Does anyone have lizards coming into your home? Everyone I have talked to said they don't.
In the past week, I have had 2 (maybe 3) lizards in my home. My mom thinks there is an opening, but I have not been able to find it.
Has anyone had this problem? I hate these things and I am on edge when I come home. I am always looking around making sure there aren't any. And ever since I moved here (it has been 11 years), they have also been hanging out on our front porch. Everyday when it is warm, there is one or two just hanging out on the railing. I cannot hold on to the railing because I don't want to touch one.
Please let me know if you have any solutions. Thanks so much.
Thanks for all who responded.
To the people who said they like these little creepy crawlers: YOU ARE ALL MAD!!! LOL. Just kidding.
I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, but I was born and raised in NY. We don't have lizards so I did not grow up with them and they gross me out. Sorry ladies, but I do not like them. I don't care how great they are at eating insects. I see them and I freak out. Just the thought picking them up gives me heebie jeebies.
My story is worse. I would have my husband take them outside, but sometimes he travels, so there have been times when he was not here when I saw them.
I found this great page that discusses how to get rid of them, so I am going to try some of their suggestions. To all who is curious, the link is http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-lizards.htm
If you mean the little ones that change color. I have them and they are harmless.
If it's the big scary things. Call the exterminator. They
will take care of the proble.
I had a lizard in my house a few years ago. Like you, I always would see them on the porch (eww!). One day I noticed one was in the house. It was confined to 1 room and I tried sticky paper--didn't work, a mouse trap--didn't work. It was very fast and it would hide. My husband finally got it, but it grossed me out! Hope you get rid of it soon.
In a lot of cultures, lizards are good luck...you may want to google animal medicine and see what message they are trying to share. And you may just want to ask them to leave. I'm not a nut, and they are more than just lizards... Please don't exterminate them...
they keep the skeeters and flies and roaches away... they can't hurt you.
We used to have them to! after we had rearranged the living room furniture, we finally found how they were getting in. The previous owner had drilled a hole for the t.v. cable to come through and never plugged it. So, they were coming up underneath the couch! Ooooooh! We plugged the hole and had to chase the others down. But after that we had no more problems with them.
They must be getting in somewhere; once you find it you can live in peace!!!
Good luck to you!
Most of the time they come in around the doors through a gap or when a door is opened. You may not notice when they come in as alot of the time they are on top of the door jam when you open the door and they just come on in. They are harmless, but I never liked them either. They used to live in the plants I had on the front steps and would come in when I opened the door.
L.,
I found a lizard in my house for the first time a couple of weeks ago too. And I am not somebody who can handle living in a house with creepy crawly things inside. I tried to pick up the chair he was on and slowly move it outside and he jumped into a basket. If you didn't know that they jump, they do. Then I carefully carried the basket outside using the handle of the broomstick, but when I got it outside he was not in it. He must have crawled out through one of the holes. My husband came home from work and caught it and deposited it back outside. We always have lizards outside, but I do not know how he got in. I'm interested in your responses, and I can relate!!!
I do not know how to help you, but boy would my kids LOVE to trade houses with you! lol
D.
Mother of 4
We had this problem. We put those anti-spider/insect plugs in our electical outlets and that seemed to solve the problem.
Hey L.,
I live in the Dallas, TX area and we have a total infestation of what we call "house geckos"- they are pretty small, 1-4" and are usually outside as you describe. It has been raining for the last 4 weeks and now they are coming in. I love them, but not inside creeping me out.
This is what I do:
Critter Rescue Kit is something you make yourself out of a large disposable plastic cup (dixie cup)and a heavy stock magazine insert. I put the cup over the critter and use the heavy stock to slide carefully under the cup. Now the critter is trapped and I can take it outside, away from the house to release it. I keep a couple of these (I write "Critter REscue Kit" on the cup, and put the card inside) around the house- by the front door and in the bathrooms.
