Find your kind of wild.

Ackie Monitor

A small, sun loving rock monitor from Australia that digs constantly and hunts with real intelligence.

African Fat-Tailed Gecko

A calm, nocturnal West African gecko known for its thick, fat storing tail and long lifespan.

Agama Lizard (Red Headed Agama)

The red headed rainbow lizard of Africa, now also basking on Florida walls.

Alligator Lizard

A tough, fast, insect hunting native lizard with a snake like body, a long tail, and a bite to match its name.

Argentine Black and White Tegu

A giant, food motivated South American lizard that needs serious space and heat to thrive.

Argus Monitor

A fast, food driven Australian goanna that needs room sized housing and an experienced keeper.

Armadillo Lizard

A spiny South African lizard that curls into a ball and bites its own tail when threatened.

Ashy Gecko

A tiny Caribbean dwarf gecko introduced to the Florida Keys, known for round pupils and a juvenile that looks nothing like the adult.

Asian Long Tailed Grass Lizard

A pencil thin lizard whose tail can run three times its body length, built for speed through tall grass.

Asian Water Monitor

A giant, water loving monitor lizard built for rivers, swamps and serious keepers.

Australian Water Dragon

A large, spiny crested river lizard from eastern Australia that swims like a champion and can hold its breath for nearly an hour.

Barking Gecko

A small, rock loving Australian gecko named for the sharp bark it gives when threatened.

Basilisk Lizard

The Jesus Christ lizard that sprints across water on its hind legs.

Beaded Lizard

One of the two classic venomous lizards, a slow, secretive hunter from the dry forests of Mexico.

Bearded Dragon

Australia's spiky, sun loving lizard that waves hello and settles in fast.

Black Spiny-tailed Iguana

A fast, rock loving iguana from Central America, now wild on Florida's coast.

Black Throated Monitor

A giant, food driven East African monitor built for keepers who already have room and experience.

Black Tree Monitor

A jet black, tree climbing monitor lizard from Indonesia, for experienced keepers only.

Blotched Blue Tongue Skink

A stocky, cold hardy Australian skink with bold blotches and a startling blue tongue.

Blue Tailed Skink

A small, quick, ground dwelling skink from the Indo Pacific that keeps its bright blue tail for life.

Blue Tongue Skink

A stocky, easygoing lizard famous for its bright blue tongue and calm temperament.

Blue Tree Monitor

A rare, cobalt blue arboreal monitor from one Indonesian island, demanding but spectacular in captivity.

Broad Headed Skink

The largest native skink in the eastern US, famous for a myth that it is a poisonous scorpion.

Brown Anole

A quick, sun loving Caribbean lizard now common on fences and patios across the South.

Butterfly Agama

A deep burrowing, hot basking Southeast Asian agamid that needs serious floor space and strong UVB.

California Legless Lizard

A sand burrowing, snake shaped lizard native to California, split into five protected species in 2013.

Carpet Chameleon

A jewel toned Madagascar chameleon that lives fast, breeds young, and rarely sees its fourth year.

Cat Gecko

A cool climate, nocturnal gecko from Southeast Asian rainforests known for curling its tail like a cat.

Chahoua Gecko

A mossy patterned New Caledonian climber with a gripping tail and a calm, steady temperament.

Chameleon Gecko

A small, granular skinned New Caledonian gecko with a partly prehensile tail and a mostly fruit based diet.

Chinese Crocodile Lizard

An endangered, cool water lizard from China and Vietnam, protected under CITES Appendix I and found almost nowhere outside zoos.

Chinese Water Dragon

A big green river lizard that dives underwater the instant it feels threatened.

Coal Skink

A secretive, water diving skink of the eastern forests, protected in several states and never a pet store animal.

Common Chameleon

Europe's only native chameleon: a short lived, protected Mediterranean insect hunter that has no place in a home terrarium.

Common Chuckwalla

A thick bodied desert lizard that wedges into rock crevices and inflates its body to outlast any predator.

Common Sandfish

A desert skink that swims through sand instead of walking across it.

Common Wall Lizard

Europe's most widespread wall dwelling lizard, now naturalized on Cincinnati stone walls and English sea cliffs.

Crested Gecko

A gentle, big eyed forest gecko from New Caledonia that thrives without a heat lamp.

Crocodile Gecko

A rugged, tubercled Mediterranean climber nicknamed for its crocodile like scales.

Crocodile Monitor

New Guinea's longest lizard, an arboreal predator built for a rainforest canopy, not a beginner's terrarium.

Cuban False Chameleon

A slow, bark colored Cuban anole that crushes snails and moves like a true chameleon.

Cuban Rock Iguana

A big, tough, long lived Caribbean rock climber that needs serious space and sun.

