What Do Wild Lizards Eat?

Wild lizards eat a whole bunch of different things since there are a whole bunch of different lizards. In fact, on planet Earth, there are approximately 3500 different species of lizard that exist in the wild. These species of lizards differ from one another based on their size, shape, color, habitat, and even based on the way they eat.

Like many other types of animals on the face of this planet, lizards can be separated into categories. One way to separate lizards is based on what and how they eat. The categories they are separated into are:

• Herbivorous lizards - eat plant life such as leaves and fruit
• Insectivorous lizards - eat insects
• Carnivorous lizards - eat meat
• Omnivorous lizards - eat a combination of plant life, insects and meat

Herbivorous Lizards

Herbivorous lizards eat strictly plant life.

• Their diet includes such things as leaves, fruit, pollen, and other types of plant matter.
• The fruits that some of these herbivorous lizards prefer include peaches, apples and papayas.
• Some herbivorous lizards even enjoy dining on tofu.
• Lizards that are herbivores and live in the desert have even been known to eat cactus.
• A herbivorous lizard that eats insects in the wild can suffer from severe health problems, since this is not appropriate for the lizard and it cannot get the nutrients it requires from this type of diet. This can also be a problem if you adopt a pet lizard and try to feed it insects when it is herbivorous.
• Some herbivorous species of lizards include chuckwallas, various species of Iguana, and spiny-tailed agamids, but there are many others as well.

Insectivorous Lizards

Insectivorous lizards, on the other hand, are species of lizard whose primary diet is insects.

• Species of insectivorous lizards include chameleons, alligator lizards, a majority of the gecko species, and the leopard gecko species.
• In the wild, these species of lizards feed on insects such as crickets, locusts, and sometimes even ants.
• Grasshoppers and other small insects such as flies and small beetles may also be considered for a meal for an insectivorous lizard.

Carnivorous Lizards

Carnivorous lizards are a species of lizards that hunt for their food and whose diet consists primarily of meat.

• Some carnivorous lizard species include monitor lizards and Komodo dragons.
• Wild carnivorous species of lizards tend to feed themselves by eating such things as small animals, snakes, and even other types of lizards that exist in the same environment.
• Komodo dragons, which are large carnivorous lizard, also have the ability to hunt down and feed on larger animals depending on their size.
• In the wild, these lizards will also become scavengers when food is scarce and feed on the carcasses of animals that are already dead.

Omnivorous Lizards

Omnivorous lizards are often mistaken for carnivorous species of lizards and vice versa.

• Omnivorous species of lizards eat all types of food readily available to them in the environment.
• This means that not only do they eat meat like the carnivorous species, but that they will also eat plant life and insects for a meal.
• Some species of omnivorous lizards include the bearded dragon, whip-tails, knight anoles, blue-tongued skinks, and race-runners. 

So, now you know all about what lizards eat in the wild, and you also know a bit more about the specialized diets of some of the many different types of wild lizards that exist on the planet.