That depends on the lizard, not necessarily the species, in my opinion.
Why do I claim this? Well, we could claim humans are intelligent. We could, but I’ve seen some idiots in my time, how about you? I could amuse (or sadden) you for an hour with stories of people I believe may live in nearly perpetual dimwittedness, and I may not want to amuse you with my own moronic moments.
So, let’s focus on smarts. We could think a dog is smart compared to a bird, but hang on before we all agree on that. We’ve done some research here and found that people classify the intelligence of animals by sometimes minimal research and lump them into categories by species. This makes a lot of sense, but it isn’t entirely perfect. Take into account there are different intelligences that constitute a facet of an individual, maybe the same goes for individual animals. Some argue about this – either one is intelligent or not. But maybe things aren’t so predictable.
Here is a claim that there are different kinds of intelligences of humans:
Have you ever met people who are “book smart,” yet have no “street smarts?” Have you known someone you could classify as a highly educated dumba&&, meaning they could have college degrees yet seem to be lacking in many areas considered “common sense?”
Some humans seem to possess a bit of all the smarts, while others… well, we’re not sure how they function in or out of society. Can we compare Mr. Einstein to the 350 lb. woman with blue hair and 5 kids at Walmart with little sense of herself, her surroundings, or anything of mental depth (so to speak), such as philosophy? Yes. Yes we can.
Some dogs are much smarter than others and it isn’t always breed specific. I watched a finch (I think it was a finch) figure out how to get a twig five times the width of a hole into some siding, through it, and into it’s nest. Now, that little birdie was thinking! Many dogs can’t figure out how to get a stick through a doorway!! Brain size is not always indicative of what is possible. A dog may learn many impressive things, but a bird may have some unexpected mental capabilities.
I’ve never met an iguana who could be called dumb (victims of mass-murder in Florida though), but I’ve seen differences in bearded dragons. Not that any are exactly dumb, but I’ve seen beardies that look like they aren’t deep thinkers.
See Murph as a juvenile trying to figure out what sunglasses are: A Lizard’s Curiosity Caught On Camera
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You may not know these neat facts:
•The Komodo dragon hunts with strategies like a land mammal.
•Rattlesnakes have been observed moving debris from their chosen strike path. That is planning ahead!
•Green sea turtles are able to rapidly learn by conditional learning and proved that they possess an understanding of their behaviors.
•Female sea turtles know how return to the beach where they were born (30 years earlier) to lay their eggs there.
•Lizards memorized the location of food in a maze.
READ IT ALL HERE: https://reptilesmagazine.com/six-studies-on-reptile-intelligence/ The studies are in there as well.
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Those who don’t know lizards, may think reptiles are just resting dumbly wherever they are motionless. Those blessed to know them, see much, much more. They could be:
just having a tranquil moment; pouting (Oh man, Murph is Mr. Pouty); stressed and focused; sad; sleepy; preferring to be held (also possibly pouting); wishing to be outside (pouting again?); bored; or thinking long and hard on their next move – 3 minutes later.🤔
Take our Murph, for example. I believe he is introspective as well as extrospective. Is that strictly of the human condition? Animals think differently, but what they could be experiencing could boil down to the same things in the rawest essences of the words.
How is Murphy introspective? I believe he realizes his lizardness. We get to know our animal friends so well that sometimes we are certain there is a form of telepathy between us, don’t we? I can’t prove realizations, and that’s okay. Maybe you can see his thinking face in our photos and videos found at Lizard Planet .com.
When I left the country for two weeks, Lil’ Murph became so depressed he refused to eat!! Not I, nor his care-takers saw this coming. Someone special, who loves Murph and Copper, our beardie before Murph, knew what to do and made the trip to prevent Murph from at least dehydrating any more. Every animal can be depressed in their living conditions. If saddened enough, with spirit broken, I think lizards (and probably others) can and have shut down until death. Introspection?
As for Murph’s extrospection, He is highly observant and often appears to be analyzing. See A Lizard’s Curiosity Caught On Camera again.
He gets bored and appreciates new foods (unless he forms a negative opinion) and watching any & all outdoor activities through his window, but especially while being outside with the action.
I’m hoping to paint this scene in your mind. I mentioned Copper earlier, I wish to share what she did one day: At our previous home there was a small, concrete back porch, then just one step down to the concrete patio.
We had a chair right next to that step which had a potted plant on it. Copper, sitting in my lap, wanted to get down to walk around, but she knew the leap from my leg to the concrete would hurt.
So she began to look at options. She found one, the only way to get down by herself!! She slithered down through the opening of the chair’s arm and into the cushioning of the plant. From there, it was easy to get onto the step and then climb down to her goal of being on the patio!!
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•Monitor lizards can be trained to count to six in captivity and can recall routes to hiding places, and more!
•Nile monitors lay their eggs in termite mounds which keep their eggs warm. When the babies hatch, they are surrounded by termites for food. – Was that thought out? See more:
I am not a fan of people collecting reptiles like… well, like a collection, a novelty. So many people do it. So many people see nothing wrong with it as long as they get handled a bit, and are given what they need.
Except in unusual cases, nobody, no body wants to be in a tiny area all day, everyday, getting out once or twice a day if they’re lucky. I believe if humans are going to have “pets,” the ultimate experience is in bonding and more than a 1/2-a&& life for whoever is closed up because a person chose their fate. When people have 30 reptiles, do the reptiles experience the sun, breezes, or exercise? The odds are slim. I don’t like lack of freedom. Maybe I just see reptiles in a different way than nearly every other person.
However, I really, really like this kid in that last Youtube video. He’s funny, comfortable in front of the camera, and I believe he’s taking good care of these animals in the situation they are in right now.
There it is… reptiles have emotions, moods, realizations, cognitive reasoning, spatial thought abilities, can plan ahead, and use problem-solving skills!! Now, you people in Florida find a different solution to shooting iguanas with a variety of projectiles. If there was an invasive cute kitten problem, you’d think of a solution. Stop the green iguana genocide.
“Give me Lizardry or give me Death!” – ❤️Murph & Dawn
LizardPlanet.com 
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