How to Trap a Small Lizard

How to Trap a Small Lizard. In hot climates, lizards can be seen basking on fences and rocks, scampering across roads and driveways, and getting into people's houses. Trapping and catching lizards is easy, and the same techniques can be applied to large and small lizards. Small lizards are faster than larger ones, however, so you will need good reflexes and will have to be well prepared. You can use these methods to catch a runaway pet lizard or to remove a wild one from your house. There are many different ways to catch lizards. Let your needs and environment dictate the method you choose.

Things Needed

• T-shirt or piece of ligthweight cloth
• Holding tank with lid

Step 1

Select a time to approach basking lizards. Lizards are cold blooded and are fastest when the air temperature is warm or when the perch they have chosen has been soaking up heat for many hours. You will have your best luck catching a lizard if you make your attempt in the early morning, around sunrise. This is when lizards first come out to bask and have a slower reaction time.

Step 2

Approach the lizard slowly and quietly. Avoid sudden movements, and do not approach from a direction that causes your shadow to fall across the lizard or into its field of vision. Small lizards are always watchful for danger. In order to successfully catch a lizard, you must appear to be part of the environment rather than a predator.

Step 3

Extend your arms rapidly and make a cup over the lizard with your hands. Press down hard with the edges of your hands, leaving no gaps for the lizard to escape. Leave space beneath your cupped hands so that you do not crush the lizard.

Step 4

Scoop the lizard off of its perch into your hands. Do this gently, as the bodies of small lizards are fragile. Bend your index finger and hold the lizard carefully between it and your thumb, putting slight pressure on the abdomen and letting its arms grasp your thumb. This is a secure and gentle holding position that prevents the lizard from struggling, biting or escaping.

Step 5

Transfer the lizard to a safe holding tank. Make sure you have a lid ready before releasing the lizard from the holding position, as it may attempt to climb your arm and escape.

Warnings

• If you cannot access lizards while the air temperature is cool, spill cold water on basking lizards to slow them down. Use a hose on a low-pressure setting and gently pour water on the lizard. The cold will prevent it from running fast, and may make it easier to catch without risking a bite or injury to its fragile body.
• You may also throw a T-shirt or a piece of light fabric on top of the basking lizard and gently scoop it up. Be careful not to crush the lizard when you pick up the fabric. Shake the fabric gently into the holding tank immediately.
• Snares called lizard nooses are also available, but these are more likely to injure the lizard as they involve looping string around the lizard's neck or abdomen, which allows the lizard to struggle and hurt itself.

Warnings

• Once you have the lizard in holding position, it may open its mouth in an attempt to bite you. Safely transfer the lizard to a holding tank without allowing its mouth to come in contact with objects or your skin. Once you have put it down, the lizard should close its jaws.
• Do not keep wild lizards in captivity. Use these techniques only to safely transport lizards. Reptiles meant to be kept by humans are available at pet stores. If you attempt to keep a wild caught lizard as a pet, it is likely to die because it is difficult to reproduce the temperatures and feeding schedule required.

References

• Idaho Museum of Natural History: Western Fence Lizard
• University of Nebraska: Reptiles and Amphibians
• Marshall University: Northern Fence Lizard
• University of Oregon: The Amateur Herpetologists Guided Field Journal