Are lizards and snakes an issue in Melbourne?

We moved to Australia from Leicester over40 years ago,enjoy the adventure ahead of you.In the cities and suburbs you will be fine,you may see the odd thing that disturbs you to begin with but you do get use to the different creatures.They are much more frightened of you. Still enjoy going back to the UK for holidays,but after a year or so in Australia you will appreciate the country.David, Queensland.

Hi I am an Australian living in Egypt, and you will not be bothered by snakes or large lizards. There are small cute Geekos a (lizard ) and they are very afraid of people. They do good work by eating mosquitoes and insects, and there can be a lot of mosquitoes in Summer. Melbourne is a lovely city. I am sure you will like it very much. All the Best Wishes.. Grace

Hi Nadif, We have lived in Melbourne for a year and a half and have not seen a snake nor a lizard near our house at any point yet. So, no worries. Good luck, Willemijn -europe2australia.com-

Hi.In Melbourne the weather is cooler and therefore you probably wont find a frilled neck lizard or lace monitor as you would in the more warmer climates of central Australia, tropics, outback and alike . suffice to say they are there, but you will find them in Melbourne. they are small and their tails tend to drop off when frightened. pencil sized width, and small little legs. usually in the garden under something. Watch out for spiders too. Red back, white tailed are really quite painful bites. Generally snakes don't like noise so will avoid it. Rule of thumb, when in the country, or anywhere really, i don't walk thru any long grass. snakes and lizards have a keen sense of survival, so will avoid humans when possible. snakes can be aggressive, so don't poke it it a good rule of thumb, and any big lizard, may be the same. The skinks are different, but research them, they can be pretty interesting.

I have lived in Australia for 17 years. In the cities you will rarely see lizards and only see snakes at the zoo. You will be mad not to go to the national parks as they are beautiful. Even there you will find it hard to find a lizard or snake. Honestly many people come to Australia with spider and snake phobias and you will soon realise that you have nothing to worry about.

Hello Nadia, it really depends on where in Melbourne you live. There are some suburbs that are closer to bush or rivers that might have lizards and snakes. It's very uncommon. I was inspecting a house for a client in the Bundoora/Greensborough area and I found a big lizard hanging out next to the backyard deck. As one of the posters said, there are geckos everywhere but not snakes and big lizards. The closer you get to the CBD, the less likely you'll find snakes and lizards. They do tend to scurry away from humans though.