Many pet owners wonder how to translate their lizard’s age into “human years” to better understand their pet’s life stage. This causes confusion, as lizards and humans age quite differently. By examining lizard lifespan, growth rates, and life stages, we can gain perspective on the aging process in pet lizards.
Applying a universal formula like “1 lizard year = 7 human years” is misleading. Different lizard species have varying lifespans. Small lizards may live only 4-5 years total, reaching end-of-life by age 3.
In humans, this equates to age 21 – hardly elderly by human standards. Additionally, lizards reach sexual maturity anywhere from 4 months to 3 years old. 4 months corresponds to a 3.5 year old human – far from an age of sexual maturity.
Lizards experience physiological changes on different timelines than humans. Slower changes like reproductive decline stretch over many years in lizards but happen more abruptly in humans. So a simple 1:7 ratio fails to capture the nuances of lizard aging.
Sources claim that, Lizard pets have the potential to live for many years when given proper care and housing. Some smaller lizard species like green anoles and long-tailed lizards typically live around 5 years as pets. However, some of the more commonly kept pet lizard species such as leopard geckos can live for 14-16 years in captivity when provided with an appropriate vivarium setup. Most types of pet lizards do well when kept in small groups of 2-4 individuals, provided there is only one adult male included in the grouping. With research into the specific care needs of different lizard species, many can thrive and live out a long and healthy life as a pet reptile.
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Lizard Years to Human Years
Just enter your pet lizard age below to convert it in human years.
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 6,000 species. Their lifespans vary significantly depending on the species. For instance, a common house gecko might live for 5 years, while a bearded dragon can live up to 10-15 years in captivity. Larger lizards like the Komodo dragon can live up to 30 years.
Pet owners anthropomorphize their lizards, attributing human emotions and life stages to these reptiles. Viewing lizards’ lives relative to a human lifespan provides an intuitive feel for a lizard’s age and expected longevity.
However, lizards and humans age differently, making direct age conversion imprecise. Lizards reach sexual maturity faster, have different activity levels at various life stages, and have shorter overall lifespans compared to humans.
Simple age conversion oversimplifies complex biological processes. Still, placing a lizard’s age into relatable human terms remains a useful way for owners to conceptualize their pet’s life stage.
Issues with Online Lizard-To-Human Calculators
Many online calculators claim to convert lizard age to human years. However, these typically apply a 1:7 ratio, with the option to switch the ratio to 1:4 for short-lived lizard species. As discussed above, a single ratio cannot account for differences in life stage durations and vastly different average longevities between lizard species. Two bearded dragons of the same age may fall into very different life stages. The online calculators also switch from scaling years early in life to simply equating years later in life. For example, a 4-year-old lizard converts to a 28-year-old human, while a 15-year-old lizard converts to a 75-year-old. In reality, a 15-year-old lizard would be middle aged, not elderly. These calculators oversimplify lizard aging and can lead owners to draw false conclusions about their pet’s life stage.
Lifespan:
Lizards are reptiles that span a wide range of species and sizes. Smaller lizard species may live only 3-4 years, while the largest lizard species can exceed 25 years. For example, leopard geckos live 6-8 years, bearded dragons live 10-14 years, and green iguanas live 15-20 years. Lifespans between male and female lizards of the same species are similar. Wild lizards face more environmental challenges and thus often have shorter average lifespans than captive pet lizards.
The vast range of lizard longevity means there is no one-size-fits-all formula for equating lizard age to human age.
Maturity:
Lizards reach sexual maturity faster than humans. Small lizards may reach maturity within their first year. Large lizard species typically take 1.5-3 years to reach maturity. In contrast, humans undergo puberty between 10-14 years. Lizards also have indeterminate growth, meaning they continue growing slowly throughout adulthood. Their growth rate slows after reaching maturity, but their body size continues increasing somewhat throughout life. Humans exhibit determinate growth, reaching our adult size by our late teens. Considering these large differences in sexual maturation and growth patterns, simply equating 1 lizard year to 7 human years fails to capture variances in life stage and development between the species.
Lizard Age Conversion Chart
Given the vast diversity of lizards, a general conversion is challenging. However, for simplicity, we can use a linear approach:
- First 2 Years: Equivalent to 25 human years (reaching young adulthood).
- Subsequent Years: Each lizard year is equivalent to 7.5 human years, considering the average human lifespan to be 75 years.
Conversion Formula:
- First 2 Years: 25 human years
- Age 3 onwards: 25 + (7.5 * (
lizard_years– 2))
Examining Life Stages
Rather than apply a single conversion formula, it is more accurate to consider a lizard’s life stage. Baby lizards from 0-2 months are similar to a human newborn. Juvenile lizards from 2 months to 1 year are like human children prior to puberty. Younger adults from 1-3 years are equivalent to older teenaged humans. Mature adults from 3 years until elderly exhibit behaviors similar to human adults in their 20s-40s. Older lizards may show reduced activity akin to senior humans. This framework provides a rough comparison of where a lizard falls relative to human life stages.
Why Simple Conversions Are Problematic
Applying a universal formula like “1 lizard year = 7 human years” is misleading. According to sources, different lizard species have varying lifespans. Small lizards may live only 4-5 years total, reaching end-of-life by age 3. In humans, this equates to age 21 – hardly elderly by human standards. Additionally, lizards reach sexual maturity anywhere from 4 months to 3 years old. 4 months corresponds to a 3.5 year old human – far from an age of sexual maturity. Finally, lizards experience physiological changes on different timelines than humans. Slower changes like reproductive decline stretch over many years in lizards but happen more abruptly in humans. So a simple 1:7 ratio fails to capture the nuances of lizard aging.
Can a lizard live 75 years
No, the vast majority of lizard species cannot live 75 years. In the wild, most lizards have an average lifespan of around 5 years, with some reaching a maximum of around 15 years.
One notable example is the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum), a venomous lizard found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. In captivity, Gila Monsters have been known to live for several decades, and some individuals may reach or exceed 20 years of age.
Another example is the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), which is often referred to as a living fossil. Native to New Zealand, tuataras are reptiles, not lizards, but they are often mentioned in discussions about lizard lifespans. Tuataras can have remarkably long lifespans, with some individuals reported to live over 100 years, making them one of the longest-lived reptiles.
These New Zealand reptiles hold the record for the longest-living lizard species, with lifespans exceeding 100 years. The oldest known tuatara lived to be 111 years old!
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