I don't know of anyway to keep them from getting in unless you can an exterminator to gas them outside. But that can cause all kinds of other problems, the lizards eat most of the other things that bug us.
Find someone who can catch & release it, because they're good critters to have around (preferable outside). Tell your husband it was in his marriage vows and didn't he read the fine print before he signed?
Do you live in Atlanta? Right after all those floods a few weeks ago, we had all kinds of critters moving up to dry land. My house! First it was an ant invasion (conquered using Terro for days and days on end.) Then came a small Northern Pine Snake which I managed to catch and release using a defunct fish aquarium, and yes I was very proud!
I've seen a few lizards here in Atlanta, but not many. I see tons at my mother's house in Florida and there were many around (& occasionally inside) the house I grew up in.
You see them around enough and they start to look cute (although I don't want them scurrying across my toes.)
They are quite fast and difficult to catch - maybe you can herd them outside. They're perfectly harmless and will catch things like roaches, which makes them worth their weight in gold, in my opinion. But they probably won't get enough to eat in your home anyway, so best to find a way to catch and release them. If your husband is too slow and your 4 year old not quite capable, find an older kid in the neighborhood. An awful lot of boys (and some handy girls) excel at just this kind of mission.
But please don't use one of those sticky mouse traps - that would be a painful way to die, and they really are very beneficial animals.
I suggest you use a snake repellent around your front porch. You probably couldn't seal up your house tightly enough to insure a lizard couldn't get in. Go to a do it yourself pest control place and ask what they have to repel snakes. I'm thinking it would work for lizards, too, since they're all reptiles.
When I lived in Florida there were lizards in my house and everywhere else at all times. At first I was scared of them and horrified. Now I miss my little green friends. They are fun to have around, like to take up residence behind framed art on the wall. That is so they can hide and watch for insects including mosquitoes which they will dart out and eat. They don't bite and are actually friendly little creatures. Consider them as your contribution fo "green" living. This is free pest control for you without using chemicals. Give them names and enjoy the company.
Get your son to go up the stairs first and do a lizard hunt. Boys love that stuff. I grew up w/two brothers and we had those lizards as pets :-) They are fun and do eat roaches, spiders... If they are hanging by the front door they can dart in before you even know it.
make it fun and learn to love :-)
Hi L.,
Lizards are easy to get rid of. They are where there is a high population of insects. Get rid of the insects and the lizards will leave. Small ponds, sprinkler systems, shrubbery around the house all tend to help the insects populate the area. If you have all this you can have an exterminator do an exterior spray around the house. I actually use a line of natural, non-toxic cleaning supplies in my house that are also a bug repellent as well so I have not had any problems like this since I've been using them.
Hope I helped!
M.
Get a cat! Seriousl it will keep them out of your house.
We have them, but they don't bother us. I spent a whole Spring and Summer having to catch them so my little boy could play with them. They are beneficial, because they eat bugs and help keep their populations in check (Sorry, if I just FREAKED you out).
Go around your house and find any cracks or holes, also look around your windows, air conditioners, doors, storm doors and even the dryer vent. Get steel wool or the spray foam insulation in a can (GREAT STUFF?) and fill in the areas where you think any critters may be getting into your house.
My Grandmother was so PETRIFIED of lizards, that she refused to go next door to visit her own Mother-in-law because of the lizards that were always on the brick walls sunning themselves. So, you are not alone.
Good luck!
My serious advice would be for you to get a cat. Also, a snake does not hurt....but I am sure you do not want one of those. We have a rather large and wild cat that patrols the front of the house, and discovered a LARGE king snake living in the back last spring. I have always had a cat when I have lived in the South. They are mostly outdoor cats.
Both cats were wild rescues and prefer to be outside. I insist they come in for the winter though. I am allergic to them--but I will take the benedryl not to have mice and lizards. When my first cat died it was about a year before I could stand to replace her. I did, and I do not have lizards or mice.
