20 Lizard memes to warm your heart like a 100-degree heat lamp

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Jun 17, 2026 10:45 AM EDT

Are lizards affectionate?

Ask any lizard owner, like myself, and we will gladly tell you the obvious, undeniable truth: of course they do. If it weren't for a lizard's human servants, who polish their enclosure glass, make warm water soaks for them, and clean up all their messes, who would do their dirty work? Who would bring these lizards their fair share of hornworms as a tasty little treat?

Lizards, at least the pet lizards we have in a terrarium that's designed specifically and temperature-controlled for their benefit, are beloved creatures. They know this. They understand that they're the prince (or princess) of the household. So in return for our life-long servitude and devotion, they return the favor with brief, fleeting, and sometimes confusing displays of affection.

When a bearded dragon falls asleep on your shoulder or when a gecko licks its eyeball by their tank's glass, that's lizard code for, 'I love you.' As humans, all we have to do is become fluent in lizard languaging, and finally, our reptile lore chart will be complete. Snakes, turtles, and arachnids aren't enough to confirm our love for the reptile fauna sector, but lizards? Lizards are the cuddle monsters of the scaly variety. They may be cold-blooded creatures on a technical aspect, but lizards are the most lovable pets you'll ever have.

Lizards are certainly more snuggly and sweet than any cat I've ever known.

I had a bearded dragon, whom I aptly named "Komodo." She was a feisty, lovable creature with a side-eye obsession, an unquenchable love for arugula, and a hankering for demolishing her enclosure at the most inopportune times. Komodo was more than just my bearded dragon for 7 years; she was a friend. She slept on my shoulder when I worked from home, she played under her heat lamp in the summertime, and she would always lick her lizard lips for an extra scrap of fruit. I'll always think of her whenever I'm chopping the tops off of my strawberries or plucking the yellow dandelion flowers out of the lawn, because she was more than just a lizard; she was an affectionate, bug-eating companion.