help! ginormous lizard!

[Imbrium]

I was walking through the front of my house, sticking little bits of kale into each of the hamster cages, when suddenly I caught a glimpse of something high on a wall in the little parlor area. it was a ginormous lizard (like 5-6'' long, which is pretty tiny in the big scheme of things but it's the biggest I've EVER seen get into the house; usually they're only an inch and a half or so). my first thought was "THANK GOD, it's not a roach!!" and my second thought was "oh crap, what if that thing dies in here and I come across a nasty corpse surprise in six months?"

it's less than a foot from the ceiling, way back in the corner, and below it is a pile of furniture that used to be in my living room with hammy cages in front of the furniture... so the area is totally inaccessible and if I knock the lizard off the wall, I'll probably never find it again. it's sitting there totally still/not moving at all or going anywhere, just clinging to the wall.

anyone have any clue how I can trap the darn lizard so I can put him back outside where he belongs? I *really* don't want to kill him, and I'm not opposed to touching him as part of the trapping process... I'm scared if I start moving stuff out of the way to get to him, he'll take off.

 

[whitelop]

He's probably a day gecko or something like that, uhhh...as for catching. Its winter time so he should be pretty slow right now.
Do you have a net for a fish tank? Climb up on top of the furniture and catch him in the net! lmao, you may need your neighbors help.
You could also get a tupperware container and a piece of paper. Climb up on the furniture and put the tupperware over him and slide the paper under it to get him off the wall into the tupperware. Or bucket or bowl or whatever you have. lol
Or you could leave a basket of crickets out for him and he'll come when he's hungry. lol He knows you have the good house on the block to live in and he wants to become part of your family. hahaha.

And chances are if he died in your house, you wouldn't come across a nasty corpse in a few months, you would come across a petrified lizard. Where we used to live, you'd be surprised how many got into the house and we didn't know. Then you move a book case and BAM theres a petrified lizard. haha.

I hope you can catch him. They're slow moving this time of year. Oh and remember, his tail WILL probably come off if you pull!

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Keep him as a pet!

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, I know not to pick 'em up by the tail! little bugger wandered off before I could figure out how to get at him, though. stupid lizard. I do NOT like lizards and spiders in my house - I like them to be outside where they can eat the icky bugs! they're cute as long as they stay where they belong.

 

[MagPie]

Yeah but he'll eat the bugs that come into your house so thats good.

I like lizards

 

[Imbrium]

I like the bugs stopped before they even get inside... and I don't really want to find out what would happen if he climbed into a hamster bin or the sugar glider cage, lol. plus, everything poops, so he'd be leaving lizard poop all over my house.

I'm good with lizards normally, but I hate when these get in my house... this one was too big for it, but a lot of times with the little ones, I see one scurrying across the wall in my peripheral vision as I turn to shut the front door or something and there's always a moment of panic where my brain fears "roach!" before I realize it's just a cute little baby lizard. I just trap 'em in my hands and dump them on the front porch.

 

[fuzz16]

When my dad was stationed in Texas with the ARMY...oh....25ish years ago!? He said he would wake up to wild beardies in his bed and scropians just chillin on the floor -.-

i always get excited to see wild lizards, their so rare around here

 

[Blue eyes]

I had to laugh at this one! I had a similar experience (more than once :spintongue) because one of my sons would always be catching the wild lizards near us and housing them in one of his dozen or so tanks. They would indeed escape on occasion. One was a fat, foot-long lizard I spotted in our bedroom!

From watching him, I know that catching a lizard is a practiced art! (Day geckos aren't indigenous to TX, so it wouldn't be that.) He's had spinies, blotched, whiptails... and others that he knows the types. (I can't keep track)

It is easier to catch a lizard with 2 people. He would usually have one person coax/scare it toward the other one person waiting with a net.

Good luck!

 

[Imbrium]

so ANOTHER lizard got into my house and was chilling in the SAME FREAKING CORNER. I know it was a different one 'cause it was a little smaller. I think he probably got in when this ginormous moth attacked me and I caught it in my hand, then tried to release it outside only to have it double-back, meaning the door was open for a bit until I was able to shoo him back out - I spotted the lizard 5-10 mins later (the corner in question is right around a little corner from the front door).

the good news... a) it wasn't quite as far back in the corner, b) I've been re-arranging stuff in order to re-do the flooring in half my house, moving things from the undone areas to the finished areas and as a result, the hammy cages (aka biggest obstacle to accessing that corner last time) are now in another room and c) due to my weekend cleaning binge, I had both a broom and a 3-gallon bucket sitting about 10 feet away, which gave me an idea.

the little punk tried to take off when he saw the broom coming at him, but I was too fast - I put it against the wall right above where he was moving to and brushed downward, knocking him off... and actually managed to catch him in the bucket with my other hand!! darn lizard is now back outside where he belongs, safe and sound (though probably a little shaken up, lol)

 

[whitelop]

hahahaha. I'll be honest, I would have LOVED to be there for that! I love watching people catch things like that. Its funny to hear what they have to say. I bet the things coming from your mouth were hilarious!

 

[Imbrium]

I didn't actually swear at it or anything, lol, I was just like "oh great, another lizard", knocked him off the wall, let him plop into the bucket and escorted him out to the porch before he could regain his composure and figure out that he could climb the sides of the bucket

had it been a roach, there would've been a lot of swearing and cringing and spraying of raid (and doing a *happydance* because there are no longer animals in that room and I CAN spray raid in it) and then I would've muttered a lot more swears as I worked up the nerve to vacuum up the corpse. lizards, though... meh. they don't bother me; they just don't belong in the house. I've caught 'em in my bare hands before right after they came in the door.

 

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

How often do roaches come inside? Every week I spray the entire parameter of my house with raid, wasp killer, everything I can get my hands on to kill them before they can get in and kill me from a heart attack, and the pest control people come every month to do their thing. Roaches are the only living thing I'm scared of. If I see just a picture of one I feel like I need a shower, and the last time one got on me, I spent 4 hours in the shower scrubbing my foot raw. You're so much braver than I could ever be. You can actually kill them yourself. I have to have someone else kill them for me. One time I was alone at my boyfriend's house because he was at work and I came up to visit him for a few weeks, and I saw one, and I threw his cat at it because the cat has a reputation for being a very efficient roach killer. Ughhh they give me the heebie jeebies.

 

[Imbrium]

ewww, omg, one's never gotten ON me but I would feel the same way! they seem to come in bursts... I'll get 3 in a month or two and then nothing for a few months.

I only kill them myself because I HAVE to - the alternative is to have a live one wandering my house. thank god raid can spray REALLY far if you don't shake the can first - I take 'em out from 10-20 feet away (as far as I can get). I do really miss my kitty for her ninja roach-killing skills and the fact that she never played with her kills before or after. I'd have the back yard sprayed if it weren't such a jungle they couldn't get through 1/3 of it, lol (and the other 2/3 is pool)... as for the front yard, the bunns play there so that's not an option.