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Can you keep house lizards as pets?

Have you ever found a lizard inside your house and wondered whether you could just keep it and raise it as your own?

The good news is, in most cases, yes, you can actually keep a house lizard as a pet. The bad news – it will actually need quite a bit of effort on your side, in order for you to provide adequate care to your new household pet.

If you are serious about wanting to keep a pet lizard, you should first of all do some research and get all the equipment you need to set up a terrarium. You can then go ahead and catch whatever scaly pet has entered your house and claim it as yours to keep.

Common house gecko
Common house gecko (hemidactylus frenatus)

How to catch a house lizard and keep it as a pet

1. Try to identify what kind of lizards inhabit your home

The type of lizard you encounter will be dependent on where you live. The most common lizard in many households around the world is the Common House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) which as a matter of fact can be kept as pets.

Take a photo of your house guest and scan it with Google Lens and compare it to other photos on the internet. If you are comfortable you are dealing with a Common House Gecko, then you can proceed catching the lizard providing you have some kind of enclosure where you can place it.

2. Catch the lizard

This step may require some fast motions, try to quickly grab the lizard with your hands grabbing it by the body (not the tail!) using enough pressure not to let it escape but without hurting it. Alternatively, you can try trapping it with a large glass or container.

After you catch it, place the lizard in a jar or small container and make sure to poke some small holes on the lid so it can breathe. Don’t leave it there too long – prepare to transfer it somewhere nicer.

3. Prepare the enclosure

You will need to setup a terrarium with some tree branches and leafage. The larger the better. You will also need to install a UVB lamp and keep it on for 8-12 hours a day to replace natural sunlight.

4. Provide food and water daily

Now that you own a lizard pet, you need to take care of it. Most lizards are insectivores so you will need to provide them with crickets, grasshoppers, and small insects on a regular basis. Make sure to also mist some water into the enclosure every day and leave a couple of small water bowls so that the humidity stays high.

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