Australia has five families of lizards, totalling 642 species (Cogger, 2000). They range in size from only a few centimetres long, up to two metres. The families are: geckos, legless lizards, dragon lizards, goannas (monitor lizards) and skinks. Some of these species are found in suburban areas throughout Australia.

Reptiles intrigue many people. Unfortunately, in the wider community, there are many fallacies and misconceptions about snakes, and even lizards. One of the most common is that if you have a lizard (usually a Bluetongue or Shingleback Skink) in your garden it will keep snakes away. Untrue. Another is that some Australian lizards have a dangerous (or venomous) bite. There are no venomous lizards in this country.

On the other hand, scientists are discovering more about our reptiles and frogs (collectively, the study of which is called herpetology), and in fact, it is recognised that the numbers of Australian species known in 2000 is 37% more than in 1975 (Cogger, 2000).

What species?
Some lizards are easy for a lay person to identify, eg a Shingleback Skink (also known as a Sleepy Lizard or Bobtail), but many of the smaller skinks are a job even for the experts. This Living with Wildlife Fact Sheet will touch on only some of the more common lizards around the capital cities.

The following list gives some clues to distinguish between each of the families (Cogger, 2000):

Geckos
Have small well developed limbs, soft-bodied and broad flat fleshy tongue. Ear openings and eyes lidless with vertical pupils. The tail readily breaks off.

Legless Lizards
Have Snake-like body with no forelimbs and hind limbs as scaly flaps. The tail is longer than the head and body. The tail redily breaks off. Their eyes are lidless. They have ear openings in some, but not all species.

Dragons
Have strong limbs front and back. The skin is often rough or spiny with scales arranged side by side. The tail does not readily break off. Their tongue is broad, flat and fleshy.

Goannas
These creatures have powerful limbs and strong claws. Their skin is tough (baggy). They have small fragmented scales on their head. Their eyes have well developed, movable lids. The tongue is deeply forked.

Skinks
Have small legs but not alway at front and the legs are absent in some species. They have overlapping scales on top of the head, large and regular. Their tongue is short and fleshy.


Lifestyle of Common Backyard Lizards
All of Australia's capital cities have representatives of the five families of lizards (Bennett, 1997, Bush et al, 1995, Cogger, 2000, Griffiths, 1997, Queensland Museum, 1995), except Hobart which has only dragons and skinks
The lizards likely to be seen in backyards are the dragons and skinks, as they are most active during warm days in the summer.

Bluetongue Skinks (Tiliqua) There are more than 300 species of skinks in Australia and there are one or more species found in the region of all capitals (Cogger, 2000). They are the largest members of the skink family (Scincidae). Skink lizards have overlapping scales which are usually smooth and contain little plates of bone. Due to their large size (250 to 300 mm body length), and adaptability to an urban environment, they are well known to most people. All Bluetongues eat plants (fruits, flowers or leaves) and invertebrates (eg insects, snails, beetles, slugs, spiders), while a few have also been seen eating carrion (Ehmann, 1992). It is no wonder that in a backyard, which has the required cover to protect them, some lizards, like the Eastern Bluetongue (Tiliqua scincoides), are so common.Eastern Blue-tongue is silvery-grey with broad dark brown or blackish bands across its back and tail. Individuals on the coast usually have a black stripe between the eye and the ear which may extend along the side of the neck. The blotched blue-tongue is dark chocolate brown to black with large pink, cream or yellow blotches on the back, and a tail banded in the same colours.

If you coincidentally have piles of bricks, timber, a rock retaining wall or feature, thick vegetation or groundcovers, a quiet corner inside a shed or garage, or a little visited part of the property, with abundant food (sometimes scavenged from the dog bowl), then there is a good chance Bluetongues will take up your invitation. They will also seek refuge in down-pipes from the house, or sometimes access such pipes from the street gutter.

Is it a Bluetongue or a snake?
Many calls are received by snake catchers/controllers around Australia each summer when the caller only hears or sees some of the offending reptile. Perhaps part of a smooth, striped, wide body is glimpsed under a bush, or retreating up a pipe, maybe the tail disappearing in the gloom of a dark shed or else when gardening, a movement is perceived amongst the plants, combined with a loud hiss. The automatic assumption with some people is that the creature is a snake, most likely a Brown or Tiger.

If it is a snake, it is possible that the reptile will hiss if you are close, but it may also move away without a sound. If you see the head of the "snake", and a blue-coloured, broad, fleshy tongue is being protruded, then it is obviously not a snake (as they all have thin, deeply forked tongues). If you can only see part of the body, and it is more than two or three adult fingers wide, again there is a fair chance it is a Bluetongue.

Look before you call a snake catcher/controller, because it may save you money. Stand some distance away where you can still see where the reptile is, and wait for it to move. If it is a lizard, you now have the option of leaving it or still phoning someone if you feel you need help.
Check the Fact Sheets under 'Snakes' for more advice.

