Reasons for the Death of Lizards in India and Their Average Lifespan

[causalset]

In India sometimes I see lizards inside the room comming from outside the window. I don't know if lizard is the right word for it -- when i google it, it seems like the lizards shown on the internet are a lot bigger than the ones i see in my room. But still I will stick to this word since I don't know how else to call them.

Anyway, I share a bathroom with two more people living in the hostel of the Institute I am working at, and I saw a lizard there. I didn't want anyone to kill that lizard, so I took it inside my room. Since sometimes people come to clean my room, I put the lizard inside the closed area of my table. That way when I go away for the day I know the lizard won't get out of there and get killed.

Anyway, when I came, sure enough, the lizard was where I put it. But it was nearly dead. I am not sure if it was actually dead or not. It was lying on its back and not moving. But when I turned on the light and was desperately doing things to get it to move, like rolling it around in my hand and sticking pieces of food in front of it, probably after 20 minutes i noticed its hands making very small jerks and also its mouth jaws moving slightly. But I am not sure if it was genuine or if it was just because I kept moving it which "mechanically" caused things to shake (I know, for example, chickens would keep running few seconds after their heads are cut off by the slaughterer).

Anyway, I figured that home is not a place for lizards to live in, so I decided to let it go "just in case" it is not too late. Unfortunately it was late at night, so I had to wait till the morning, and now its morning and I went and placed it on a grass somewhere, hoping it would revive.

Anyway, what do you think killed that lizard? Was it lack of light inside the drawer I stuck it into? Or was it lack of food? Or is it simply that lizards are supposed to live only for a short period of time? I know butterfiles live for only few days. But I don't know about lizards. How long do lizards normally live?

 

[Borek]

They live for years at least.

 

[hypatia]

It may of been a anole, or a gecko. Anoles have pointy noses, where as the geckos tend to have the rounder heads. Both are small and tend to be found in homes. If they are not used to being handled, they can become shocked/stressed very easily. Stressed lizards do not live very long.

 

[JaredJames]

As a lizard owner, the key points are:

They are cold blooded, which means they need the sun to survive as they can't regulate their own body temperature. If you locked it somewhere, particularly if there was air con in the area, it wouldn't last long.

Note, just because it looks dead doesn't mean it is. When they get cold, they go into a hibernation style phase and basically shut down to survive. You need to put them in the sun for a while to ensure they are warm enough.

Lizards will venture out of the sun to cool down and sleep (they like cool dark places overnight) so coming inside would be expected. They also overheat and like to get into shade through the day. However, they can't survive there due to the above.

Lack of food is unlikely unless it was already starving, they can go days without food. However, they need sunlight to help digestion.

Lack of light could be a problem, but that's a very long term complaint. Our lizard (not sure about others) isn't able to produce calcium for bones without UV from the sunlight. So you need a UV source and put special powder on its food.
This killing it is unlikely in the short term. Ours has a deficiency of calcium and has back problems (looks like a tumour but made of bone) but it's a very long term complaint and we're managing it.

Our lizard lives up to 10 years, they're not 'short term' pets.

 

[JaredJames]

I've just noticed a poll option: "Lack of light (he is green so maybe he photosynthesizes?)"

 

[mishrashubham]

Lizards most definitely DO NOT photosynthesize. Are you sure you made air holes? India is a hot place (and especially hot right now since it's summer) so may be overheating is the cause.

 

[I like Serena]

Are you sure the lizard is dead?
Could it have been on a low activity level?

 

[AstrophysicsX]

It might of been a gecko. If touched by human hands they tend to die.

 

[epenguin]

I think geckos are the ones most likely to come indoors. They are the ones who can best stick on walls and ceilings. Though with people there to frighten them they will most likely hide behind furniture. It is possible but not that easy to catch them - so maybe yours was poorly anyway. I would have thought they were common in India and so am surprised you do not know them.

You do well to try and save it from cleaners etc. as some people have a phobia of them. For a time I did myself of the type that is rather pink and transparent, add on its bulbous head, and it is a little monster that at first disgusted me.

We should (and many people do) love geckos, they have a minor symbiosis with us to mutual benefit. We with our lights and bodies attract insects, they come in and around our houses and eat them. I read that they have hitch-hiked their way with humans from SE Asia to all the Pacific islands where they were not native. That these reproduce asexually so the Pacific is practically one clone of them. Nevertheless they have differentiated so that even on one small island several different-looking types will be found according to the varying habitats.

 

[JaredJames]

Since the atmospheric condition is not adaptive for their life.

What?

 

[mishrashubham]

Since the atmospheric condition is not adaptive for their life.

1. It is not the environment but the organism that needs to be adaptive to its environment. You probably meant "suitable" instead of "adaptive".

2. The statement would be incorrect even if you meant "suitable" as India's tropical climate is well suited for reptiles. (You would rarely find a reptile in places where it's extremely cold)