Every pet owner wants to get something back from his pet – some interaction and friendliness. But unfortunately, there are animals that have not been created to be held in captivity, so they lack various reflexes. As we know, lizards are wild animals and it is quite hard to tame a lizard and get it to like you! But today we will try to learn about lizards’ behavioral characteristics and how to train your lizard.
Reflexes
So which reflexes do you need to develop in your lizard for a successful communication? Let’s discuss general reflexes of lizards and what you need to do to train your lizard. So, the main reactions are:
- Teach your lizard to come out of terrarium when you give it a signal
- Teach it to be nice and not bite you when you pet or touch it
- Take the food from your hands carefully, so that you don’t need to worry about losing a finger after feeding your lizard!
You can also teach your lizard to respond to its name or sit on your shoulder for long periods of time, but I would highly recommend skipping this advanced training. Training will take a long time and is very stressful for your lizard! Stressed out lizards tend to get health problems and die earlier. Just enjoy keeping your lizard in a terrarium, feeding it and being its owner!
Lizard training
How to start petting your lizard
The main thing to do before you start training your lizard is to create a relaxed atmosphere in the room. Make sure to start training in the room with no dogs, cats, kids or loud music as it can cause your lizard to stress. Turn off your TV and mobile phone, as loud noises can scare your pet to death (its heart can burst from stress). Also, take care of room temperature and lighting – it should be warm and not too bright in the room.
A good time to start training is after you have fed your lizard. After some time, put your hand inside the terrarium 
and reach for the lizard – but don’t touch it straight away, let it get used to your hand. If you think that your lizard can bite you (very likely with new lizards), you should wear gloves.
After you take it, start petting the lizard on its head and back. Petting it after feeding is the best time to do it as your lizard will be relaxed and comfortable. I would highly recommend limiting the first petting time to 5 minutes, and then increasing it gradually.
Place the lizard in your hands and pet it at the same time every day. Regularity and frequent attention is a key to success for taming a lizard. Do it for 5 minutes the first week, then increase it to 10 minutes in two weeks and so on. In a month or two of careful handling you will potentially be able to take your gloves off to pet your lizard.
How to handle and hold a lizard
Handling you lizard correctly is very important. If you handle it wrong, you may risk getting bitten by a lizard.
With small lizards, place your forefinger and middle finder near its front legs, and when it climbs on them, put your 
other hand’s finger on its back legs and put it in your hands.
Handling larger lizards is similar – place one hand behind its front legs and other hand behind its back legs, and then hold it so it doesn’t fall or run away.
Never pull or hold lizard’s tail, as it causes them stress. Lizard is likely to drop its tail to save itself from harm. Most lizards don’t grow back their tails, so be careful.
Make sure to wash your hands after handling a lizard, as it can carry harmful bacteria.
If your lizard looks stressed, you can calm it down by stroking a soft spot behind its eyes and a spot near ears.
Lizard push-ups
Have you ever noticed your lizard doing push-ups and wondered why it’s doing it? The thing is, lizards do these push-ups to show that they are dominating a specific territory. They can also do it to show you that they are not scared of being attacked and will strike back. If you notice your lizard doing push-ups don’t worry, it is an instinct as they do this in the wild to protect their territory.
How to make your lizard react to sound and come to you
This method that I will describe can help you teach your lizard react to sounds, which will be knocks on its terrarium glass. The concept of this method is to develop your lizard’s reflex to react when knock on the glass to make it come 
to you. Start this training by knocking on the terrarium glass right before you feed your lizard. Your lizard should react and look when you knock on the glass, so feed it straight away. This way it will learn that knocking sound is associated with feeding.
Be patient and continue this training and make sure to feed it every time you knock on the glass. Do this for 3-4 months, and when the lizard becomes very responsive, you can sometimes use its reflex to make it come to you (without feeding).
Signs that your lizard is angry and not happy
There are general behavioral signs indicating that your lizard is not happy with what you are doing. Remember that an angry lizard doesn’t want to cause any pain to you – it is only trying to defend itself like it would do in nature. Some signs of angry and happy lizards:
Angry lizards:
- Tries to run away and can even bite
- Opens its mouth and moves around
- Puffing up
- Clinging onto you with claws
Happy lizards:
- Doesn’t run away
- Lets you pet itself
- Is calm and sits in your hands
- Doesn’t strike or bite
If your lizard shows serious signs of stress like hiding, refusing to eat and not moving too much, make sure to show it to your veterinarian.