You saw it here first (probably): Spiny lizards having sex. We’re not sure whether to warn everyone that this video is a quite graphic or shout to the rooftops that it’s extraordinary. I think we’ll go with shouting.
Texas spiny lizards are quite common around here – though, as with many other species, we don’t see as many as we used to, and we actually hear them more often than we see them. In the summer, when we’re outside, they will rustle away from us in the undergrowth or skitter up the nearest tree, their immensely long claws making little ticking sounds on the bark. Many people, locally, call them “tree lizards”.
The adult spiny lizards we see in our backyard are typically about 10” (25 cm) from nose to tail-tip, and a lot of that length is tail – they have very long, thin, tails. Their variegated gray, white, black, and brown scales are perfect camouflage against the live oaks and they can be hard to spot when they’re not moving. We have a video clip of a wren almost landing on a spiny lizard who was sunning herself on a live oak stump.
Spiny lizards eat bugs – insects, spiders, and any other creepy crawlies they can find. They are carnivores, like most lizard species.
Female spiny lizards lay up to 4 clutches of eggs each summer, as many as 30 eggs at a time, in holes that they dig out of soft earth and then invisibly cover over. The eggs hatch after about 60 days (our reference from the Texas Master Naturalists says 43 – 83 days; we don’t know what accounts for the surprisingly wide range).
This video shows a mating pair of spiny lizards. The truly extraordinary thing to watch for is the male’s genitalia, which extrude from his lower abdomen during sex, looking worryingly visceral, and then slowly retract once the lizards have parted.
We feel very, very lucky to have been able to capture this remarkable event with one of our tree stump den cameras.
11 Comments
What an amazing film capture! I have a gorgeous and very pregnant female Texas Spiny Lizard residing in my backyard. She’ll occasionally come hang out on the deck with me. I am super excited for the possibility of baby spinys running around the backyard!! Was researching the birth process when I came across your video. Thank you for sharing this rare and fascinating footage. Very educational and cool!
Thank you so much, Kris. We hope your mama lizard lays dozens of eggs and that the little ones all hatch safely and survive.
I happened upon this site while looking to see the mating season for these lizards bc the ones in my back yard have been giving quite a show lately chasing each other through the trees, across the patios and yard! I wonder how deep they lay their eggs? Bc I have two doggos and they’ve been running around pawing at the ground and eating things they are finding in the last couple of weeks – if it’s lizard eggs I will make sure to stop them! Can you tell me??
Well that’s a really interesting question. Your dogs may be eating lizard eggs. We’ve only watched a spiny lizard laying eggs in a hole once, but it was a very shallow hole – maybe 3″ deep? Maybe less. If you can do something to stop your dogs, it will probably be good for the lizard population.
Thank you! Will keep an eye on them!
I have two very pregnant spiny lizards in my flower bed now. They have buried their eggs under my very huge yucca plant. When I got out to sit on they porch they will come out and sun with me. I bought them some live meal worms the other day. And fed them. It was awesome. I have a huge spiny that is probably 20 inches long running around In my backyard along with all the others. I named him. King Fred. Lol
You are very lucky, Debbie! We’ve never managed to make friends with any of our local lizards. What a great story.
Oh wow, I was intrigued by your video and found it to be very interesting. I literally just finished watching a Tiny spiney lizard lay and bury her eggs. It was amazing to watch!
Great that you got to see a spiny lizard burying her eggs. We’ve only been lucky enough to see that once, and it was years ago. So interesting to see. Thanks for letting us know that you enjoyed our video.
I saw a female Texas spiny lizard scurry out of my flowerbed and into a patch of Mexican petunias yesterday to get away from me because I was weeding the flowerbed. After she left, I noticed a deep hole in the flowerbed. I didn’t know anything about Texas spiny lizard reproduction before yesterday, but I’ve since been reading about it, and your amazing video above sure gave me an eyeful! I wonder if my mother lizard will go back to lay her eggs in the hole I found. I looked inside but couldn’t see any eggs, but they might be hidden in the darkness. Should I cover up the hole?
Very interesting. We’ve only seen a spiny lizard laying eggs once, and it was amazing. The female dug a sloping hole about 2″ wide and about 2.5″ deep and then reversed in and laid her eggs. Very cool. Dan and I would probably go for leaving the hole you found alone – if you do think it was a spiny lizard’s hole, not just a skunk digging for bugs. Do you have a trail camera you could put on it?
Thanks for writing to us. We love to hear from people who watch our videos – you guys always have interesting things to say.