What Is the Way to Check the Gender of a Garden Lizard?
There are more than 4,000 species of lizards worldwide, according to “Lizard: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.” Small lizards abound in the gardens and backyards of the American South and southwest. Larger pet lizards such as the green iguana, a South and Central American native, may wander into yards and gardens if they were abandoned by their owners after growing too big for the owner to handle.
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Instructions
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Identify the species of lizard. Some species of lizards have different coloration between males and females. Take many photos of the lizard in question, including a profile of the head and body. Send these photos to your local herpetological club. If unsure where the closest club is, contact the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, an international non-profit organization. Send them copies of the lizard photographs.
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Check for species-specific gender coloration differences. One such species is the green anole or American chameleon, one of the most numerous wild lizards in America. The male possesses a thin pink or red-colored pouch beneath the chin, which he displays to other anoles. The female lacks this pouch.
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Check the undersides of the lizard’s hind legs, if possible. If the lizard sits in a tree branch, this may be possible to see if the observer uses a pair of binoculars to focus on the lizard. Sexually mature male lizards have two or more glands called femoral pores attached to the underside of their thighs. Femoral glands secrete a wax-like material, which may cause the femoral glands to glisten. These glands look like large scales, often different in color from the rest of the scales on the thigh. In iguanas, males have larger femoral pores than females, but females of many other species do not possess femoral pores, according to “Lizard: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.”
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Tips & Warnings
If color, presence of femoral pores or a local herpetological society cannot determine the lizard’s gender, there is nothing else that can be done, unless you happen to catch the lizard mating or laying eggs. Pet lizards can be sexed by undergoing an ultrasound or having the vent under their tails, the cloaca, opened and examined with a probe. These can be traumatic experiences for a wild lizard and so the wild lizard should be left alone.
Never pick up or disturb a wild lizard if unsure what species it is. There are only two venomous lizards in the world – the Gila monster of the American southwest and the bearded lizard from Mexico. A non-venomous lizard will bite if scared. An anole’s bite feels like a pinch. Larger lizards produce more painful bites and can produce deep scratches with their claws.
References
- “Lizard: An Owner’s Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet;" Steve Grenard; 1998
- Access Science: What is the Function of Femoral Pores on Iguanids or Anal Pores on Other Lizards?; Donald Linzey
- Exotic Pet Vet: Reptiles: Reproduction From Egg to Adult; Margaret A. Wissman; 2006
- Wild Texas: Green Anole; Shannon D. Moore
- Iguana Invasion: Exotic Pets Gone Wild In Florida
