Household Lizards in Delhi - Chipkalli

travelerindia

Hi all:

Am back in Delhi (Noida to be exact) from San Francisco, its bloody hot here, and I am noticing something I have not seen before – a high population of very young lizards (or chipkalli or chipkilli) all over the house. I am talking young and hella cute, about 2 inches long, and clearly adolescent lizards hanging around on the walls. And I am talking about 10-15 young ones in our 4 bedroom house, something I have never ever seen before.

And then, all of a sudden, a fully grown lizard shows up on the wall (for those new to India, I am talking about a 5 inch lizard or so, not a monitor lizard or something of that size or nature!), and I assumed it to be the parent of the lil ones.

Well, to my shock and dismay, it proceeded to stalk and eat, yes, eat, at least four of the lil lizards in the course of the next few hours. I had never, ever seen this, and I have lived in India for nine years on and off, and with adult chipkallis a common part of the habitat.

Tonight, I went to the kitchen, switched on the lights, and saw a young one again, this time sitting in the sink. When I got close, the lil baby lizard opened its mouth as if to take a last gasp, turned on its side, and just died! As if out of fright!? But googling this strange behavior, I found that many lizards act dead when under threat. I went to check again, and the lil fella is gone, so not dead at all! Aha, an Indian lizard trick!! Just joking....

I am quite surprised with the lizard activity in our house right now because we are pretty darn good at keeping a clean house with no bugs (well, we try) and actually have not had much of a lizard friendly house in the past – mostly because they keep out because we keep them and their food - bugs - out.

OK. I am totally into these Delhi lizards now, so help me out here, Delhi folks:

What is the biological name of the common household lizards found in Delhi? Are they geckos?

Have you had a similar experience with an onset of the young ones? In the summer?

Is it common for lizards or geckos to be “cannibalistic”? Have Delhities seen this behavior before?

Why are they cute when they are young but not so cute when full grown? Haha!

I know they are very beneficial for insect control, and good to have. But is there anything “bad” about them? Do they bite? Poisonous? Potential to spread disease?

I have been told on separate occasions that 1. Peacock feathers will keep them away and 2. cracked egg shells will keep them away and 3. freshly cut onions hung from the ceiling will keep them away.

Well, I tried peacock feathers last year (I love India, a woman selling peacock feathers just happened to walk by our house!!!!) and THEY DO NOT WORK.

I have not tried the egg shells (quite embarrassed to) and I refuse to hang freshly cut onions from our ceilings because I don’t think I will have any friends left.

Killing lizards is out of the option, they are such an integral part of the ecosystem.

What has worked for you, if anything, to deter them from the house?

And finally, any interesting lizard stories from India?

Thanks!! Am off to Hyderabad for a week and may report on lizards in that area if appropriate!

obione980

I live in Brisbane - where geckos in the house are the norm. They seem to be self limiting to the extent that they are very territorial and I assume the dominant geckos maintain a sustainable population.

My query - where do they go in winter? They're a summer phenomona here - and in North India.

Hal

I love the lizards in India and go looking for them whenever I'm there. I usually travel alone so one night I spent an pleasant evening on a rooftop cafe, looking at the Taj Mahal in the company of a large gecko.

On my way through the Araku Valley I'd stopped at an overlook when my driver came running over beckoning me to come look at what was in the middle of the road. Pinned under a rock was a beautiful green chameleon. The reason it was under the rock was a guy was trying to stone it to death. Despite my best efforts to let it go and shield it, he pummeled it to death. The driver told me they are considered to be bad luck.

Here's a photo of it about 10 seconds before it was killed.

Attached Thumbnails

 

livinhimalayas

The adult chipkalis do eat the younger ones at times, I have seen them doing it.

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goangoangone

They come here.

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birds

Nice story, I like lizards too we have lots of them here in Goa. Some people here seem to believe that they have a tendency fall in food but I have never seen such thing.


Just one thing about the peacock feathers, please note that nearly all peacock feathers sold in India come from poached peacocks. In India there are no peacock farms so they are taken from the wild and are killed for their feathers. Don't believe stories about peacocks naturally shedding feathers because although peacocks will lose the occasional feather, these are by far not sufficient to explain the enormous supply of peacock feathers across India.

Also note that although many people buy peacock feathers as souvenirs, this is illegal and if you get caught (at customs or elsewhere) you could face still penalties.See also:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/200...trum/main1.htm
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.or.../birds/peacock

Now back to lizards, in many Asian countries house lizards being caught and sold to China to be grounded up into some 'medicine' . Thankfully I believe this is not yet a practice in India.

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jituyadav

Interesting story, this is what i can interpret
Lizards lay more eggs when there is plenty of food and they hatch in this season so it is normal. Last year being a good monsoon year, there was plenty of food for lizards resulting in more eggs.
The second reason could be number of lizards laying eggs at the same place. This would also increase the number of young ones. Probably the lizard that ate the small ones was a male and not the parent of some of them. This is a way to increase their own gene pool.
Thirdly, due to shortage bugs at this time, no mosquitoes and flies due to the heat, the adult ate the young ones because of hunger.
There is nothing bad about them, just one precaution, keep the food covered...if its not a lizard soup...

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livinhimalayas

The lizzies give me the shivers, I am happy beause here we do not have any chipkalis we have these really big lizards that live outdoors and never come in. I am happier with them.

goangoangone

I was sitting under a fan in a restaurant and something hit me on the shirt collar. There was blood. We think a gekko had an argument with the fan and lost his tail. That could have gone in your dinner while you were turning to order another beer.

Wildhorse

That works only on vampires. No, wait... that was garlic.

Lou Wilson

Here is a 3 legged Sri Lanka House Lizard (Gecko)
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...7/ppuser/15002

wonderwomanusa

Back in the day when purchasing and smoking hashish was legal in Kathmandu, we noted that the house lizards sometimes got stoned and would fall off the wall!

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Wanderer22

Ah, the good ole daze.... Just keep them away from your stock of Kingfisher... http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...78/ppuser/2115

W22

livinhimalayas

That was a good one - reminds me of my dog who goes out looking for the marijuana plant to chew the leaves and then is completely stoned

hi_akhil

Thats interesting. I am born and brought up in delhi and i do see lizards but outside house.

I think you have some opening in any balcony or somewhere else in house from where these lizards are coming from outside.