Curly Tailed Lizard

A fast, sun loving West Indian lizard now living wild across Florida.

Desert Iguana

A sun loving desert lizard that stays active in heat most reptiles cannot handle.

Desert Spiny Lizard

A large, blue bellied Sceloporus of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, and what its wild status means for anyone who finds one.

Draco Lizard (Flying Dragon)

The gliding agamid that rides rib supported wings between rainforest trees.

Dumeril's Monitor

A jet black, banana headed monitor from Southeast Asian mangroves that hunts crabs for a living.

Dune Gecko

A small burrowing desert gecko built for sand, not glass.

Eastern Bearded Dragon

Australia's original bearded dragon: bigger and more arboreal than the pet trade's central bearded dragon, and almost never legally available outside its native range.

Eastern Blue Tongue Skink

Australia's calm, blue tongued garden skink, one of the steadiest large lizards to keep.

Eastern Collared Lizard

A bold, sun loving lizard famous for sprinting across desert rock on two legs alone.

Eastern Fence Lizard

North America's spiny, sun basking native lizard, and why it belongs in the yard, not a terrarium.

Egyptian Uromastyx

The largest uromastyx species, a giant desert herbivore built for heat and open rock.

Electric Blue Day Gecko

A brilliant turquoise gecko from one tiny Tanzanian forest, now critically endangered in the wild.

Emerald Swift

A cool climate, live bearing highland lizard that needs strong UVB and a real nighttime temperature drop.

Emerald Tree Monitor

A slender, entirely green monitor lizard that never leaves the trees of New Guinea's rainforest canopy.

Emerald Tree Skink

A glossy, lime green skink that lives in the trees instead of on the ground.

European Green Lizard

The large, bright green lacertid of Europe, split into two species and rarely seen in US pet stores.

Fire Skink

A fast, secretive burrower whose bands of red and black flash under a metallic sheen.

Fish Scale Gecko

Madagascar's scale dropping gecko that regrows skin without a scar, and why you should never try to hold one.

Five Lined Skink

A fast, striped native skink whose blue tailed babies are one of the easiest lizards to spot in the eastern woods.

Flap-necked Chameleon

A large, wide ranging African chameleon known for the two neck flaps it flares when threatened.

Flying Gecko

A rainforest gecko with built in skin flaps that let it glide, not fly, from tree to tree.

Frilled Lizard

The tree dwelling Australian dragon known for its shocking neck frill and upright sprint.

Frog Eyed Gecko

The desert gecko with lidless frog like eyes and a tail that squeaks.

Gargoyle Gecko

A bumpy headed New Caledonian gecko with a calm nature and a tail that grows back.

Giant Day Gecko

A brilliant green Madagascar climber built for warm branches, bright light, and quick escapes.

Giant Leaf Tailed Gecko

The largest bark mimicking gecko on Madagascar, built for stillness rather than speed.

Gila Monster

A venomous, protected desert lizard best admired from a distance, not kept as a pet.

Girdled Lizard

An armored, rock dwelling African lizard built to wedge into crevices and shrug off predators.

Glass Lizard

A legless native lizard often mistaken for a snake, famous for snapping off its own tail to escape danger.

Gold Dust Day Gecko

A bright green, gold flecked gecko that lives fast, looks stunning, and prefers to be watched rather than held.

Gold Tegu

A bold black and gold digger from South America built for keepers ready for a big, long term lizard.

Golden Gecko

A gold scaled, night active gecko from the granite hills of southern Vietnam.

Great Plains Skink

The largest native US skink, with a blue tailed youth and a fierce defensive bite.

Green Anole

A small, color shifting lizard from the southeastern US that thrives on warmth, humidity, and room to climb.

Green Iguana

A rainforest giant that outgrows its first tank fast and can live for decades.

Ground Skink

The eastern leaf litter skink you have probably never seen, even though it lives in your yard.

Hainan Cave Gecko

A shy, red eyed nocturnal gecko from the caves and forests of Hainan Island.

Horned Lizard

A spiny, flat bodied desert lizard that eats ants and shoots blood from its eyes to survive.

Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink

A giant, docile island skink with a bright blue tongue and a lifespan measured in decades.

Italian Wall Lizard

A sun loving European wall lizard now established on Long Island and a few other US sites, famous for a Croatian island population that evolved a new gut structure within decades.

Jackson's Chameleon

A slow moving, three horned chameleon from cool African highlands, built to be watched rather than handled.

Jeweled Lacerta (Ocellated Lizard)

Europe's largest lacertid, with blue eyespots and big enclosure needs.

Jungle Runner

A giant ameiva built for speed and heat, not for handling.

Kimberley Rock Monitor

A cliff climbing Australian monitor built for vertical rock, not open ground.

