source and potentially poisoning the lizards themselves. Embrace a few “pests” to sustain the predators. Plant a variety of native flowers, herbs, and shrubs to attract different bug species throughout the year.

Step 2: Provide Ample Shelter and Basking Spots

Lizards need places to hide from predators and to regulate their body temperature.

Leave piles of rocks or broken pottery in sunny areas.
Create a small brush pile with fallen branches.
Use natural mulch, like bark or leaves, which harbors insects and provides cover.
Ensure there are some flat, sunny rocks or pavers for them to warm up on.

Step 3: Ensure Water Access

As mentioned, a shallow water dish with stones for safety is perfect. Also, planting dense, low-growing ground cover helps retain moisture at soil level, creating a humid microclimate and encouraging dew formation.

What You Should Not Feed Garden Lizards

It can be tempting to feed the lizards you see, but it’s usually best to let them hunt. If you do choose to supplement, avoid these common mistakes:

Human Food: Never offer bread, cheese, or processed foods. Their digestive systems cannot handle it.
Fireflies: These insects are highly toxic to most reptiles and can be fatal.
Large Prey: Insects should be no larger than the space between the lizard’s eyes to prevent choking or injury.
Wild-Caught Insects from Unsafe Areas: Bugs from areas treated with pesticides can poison the lizard.

If you’re keeping a lizard as a pet (always check local wildlife laws first), you’ll need to provide a specific captive diet, which often includes gut-loaded and vitamin-dusted insects.

The Benefits of Lizards in Your Garden

Welcoming lizards is one of the best things you can do for natural pest management. A single lizard can eat dozens of insects each day. They target many of the most troublesome garden pests, like aphids, cabbage worms, and beetles. This reduces the need for any chemical interventions. They also serve as prey for birds and other wildlife, integrating into your garden’s healthy ecosystem. There presence is a sign of a balanced, thriving environment.

Common Garden Lizard Species and Their Diets

While diets overlap, different species may have slight preferences.

Anoles (Green/Brown Anoles): Primarily small insects like spiders, flies, and moths.
Skinks (Blue-Tongued, Five-Lined): Enjoy snails, slugs, and larger insects alongside typical bugs.
Fence Lizards and Alligator Lizards: Voracious consumers of ants, beetles, and spiders.
Geckos (Mediterranean House Geckos): Excellent hunters of nocturnal insects like moths and cockroaches near lights.

FAQ: Common Questions About Lizard Diets

Do garden lizards eat plants?

Rarely. Common garden lizards are not built to digest plant matter efficiently. They might accidentally ingest a bit of leaf or ripe fruit while hunting, but plants are not a meaningful part of their diet. Some larger lizard species are omnivores, but these are less typical in most temperate gardens.

Do garden lizards eat fruits or vegetables?

Generally, no. They lack the digestive enzymes to break down cellulose. Leaving out fruit may attract ants or wasps, which the lizards will eat, but the fruit itself usually goes ignored. I’ve seen people try bananas and berries with no success.

What do lizards drink?

They primarily drink water droplets from surfaces. In a garden, they lick dew off leaves early in the morning. They rarely drink from bowls like a mammal would, but a shallow dish with clean water and pebbles provides an option, especialy in a drought.

How often do garden lizards need to eat?

This depends on age, size, and temperature. An adult lizard might eat every day or every other day during warm, active months. Hatchlings need to eat daily. When temperatures drop, their metabolism slows and they eat much less frequently, sometimes not at all during hibernation.

Should I put out food for the lizards?

It’s not necessary if your garden is healthy. The best approach is to cultivate a robust insect population by avoiding pesticides and planting diversely. If you want to supplement, small live crickets or mealworms from a pet store (not treated with pesticides) are safe options placed in a shallow dish.

Are there any bugs lizards won’t eat?

Yes. They tend to avoid insects with strong chemical defenses, like most monarch caterpillars (which are toxic from milkweed), stinging insects like bees and wasps (though they sometimes try), and the aforementioned highly toxic fireflies. They also might avoid bugs that are to large or aggressive.

Understanding what do garden lizards eat helps you see them as partners in gardening. By fostering a natural ecosystem with plenty of insect life and safe habitats, you invite these efficient pest controllers to make a home in your yard. Their success is a direct reflection of your garden’s health. So next time you see one dart under a rock, you can appreciate the important work its doing for your plants.