7 Types of Lizards in Louisiana You Can Spot in Your Own Backyard
September 19, 2026
Louisiana’s warm, humid climate supports far more lizard diversity than most residents realize. Wildlife guides covering types of lizards in Louisiana catalog somewhere between fourteen and fifteen distinct species spread across the state’s piney hills, coastal marshes, and bayou-side neighborhoods.
Rather than trying to cover every obscure regional subspecies, this guide focuses on the seven lizards you’re most likely to actually encounter, whether that’s on a porch screen, a garden fence, or a woodpile in the backyard. Each one has distinct markings, habits, and habitat preferences that make identification easier once you know what to look for.
| Lizard | Typical Size | Status | Where You’ll Find It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Anole | 5-8 inches | Native | Trees, fences, garden walls |
| Slender Glass Lizard | Up to 22 inches | Native | Sandy fields, open forests |
| Broad-headed Skink | Up to 8 inches | Native | Wooded areas, hollow trees |
| Five-Lined Skink | 4.9-8.5 inches | Native | Moist hardwood forests |
| Brown Anole | 4-7 inches | Introduced | Ground level, southern parishes |
| Prairie Lizard (Fence Lizard) | 5-7 inches | Native | Fence posts, open woodlands |
| Mediterranean House Gecko | 4-5 inches | Introduced | Porch lights, building walls |
1. Green Anole
The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) is the lizard most Louisiana residents already recognize without knowing its name. Lizards in Louisiana range from the anole to the skink, and two anole species live in the state: the green anole and the brown anole. Unlike the brown anole, which originated in the tropics, green anoles are native to Louisiana.
These lizards earned an informal nickname thanks to a partial talent. Green anoles have a limited ability to change their colors, prompting the nickname “false chameleons.” They live in trees, and their toes have sharp claws and invaginated pads adapted to climbing trunks and branches. Males put on a visual display during breeding season and territorial standoffs. Males have an inflatable pink structure called a dewlap on their throats, which puffs up during courtship displays and territorial disputes.
Like many lizards on this list, green anoles have a built-in escape trick. If a predator seizes the anole by its long tail, the tail breaks off and the anole escapes. Interestingly, the arrival of the introduced brown anole has changed where green anoles spend their time. The introduction of the Brown Anole has altered green anole behavior, making them almost exclusively arboreal as brown anoles dominate ground-level territories. Green anoles now compete with the various spiders found throughout Louisiana for the same insect prey in tree canopies.
Pro Tip: If you spot a lizard on a low fence or on the ground rather than in a tree, it’s more likely a brown anole. Green anoles have shifted almost entirely to elevated perches since the brown anole’s arrival.
2. Slender Glass Lizard
The slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) confuses plenty of first-time observers because it has no legs at all. This legless lizard has an exceptionally slender, snake-like body that can reach up to 22 inches long. Two-thirds of its length is made up by the tail. Slender glass lizards are yellowish or light brown with dark stripes running the length of the body and a light stripe down the center of the back.
Despite the snake-like body, this species is a true lizard, and shares a family trait that separates glass lizards from actual snakes. Unlike snakes, this legless lizard has movable eyelids and external ear openings—key traits that set it apart. That’s a useful distinction if you’re also trying to sort out the various snake species found in Louisiana, since the two groups get mixed up constantly by casual observers.
Slender glass lizards favor a specific type of terrain. These lizards live in open forests, fields, and prairies with sandy soil ideal for burrowing. Their insectivorous diet consists mainly of ants, termites, and beetles — which puts them in direct contact with many of the ant species documented across Louisiana and the state’s various beetle populations. When threatened, they rely on the same defense many lizards use. When threatened, slender glass lizards can detach their tails and flee, leaving the still-wriggling tail to distract predators — the detached tail regrows but is slightly shorter than the original.
You won’t usually spot one basking out in the open. You’re likely to find a Slender Glass Lizard in animal burrows or piles of debris. There’s also a subspecies split worth knowing about: Western Slender Glass Lizards have shorter tails, while Eastern Slender Glass Lizards have longer tails.
3. Broad-headed Skink
The broad-headed skink (Plestiodon laticeps) is the largest skink you’ll find climbing a Louisiana tree trunk. These lizards are the largest and most arboreal skinks in Louisiana. You can find broadhead skinks across Louisiana in forests abundant in hollow trees and rotting logs. While these lizards sometimes spend time on the floor, they vastly prefer basking and foraging on high tree branches.
Adult males are hard to miss once their head coloring develops. While adult males develop large, red-orange heads, juveniles are nearly indistinguishable from the Five-Lined species. That head coloring comes with an attitude to match. Unfortunately, they are also quite aggressive. Adult male broadheads are highly territorial, so they often fight other adult males for encroaching on their territory or over mating rights.
If you need a definitive way to tell a broad-headed skink apart from a similar-looking five-lined skink, check the scales around the mouth. To distinguish for sure between broadheads and other five-lined skinks, examine their labial scales. Broadhead skinks have 5 supralabial scales in front of their eyes on one or both sides of their faces.
Important Note: Sources differ slightly on lizard safety in Louisiana. Most guides agree that no native lizard species is dangerously venomous to humans, though at least one source notes broad-headed skinks may release a mild toxin if ingested by a pet. As a general precaution, wash your hands after handling any wild lizard and keep curious pets from mouthing them.