Knight Anole

Cuba's giant green anole, up to a foot and a half long and better watched than held.

Lace Monitor

Australia's second largest monitor lizard, a tree climbing goanna almost never seen outside its native range.

Leachianus Gecko

The world's largest gecko, a barrel bodied New Caledonian native known for its loud bark and slow, steady growth.

Legless Lizard

Lizards that lost their legs on five separate branches of the family tree, and how to tell them apart from snakes.

Leopard Gecko

A spotted, ground dwelling gecko with blinking eyelids that helped launch the modern reptile hobby.

Leopard Lizard

A fast desert predator, not a pet: the leopard lizard's species, diet, and protected status explained.

Mangrove Monitor

A sleek, water loving monitor lizard built for climbing, digging, and swimming after fish.

Mediterranean House Gecko

A small, wall climbing gecko from the Mediterranean that now hunts insects on porches worldwide.

Meller's Chameleon

Africa's biggest chameleon, a single horned giant that needs an advanced keeper's setup.

Mertens Water Monitor

A semi aquatic Australian monitor built for rivers and billabongs, hit hard in the wild by cane toads and rare in captivity outside dedicated specialists.

Mexican Alligator Lizard

The emerald cloud forest climber that needs it cool, not hot.

Monkey Tailed Skink

A giant, tree dwelling skink from the Solomon Islands with a grip like a fifth hand.

Mossy Leaf Tailed Gecko

A Madagascan gecko so well camouflaged as bark and moss it can vanish in plain sight.

Mountain Horned Dragon

Cool forest care for the Southeast Asian mountain horned dragon, genus Acanthosaura.

Mourning Gecko

A tiny, all female gecko that clones itself and colonizes islands without ever needing a mate.

Nano Chameleon

The world's smallest chameleon, found in one forest fragment in Madagascar and never a pet.

Neon Day Gecko

A fingertip sized Madagascar gecko with a yellow head, blue shoulders, and a turquoise tail.

Nile Monitor

One of Africa's largest lizards, built for water, and rarely a good fit for a first time keeper.

Northern Blue Tongue Skink

Australia's biggest, calmest blue tongue skink, built for a keeper ready for two decades of company.

Northern Caiman Lizard

A snail crushing river lizard from the Amazon, built for swimming more than snuggling.

Ocellated Skink

A glossy, burrowing skink from the Mediterranean and North Africa that vanishes into sand and asks for little in return.

Ocellated Uromastyx

A blue backed desert lizard from the Horn of Africa that needs strict heat, UVB, and a plant based diet.

Ornate Uromastyx

A small, vividly colored desert lizard that needs serious heat and a near vegetarian diet.

Oustalet's Chameleon

The largest chameleon species alive, a nearly two foot Madagascar giant built for keepers ready for the long haul.

Panther Chameleon

Madagascar's most colorful chameleon, prized for locality based blues, reds, and greens.

Parson's Chameleon

Madagascar's giant, slow moving chameleon with turret eyes and a taste for large insects.

Peach Throat Monitor

A New Guinea monitor with a peach blushed throat, bold and food driven once it settles in.

Peacock Day Gecko

A small, spotted Madagascar day gecko built for planted vivariums, not for handling.

Peters Banded Skink

A nocturnal sand skink from the Sahara that needs deep substrate, real heat, and patience with wild caught stock.

Pictus Gecko

A small, boldly patterned Madagascar ground gecko that stays easy to keep once the basics are right.

Pink Tongue Skink

Australia's snail eating skink with a bright pink tongue and a grip built for climbing.

Plumed Basilisk

The green lizard that sprints upright across the water on two legs to escape danger.

Pygmy Chameleon

A pocket sized African leaf chameleon that trades screen cages and bright color for cool, humid ground level living.

Quince Monitor

A bright yellow, semi aquatic monitor lizard from a handful of small Indonesian islands, needing a tall humid enclosure and real swimming space.

Rankin's Dragon

A pint sized Australian dragon with a bearded dragon's personality in a smaller, more sociable package.

Red Tegu

A big, food motivated tegu from the Argentine Chaco, prized for a calm streak rare in a lizard this size.

Red-Eyed Crocodile Skink

A spiny, orange eyed rainforest skink that squeaks when startled and rarely wants to be held.

Rhinoceros Iguana

A hulking, horned rock iguana from Hispaniola built for baking sun and years of careful care.

Sagebrush Lizard

A small, spiny scaled lizard of the western sagebrush country, and cousin to a newly endangered dune specialist.

Saharan Uromastyx

A small, brilliantly colored uromastyx from the rocky Sahara, built for heat, burrows, and basking.

Sailfin Dragon

A river loving agamid with a sail on its tail that can run across water on its back legs.

