What Do Outdoor Lizards Eat?

Lizards are fascinating creatures that have adapted to thrive in a wide range of habitats. When it comes to their dietary needs, outdoor lizards eat a diverse array of insects, arthropods, and small vertebrates. Their food preferences depend on the species, size, age, habitat, season, and availability of prey.

Common Foods for Outdoor Lizards

Outdoor lizards are opportunistic predators and scavengers. Here are some of the most common foods they eat:

Insects

Insects make up a major part of most outdoor lizard species’ diets. They eat insects such as:

• Crickets – A staple food source. Crickets are packed with protein.
• Grasshoppers – Abundant in fields and grasslands. A good source of nutrients.
• Cockroaches – Plentiful around human dwellings. Offer fat and protein.
• Flies – Often eaten by larger lizard species. Rich in fat content.
• Butterflies and Moths – Particularly eaten by smaller lizard species. Caterpillars also eaten.
• Beetles – Armored insects eaten by lizards with strong jaws. Good source of fat.
• Ants – Often eaten by ant specialist lizards like horned lizards. Rich in formic acid.
• Termites – Abundant food for lizards that can open mounds. Packed with nutrients.
• Bees and Wasps – Dangerous prey, but nutritious. Eaten by thick-scaled lizards.
• Dragonflies – Caught on the wing by agile lizard species. Excellent source of protein.
• Spiders – Dangerous fangs, but soft bodies easily digested. Good protein and fat.

Insects provide lizards with essential nutrients like protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. Soft-bodied larvae are often preferred as they are easier to digest.

Other Arthropods

In addition to insects, lizards will eat any small arthropods they can capture, including:

• Centipedes – Poisonous legs, but lizards can disable them. Give protein.
• Millipedes – Slow moving and easily caught. Decent nutrient source.
• Scorpions – Venomous stingers, but some lizards are resistant. Offer fat and protein.
• Isopods – Abundant crustaceans like woodlice and pill bugs. Provide calcium.
• Amphipods – Includes sand fleas and beach hoppers. Eaten by coastal lizards.
• Arachnids – Spiders, ticks, mites, etc eaten for protein.
• Snails and Slugs – Slow and easily caught. Good source of calcium.

The exoskeletons of arthropods provide lizards with important minerals like calcium and phosphorus to support bone growth.

Small Vertebrates

Larger predatory lizard species will also eat small vertebrates such as:

• Small rodents – Mice, voles, squirrels, rats. Eaten by big lizards. Give protein and fat.
• Birds and eggs – Chicks and eggs raided from nests. Rich in nutrients.
• Lizards and snakes – Even cannibalism seen in some species. Good protein.
• Frogs and toads – Legs and tadpoles eaten. Avoid toxic skin secretions.
• Fish – Caught by water-dwelling lizards. Excellent source of omega-3 fats.
• Carrion – Dead animals opportunistically scavenged.

Vertebrate prey provides quality nutrition to support the higher metabolism of large, active lizard predators.

Plant Material

While most lizards are strictly carnivorous, some species supplement their diet by eating:

• Fruit – Sugary pulp and seeds eaten. Provides carbohydrates.
• Nectar – Lapped up by specialized nectar-feeding lizards. Offers quick energy.
• Pollen – Eaten by a few species. Provides protein and micronutrients.
• Leaves and Shoots – Contain fiber. Eaten by herbivorous lizard species.

Plant food is not a significant part of most outdoor lizard diets, but can provide some additional nutrients.

Food Preferences by Lizard Type

Different types of outdoor lizards tend to have specialized dietary preferences:

Geckos

• Mostly insectivorous, eating insects like crickets, roaches, moths, butterflies.
• Small vertebrates like baby mice occasionally eaten by larger species.
• Some nectar-feeding geckos lap up fruit and flower nectar.
• Have simple teeth rather than jaws for chewing, so swallow prey whole.

Iguanas

• Prefer leaves, fruits, flowers as staple foods. Gut adapted to digest plant material.
• Smaller amounts of insects, spiders and snails eaten for protein.
• Large iguanas occasionally eat small vertebrates and eggs.
• Powerful jaws for chewing tough plant parts like stems and bark.

