Lizard Behavior

Smelling and Tasting

• When a lizard flicks its tongue, it is actually smelling. Lizards have what is called the Jacobson's Organ, which helps a lizard's tongue to pick up scents drifting through the air. This helps lizards seek out food.

Feeding

• Depending on the species, lizards eat a wide variety of food. Some, such as the Arizona Striped Whiptail, are carnivores and eat birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Other lizards, such as iguanas, are mostly vegetarian and eat fruits, flowers and leaves. Most lizards eat insects, including flies, grasshoppers, crickets and worms.

Temperature Regulation

• Lizards are ectothermic, or cold-blooded. Because they cannot create heat for themselves, they must absorb it from the sun. In winter, many species migrate to warmer climates or hibernate under rocks or in tree trunks to stay warm. Lizards need little food during hibernation and can survive the winter. Lizards can also overheat, so those that live in the desert burrow into the ground to avoid getting too hot.

Shedding Skin

• Unlike snakes, which shed all of their skin at once as they grow, lizards shed their skin in patches. You can tell a lizard is about to shed when its skin color dulls and white patches emerge on its body. The lizard will then begin to rub against objects in its cage or habitat and remove skin with its mouth, often eating the skin.

Aggressive Behaviors

• Lizards display aggressive behaviors when they want to show dominance or when they experience a conflict with another lizard. A male communicates dominance by standing on his hind legs and arching his back. Both males and females often show dominance by standing on all four legs and raising and lowering their bodies as if doing pushups. The behavior allows the male to show off his bright coloring, a sign of good physical condition that keeps predators away. During a fight, male lizards do "lizard pushups," chase one another and bite.

Escaping Predators

• During a conflict with another lizard or if bitten by a poisonous snake, a lizard can escape by releasing its tail. The tail continues to move after it drops off, distracting the predator and giving the lizard time to escape. If a lizard drops its tail after a venomous snake bite, the poison will not reach its bloodstream. The lost tail can save a lizard's life, but it can make it less desirable to the opposite sex and may poorly affect its social position. Although tails can grow back, they may only partially return or in some cases may not grow back at all.

Mating Behavior

• When a male lizard wants to mate with a female, it often chases her, bobbing its head and shaking its body to show off bright colors and other desirable physical characteristics. One example is the green anole lizard, which blows up its reddish throat sack for hours when searching for a mate. Males will also fight one another for a female's attention, or even fight the female, grabbing her head until she is willing to mate.