Have you noticed quite a few lizards on your property as of late? You might have even woken up one night and seen a lizard or two on your way to the bathroom.
Some areas just have a lot of lizards, and the lizards might make their way inside your home if they get an opportunity. Depending on where you live, the chances of this happening at some point could be quite high.
While many lizards aren’t necessarily dangerous or harmful, it’s still going to be best to keep them out of your home. Your pets will likely try to kill and eat them, and they can just generally be a nuisance.
What can you do to keep lizards out of the house, though? Keep reading to get all of the details about how you can protect your home from local lizards without it being too big of a deal.
You Probably Shouldn’t Kill the Lizards
It’s important to start off by saying that you probably shouldn’t kill the lizards that are entering your home. Even if you do find them annoying or somewhat repugnant, it’s good to recognize that they play an important role in the local ecosystem.
Lizards are going to be important for keeping the local bug population under control. They eat many different types of bugs such as cockroaches, and many would rather see lizards around than bugs.
There are certain methods that you could use to exterminate lizards if you felt that it was absolutely necessary, but that should be a last resort type of thing. If possible, you should try to prevent the lizards from being able to get in your house instead.
If the lizards aren’t able to easily get into your home, then you won’t have much to worry about. You can also utilize methods that will deter lizards from wanting to come inside your home.
Repair Your House’s Cracks, Holes, and Gaps
The first thing that you should focus on is trying to make it so that the lizards can’t enter the house so easily. If you have various cracks, holes, and gaps that the lizards are using to get inside, then you’ll need to address those problems fast.
You should go around your house and identify all of the cracks, holes, and gaps that are present. Once you recognize the areas that the lizards are likely using to enter, it’ll be easier to get started with repairs.
You can use caulk to fill certain cracks near windows and doors that won’t be easy to fix with traditional methods. For holes in your wall, it’s going to be necessary to go through with standard repairs to get things back to normal.
If you can do a good job of shoring up your house to keep pests from being able to get in, then you’ll be seeing far fewer lizards inside. It will take some time and effort to make these repairs, but it’ll be worthwhile when you see how much of a difference it makes.
It’s also worth noting that making repairs such as these might have a positive impact on your heating bills. If you had many cracks, holes, and gaps, then you were likely wasting a lot of energy.
Fix Screen Windows
Sometimes people find that lizards are getting inside because of gaps or tears in window screens. You likely have many different screen windows in your home, and some of them might be old and worn.
There are things that you can do to repair torn screen windows so that bugs and other pests can’t enter the house. Some people use certain types of tape to keep pests out, but it might be better to just replace the screen if it’s in very poor condition.
You could go ahead and buy a new screen for your window that will have good integrity. This will ensure that lizards won’t be able to enter through gaps or tears on the screen since there will be none.
Keep Your House Clean
Keeping your house clean will make it less likely that you’ll have to deal with lizards. You should endeavor to clean your house thoroughly each week to keep it from getting too messy.
Sometimes it’s easy for busy professionals to fall a bit behind on house chores when they don’t have a lot of free time. You just need to do your best to keep your house as clean as possible to avoid issues with pests.
A dirty house could wind up attracting more bugs, and bugs are going to attract lizards because that’s what they eat. Try to clean your house on a schedule while also taking the time to clean up spills and little messes right away.
Sweep Your Porch and Deck Areas
Taking the time to sweep your porch and deck areas will also be beneficial. Over time, bugs and debris will get on your porches and decks, and this means that lizards could be attracted to those areas.
Dead bugs will make good meals for various types of lizards. When lizards are congregating near the porch or deck, they’re going to be a lot closer to your home than you’d like them to be.
Keeping the porches and decks clean will make it less likely that lizards will get close to your home. You should be cleaning your decks and porches off semi-regularly so that they stay fairly tidy.
All you really need to do is sweep the area and do some minor cleaning when necessary. So long as you do this consistently, you should have far fewer lizards showing up on your decks and porches.
Turn Your Lights Off During the Night
During the night, it’s going to be best to keep the lights off so that you don’t attract lizards to the house. Lizards are very attracted to light, and they might try to get inside your home when it’s dark out because of this.
