Lizard Habitat
Lizard habitat varies depending on the type of lizard. There are lizards that live in deserts, rainforests, temperate forests, on rocky terrain, underground or in or near water, such as streams and marshes. If you live in a warm climate, you can even make your backyard into lizard habitat by keeping leaves and twigs, mulching, making rock piles with crevices for lizards to crawl in, and by having a variety of plants for lizards to bask on or hide under.
Here are some lizards that have different types of habitat:
The Banded Rock Lizard is completely adept at living on and around all types of rocky surfaces. He is the only rock lizard in California and for him lizard habitat means large boulders and bare rocky surfaces. He has very sharp claws which grip rock surfaces and he pulls his limbs as close as he can to his body in order to hold himself close to a rock. The Banded Rock Lizard’s tail is designed to provide balance in rocky terrain.
Desert Lizards, like the Coast Horned Lizard that lives along the coastal plains to Baja in California, likes lizard habitat that consists of open vegetation such as coastal sage shrub and chaparral. He lives completely on the ground and never climbs trees or onto the sides of rocks. This sort of desert lizard blends in with his environment and can change colors if threatened so that he disappears into the landscape.
There are all kinds of tropical lizards who need their habitat to be very warm and humid. Many of these live in the rainforests, such as geckos, iguanas, water dragons and chameleons. Geckos have adapted to this lizard habitat by developing feet with special ridges that allow them to climb straight up trees and even hang upside down. Sometimes they even use their tails to grasp onto branches. The Basilisk Lizard adapts to rainforest habitat by changing his color to blend in, much like a chameleon.
Sometimes lizard habitat can be quite diverse, as in the case of the Western Fence Lizard. This lizard can be found in chaparral, grassland, sagebrush, woodlands, open forests and farmland. It likes to lie on fence posts in the sun, keeping its eyes open for both food and predators. It takes to woodpiles, rotting logs, and other such kinds of habitat. It also changes its color to blend into the background, whether it be in woodlands or grasslands.
Ocean lizards or Marine Iguanas were discovered by Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands. As the only ocean lizard, their habitat is unlike any other. They live almost totally on marine algae and they spend up to a half hour at a time diving into the sea to find it. Because lizards are cold-blooded they cannot control their body temperature but must lie in the sun to warm up before resuming their dives. Their faces usually appear to be white from the salt in the water.