Do Lizards Eat Other Lizards? Yes, More Often Than You Think
Cannibalism and predation between lizards is common, including adults eating hatchlings of their own species. When it happens and what it means in a garden.
By 
On this page
Yes, and more often than most people expect. A hatchling lizard is the right size and shape to be food, and most lizards hunt by size rather than by species.
Why it happens
Three reasons, none of them unusual in the animal world:
- Lizards hunt by size and movement. The decision is “small, moving, catchable”, not “which species is this”. A juvenile of the same species passes that test
- Protein matters. A hatchling is a far larger meal than a cricket, with no sting, no shell and little defence
- It removes a competitor for the same territory and the same insects, which is a real if incidental benefit to the adult
Cannibalism rises sharply when insects are scarce, when the population is dense, and in a confined space such as a terrarium where the smaller animal cannot get away.
Which lizards do it
| Lizard | Eats other lizards |
|---|---|
| Monitors | Routinely — a major part of the diet |
| Collared and leopard lizards | Routinely |
| Tokay and other large geckos | Yes, including smaller geckos |
| Large skinks | Yes, opportunistically |
| Anoles | Yes — larger species take smaller anoles |
| Small garden skinks, wall lizards | Rarely, mainly hatchlings |
| Insectivorous hatchlings | No — they are the ones being eaten |
Where an introduced gecko is spreading, predation on smaller native geckos is part of how it displaces them — it is not only competition for insects.
What this means for hatchlings
- Most lizards show no parental care at all. Eggs are laid and left
- Hatchlings disperse immediately and live in cover that excludes bigger animals — leaf litter, crevices, the underside of flat stones
- A few skink species attend their eggs briefly, which is the exception that gets quoted
- The dispersal is the defence. A hatchling that stays near a large adult is food
That is also why you see adult lizards in the open and almost never see hatchlings: they are living in the thin spaces specifically to avoid being eaten.
In a terrarium this is a husbandry problem, not a behaviour problem
Mixed-size groups in a tank fail for exactly this reason. The smaller animal cannot leave, so opportunity is constant.
House by size, feed well, and give far more hides than animals. Scarcity and confinement are the two conditions that turn occasional predation into routine losses.
The rest of the list
A garden lizard is prey to nearly everything, and other lizards are well down the list.
- Cats, by a wide margin, in any suburban garden
- Birds — jays, magpies, shrikes, kookaburras, roadrunners, herons, kestrels
- Snakes, which are specialists at it
- Foxes, raccoons, possums, rats
- Large frogs and toads, which take anything that fits
- Large spiders, for hatchlings
The one intervention that genuinely changes the odds is keeping cats in at dawn and dusk, and that is also the one most people can act on.
What to do about it in the garden
Nothing, is the honest answer.
- Fighting you see is usually display — push-ups, throat flaring, a chase. It rarely ends in injury and is about territory
- Actual predation is fast, not a contest
- It is not a sign of anything wrong with the garden or the population
- What helps lizards generally: flat stones in sun, a log pile, dense low cover for hatchlings, no pesticide spraying, and cats indoors at the times lizards are active
A garden with enough cover for hatchlings to hide in is a garden where this balances itself.
Common questions
Do lizards eat other lizards?
Do lizards eat their own babies?
Why do lizards eat each other?
Will a gecko eat a smaller gecko?
What else eats lizards in a backyard?
Should I be worried if lizards are fighting in my garden?
Backyard Weekly
Know what to plant, week by week
Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.
Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.
Keep reading
What Do Backyard Lizards Actually Eat?
Wild lizards in a garden are almost entirely insect-eaters, not the varied diet pet-care sites describe. What they hunt, and what draws more of them to your yard.
Do Lizards Keep Snakes Away? And Do Frogs Attract Them?
Lizards do not repel snakes — they are prey. Frogs do not summon them either. What a yard's small animals actually tell you about its snakes.
How Long Do Lizards Live? By Species, Wild vs. Kept
Backyard lizard lifespan runs from 1 year to over 20, depending entirely on species and whether it is wild or kept as a pet. The real numbers, by common type.
Do Lizards Eat Plants? Which Ones Do, and What to Do
Most backyard lizards are insect eaters and ignore plants entirely. The exceptions, how to tell lizard damage from the real culprit, and what stops it.