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What is a house lizards lifespan? (& Some Weird Secrets)

Have you ever wondered how long a House lizard (also known as the Common House Gecko) will live for? Well, you are in the right place, because I will explain this and also divulge some interesting facts and secrets about this lizard.

What is house lizards lifespan? A House lizard lifespan is 5 years on average. Obviously depending on how well you look after them this can be more, or less if not treated well. There are however other Geckos that have lived significantly longer.

So now you know on average how long they live for. Let me now explain the longest living record gecko, other factors that can reduce their lifespan and how to avoid them, and more facts about house lizards that you may not know.

Longest recorded house Gecko in captivity

So, in this section I’m going to discuss the longest lifespan of any Gecko recorded.

The oldest Gecko recorded is 27 years. Geckos in general can lead really long lives. The house Gecko in particular may not necessarily live as long as the longest recorded Gecko in history, but they are still a long term commitment, not just for Christmas!

As discussed earlier the house gecko average lifespan is 5 years. When a house gecko is laid as a tiny egg, it can take up to 60 days for it to actually hatch out. After its hatched it needs to wait for at least a year before it reaches maturity and able to start breeding.

Issues that can reduce your house lizards lifespan

In this section I will discuss issues that cause your house lizard to be unhappy or even reduce its lifespan. Fortunately, some of these issues can be avoided.

Shedding problems

A Healthy House lizard should be shedding its skin on a regular basis. Also, whenever they shed their skin they also have a habit, or shall I say nature has its way, of making them instinctively eat their own skin shed.

This is so routine for them, that there may be occasions when you won’t even notice that they have shed. This is because they may shed their entire skin and consume it before you even notice that they’ve done it.

Some house lizard unfortunately have problems with shedding. This is quite obvious in a few ways. On a successful shed you should expect the entire skin to be shed.

If you notice that there is excess skin around their head, tail or around their eyes, it means that they have had problems with shedding. This can cause them extreme pain, discomfort and unhappiness.

If this is the case they will need some help to remove the shed. Check with your vet to insure you do this correctly. You also need to monitor them to make sure this isn’t a consistent problem.

Wounding problems

Unfortunately house lizards are susceptible to wounding issues. Obviously if they are in the wild there are a number of objects which can wound them. But even in captivity they are at risk.

For example, it could be caused by a sharp object in the enclosure, such as a loose piece of bark which catches their skin. You may even notice it is caused by a collision or a flight with another cage mate.

If it is a really severe cut, which is quite deep, then you need to take your lizard to the vet immediately to inspect it. This is because it might need some medical attention.

If it is a mild scratch or wound you may be able to keep the wound clean. It is also important to make sure that the wound doesn’t come in contact with any substrate. Especially particle-based substrate. The reason for this is because this substrate can then enter the wound and start to aggravate the problem.

If in doubt take your house lizard to the vet to inspect it.

House Lizard Behaviours You need to Know (Weird Life Secrets)

In this section I will be listing some House Lizard behaviours that you need to understand. Some of them are quite weird.

Teflon kryptonite?

I’m going to explain why house lizards do not like Teflon. Teflon is one of the only known substances that geckos find difficult to stick onto. Later on in this article I’ll give you a more detailed explanation of the amazing capabilities of the geckos toes.

Geckos have capabilities to almost walk and stick to any surface. But for some weird reason teflon is like their kryptonite. For some unknown reason, they find it hard to stick to, and simply slide off.

No males required – Any single females out there?

So in this section I’m going to discuss one of the amazing capabilities of female geckos. In particular their ability to reproduce without the presence of a male House lizard.

As crazy as it sounds, a female house lizard has the ability to reproduce offspring without her being bred or mated by a male lizard. This is known as being “parthenogenic”.

However, there are some downfalls with this. It has been noted that the offspring that is generated lacks certain genetic qualities. Basically a lack of diversity of genetics. In basic English, they appear to be in-bred.

It’s also been observed that the offspring that is created, in the absence of a male lizard, can also lead to a shorter lifespan for the baby lizards. So it may sound amazing, but it is not ideal.

Eating its own dirty skin shedding!

As briefly discuss earlier, these lizards have the habit of eating their own shedded skin. They will do this without hesitation. They shed their skin quite regular, so this is a common practice.

You will find that if there is a good regular water supply this will increase the frequncy of their shedding. The skin is believed be good for them. It has added nutrients to help them grow.

No eyelids and a lick their own eyes!

Geckos do not have eyelids, especially not the way us humans do. Instead of eyelids they have a see-through membrane which covers their eyes.

Humans use their eyelids to keep their eyes moist, and we blink automatically, without even thinking about it. But for Geckos, in the absence of eyelids like us, they need to use their tongue to keep them moist.

To do this, they actually lick their own eyes to keep them moist. Nobody really knows if they actually feel this or if it causes them any pain. But they do this on a regular basis and it is assumed that this does not cause them any discomfort.

Running away without their tail

If a house lizard is under attack it will naturally drop its tail. This ability is known as “autotomy”, which is a Greek term for self amputation. It sounds quite barbaric but this is a natural thing for most lizards.

Once it loses its tail, it will continue to pulse. It is done purposely to distract its predator and give it time to run away and leave the dismembered tail behind.

Related Questions:

Do Geckos feet stick to the wall? No, the house lizard is often confused and assumed to have sticky toes. In reality its toes are not actually sticking. It has the ability to walk on any surface surface whether that be a window or even on the Ceiling.

It does this using the pads on its feet with a combination of many tiny nanoscale hairs. In fact there are thousands of these tiny hairs. They have special tissue on thier feet called “Setae”.

They give it this capability.  As discussed earlier the only known surface they cannot stick to is teflon. However, even though they cannot stick directly to teflon, if water is applied to the teflon then they will have the ability to be able to stick on that surface. You may also be interested in how to tell if your leopard Gecko is Healthy.

Wayne
 

Hi, this is me with my daughter and my Lizard friend. I hope you enjoy my research. Please feel free to check out my "About Me" page to find out more about me.