What Is the Lifespan of a Wall Lizard?

Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble/CC-BY 2.0

Wall lizards have a life expectancy between 5 and 10 years. This varies based upon whether they are being raised by a pet owner or are living in the wild.

Also known as Podarcis muralis, the wall lizard is native to Europe and can be found in France,

Britain, Spain, Italy, Turkey and other countries throughout the continent, as well as being introduced worldwide via the pet trade. It is a small prey species that is easily snatched up by domestic cats, birds of prey, and other predators. This means that most lizards in the wild never live to 10 years.

Wall lizards prefer habitats close to humans, which represents another risk to their lifespan, as while humans may encourage the growth of pest insects that wall lizards like to eat, humans also bring with them cars that may run over a lizard, pets that eat small prey and toxic pesticides that poison their insect meals. This makes a lizard’s life in the wild precarious at best.

The species is not considered endangered, although local subspecies of the animal are threatened on native European islands, due to predation from household pets.

A wall lizard raised by a careful and loving pet owner should be expected to live out a full life.

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