Most commonly found lizards can easily get inside your house. But how to get rid of a lizard without killing it? In this post, you will find information on whether having lizards in your house is a good or a bad thing, how to get rid of lizards in your house without killing them, how to get rid of lizards on porch or in a car.
When trying to get rid of lizards in your bedroom, porch, kitchen, car etc., please don’t use any toxic substances/sprays or cruel methods. Please don’t kill them either.
Even though lizards might leave small poops around the house, they are generally harmless. Don’t use any rat poison, sticky traps, pesticides etc. Below you will find tips on how to get rid of lizards naturally, once and for good.
Is it bad or good to have a lizard in your house?
Having a lizard in your house is definitely not a bad thing. The main factor is that many people get scared of lizards in their house. Lizards are harmless, and will help you get rid of small bugs by eating them.
Will lizards crawl in your bed?
Most lizards are scared of people and will run away if you try to approach them. There is a little chance that a lizard can crawl in your bed (because you are warm or if they see a bug), but a slight movement will scare it away, and there’s certainly nothing to worry about.
How long does it take for a lizard to die in the house?
In general, if the lizard is active, it can survive for around a month without food (it’s very likely to find something to eat and drink). If it’s cold, it can brumate (sleep) for few months in a row without eating or drinking.
How to get rid of lizard in your house?
Tip 1: Make it go away
If you are really scared of lizards, you probably won’t want to touch or handle it. In this case, you need to help it get out on its own. To do this, get a long rolled newspaper and start directing it to the exit.
Have all doors/windows open, so it can easily get out. Most lizards also get into houses because it’s warm there – they fully rely on external heat.
To scare it away, you can also spray some water on it – make sure it’s warm water. Water spray will scare the lizard and it will leave. Don’t use cold water unless you want to pick up the lizard. That’s because cold water will shock it, and the lizard is likely to freeze for some time.
Tip 2: Block all the entrances and small gaps
Most lizards are small and fast, and can fit it tight spots. If you want to make it leave, you need to block wrong entrances and even small gaps and cracks.
Create a ‘path’ for the lizard, before you start chasing it away. Otherwise, it will go in the wrong direction and take much longer to find and get rid of.
Tip 3: Try to pick it up carefully
If you are not scared of lizards and can handle one, you can try to catch it to release later. Catching a small lizard is not always easy and you might need someone to help you.
However, catching a lizard, such as a gecko, isn’t always the best idea unless you do it slowly and without scaring it. That’s because you might stress it out very badly, making it drop its tail. A lizard with a lost tail will be vulnerable in the wild and will need time to heal.
So the correct word here would be to pick the lizard, and not catch it. This is especially true if a lizard can drop its tail (geckos etc.), because they see you as a predator.
The key to picking a lizard would be to only make slow movements, and approach it carefully. Don’t put your hand from top (predatory behavior), don’t scream or jump. Make sure your pets (if you have them) are not there either, or they will scare the lizard.
Tip 4: Lure it in a bag/box by making it come out of its hiding spot
Another great idea is to lure the lizard in a big bag or a box so you can later release it. This is much better than putting a glass jar on top of it – which will scare it to death and probably cause tail loss.
You can help lure the lizard out of its hiding spot by turning on a desk lamp and leaving it on the table. Or, you can also use a heat pad. At the same time, if you can, make the house temperature go down. The lizard will feel cold and is likely to come out to seek heat.
Leave the lamp on for as long as needed – make sure it gets warm. A warm lamp is very likely to get a lizard out of hiding – lizards love heat and light and are drawn to that. But if it’s noisy in the room, it might not come out at all. Heat pads are also great.
Tip 5: Use an ultrasonic repellent to keep lizards and other pests away
If you get a lot of different pests in your house, backyard or your porch – you might benefit from an ultrasonic repellent like this.
Ultrasonic pest repellents produce high frequency sounds that larger pets and humans can’t hear. But smaller animals will hear the sound and find it irritating, being forced to leave the coverage area. It will help keep away various pests such as snakes, bugs, spiders, roaches, rats, lizards and others.
If you get an ultrasonic repellent, make sure to check what coverage it offers, so you can protect all the areas that you need.
Tip 6: Remove the food and water source
Lizards come to your house for warmth, and mainly food. If you remove the food source, it will leave the house. To get rid of the lizard and decrease the chances of them coming in the future, get rid of all the bugs in the house.
Clean thoroughly after eating, don’t leave rubbish for too long and cover the rubbish bin. Also don’t leave any crumbs on the table/floor.
If you get lizards on your porch, also make sure to always clean there. Don’t leave food waste, scraps, crumbs etc. Fix all the cracks that your lizards can use to get into the house. Also, don’t leave any drinking water near your house unless you need it – lizards will come to drink.
Tip 7: Introduce irritating smells
There are smells that are irritating to lizards. If you get lizards on your porch or in the house, you can place some garlic, eggshells, onions. Some lizards are also scared of bird feathers – birds are their natural predators.
Please hang the vegetables so that lizards can’t eat them – garlic and onions are toxic to them. The smell alone will make them leave.
How to get rid of a lizard in a car?
If there is a lizard stuck in your car, please don’t worry. Please don’t try to kill the lizard in your car – the main goal is to make it leave. Also, prepare yourself to the chance of it coming out when you drive, and please be safe.
To make a lizard leave the car, take a rolled newspaper and start pushing with it everywhere. Open all the doors and even windows, and get to all small spots to scare it away.
Another thing that you can do is to get a sprayer and spray cold water to the spots where you think the lizard is hiding. Cold water will make the lizard very uncomfortable and it will run away.
What is more, you can open all the windows/doors to make the car cold. Then, turn the heating on, and the lizard is very likely to come out to warm up. Lizards depend on heat from outside as they are cold blooded. When it comes out, you can pick it up (slowly) or make it run away.
Thanks for reading this post on how to get rid of lizards in your house and car! But if you have a lizard in your backyard and you want to take care of it, you can find tips in this post.