Tegu?

ZEROPILOT

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@ZEROPILOT have you seen a lizard like this in southern FL? I am thinking it is a tegu.
View attachment 353813
Yes
It's an Agama.
There are a few varieties here. Some of the males are spectacularly colorful.
They run even faster than a Basilisk lizard. And their bite would make a great big man tear up. (Me) Their jaws are very powerful. They only get a foot long. Maybe 15".
We have Tegus too. But it's an entirely different lizard.
 
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Ray--Opo

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Yes
It's an Agama.
There are a few varieties here. Some of the males are spectacularly colorful.
They run even faster than a Basilisk lizard. And their bite would make a great big man tear up. (Me) Their jaws are very powerful. They only get a foot long. Maybe 15".
We have Tegus too. But it's an entirely different lizard.
Thanks for the info. I will be sure not to handle one.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Thanks for the info. I will be sure not to handle one.
Wear gloves
I'm no pansy. But those guys can CHOMP.
FYI The Knight Anole is the other Florida invasive with a surprisingly nasty bite.
I've caught and handled most species here.
 

Ray--Opo

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Agamas like to hide in holes in Rock piles. And they're relatively easy to catch with pvc pipes set out in areas where they live
Did it draw blood when it chomped down?
Do you cap one end of the pvc? How long of a pvc pipe? 2" or 3" pvc and do you bait it?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Did it draw blood when it chomped down?
Do you cap one end of the pvc? How long of a pvc pipe? 2" or 3" pvc and do you bait it?
It felt like a grown man grabbing me with a pair of slip joint pliers. Not much blood.

Use pvc pipe at least 4' long with one end capped off. No bait. They just can't resist going inside.
Lift it up and tip it into a net.
 

Tom

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It felt like a grown man grabbing me with a pair of slip joint pliers. Not much blood.

Use pvc pipe at least 4' long with one end capped off. No bait. They just can't resist going inside.
Lift it up and tip it into a net.
Nice technique.

Have you ever tried the monofilament noose dangling on the end of a stick or fishing pole? Our local lizards here are pretty easy to catch this way. Even when the mono touches them, they don't react to it. Instead they seem to think its a leaf in the wind while they focus on you. Get it over their head and one arm and snatch them up. Are those agamas too leery to get close enough? The ones I saw in FL wouldn't let me get closer than about 20 feet.
 

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Nice technique.

Have you ever tried the monofilament noose dangling on the end of a stick or fishing pole? Our local lizards here are pretty easy to catch this way. Even when the mono touches them, they don't react to it. Instead they seem to think its a leaf in the wind while they focus on you. Get it over their head and one arm and snatch them up. Are those agamas too leery to get close enough? The ones I saw in FL wouldn't let me get closer than about 20 feet.
I've never tried the fishing line way. I usually just let lizards run until they get tired. Then they're east to pick up. They run out of energy pretty fast. (like me)
And you are correct about Agama lizards. It's very hard to walk up to one of them.
They get spooked easily. They run very fast and seem to have endless energy.
 

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Aren't the Tegu's particularly nasty, get 3ft long and are voracious eaters?
They can get over 4 feet long and they are omnivorous. CB ones tend to be dog tame, intelligent, wonderful pets. I can imagine feral ones would be more like any other wild animal if you tried to grab hold of one.
 

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Aren't the Tegu's particularly nasty, get 3ft long and are voracious eaters?
They can be nasty. But the three that I've encountered weren't very aggressive. I don't think they saw me as a threat.
They get over 5 feet long (mostly tail) and like to eat feral cats. They have skin that looks like black and white beads. And they walk more like a monitor lizard than an Agama or an Anole. They have serious teeth. I've never been bitten by one. But I'd never attempt to mess with one without some very thick leather gloves.
I saw one in south Miami run over to some Egyptian geese and eat 2 babies before the mother even saw him.
 

Ray--Opo

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They can be nasty. But the three that I've encountered weren't very aggressive. I don't think they saw me as a threat.
They get over 5 feet long (mostly tail) and like to eat feral cats. They have skin that looks like black and white beads. And they walk more like a monitor lizard than an Agama or an Anole. They have serious teeth. I've never been bitten by one. But I'd never attempt to mess with one without some very thick leather gloves.
I saw one in south Miami run over to some Egyptian geese and eat 2 babies before the mother even saw him.
I am assuming a 75lb sully should be ok?
 

jeff kushner

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Nasty.....I had a 3' Iguana till girlfriend left window open and got on the roof then the huge Oak blocks from downtown Laurel MD in the 70's. He was cool and never showed me aggression so I never showed him any...we had a deal of sorts. LOL
 
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