Texas Spiny Lizard Habitat
The Texas Spiny Lizard lives mostly in trees. Other habitats include logs, stumps, old buildings, fences, prickly pear clumps, and rock walls that have a crevice in them. They are fast climbers that have specialized toe claws that enable them to easily climb and hang onto tree bark. Nearly all sunning, some feeding, and most mating takes place in a tree or on elevated area such as a wall, fence or post. The Texas spiny lizard occasionally descends to the ground to forage for food, to move to another tree, or to lay its eggs.
Texas Spiny Lizards move and live in an area of about .07 to .16 acres. That is the size of an average yard. That means if you see a Texas Spiny Lizard in your garden or yard, then your garden or yard IS their world.
Texas Spiny Size and Coloration
Female Texas Spiny Lizards are larger than the males. The average length of a 3 year old female lizard is 9 to 11 inches, while males are only 7 1/2 to 9 inches. Male lizards have blue patches that extend from the forelimbs to the hind limbs that increase in width and brightness as they age. Females have numerous, dark gray, wavy bands across the top of their backs. Females may also have a faint blue patch on each side or no blue at all. Both the male and female can become darker in color for heat absorption or paler to reflect heat.
Mating and Reproduction Habits of Texas Spiny Lizards
Texas Spiny Lizards usually begin mating in mid-March through early summer. When the female Texas Spiny Lizard is ready to lay her eggs, she descends from the tree to the ground in search of an area of loose soil that will make a good nest site. She will then dig a nest site that is 3 to 4 inches deep at a 45 degree angle.
This female chose to dig her nest in my cucumber bed along a piece black plastic edging. This area was probably a really good choice since the black edging will absorb the rays of the sun and help to keep the nest wall from collapsing. Her eggs have soft walls and measure ¾ in length and are interspersed in small clumps of soil. Since she chose this place to lay her eggs, I assumed that mother knows best and left them alone so they would have a better chance of hatching. Eggs should not be disturbed during the first 24 hours because during this time the embryo is not very well attached to the wall of the egg and could become unattached, and die when the egg is moved.
Mature Female Texas Spiny Lizards can lay anywhere from 1 to 4 clutches of eggs from April through August. They lay an average of 11 eggs in the first reproductive season, and an average of 24 eggs in their third season and thereafter. Eggs usually hatch in 50 to 60 days. Only about 2 to 5 percent of the eggs will hatch and the lizards reach sexual maturity. Newly hatched lizards are usually between 2 1/2 to 2 5/8 inches long.
Texas Spiny Lizards Are Helpful Garden Companions
Texas Spiny Lizards are great garden companions. They are natural pest control agents who work for free every day in your garden. They feed primarily on grasshoppers, blister beetles, June beetles, pill bugs, spiders and mites. From their elevated position in trees and on fences and walls, they can easily see an insect in your garden. When they see the insect, they zip down the tree to the garden, capture the insect and quickly return to the same tree.
How to Attract Texas Spiny Lizards to Your Garden
Texas Spiny Lizards are a sign of a healthy environment that is free of pesticides and unnatural fertilizers. Lizards can be utilized as biological pest control agents in an Integrated Pest Management system that relies more on the use of natural controls instead of pesticides- many of which can poison the lizards and their food supply. Also don’t use bird netting in your garden as the lizards can become entangled in it and perish. House cats can also be detrimental to the Texas Spiny Lizard population.
If you would like to attract Texas Spiny Lizards to your garden and yard, just create a healthy, natural environment and they will come. In addition, you can create an appealing habitat by placing an old log or a small pile of rocks beside a wooden fence, tree or wall.
Texas Spiny Lizard Hibernation
Texas Spiny Lizards hibernate in the winter. Their favorite hibernation spots are areas with deep layers of leaves and in the soil. So be sure to let some of the those fall leaves remain in some area of your yard or garden. The Texas Spiny Lizards may live five years or more.
Source for all specific information about the Texas Spiny Lizard: Lizards and Turtles of South Central Texas by Thomas G. VermerschThomas G. Vermersch.
52 Responses
How wonderful!!! I love learning new things
Thanks so much for the info!
One learns something new every day in this world of ours. Very interesting to learn how the Spiny Lizards help our gardens!
I live in the North but Loved seeing lizards in the south when I visited there. Thanks for the great information! They do work great as pest control!
