If you have a pet lizard, it’s important to provide it with a healthy and balanced diet. The type of lizard you own determines the kind of food it eats. Lizards can be carnivorous, omnivorous, herbivorous, or insectivorous. They typically require five to seven meals per week.
Know your lizard
- Poison lizards: There are approximately 2,700 species of lizards, out of which only two (both from Mexico) are poisonous: the Beaded Lizard and the Gila Monster. While some monitor and iguanian families have venom-producing glands, they don’t pose much danger to humans, unlike snakes.
- Versatile creatures: These lizards are very adaptable, with an external ear opening and movable eyelids. They can grow as long as 3 meters and come in various colors, sizes, and shapes.
- Chameleon lizard: These lizards can change color based on their environment or stress levels. Special cells in the layers beneath their transparent skin influence their color.
Types of lizards and their diet
- Carnivorous lizards: They eat store-bought frozen rodents like mice. The lizard starts by picking at the frozen mice, and once thawed, it consumes them. Other food options for carnivorous lizards include crickets, fish, mealworms, silkworms, larvae, earthworms, and butterworms.
- Herbivorous lizards: These lizards require a diverse diet. You should provide them with a variety of fruits and the nutrition they would find in their natural habitat, ensuring the food is free from pesticides and herbicides. Their diet can include bean sprouts, corn kernels, fresh figs, apples, unsalted sunflower seeds, fresh pear pulp, pea pods, mulberry fruits, carrot root, leaves, and other varieties.
- Insectivorous lizards: In their natural habitat, insectivorous lizards have access to various prey. However, you need to provide a balanced diet for your lizard, including flies, bees without stingers, grasshoppers, silkworms, moths, fruit flies, cockroaches, crickets, pillbugs, and sowbugs.
- Omnivorous lizards: Omnivorous lizards have the broadest range of food options compared to other types. They can eat plant greens, small insects, and animals. They enjoy flowers, vegetables, insects, and meat. They may have a preference for one type of food over the other, but it’s important to provide them with a balanced diet based on their preference.
In conclusion
The above list provides an overview of the preferred foods for different types of lizards. Aim to feed your lizard 5-7 times a week and offer a variety of food to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.
Image Source: Adrian Eugen Ciobaniuc / Shutterstock
