CONTENTS Your lizard from head to tail Best lizards for beginners Find your perfect pet Getting prepared Essential equipment Bringing your lizard home Feeding time Caring for your lizard Health check Understanding your lizard Taming your pet Create a cool home for your pet Lizard quiz Quiz answers Learning more Glossary and Index 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32
from head to taIl youR lIzard Lizards are cold-blooded reptiles This means that instead of using food as fuel to keep warm as mammals do they rely on the heat of sunlight to raise their body temperature Cold-blooded creatures are active when it’s warm and move slowly when it’s cold Tongue Lizards smell with their tongue flicking it out to catch scent particles An organ on the roof of their mouth detects the chemicals in the scent particles Ears Lizards don’t have external ears they just have a round opening They listen out for predators and run for cover at the slightest sound Teeth Most lizards teeth continue to grow all their lives If they lose teeth they just grow new ones 4 Tail Many lizards have a weak point in their tail so if it gets caught by a predator the lizard can run off leaving its tail behind
Geckos are small lizards with a few unusual features Unlike other lizards that are active during the day most geckos are nocturnal Voice Geckos are the only lizards that communicate using sound They chirp and click to one another and call out if they are scared LIzard facts Lizards see ultraviolet UV light so they view the world differently and see colors and patterns that are invisible to us This helps them to recognize other lizards and their prey Cold-blooded reptiles eat less than warm-blooded mammals because they don’t burn energy to stay warm Therefore they can live in places where food is hard to find such as deserts and survive for long periods without eating Feet Many geckos have toe pads covered with tiny hairs that create a force similar to static electricity This causes their feet to stick to surfaces and allows them to climb just like Spider-Man Eyes Most geckos don’t have eyelids They clean their eyes by licking them with their tongue 5
