Most lizards lay eggs, but a substantial minority give birth to live young — and the split does not follow the lines most people expect. Live birth has evolved independently many times across lizards, and some of the species in this hobby are on the live-bearing side.
Quick answer
- The majority of lizards are oviparous: they lay eggs.
- A significant minority are viviparous: the female gives birth to fully formed young.
- Live birth has evolved separately dozens of times in lizards and snakes — it is not one lineage’s trick.
- Nearly all geckos lay eggs, and almost always two at a time.
- A few lizards skip males altogether and reproduce by parthenogenesis.
Egg-layers, and the two-egg rule
Geckos are the clearest case. Across the group, a clutch is almost always two eggs — and a female will produce clutch after clutch through a season rather than one large batch. Crested geckos, gargoyle geckos and leachianus all follow this pattern.
Egg shells vary more than the number does. Many geckos in the family Gekkonidae lay hard, calcified eggs that they glue to a surface; the New Caledonian species we work with lay softer-shelled eggs buried in substrate. That difference is why a laying box with deep, slightly damp substrate matters for the ones we keep.
Live-bearers
| Group | Reproduction |
|---|---|
| Most geckos | Egg-laying, two per clutch, multiple clutches per season |
| Abronia (arboreal alligator lizards) | Live birth — fully formed young, no eggs |
| Many skinks | Split: some lay eggs, some give birth to live young |
| Uromastyx, bearded dragons, most agamids | Egg-laying |
| Chameleons | Mostly egg-laying; some montane species live-bearing |
The pattern behind the pattern is climate. Live birth turns up repeatedly in cool, high-altitude and high-latitude species, because a female can carry developing young and move them into sunlight, whereas a buried clutch is stuck at whatever temperature the ground offers. That is exactly the situation Abronia graminea lives in — Mexican cloud forest at elevation — and it is live-bearing.
It is also why live birth is a commercial fact and not just a curiosity: a species that produces a handful of live young at long intervals will always be scarcer and more expensive than one laying repeated clutches.
The ones that need no male at all
A few lizards reproduce by parthenogenesis, where females produce offspring without fertilisation and the young are effectively clones of the mother. Among geckos the best-known example is the mourning gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris, whose populations are all female; Bynoe’s gecko, Heteronotia binoei, does the same in Australia. Several whiptail lizards are famously parthenogenetic too.
What this means if you keep one
Two practical consequences. First, a lone female lizard can lay eggs. Infertile clutches are normal, and a female with nowhere suitable to deposit them can become egg-bound, which is a veterinary problem — so a laying site is not optional even without a male. Second, buying “a pair” is often meaningless at the size animals are sold, because most juveniles cannot be sexed externally. That is why our listings are counts rather than sexed pairs.
More on the group generally in what do lizards eat and is a gecko a lizard. The animals are under lizards for sale and geckos for sale.
Common questions
Do all lizards lay eggs?
No. Most do, but a substantial minority give birth to live young, and live birth has evolved independently many times across lizards.
Do geckos lay eggs?
Nearly all do, and almost always two per clutch, with several clutches through a breeding season rather than one large batch.
Which pet lizards give birth to live young?
Arboreal alligator lizards in the genus Abronia are live-bearing, as are a number of skinks. Most other commonly kept species lay eggs.
Can a female lizard lay eggs without a male?
Yes. Infertile clutches are common, and a female needs a suitable laying site regardless, because retained eggs can become a medical emergency. A few species reproduce by parthenogenesis and need no male at all.
How many eggs do lizards lay?
It varies enormously. Geckos are the tidy case at two per clutch; other lizards range from a couple to several dozen depending on species and size.