Many say that lizards like to go near light sources because bugs tend to huddle around lights. Lizards will be able to eat many bugs if they go near light sources, and this is something that beckons them to go toward the light.
If you wish to keep lizards from even getting too close to the house, then you will likely want to keep your porch light off. You might be able to only turn the porch light on when you’re going to be walking outside at night instead of just leaving it on when it’s dark.
It’s even wise to turn off lights in your house that you aren’t using. Don’t leave lights on in your living room or your spare bedrooms if you’re going to sleep.
Try Placing Broken Eggshells Around the House
This is a weird trick that actually works really well to scare lizards away from your property. You see, lizards are going to be able to understand certain signs of danger that will make them want to stay away from places.
If a lizard spots a broken eggshell, then it’s going to think that predators are nearby. You can just save the eggshells that are left over from when you make breakfast in the morning.
Position eggshells at specific points in the house and you’ll be able to scare the lizards away. You don’t need to bust the eggshells into fine pieces or anything either.
Just crack the eggs in two as you normally would when making eggs for breakfast. Position those halves around the house somewhere and they will work to help keep lizards at bay.
Cool the House Down
Lizards are cold-blooded creatures, and this means that they can’t handle cold temperatures too well. They need to stay warm to be able to move fast and hunt for food as usual.
Your house is going to be a lot less appealing to the lizards if you do your best to keep it cool. Consider setting the temperature of your home a little lower than usual if you want to keep lizards from wanting to hang out inside.
If lizards do make it inside the house, then they likely won’t want to stay due to how cold it is. Unless you’re someone who just can’t stand keeping things cool inside, this is going to be an excellent lizard deterrent method.
Catch and Release the Lizards
You could catch and release the lizards that have entered your home. It actually shouldn’t be too hard to catch lizards if you’re able to use the temperature to your advantage.
As mentioned above, lizards are cold-blooded, and they aren’t going to be as swift when they’re in environments that are quite cool. If you lower the temperature in your home, then you’ll be able to catch lizards a lot easier than normal because they’ll be kind of lethargic.
Even if you don’t have a good air conditioning unit, it’s still possible to use this idea to your advantage. You can slow lizards down by spraying them with cool water.
All you need to do is put some cold water in a spray bottle and use it to slow the lizards down. It won’t kill the lizards, but they won’t like it one bit either.
You can try to safely capture the lizards and then carry them back outside of the house. Release them somewhere in the yard or carry them a little bit away from your yard to release them elsewhere.
Consider Installing Tile Flooring
Tile flooring is another thing that can make your house less ideal for lizards. Carpeting does a much better job of keeping the floors warm, but tile flooring will stay a lot cooler.
If you install tile flooring near the entrances to your home, then lizards aren’t going to like that. Even if they do manage to sneak in one of your doors one day, they’ll be more likely to want to scurry right back out.
Granted, not many people are going to want to invest money in a significant change such as this just because of lizards. However, it can still be good to consider this if you have a lizard problem and need to upgrade your flooring sometime soon.
You Could Get a Cat
Before going through with this idea, you should try to remember that lizards don’t necessarily need to be killed. They’re not generally harmful, and they’re actually a good thing when it comes to killing bugs.
Even so, having a cat is something that can keep lizards away from your house. Cats have natural instincts that make them want to hunt small creatures such as lizards.
It’s very possible that your cat will hunt and kill any lizards that get inside of your house. The best-case scenario is that your cat’s presence will scare the lizards away and keep them from wanting to come inside.
Pets such as cats or dogs might do a good job of keeping the lizards from wanting to go inside. Lizards are usually smart enough to know that danger is present, and this might keep the lizards from trying to enter your home.
You should also keep in mind that it’s possible that some lizards might be poisonous to your pets. Hopefully, your methods to keep the lizards out of the house will work well enough that your cat won’t need to hunt them down.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to keeping lizards out of your house. You don’t necessarily want to go around killing the lizards since they’re important to the local ecosystem.
Luckily, there are plenty of things that you can do to deter lizards from coming inside. Placing eggshells around the property might help out and you can also make it a lot tougher for the lizards to get inside in the first place.
Even just keeping your house clean and sweeping your porch will make a difference. Be mindful of the things that you can do to make it tougher for lizards to enter the house and you’ll be just fine moving forward.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.