Sand Lizard

Europe's most widespread lizard, and one of Britain's rarest.

Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko

A palm sized Madagascar gecko whose tail looks like a curling, dead leaf.

Savannah Monitor

A stocky, ground digging African monitor built for crushing snails, not climbing trees.

Schneider's Skink

A large, burrowing skink with a gold flecked pattern, native to North Africa and Central Asia.

Senegal Chameleon

A budget priced West African chameleon that hides real care demands behind its low price tag.

Sheltopusik

A giant, limbless lizard often mistaken for a snake, native to Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Shingleback Skink

A slow, pine cone scaled skink from Australia that pairs with the same mate for years.

Side Blotched Lizard

A tiny desert lizard whose three male throat colors play a lifelong game of rock paper scissors.

Six Lined Racerunner

A lightning fast native whiptail of open ground, built to run, not to live in a tank.

Slow Worm

Britain's legless lizard: not a snake, not a worm, and one of the longest lived lizards on record.

Smooth Knob-Tailed Gecko

A stubby tailed desert gecko that spends its days sealed in a burrow and its nights hunting spiders and beetles.

Spiny Tailed Monitor

A pint sized, rock loving Australian monitor with a spiny armored tail and a busy, curious personality.

Standing's Day Gecko

A big, bold Madagascar day gecko that needs real space, strong UVB, and an experienced keeper.

Sudan Plated Lizard

An armored, shy African lizard built like a small dragon in scaled chain mail.

Sungazer (Giant Girdled Lizard)

South Africa's largest girdled lizard, a protected burrow dweller of the Highveld grassland.

Texas Alligator Lizard

The largest limbed lizard native to Texas, found on rocky hillsides across the Edwards Plateau.

Texas Banded Gecko

A small, nocturnal Texas desert gecko whose bold juvenile bands break into spots with age.

Texas Spiny Lizard

A tree climbing spiny lizard native to Texas oak and mesquite country.

Timor Monitor

A shy, tree climbing dwarf monitor with a slender body and a tail longer than the rest of it.

Tokay Gecko

A big, loud, blue gray gecko famous for its bark like call and its bite.

Tropical House Gecko

The widespread African gecko now chirping on porches across Florida and the Americas.

Uromastyx dispar

A tough, sun loving desert lizard that spends its days basking, burrowing and grazing on greens.

Veiled Chameleon

A helmet headed chameleon from Yemen that shifts color with mood and climbs on prehensile tail and toes.

Viper Gecko

A tiny rocky desert gecko that waves its carrot shaped tail like a striking snake.

Viviparous Lizard

The common lizard of Europe, the world's most northerly reptile.

Web Footed Gecko

A Namib Desert gecko that licks fog droplets for water and digs its home in the dunes.

Western Banded Gecko

A small, squeaking, tail waving desert gecko native to the American Southwest.

Western Fence Lizard (Blue Belly Lizard)

The blue belly lizard whose blood fights Lyme disease.

Whiptail Lizard

Fast, active foragers and the strange all female species that clone themselves

White Lined Gecko

A striped, nocturnal gecko from Pacific island forests, best suited to keepers ready for a hands off, still mostly wild caught species.

Zebra Tailed Lizard

Desert sprinter of the Southwest, built for open sand and speed rather than a tank.

WHICH LIZARD FITS YOUR LIFE?

Look at their needs side by side.

Compare species ↗

EXPLORE THE LIZARD GROUPS.

Anoles

Small, quick, dewlap flashing lizards ranging from pocket sized starters to foot long specialists.

Chameleons

Turret eyed, color shifting climbers that need more care than they look like they do.

Day Geckos

Bright, sun loving geckos that watch you back instead of hiding.

Dragons and Agamids

From desert bearded dragons to river dwelling water dragons, the agamid family covers every kind of dragon lizard.

Geckos

From sticky toed climbers to clawed ground dwellers, geckos are the most varied lizards you can keep.

Iguanas

From six foot green iguanas to fist sized desert iguanas, one family covers a huge range of pet lizards.

Leaf Tailed Geckos

Madagascar's masters of disguise, shaped like bark and dead leaves.

Monitor Lizards

Sharp clawed, sharp minded hunters that range from a two foot burrower to a seven foot giant.

Other Pet Lizards

Thirteen lizards that don't fit any other box, from venomous desert giants to lizards that sprint across water.

Skinks

The largest lizard family, from garden dwelling blue tongues to secretive rainforest specialists.

Tegus and Caiman Lizards

Large, intelligent South American lizards known for growing to dog sized proportions and forming real bonds with keepers.

Uromastyx

Spike tailed desert lizards that trade water for sun, and greens for almost everything else.