There’s always one person in the family who cannot stand lizards. They’ll scream, climb onto the chair, refuse to enter the bathroom until somebody chases it out with a broom. And there’s always one person who says “leave it, it eats the mosquitoes.”
Both of them have a point, to be fair.
Lizard calls keep our phone busy here in Thiruvananthapuram – houses, yes, but also clinics, small offices, textile shops, and the bakeries and hotels more than anyone. So, three things people want to know. Will it harm us? Why so many all of a sudden? How do I get rid of them for good? And before you ask, no, most of those WhatsApp forwards with eggshells and coffee powder don’t do much. I’ll come to that.
Are house lizards harmful or poisonous?
That palli sitting near your tube light is not poisonous, whatever your grandmother said. Catch hold of it and maybe you’ll get a tiny nip, nothing more, and mostly it’ll just drop its tail and run. Hurting you is the last thing on its mind.
Where it does cause trouble is hygiene. You’ve seen the droppings, I’m sure, black with a white tip at one end, on top of the fridge, in the cupboard, on the counter, and now and then right in a vessel somebody forgot to cover. Reptiles as a group, our lizards too, can carry Salmonella. So a lizard walking over the vessels or falling into the water pot isn’t just disgusting, it can actually make someone sick. In a restaurant kitchen or a bakery, that’s also a food safety problem you don’t want an inspector to find.
And then for some people it’s plain fear, and I won’t laugh at that. Having to check the bathroom wall every single time before you go in is no way to live.
Why are there suddenly so many lizards in my house?
Nine times out of ten – insects. Your house has a lot of them, even if you haven’t noticed.
A lizard goes where dinner is. All those moths circling the verandah bulb, the mosquitoes, the little flies hanging around the waste bin, cockroaches coming out after lights-off, ants. Give a lizard a steady buffet like that and it’s not going anywhere, it’ll bring the family. Warm walls behind the fridge, the space behind photo frames and the wall clock, gaps above the cupboard, behind the curtain pelmet – these are their hiding spots during the day.
Here, the weather helps them too. It’s warm all year, humid, and there’s greenery right next to most buildings. During the monsoon you’ll notice more, because the insects increase and everybody keeps windows shut but lights on.
So if somebody tells you “we’ll kill all the lizards” and doesn’t say a word about the insects, the lizards will just come back.
What actually works for lizard control?
Three things, done together. Take away the food. Shut the doors they use. Make the hiding spots uncomfortable. Somebody selling you one spray that will make every lizard fall off the wall forever is selling you a story – and anyway, do you really want five dead lizards rotting behind the showcase?
Taking away the food – so we go after the insects first, cockroaches, ants, flies, and do something about the mosquitoes. Fewer insects, and a good number of the lizards pack up and leave on their own. Everybody wants to skip this step. Please don’t, it’s the one that matters most.
Shutting their doors – they squeeze in round the window frames, under the door where there’s that finger-width gap, through the hole the AC technician made for the pipe and never filled, the exhaust fan opening, any torn mesh. We check those and tell you what needs sealing. Some you can do yourself with a bit of sealant. Door sweeps for the bottom of doors work really well and they’re cheap.
Making it unattractive – we use approved lizard repellent treatments in the hiding spots: behind frames, inside the cupboard tops, around light fittings, in corners near the ceiling. These discourage them from staying. They’re applied in specific spots, not sprayed everywhere.
Do eggshells, naphthalene balls and pepper spray work?
Ha. Everybody’s asked me this one.
Eggshells hanging near the door – there’s no good evidence it works. Some people swear by it, but I’ve seen plenty of lizards sitting right next to the eggshell. Naphthalene balls, those white mothballs, they have a strong smell and some people put them everywhere. Please be careful with these. They’re not something you want small children handling or breathing a lot, and they’re definitely not something to keep in the kitchen. Pepper and onion spray might make a lizard move away from one spot for a few hours. Then it’s back.
Coffee and tobacco balls is another one I hear. Not recommended, especially in a house with kids or pets.
These are all harmless-ish ways to feel like you’re doing something. They just don’t solve it.
Lizard control for offices, shops and restaurants
In commercial places the rules are tighter. A lizard dropping on a bakery shelf or a lizard in the food storage area is a serious issue, both for health and for the business’s name. Imagine one falls into a customer’s tea. It’s happened, and it ends up on social media within an hour.
For these places we usually suggest a regular service – monthly or as needed – covering insects, lizards and entry points together, with a written report for your records. The kitchen, the storeroom, the area around the waste bins, the false ceiling and the back door are where we focus. If you have an inspection coming up, call us well before, not the day before.
What can I do at home to keep lizards away?
The sit-out light that stays on till morning? Switch it off, or put in a yellow bulb, bugs don’t like those as much. Before bed, the kitchen should be wiped down, food put away, dustbin lid shut. Fix the torn mosquito mesh. Don’t keep stacks of old newspapers, boxes and clothes in corners for months. Move furniture away from the walls once in a while and clean behind it. Check the gap under the main door and the bathroom door – if light comes through, a lizard can too.
Is lizard treatment safe for the family?
Yes. We use the treatment only in spots where lizards hide, mostly up high and behind things, and in small quantities. You don’t need to leave the house for a long time. We’ll tell you if any room should be kept closed for a short while and when it’s fine to clean the area again. If anyone at home is pregnant, has asthma or is very sensitive to smells, please tell us in advance.
Why choose PCCS India for lizard control in Trivandrum
We’ve done pest control in Kerala for over 15 years, and lizard problems have been part of that the whole way. Our teams look at the full picture – the insects, the gaps, the hiding places – instead of only spraying and leaving. We work with homes, apartments, offices, hospitals, schools and food businesses, and we’re available on weekends and holidays too.
We cover Thiruvananthapuram city and nearby areas, and other districts through our branches. More on what we treat is on our pest control services page.
Lizard control FAQs
Can you remove all lizards permanently?
Nobody can promise that in Kerala, I’ll be honest. What we can do is bring the numbers down a lot and keep them low, by controlling insects, sealing entry points and treating hiding spots.
How long will the lizard treatment work?
Varies a lot with the building and the time of year. For houses, once or twice a year is common, and most people club it with the regular pest control. A restaurant or bakery is different, there we come on a fixed schedule.
Lizards in the house – does it mean my house is dirty?
Not really. It means there are insects around, and in our climate even very clean homes get insects.
Is lizard poison safe to use?
We stay away from loose poisons in homes. Picture the smell from a lizard that died behind the cot, and then picture a toddler finding the poison first. Not worth it. Repellent plus prevention does the job better.
Lizards taking over the bathroom?
Give PCCS India a call on 0471-2353735 or 81138 50599, or send a message on our contact page. Tell us whether it’s a home, office or food business, and we’ll plan the visit.
