Surprise Baby Boom: Our Green Keeled‑Bellied Lizards Have Unannounced Six Hatchlings!
Never a dull moment
Some weekends are quiet. This was not one of them.
We were just minding our own business at Kiley’s Kritters. Dad was in full “tech support” mode, wrestling with our house light automation and trying to convince it to behave. In a rare moment of calm, he glanced over at Shrek and Fiona’s enclosure and wondered out loud if they would ever give us a clutch of eggs.
Before the thought could even finish… something tiny moved.
Perched on a leaf, like it had been there all along, was the smallest green keeled-bellied lizard we’d ever seen. A perfect miniature, bright-eyed and bold, staring right back at him. Frantically Dad grabbed a quick video and quietly retrieved the rest of the family to come see and to help him safely extract the baby from the parent’s enclosure.
Thursday: “Wait… That’s a Baby!”
That first baby appeared out of nowhere. One second, we were thinking about lights, the next second our brains were trying to catch up to what our eyes were seeing.
Then we saw another!
Green keeled-bellied lizards, like many arboreal species, are not exactly known for their parenting skills. They’re more of the “lay the eggs and let nature take over” type. So the excitement quickly turned into a little bit of panic. We knew we had to move fast.
The whole family snapped into action. We gently, carefully, started “fishing” the babies out of the enclosure—slow movements, soft voices, and lots of teamwork. By the time we were done, we had two tiny hatchlings in a temporary setup and a million questions in our heads:
How many eggs did they lay?
Were there more babies hiding in the leaves?
How did we miss this?
What do we house them in?
Luckily we have plenty of supplies and quickly setup a 10 gallon front opening terrarium with proper lights and enough decor for enrichment to get us by a day or two.
And just to add to the chaos, this all happened only a few hours after we had finished getting something else special ready—a surprise for Kiley. That’s a story for another Reptile Diary or perhaps a new Reptile Family introduction?
Temporary 10-Gallon Nursery with lights, heating, and climbing opportunities - complete with built in hides.
Friday & Sunday: The Baby Count Keeps Climbing
We went to bed on Thursday night thinking, “Okay, two babies. We can handle this.”
Friday had other plans.
While checking on Shrek and Fiona again, we spotted two more tiny green bodies tucked away in the foliage. That brought us up to four babies. At this point, it felt like we were living inside one of those hidden-picture books where you’re trying to find all the animals on the page.
By Sunday, we weren’t even surprised when we found baby number five still in the adult enclosure. We were just grateful Shrek and Fiona had been gentle roommates up to that point.
Five babies. No eggs ever spotted. All hatched and hiding right under our noses.
Saturday: Emergency Nursery Build Day
By Saturday morning, we knew our little 10-gallon front-opening terrarium wasn’t going to cut it for four (and counting) active baby green keeled-bellied lizards.
So we did what any reptile family does when life throws them a surprise clutch: we went into full enclosure-engineering mode.
We remembered the Reptile Habitats 2x2x2 enclosure sitting in the garage—the one we picked up off Facebook Marketplace to eventually house our female leachianus gecko once she grows out of her tub. She still has some growing to do, so the 2x2x2 was officially reassigned.
Time for a mini jungle.
Our Saturday supply run looked like this:
Home Depot: Sphagnum moss for humidity and micro-hiding spots.
PetSmart: UVB lighting and a bag of small crickets for the babies.
Dollar Tree: Fake plants to create dense foliage and visual barriers.
Local hardware store: Weather stripping to secure the 2x2x2 glass door and keep everyone safely inside.
By the time we got home, it was all hands on deck. We layered the substrate, tucked in the moss, arranged branches and plants, and got the lighting dialed in. Slowly, the empty enclosure turned into a tiny green world full of places to climb, hide, and explore.
That evening, we carefully moved all four babies into their new nursery. Within minutes they were chasing crickets like they owned the place.
Sunday: The Nursery Comes to Life
Sunday turned into “baby lizard watching day” as we cued up Encanto on the basement TV and relaxed for a session of movies and lizard watching. Dad’s new favorite past time, 2nd to football of course! Luckily his team played Thursday night - so we had the weekend off!
We added around 20 gut-loaded, calcium-dusted crickets to the nursery. That number didn’t last long—within seconds, one disappeared into a very happy baby keeled-bellied lizard. Nineteen crickets to go.
Watching them hunt and explore felt like staring into a living, breathing version of those “find the animals” picture books from childhood. The babies are so small and so perfectly camouflaged that half the fun is just trying to spot them:
One peeking out from behind a leaf.
Another flattened along a branch, blending in with the bark.
A tail disappearing into a clump of moss.
Later that evening, just when we thought we had everyone accounted for, we checked Shrek and Fiona’s enclosure again… and found baby number five. Into the nursery they went.
Monday: And Then There Were Six
By Monday evening, the final surprise arrived (we think): baby number six!
Six baby green keeled-bellied lizards. All from a pair we’ve had since February 2024, going on two years now. No eggs ever found. No obvious nesting site discovered. Just tiny, perfectly formed hatchlings appearing one by one as if the enclosure itself was spawning them. Of course, we will still continue to check for more over the next couple of weeks, just incase we missed any, or incase Fiona decides to pull double clutches or more!
We’re so thankful we upgraded to the 2x2x2 when we did. What started as a quick “temporary setup” turned into a proper nursery just in time.
Now, sitting back and watching the babies move through their little jungle is one of our favorite parts of the day. We still catch ourselves counting:
“Do you see three?” “Wait, there’s one on the glass!” “Okay, that’s four… no, five… where’s number six?”
They’re like living, breathing hidden treasures.
Fun video of the baby green keeled belly lizards running and hanging around!
Meet the Parents: Shrek & Fiona
If you haven’t met Shrek and Fiona yet, they’re our adult green keeled-bellied lizards and the proud (if somewhat hands-off) parents of this surprise clutch. We’ve had them for almost two years, and they’ve been such fun additions to our reptile family.
We share more about their personalities and species details in our Reptile Family post here:
Pizza Night Surprise – Shrek & Fiona
Green keeled-bellied lizards are:
Arboreal (they love to climb).
Fast, alert, and curious.
Not known for parental care—so separate baby housing is important.
Incredibly fun to watch once you give them space, height, and lots of cover.
This surprise clutch has given us an even deeper appreciation for them and for how much life can be happening in an enclosure, even when we don’t see it right away.
What We’re Taking Away From This Surprise Clutch
This whole experience has been a reminder of a few things we love about keeping reptiles as a family:
Nature doesn’t always follow our schedule. We weren’t “planning” for babies, but Shrek and Fiona clearly were.
Observation matters. A quick glance at an enclosure turned into a life-changing moment for six tiny lizards and us!
Preparation pays off. Having extra enclosures and supplies around made it possible to pivot fast and build a safe nursery.
There’s always something new to learn. Even after nearly two years with this species, they still found a way to surprise us.
We’ll keep sharing updates as the babies grow, find their personalities, and settle into their little jungle. For now, we’re just enjoying the challenge of spotting all six at once.
Because at Kiley’s Kritters, there really is never a dull moment.
Who knows? The last clutch of eggs, and hatchlings there after turned into a Kiley’s Kritters: The Great Dinosaur Adventure children’s story book and a song titled: Together Since the Dawn of Time!