Monitor Lizards

• Actively hunt rodents, birds, fish, frogs, snakes, carrion.
• Also eat eggs, snails, crabs, large insects like grasshoppers.
• Powerful claws for tearing apart prey. Jaws adapted for chewing bone.
• Long tongues for capturing elusive, fast-moving prey.

Skinks

• Generalist insectivores eating most small arthropods.
• Often forage in leaf litter capturing ants, termites, beetles.
• Some species supplement diet by occasionally eating fruit and pollen.
• Short snouts and small teeth adapted for grabbing and swallowing insects whole.

Tegus

• Omnivorous appetite – eat fruits, vegetables, eggs, small vertebrates.
• Use strong jaws to crush snail shells, tear open termite mounds.
• Forage actively across large territories seeking varied foods.
• Powerful bite and digestive system to consume diverse prey items.

Chameleons

• Exclusively insectivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, worms, snails.
• Long sticky tongues rapidly launched to capture fast prey.
• Unusual zygodactylous feet adapted for climbing and grasping branches.
• Slow-moving ambush predators that wait for insect prey to come close.

Different lizard families have evolved specialized adaptations for catching and eating their preferred foods.

Hunting Strategies

Outdoor lizards employ diverse hunting techniques to capture prey:

Active Foraging

• Skinks, swifts, some iguanas.
• Actively move through environment searching for food.
• Use quick burst speed to chase down prey.
• Well-developed limbs and stamina for constantly moving.

Sit-and-Wait Ambush

• Chameleons, agamas, anoles.
• Remain still for long periods waiting for prey.
• Depend on camouflage and patience.
• Strike quickly when prey gets near.

Wide Foraging Territories

• Monitor lizards, some geckos.
• Cover large areas up to several square km.
• Memorize locations of productive feeding spots.
• Pursue prey persistently once detected.

Grabbing and Subduing

• Most lizards seize small prey in their jaws.
• Large prey subdued with claws and powerful bites.
• Venom in Gila monster and beaded lizard bites.
• Constriction used by some big lizards to restrain prey.

Stealth Attack

• Anoles, chameleons, geckos.
• Slow stealthy approach or remain still to avoid detection.
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• Swallow prey whole and retreat before being spotted by predators.

Different hunting approaches allow lizards to take advantage of habitats and feed on preferred prey.

Habitat Influences Food Availability

The habitats where lizards live greatly impact the types of foods available to them:

Forests

• Abundant insects like beetles, caterpillars, crickets in leaf litter.
• Centipedes, millipedes, snails under logs.
• Birds and small mammals in canopy.
• Geckos, anoles, skinks common forest lizards.

Deserts

• Scarce vegetation means fewer plant-eating insects.
• Ants, grasshoppers, roaches make up bulk of prey.
• Rodents and birds rare. Mostly smaller vertebrates like lizards eaten.
• Collared lizards, fringe-toed lizards, geckos thrive in deserts.

Grasslands

• Crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars plentiful in grasses.
• Some small snakes, mammals, birds available.
• Swift lizards adapted to running down prey on open ground.
• Raptors pose aerial threat. Lizards rely on speed, camouflage.

Coastal

• Crabs, snails, small fish available near shores.
• Wind limits insect populations.
• Scavenging opportunities like seabird eggs, turtle hatchlings.
• Monitor lizards dominate coastal habitats.

Different landscapes provide varying resources that shape lizard diets.

Seasonal Shifts in Food Availability

Prey availability also changes with seasons, which influences lizard diets:

Spring

• Insects emerge and become active, amphibians breed.
• Lizards eat caterpillars, beetles, worms, frog eggs.
• Important for replenishing fat stores after winter.

Summer

• Peak insect numbers, allowing feeding selectivity.
• Lizards target soft grubs, grasshoppers, butterflies.
• Heat demands increased feeding to meet energy needs.
• Some plants fruit, providing additional nutrition.

