Enrichment in cats and dogs is known to give them the chance to perform natural behaviors, reduce their stress and anxiety, prevent boredom and behavioral issues that can come along with it, and safeguard their physical health. New research investigated if the same holds true for pet lizards.

Lizards are becoming a more common pet, but there still isn’t as much research into their wellbeing as there is into the wellbeing of more popular pets. To broaden our knowledge of what makes pet lizards happiest and healthiest, a team of researchers studied whether enrichment, or particular types of enrichment, improved the welfare of leopard geckos. Their findings were recently published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

Anna Wilkinson, study co-author and Professor of Animal Cognition at the University of Lincoln in the UK, says, “It is important to be able to give your pet reptile optimal care and to do this we need to understand what the best environment for them, both by assessing their welfare in different environments and by asking them where they would like to spend their time.”

Wilkinson and the rest of the team set out to determine this by allowing six geckos to spend four weeks each in three different enclosures: One with a standard environment, one with enrichment, and one with naturalistic enrichment.  The researchers then gauged their welfare through their behavior and anxiety. They also gave the geckos a preference test to see which enclosure they’d choose if it were up to them.

The findings showed that the geckos interacted with all the enrichment items, natural or otherwise, while both enriched environments came with improved welfare. However, when they were allowed to choose an enclosure, the geckos showed a marked preference for the naturalistic enriched one. 

Erin Rickman, the study’s first author and University of Lincoln PhD student at the time of the research, says, “The findings showed us that reptiles not only benefit from enrichment but also have a strong preference for the naturalistic enrichment. Therefore, we recommend that they are kept in this type of housing.”

To accomplish this, the researchers say you can use items like live plants, soil, and invertebrates, while including multiple hides at different positions.