How to Tell the Gender of a Lizard

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How to Tell the Gender of a Lizard

How to Tell the Gender of a Lizard. Because male and female lizards have different behaviors and needs, determining the gender of your lizard can be important in maintaining the health of your reptilian friend. Male and female lizards may appear very similar but certain key areas on a lizard give clues as to its gender. In general, you must wait until a lizard is fully developed in order to determine its sex; juvenile lizards do not have fully developed sexual organs.

Male lizards tend to have heavier bodies than females.

Step 1

Consult an online source in order to determine whether males and females of your type of lizard have noticeable differences in colors or spotting. Many times, males and females will look different; males may have large flaps on their heads, throats, tails or backs. These obvious differences allow you to quickly determine the lizard's gender.

Step 2

Search for femoral pores on the lizard. Femoral pores are small glands that are located on a lizard's skin and these glands appear as small black, pink or white bumps. Males typically have femoral pores; females rarely have them but may in some cases.

Step 3

Look on the side of the lizard for pre-anal pores or pits. Males have a V-shaped row of pre-anal pores that release a waxy substance while females have pre-anal pits that do not release a substance. The pores and pits are typically found on the lizard's ventral side.

Step 4

Determine whether or not the lizard has a relatively heavy or thick neck. This only works when you have two oppositely sexed lizards so you may compare the two. The male lizard will have a heavier body and thicker neck than the female.

Step 5

Examine the base of the tail for a bulge near the cloaca. This is usually a sign of testes in male lizards. Male lizards may not have an external penis; this may be the only external form of the male sexual reproductive organs.