I’d love to have one visit my garden to help with bugs. Lots of great info – thanks!
great info!
No Spiny Lizards in here but we could really make use of some! They look awesome and take care of pests? I want some!
wonderful
Helpful!
Very awesome
Thanks for sharing! They are so cool!!
What an awesome animal. Very intrrrdting.
Thank you for sharing this
Awesome info! Such cool animals
This lizard reminds me of my brother’s pet lizard when I was a child. I live too far north for the lizard, unfortunately.
I could sure use a gang of these guys but they wouldn’t survive the brutal winters here in the Adirondacks
We don’t have these in my area unfortunately. they are very cute
interesting but if I seen that in my garden I would run lol
I remember seeing these out West on my trip as a kid.
I Learned something New …THANKS
They are such helpful little creatures,I wish we had some here in NJ.
Uh, no thanks, but thanks for the information.
They are great, as long as you are looking for something to dig up huge swaths of your garden beds looking for the insects they love so much. A 9-12″ Texas Spiny Lizard that just was recently spotted around the yard for the first time, now regularly, all of a sudden there are massive areas around the root balls of dozens of plants, up to 8-15″ wide and about 2-6″ deep, and can dig 25+ holes in a single night. Now he has started on my grass. I realize some people will debate they can do this, but we never had an issue until he was spotted, now we see him all the time and he goes crazy in the beds a few times per week. A little too coincental to argue he can’t or doesn’t do it. He prefers the softest soil right around the root balls. He causes wholesale devastation. Hot sauce it is. I’ll take the harmless grubs and worms or whatever he he is after, as the inserts have never harmed my flower beds once. Not looking to harm him but he needs to find another place to dig and eat.
I’ve never heard of Texas Spiny Lizards before. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t know why but I never really considered lizards being a benefit to your garden. Great information here. I just wonder what critters would be beneficial in my state of SC
Never thought of lizards as being beneficial to gardens before.
I love learning all the parts of the ecosystem especially the creatures who help keep our gardens healthy. I would love to know about the creatures in my own state. It’s there a national database?
I didn’t know they were beneficial for controlling garden pests
Could we please have some Texas Spiny Lizards on the coast of North Carolina?
I enjoy seeing these guys around the yard.
Things you never know, till you do. Very interesting article.
These are so neat!! My husband always looks for them in the woods.
I wish I knew of some big lizards like that here in the PNW. Lizards are so cute and how fun to have one as a garden companion!
Always good to know garden friend and foes
We don’t get them round these parts. Shame really.
I never knew they were such an asset to our gardens.
Wish we had them here in Ohio !
didn’t know that this lizard was friendly for gardens
It’s hard to get an idea of the size of this tiny dinosaur but it sure seems to be more beneficial than scary. Thanks for sharing!
I have them in my backyard in Texas but never disturb them! I also do not use pesticides but choose more organic control for mosquitoes and chiggers. Thanks for the info!
Great information. I am watching a female Spiny lizard dig a nest right now in a rock garden outside my kitchen window. She has been hanging on the wall for quite a few days and attempted to dig holes earlier, but the ground was too hard. We had a lot of rain about 2 nights ago and she is successfully digging a nest currently. 🙂
How wonderful!!! I love learning new things
Wow lizards are fascinating, it’s hard to believe they lay 24 eggs and live to five ya, I will make them pets and they will be my garden protector and save me money for years and be a self replenishing army e
I have one that has been sitting in the residual rainwater in my wheelbarrow for several days. What would be the reason for this?
Such an interesting post. I’ve not heard of a Texas Spiny Lizard before.
any effort to preserve our wildlife gets a thumbs up from me!
Great info! I wish I had these lizards in my yard to help maintain my garden.
what a beautiful lizard, and i welcome anything that removes pests
A remarkable creature with a place in nature!
Weird looking frog. Thanks for writing this.
We’ve had these in our yard for several years now. I cleaned up an area that I didn’t realize they had been living in and thought I had run them off but have been seeing them around lately. They like to bask in the sun. They’re very cute! 🙂
I live near Dallas. When I see them on my patio, I usually step on them. They are resilient. It takes a few stomps to finish ‘em off. Depending on which shoes I have on, I can usually smoosh them in two stomps. I then flip the carcass into the neighbors yard.