4. Five-Lined Skink
The five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) is probably the most recognizable striped lizard in Louisiana, largely because of its electric-blue tail as a juvenile. The Five-Lined Skink is a bit smaller than the broad-headed, measuring 4.9 to 8.5 inches as an adult, and has a more slender build. Their namesake lines may fade as they age, as will the bright blue tail, although some females may retain it.
Habitat preference is one of the clearest ways to separate this species from its lookalikes. These skinks prefer the ground in moist areas with abundant hardwood trees and abundant basking sites to regulate their body temperatures. Breeding follows a predictable seasonal pattern too. Five-Lined Skinks lay their eggs in June, at the height of summer.
Scale counts settle any doubt for anyone trying to be certain of an identification. Five-lined skinks have an enlarged row of scales under the tail and four labial scales, along the upper lip between the nose and eye. They can be differentiated from a distance by the size of the head, and from up close by their post-labial scales, which are significantly enlarged in Five-Lined Skinks.
Across the state, this species remains genuinely easy to find. Five-lined skinks are common throughout Louisiana, thriving in the state’s diverse forested habitats, and occur in nearly every region of the state where suitable forest conditions exist. They forage for the same insects and grubs sought out by many ground-nesting wasps in Louisiana, making leaf litter and fallen logs a productive spot to look for both.
Common Mistake: Don’t assume every blue-tailed lizard is the same species. Juvenile broad-headed skinks, southeastern five-lined skinks, and common five-lined skinks all have bright blue tails at a young age. Adult head color and scale counts are the only reliable ways to tell them apart.
5. Brown Anole
The brown anole (Anolis sagrei) is Louisiana’s most successful introduced lizard, and it’s now hard to walk through a southern Louisiana yard without seeing one. The brown anole represents Louisiana’s most successful invasive lizard species. Originally from Cuba and the Bahamas, these adaptable reptiles first appeared in Louisiana during the 1980s and have since established thriving populations throughout much of the state.
Size and coloring set it apart from the green anole at a glance. Brown anoles typically measure 4-7 inches and display more subdued coloration compared to their green cousins. Their base color ranges from gray-brown to dark brown, often featuring distinctive patterns including chevrons or diamond shapes along their backs. Males possess orange-red dewlaps with white edges, creating a striking contrast during territorial displays.
This species has expanded well beyond its original foothold. The Brown Anole is an introduced species in Louisiana, originally from Cuba and the Bahamas. This lizard has become increasingly common across southern parts of the state. Anyone comparing notes with neighboring states will find a similar pattern; the same invasive spread shows up in guides covering the types of lizards found in Texas and Florida’s lizard population, where brown anoles arrived decades earlier and pushed green anoles higher into the tree canopy first.
6. Prairie Lizard (Fence Lizard)
The prairie lizard, also called the fence lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus), is the spiny-scaled climber you’ll often spot doing push-ups on a wooden post. This species warms up by basking on structures like rocks or fence posts. Such perches also provide a panoramic view, helping them spot the insects and spiders on which they feed.
Males have a distinctive color signal used specifically for courtship. Prairie lizards have a dark coloration, but males have turquoise patches on their underside by which they attract females. Ranging from 5 to 7 inches in length, these lizards love basking in the sun. Like several other species on this list, they can shed a portion of their tail under pressure. They’re also able to “drop” or “detach” their tail in order to escape predators faster. The tail will regenerate after it is dropped.
Regionally, this species leans toward the northern half of the state. Common in northern and central Louisiana, Prairie Lizards prefer sunny, open woodlands, prairies, and rocky outcrops. They are well adapted to areas with moderate human disturbance, often inhabiting parks, gardens, and rural fences. They’re also surprisingly athletic. These spiny lizards are one of the best climbers in their family.
In Louisiana, Prairie Lizards spend most of their time off the ground perched in trees, on fences, and even on sunflowers. In addition to climbing, Prairie Lizards can run so fast that they’re hard to catch. A related population extends the fence lizard’s range into Tennessee’s lizard fauna, where the same basking behavior on rocky outcrops shows up in a very similar climate niche.
7. Mediterranean House Gecko
The Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) is the pale, translucent-looking lizard that shows up clinging to a porch wall under the bug light after dark. Also known as the Turkish gecko or moon lizard, Mediterranean house geckos are common in most parts of the world, including Louisiana. Herpetology records confirm it’s an established introduced species in the state, listed under Family Gekkonidae, Hemidactylus turcicus alongside a handful of other non-native reptiles.
Physically, it looks quite different from Louisiana’s native lizards. They have rounded noses with moderate body and limbs. Residents in several parishes have reported regular sightings. Observers have seen lots of Mediterranean House Geckos in towns such as Kinder and Lake Arthur, Louisiana.
Because this species tends to show up on buildings rather than in wild habitat, it’s often the first lizard people notice near their homes at night, alongside porch-light regulars like the various owl species active after dark in Louisiana that occasionally hunt them. Anyone drawn to keeping reptiles as pets after spotting one on the porch might also want to browse a broader overview of popular pet reptile species before bringing one home, since wild-caught geckos don’t make ideal captives.
Identifying Louisiana’s lizards gets easier with practice, particularly once you know which habitat and season to expect each species in. The green anole and brown anole dominate anything vertical near a house, the glass lizard hides in burrows and debris, the two skinks split time between tree bark and leaf litter, the fence lizard sticks to open sunny perches, and the house gecko waits for dusk near artificial light. Readers curious how these species compare to lizard populations elsewhere can also check guides on lizards found in Mexico or the lizard species native to Jamaica, both regions that share several of the same introduced species now established across Louisiana.