I haven’t covered any reptiles yet from South Africa, so let’s illustrate this southern rock agama lizard (Agama atra) seen at the Harold Porter Botanical Garden not far from Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape. Males in breeding mode are quite noticeable for their blue heads and forelegs, which they use along with pushup maneuvers to signal territorial dominance displays to other males in the vicinity.
The prickly scales on the head and neck are an interesting feature of this foot-long lizard.
Agama lizards aren’t quite as good at color shifting as their cousins the chameleons are, but they can dull or brighten the shade of blue they exhibit fairly significantly within only a few minutes depending upon their wishes to repel other males or alternately blend into the landscape better to avoid predators. The natural range of rock agamas is restricted almost entirely to being within the borders of South Africa and Lesotho, but they are common and readily seen within that area.
When males want to be more cryptic, they can become mostly gray with only a few blue highlights within about 5 minutes of time. Quite the feat!
This breeding male claims space on a rock at the Fernkloof Nature Reserve near the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens.
Male agamid lizards are known for their territorial displays to other males, not only in Africa but in North America, Australia, and elsewhere too. They take up prominent positions upon rocks, tree trunks, or other exposed places in order to be visible and engage in pushups and head bobbing to intimidate the competitor out of the claimed terrain. The contrasting colors of orange on the hindquarters and tail intensify along with the blue to indicate that this male is in prime breeding shape, both to competitors and interested females. They are skittish subjects to observe however as they tend to dart away at the first hint of danger.
There are over 30 different types of agama lizards in Africa ranging across almost all of the continent. This mostly brown species that I have not identified is from the Drakensberg Mountains of eastern South Africa. I do not know if it is a female or merely a less colorful species than the rock agama.
Greg sits on a rock escarpment overlooking the crevices that the lizard calls home in the Drakensberg Mountains.
Beautiful creatures. Do their tails regrow. I rescued one from a cat. The tail was injured.
The tails of most of the lizards that have this capacity to shed their tails as self-defense can be regrown once, and maybe twice. I don’t think they can regrow new tails over and over again however, so it is hard on the lizard to lose their tails in terms of survival ability, plus regrowth takes at least 4 to 6 weeks if not longer, so it leaves them more vulnerable in the interim.
I personally avoid catching lizards just for fun because this is highly stressful to the animal and might compromise its survival later on if they do lose their tails, against an actual predator not just a curious human. Of course you can’t do much about the cat’s behavior, but bearing in mind that tail loss is hard on them is worth remembering. 🙂
Hey l got a blue dreaded agama lizard with a little one from someone . I want to shelter both what is best to feed small one and big one please help
I have no knowledge on how to keep, feed, and care for these reptiles unfortunately. I just found them interesting and colorful to photograph when I was in South Africa in 2016 and learned more about their wild habits online at a later time.
They are basically the African counter part of the bearded dragon so should be kept in the same conditions depending on where you stay you might need to get a permit to keep them, Gauteng is one of the areas where no permit is required to keep them….. They feed on meal worms, crickets etc. They also eat some greens and fruit there are plenty Facebook groups for agama keepers and plenty of information on Google about them