Introduction
Get involved in conserving our lizards by creating a lizard lounge in your garden. Earn a Kiwi Guardians medal for becoming a habitat creator!Lounging lizards love to bask in the sun. Lizards can thrive in suburban gardens and rural properties if they have the food and shelter they need.
Download this activity
Make your own lizard lounge (PDF, 2,996K)
Did you know?
- There are over 99 species of lizard in New Zealand.
- All native lizard species are protected. You can't catch, collect or disturb them.
What you need
Do you have any of these lying around?
- Rotting logs
- Rocks
- Bits of old bark
- Terracotta tiles
- Corrugated iron pieces
- Old building material like planks of wood
- Firewood
What to do
1. Explore your backyard
Search for the perfect spot to put your lizard lounge.
- Lizards love warm, dry and sunny areas.
- If you already have tussocks or rocks in your garden, then you’re off to a great start.
- Shrubs with tangled branches are perfect for thick ground cover.
2. Build a lizard lounge
Stack the above items loosely so there are plenty of cracks and holes. Lizards enjoy hiding between cracks and under cover.
Try experimenting with different materials and keep track of what lizards like best.
- How many different kinds of lizard are in your garden?
- Do certain objects appeal more to particular species?
Hints for making a lizard lounge
- Lizards like privacy so choose a spot that has thick ground cover. This also helps protect them from predators like rats.
- Lizards are very loyal, and once they’ve found their favourite spot it’s likely they’ll be with you for many years to come.
- Keep your lizards hydrated by placing water bowls in their lounge.
- It’s important to give lizards personal space and only look at them from a distance.
Kiwi Guardians Habitat Creator - Lizard Lounge medal
Claim your Kiwi Guardians Habitat creator – lizard lounge medal
Tell us if there are any lizards in your backyard and about the lizard lounge you’ve built, and we’ll send you a Kiwi Guardians Habitat Creator – Lizard Lounge medal.
- What did your lounge look like?
- How did you build it?
- Has anything moved in yet?
Complete the claim form to tell us about your activity, and we'll send you a medal. Each Kiwi Guardians action has a different medal – see how many you can collect.
Share what you did
The team at Toyota Kiwi Guardians would love to hear about what you did. Send us an email, or share something online using #KiwiGuardians, so we can share it with others. Visit Kiwi Guardians on Facebook.