Fall

• Crickets, grasshoppers, roaches remain abundant.
• Fruits, berries, seed pods also eaten by omnivores.
• Prey hoarded in burrows to sustain some lizards in winter.

Winter

• Greatly reduced insect populations in cold months.
• Lizards in warm zones still active and feed on dormant insects.
• Northern lizards brumate underground and fast for long periods.
• Critical fat reserves needed for surviving long winters.

Lizards adapt their feeding patterns to capitalize on seasonal prey availability.

Age-Related Dietary Requirements

Younger lizards often have different dietary needs than adults:

Juveniles

• Start feeding on tiny insects like fruit flies, pinhead crickets.
• Cannot tackle large, hard-bodied insects, let alone vertebrates.
• Need high protein to support rapid growth.
• Consume more frequent small meals than adults.

Subadults

• Switch to larger insect prey like full-size crickets, grasshoppers.
• Begin sampling small vertebrates if species appropriate.
• Higher metabolism demands more frequent feeding than adults.
• Calcium needs increase for bone growth.

Adults

• Able to eat full range of prey up to maximum allowable size.
• Focus shifts from growth to reproduction and fat storage.
• Males need increased protein during breeding seasons.
• Females require extra calcium when producing eggs.
• Older Adults
• Potentially reduced speed and agility limiting prey capture.
• Compensate with greater caution, ambush hunting.
• Maintaining adequate nutrition challenging as metabolism slows.

Lizards tailor their diets as they pass through different life stages.

Optimal Nutrition for Health

To stay in top condition, outdoor lizards need diets providing:

• Protein – For muscle growth and repair. Abundant in insects.
• Fat – Key energy source and nutrient transport. Found in larvae.
• Calcium – Essential for proper bone formation. Offered by snails, arthropods.
• Vitamin D3 – Needed for calcium absorption. Generated by exposure to UVB light.
• Vitamin A – Supports vision, reproduction, immunity. Found in prey guts.
• Phosphorus – Works with calcium to mineralize bones. Available in vertebrate prey.

A variety of whole prey items is required to meet all a lizard’s nutritional requirements. Gut loading feeder insects can further enhance their nutritional value. Proper hydration is also vital so clean water should always be available. Achieving a balanced diet lays the foundation for lizards to thrive.

FAQs About Outdoor Lizard Diets

What do pet lizards eat?

Captive lizards are usually fed a diet that mimics their wild preferences. This includes live insects like crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches supplemented with calcium powder. Some formulated pellets or frozen foods may also be offered for nutrition and variety.

What do lizards drink?

Most lizards get moisture from their insect prey but also need access to fresh, clean water in shallow bowls or drippers. Some desert species get all their water from food. Nectar-feeding lizards like Gila monsters drink nectar and fruit juice.

Do lizards eat vegetables?

Some herbivorous species like iguanas readily accept vegetables like parsley, kale, carrots. Omnivores like monitor lizards also eat fruit. But most lizards are exclusively insectivorous and cannot properly digest plant material.

Do lizards eat every day?

Hatchlings need very small meals daily. Juvenile lizards are often fed 3-5 times per week. Adult lizards typically eat every 2-3 days but some species only feed weekly. The quantity at each meal depends on the lizard’s size, age, and activity levels.

What kind of meat do lizards eat?

Wild insectivorous lizards eat invertebrates. Vertebrate-eating species prey on small rodents, amphibians, reptiles, birds. Captive lizards are not usually fed mammal meats which are difficult to digest. Some zoos feed ground whole prey like mice and chicks.

Do lizards bite humans?

Wild lizards generally avoid humans and only bite in self-defense if threatened or handled. Some monitor species can view people as potential prey and may bite aggressively. Pet lizards may mistake fingers for food and inflict defensive bites. Venomous lizard bites are very rare.

Conclusion

Outdoor lizards have adapted to find food in nearly any habitat from deserts to tropical forests. By understanding what types of prey different lizard species eat and how this varies with age, season, and environment, we gain insight into their ecological roles. Providing proper nutrition is also key to keeping captive lizards healthy. The dietary flexibility and hunting skills of lizards have allowed them to thrive around the world for over 200 million years.