The common house lizard is known for the troubles they take along to your house. Lizard eggs as well as droppings not only make your home unclean. However, it also brings illnesses such as Salmonella. Ugh, how revolting! Not just do reptiles make your residence smell. However, they can also impact the health of your family as well as your kids.

What Do House Lizards Eat

    Lizards in houses tend to eat small flying insects, ants, worms, and even roaches. They work smart, feeding on insects attracted to bright lights by hanging around the bulbs, thus spending minimal energy to hunt.

Crawling Insects

    The common house lizard is naturally insectivorous; insects are one of their favorite things to eat. They often eat spiders, snails, caterpillars, and all kinds of insects that they find. If your house has a secondary pest infestation of these crawling insects, they are what attracts lizards in your home.

Flying insects

    Aside from crawling insects, lizards target flying insects like flies, mosquitoes, winged termites, and crickets. Since lizards can scale walls thanks to their ability to stick and climb walls, they can catch flying prey, especially those that pass close to light sources.

Fruits and Plants

    Lizards are not limited to eating insects — they eat fruits and plants, too. Some lizards, like the bearded dragon, eat vegetables and other vegetation as a substitute for insects.

    Plant-eating lizards can become problematic for people who have gardens, especially when their population grows and begin eating your garden plants. Reducing the number of insects around the area is one way of deterring lizards from going to your garden.

    Some lizards are also known to eat and nibble on fruits, which could pose a danger to humans who eat a fruit that a lizard has nibbled on since lizards carry bacteria on their skin that can give humans Salmonella and food poisoning.

    Fruits help keep lizards nourished and hydrated while at the same time being a good substitute for insects. If your house is heavily infested with lizards, keeping your fruits stored in the fridge would be a good idea to avoid lizards from contaminating the fruits.

What Smell Do Lizards Hate

Shallots

    Shallots are an eco-friendly natural lizard repellent. Cut or grind some shallots and place them in locations where lizards are all around the house. Like eggshells, the sulfur content and smell in shallots will repel lizards. An alternative would be garlic.

Eggshells

    Eggshells are a natural lizard repellent. Place these eggshells in locations around the house where lizards are. Although it seems weird, there is a good reason why eggshells are used for pest control. Eggshells contain sulfur that causes a burning sensation to the lizard’s abdomen. In addition, the smell of sulfur in eggshells is reminiscent of a bird’s beak, the lizard’s natural predator. It discourages lizards from entering an area with eggshells. Replace the eggshells every three weeks or so. You can also use quail eggs.

Lemongrass

    If you have difficulty finding citronella spray, try actual lemongrass stalks. Research has proven lemongrass’ effectiveness as a mosquito repellent. Lizards love to eat mosquitoes, so by reducing the mosquito population, lizards will have difficulty breeding as you’ve gotten rid of their food source. Please take a few stalks of lemongrass, shred them and place them around your house. Alternatively, you can use lemongrass essential oil for the same results.

Coffee and Tobacco

    Mix coffee powder and loose tobacco, then shape into tiny balls. Take some toothpicks and stick these tiny balls on the tip. Place these ball-laden toothpicks around the house in places where lizards have been seen. The aroma of this mixture will attract those reptiles. Tobacco is poisonous to lizards and will kill them.

Mothballs

    Place mothballs inside your wardrobe or cabinet. Lizards hate the smell of mothballs, which will deter them from entering those spaces. Since mothballs often come in various colors, they can be mistaken for candy. So be extra careful not to put them in places where children could reach and accidentally swallow them.

How To Keep Lizards Away From Your Home

    Now that you have known what lizards eat and what smells they hate, you can take actual measures to control that pesky lizard infestation. Here are a few ways you can keep them out for good!

Keep Your Home Clean

    Food, water, and shelter help lizards breed and thrive in your home. Make sure you never leave leftovers lying around, always clean your pots and pans after cooking, wipe down the dining table and countertop after each use, and throw rubbish away regularly. These are surefire ways to deter lizards and most other pests. 

Identify Other Pest Issues

    Just like ants or insects invading your home, eliminating their food source is an excellent way to get rid of those pests and also drive lizards out of your home.

Sealing Off Any Cracks

    Seal the top and bottom of doors with rubber strips to help keep pests out. An insect screen is also a great way to keep pests out while allowing the breeze to cool your home. Leaky pipes or stagnant water around the house also offer lizards a hydrating reason to stay.