Other Common Lizards
Some of the other most common larger lizards in urban areas are the dragon lizards, especially Bearded Dragons and Water Dragons. Eastern Water Dragons (Physignathus lesuerii) are common from Melbourne up the East Coast to Brisbane. The Bearded Dragon (Pogona barbata), ranges from Canberra to Brisbane, and is also found in the vicinity of Adelaide (Cogger, 2000).

Water Dragons grow to a total length of up to a metre whereas Bearded Dragons are only half that size. Both lizard species are known to be omnivores, feeding on various small animals and plant matter (Ehmann, 1992).

Water Dragons, as their name suggests, live in the vicinity of water bodies, and will readily plunge into a creek or river from an overhead branch when disturbed. On the other hand, Bearded Dragons prefer woodlands and associated cleared areas, or grasslands on the outskirts of cities within their range. They can sometimes be observed (if you look carefully) sunning themselves on a fence post or branch. More often Bearded Dragons are seen basking on the roads, when they come to grief from passing vehicles.

Backyard Predators & Problems
Although these larger lizards tend to be cryptic (and attempt to hide), they may still be taken by cats and dogs. If you wish to encourage lizards in your backyard, be aware of possible predation by domestic pets (Urquhart, 1999), more particularly with smaller or younger lizards
A concern with some lizards in a garden setting is if the homeowner lays out baits for snails that may be eaten by Bluetongues in particular. If you must bait snails, do it in a way that native animals cannot easily get to the poison.

Making Lizard Homes
As with other native animals, lizards require adequate food and water to survive. It is possible in a suburban backyard to provide for them, as long as you are aware of their basic needs. Planting thick native shrubs, grasses or groundcovers in a quiet part of the garden can provide protection against extremes of weather and predators (Elliot, 1994).

The addition of hollow logs (provided you don't get them from the bush), leaf mulch, clay pipes partly set into the ground or piles of stones will also help (Murray, 1989). Rotting leaf litter or garden mulch will encourage insects, and fungi to grow, which some lizards eat (Ehmann, 1992). Studies have shown that leaving leaf, twig, bark, branch and log litter is important for many species of lizards (Platt, 1993). Protected, warm, humid sites are also used by some small skinks to deposit their eggs (Robertson, 1994).

When providing cover for lizards, place whatever shelter you are using such that there are open areas or a basking log or rock nearby. This allows the lizards to warm in the sun while protection from predators is not far away (Urquhart, 1999). Having, or placing, surface rocks amongst the vegetation will protect many of the smaller reptiles, and the food they eat (Johnson, 2001). Some of these foods are garden pests, so the lizards will be doing you a service. You can improvise rock crevices or shelters by using concrete pavers of different sizes (Nicholls, 2000). If you don't like the look of the pavers, grow a scrambling plant or groundcover over them.

Food for your lizards should not include anything artificial, unless you have rescued one of them, and what you are giving it is part of its recovery process. Under these circumstances, expert advice is needed from your fauna agency or local native animal rescue group.

Natural food can be provided by planting native species with flowers, berries or leaves that lizards eat, or attract insects that will become food in turn. Some plants you may try include Native Daisies (Olearia species), Muntries (Kunzea pomifera), Pigface (Carpobrotus species), Native Currant (Acrotriche species), Flax Lilies (Dianella species), or Native Cranberry (Astroloma humifusum), for flowers and edible fruits (Ehmann, 1992).

Consult one of the references at the end of this Living with Wildlife Fact Sheet for more information, contact the office of your state fauna agency or museum advisory service, or a reptile society for help.

References
Bennett, R. 1997. Reptiles & Frogs of the Australian Capital Territory. National Parks Association of the ACT Inc.
Bush, B., Maryan, B., Browne-Cooper, R. & Robinson, D. 1995. Reptiles and Frogs of the Perth Region. University of Western Australia Press
Cogger, H. 2000. Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia (sixth edition). Reed New Holland
Ehmann, H. 1992. Encyclopedia of Australian Animals. Reptiles. Angus & Robertson
Elliot, R. 1994. Attracting wildlife to your garden. Lothian Australian Garden Series
Griffiths, K. 1997. Frogs and Reptiles of the Sydney Region. University of New South Wales Press
Nicholls, F. 2000. Paving the way for reptiles. Land for Wildlife News Vol.4, No. 5; Jan/Feb 2000. Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Victoria
Johnson, P. 2001. Keeping the rocks on: the importance of retaining surface rocks. Land for Wildlife News Vol. 4 No. 8; March/April 2001. Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Victoria
Murray, E. 1989. Living with Wildlife. A comprehensive guide to encounters with our native animals. Reed Books
Platt, S. 1993. Lizards show importance of ground-layer. Land for Wildlife News Vol. 1, Number 10; May 1993. Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Victoria
Queensland Museum 1995. Wildlife of Greater Brisbane. Queensland Museum
Robertson, P. 1994. When you SHOULD put all your eggs in one basket. Land for Wildlife News Vol. 2, Number 3; Feb. 1994. Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Victoria
Urquhart, P. 1999. The New Native Garden. Lansdowne Publishing
Walraven, E. 1990. Taronga Zoo?s Guide to the Care of Urban Wildlife. Allen & Unwin