It takes a month to a year for a lizard's tail to grow back. Lost tails are only regrown up to three times. A lizard sheds its tail once a defense mechanism to elude a predator is set in motion.
Smaller lizards shed part of their tails, whereas larger lizards that move more slowly shed most of the length. The bone that is lost when the tail is shed cannot be regrown. Cartilage grows in its place. The new appendage usually varies in appearance from the original. Lizards take time adjusting to the loss of the tail by learning how to balance themselves without it.
