10 Reptiles With Unusual And Surprising Defense Mechanisms

For a reptile living in the wild, defense mechanisms are essential to its survival. To prevent becoming someone else’s tasty snack, these reptiles have come up with some pretty unusual ways to scare off their attackers. Keep scrolling to read the list we came up with for the most unique of these defense mechanisms. From dropped tails and bloody eyes, this list includes it all.

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Top 10 List – Reptile Defense Mechanisms

1. Appearing Larger (And Running Weirdly) – Frilled Lizard

Learn more cool facts about these guys here!

These weird little lizards from Australia have not one, but TWO interesting defense mechanisms we want to talk about. The first is what gives the frilled lizard their name – the frills around their neck. When threatened they will raise on their hind legs, open their bright yellow mouth, open the frills around their head, and hiss. These frills help the frilled lizard appear larger than it is, hopefully discouraging predators from attacking. If that fails, mouth and frills still open, they will raise onto their hind legs, turn around, and run until they find a safe place to hide (like a tree). Honestly, I think any predator would be too confused by this little lizard running away on two feet to try and chase after them anyway!

A Frilled-neck lizard running on two legs

2. Changing Color And Appearing Larger – Veiled Chameleon

Next up we have the veiled chameleon. Like the frilled lizard, these guys also try to scare off predators by appearing larger. They’ll puff up their necks and bodies as much as possible to appear larger than they are. While it was used to be believed that chameleons changed colors based on their surroundings, it’s actually not true! They change color based on their mood. If a chameleon turns dark or black, they are most likely either upset or sick and should not be bothered if in the wild. Angry males will change their scales to brighter colors to warn other males to stay out of their territory. Bright colors and visible patterns are also good indicators that the chameleon is angry and warning you or another predator to stay away from them!

3. Copying Venomous Relatives – Scarlet Kingsnake

The harmless scarlet kingsnake likes to defend itself from predators by pretending to be another type of snake that really is venomous and dangerous to attack! They’ve evolved to look like coral snakes to scare predators away – as the predators will think they’re venomous like the coral snake is. In nature, this kind of copying is called Batesian mimicry. Sometimes, milk snakes even shake their tails in order to make prey think they’re some sort of rattlesnake!

4. Camouflage – Mossy Leaf Tailed Gecko

As their name suggests, the mossy leaf-tailed gecko looks mossy, leafy, and tree-like. These geckos are the masters of disguise, blending into the background of trees and logs so their predators simply cannot see them. Various greens, browns, greys, and blacks make up a mossy/bark-like pattern down their backs that resembles that of a tree – which is where these arboreal geckos spend most of their day. They can slightly alter the pigment in their skin to help them blend in better. Lastly, they have a flap of skin that runs down the length of their body, head, and limbs called a dermal flap. This helps by smoothing the outline of the gecko and scattering the shadows to help them blend in even better to the tree. This makes it almost impossible to spot them unless you’re really looking!

5. Dropping Their Tail – Leopard Geckos

Learn how to care for leopard geckos here, and see some of their cool morphs here!

Next on our list of defense mechanisms is a reptile you’ve probably heard of before as they’re quite popular in the pet trade – the leopard gecko! Leopard geckos have the special ability to drop their entire tail, which is called autonomy. If they feel threatened, the leopard gecko will drop its tail from its body. The tail will twitch for up to 30 minutes, hopefully distracting the predator long enough for them to run away. If a predator grabs their tail they will also drop it, as it allows them to be free from the predator and keep running away to safety. Leopard geckos can regrow their tail once they’ve dropped it – however, it will never look the same as the original tail.

6. Spitting Venom – Mozambique Spitting Cobra

While regular cobras can seriously injure you with their bites, spitting cobras like the Mozambique spitting cobra have the added advantage of being able to spit the venom directly at you. They can spray their venom anywhere from 4 to 8 feet, and they aim directly at their predator’s eyes to blind them so they can escape. In order to do this, the cobra’s fangs have small holes in them, and when the snake contracts its venom gland it squeezes out a small amount of venom at high speed. Spitting their venom is for the spitting cobra’s defense, the venom from their bite is for disabling their prey (food).

7. Playing Dead – Hognose Snakes

Next on our list of defense mechanisms is probably the most dramatic – the hognose. When scared they will put on an Oscar-worthy show pretending to die to become unappealing to predators who prefer live food. When startled the hognose snake will dramatically roll on its back, stick out its tongue, and emit a foul order that makes the snake smell like it is a decomposing dead snake and not a tasty meal. If you try to flip the hognose right side up onto its belly, it will dramatically turn and twist back onto its back, tongue out and playing dead the whole time. Personally, I find the performance endearing, but a predator looking for its next meal probably won’t appreciate the odor and “dead” meal.

8. Becoming A Spiky Ball – Armadillo Girdled Lizard

The armadillo girdled lizard got its name thanks to its unique defense mechanism! Just like an armadillo, the spikey armadillo girdled lizard rolls up into a ball for protection. They hold on to their tail with their mouth, protecting their soft belly and exposing the rows of hard spikey scales on their bodies. They can hold this position for up to an hour, which most predators will have given up by then and become uninterested.

9. Shooting A Liquid From It’s Tail – Golden Spiny-Tailed Gecko

The golden spiny-tailed gecko has the unique ability to be able to shoot liquid from its tail. When threatened they shoot a brown, yellow, or orange foul-smelling, sticky liquid from its tail. The liquid is harmless, but it smells bad, and probably doesn’t taste very good to predators either! They aim this liquid at predators (like birds they share the trees with) to deter the predator from trying to eat them.

10. Shooting Blood From Its Eyes – Regal Horned Lizard

Last, but certainly not least on our list of unique defense mechanisms is the regal horned lizard’s ability to shoot blood from its eyes! While it looks like the lizard has a very severe eye injury, it’s actually doing it on purpose. When threatened they can burst blood vessels near their eyes and shoot blood up to 3 feet away from them. The blood tastes bad, and they will aim it at the predator’s mouth to hopefully make them leave the lizard alone.

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