Agama

[Roney loves food]

Hello guys, I am from Morocco and I love reptiles, I have very good turtles and I want to breed a new reptile (agama bibron's). I need someone with experience in breeding agamas in order to get information, for example: food? Enclosure? The difference between male and female? etc...

 

[Tom]

Hello guys, I am from Morocco and I love reptiles, I have very good turtles and I want to breed a new reptile (agama bibron's). I need someone with experience in breeding agamas in order to get information, for example: food? Enclosure? The difference between male and female? etc...

It is very unlikely that you will find a single person with any first hand experience with that species. Instead, I would look at care info for other common Agamid species and base your general care routine off of that. I've kept several odd-ball Agamid species, and bearded dragon care was pretty darn similar. You'll be the one person in the world figuring out what works best for THIS particular species.

If housing them indoors, have a good strong hot basking area, strong UV from an HO tube for 6-8 hours a day, strong ambient light, always have a water source, and make some good hiding areas including at least one humid hide. Desert species need hydration and moisture too!

If housing outdoors, be sure to have areas of deep shade that are much cooler than ambient air temps. I would make some sort of underground shelter for them to escape the heat of the day. Always have a large water source to that they can easily climb into and out of. Plant plants and use palm fronds for dappled over head shade.

 

[wellington]

I hope these are lizards you are buying from a breeder and not taking them from the wild, which should not be done by any amateurs. Only orgs that should do this are those trying to save the species and or reintroducing them to the wild.

 

[Roney loves food]

It is very unlikely that you will find a single person with any first hand experience with that species. Instead, I would look at care info for other common Agamid species and base your general care routine off of that. I've kept several odd-ball Agamid species, and bearded dragon care was pretty darn similar. You'll be the one person in the world figuring out what works best for THIS particular species.

If housing them indoors, have a good strong hot basking area, strong UV from an HO tube for 6-8 hours a day, strong ambient light, always have a water source, and make some good hiding areas including at least one humid hide. Desert species need hydration and moisture too!

If housing outdoors, be sure to have areas of deep shade that are much cooler than ambient air temps. I would make some sort of underground shelter for them to escape the heat of the day. Always have a large water source to that they can easily climb into and out of. Plant plants and use palm fronds for dappled over head shade.

I have previously prepared an outdoor enclosure with a branch of tree, a pond of water, and many holes. As for food, is the meal worm good for them or do I need to feed it other things? I do not want to take the risk and feed it food that might harm it. How can I determine the male from the female?

 

[Roney loves food]

I hope these are lizards you are buying from a breeder and not taking them from the wild, which should not be done by any amateurs. Only orgs that should do this are those trying to save the species and or reintroducing them to the wild.

This is the problem in Morocco. There is no breeder of reptiles that produces them , so I had to save them from merchants or catch one of them from the wild.

 

[Tom]

I hope these are lizards you are buying from a breeder and not taking them from the wild, which should not be done by any amateurs. Only orgs that should do this are those trying to save the species and or reintroducing them to the wild.

Have you ever been to Morocco? There is no one breeding reptiles there. Not like here or Europe or Asia...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking animals from the wild, getting them healthy and giving them a good life free of predation, starvation, disease and weather extremes. That is how every single one of us got our beloved tortoises. Someone, some "amateur", had to take the first bearded dragon from the wild and figure out how to manage them in captivity. I applaud that pioneer, and look at how much all of our lives have benefitted from it. You wouldn't even know what a leopard tortoise or Russian tortoise is, if someone hadn't done this very thing. Its only a problem if too many are taken from a given area or if they are not handled and transported correctly.

I have plans right now to go out and find a baby chuckwalla from the deserts near me and legally collect one to bring home as a pet. I may breed them in time, and the babies cannot be sold, so I'd be giving them away to friends and family for free. My herper friends know where to find them and we are going out soon. This lizard will have a great life with healthy food, good hydration, a huge outdoor enclosure, and proper vet care if it is ever needed.

This Moroccan Agamid species might be the next bearded dragon, or crested gecko, or leopard gecko phenomenon, and this OP is the one who helps the rest of the world to "discover" and come to love them, as we love all the other species that we do know because of people like him.

 

[wellington]

Have you ever been to Morocco? There is no one breeding reptiles there. Not like here or Europe or Asia...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking animals from the wild, getting them healthy and giving them a good life free of predation, starvation, disease and weather extremes. That is how every single one of us got our beloved tortoises. Someone, some "amateur", had to take the first bearded dragon from the wild and figure out how to manage them in captivity. I applaud that pioneer, and look at how much all of our lives have benefitted from it. You wouldn't even know what a leopard tortoise or Russian tortoise is, if someone hadn't done this very thing. Its only a problem if too many are taken from a given area or if they are not handled and transported correctly.

I have plans right now to go out and find a baby chuckwalla from the deserts near me and legally collect one to bring home as a pet. I may breed them in time, and the babies cannot be sold, so I'd be giving them away to friends and family for free. My herper friends know where to find them and we are going out soon. This lizard will have a great life with healthy food, good hydration, a huge outdoor enclosure, and proper vet care if it is ever needed.

This Moroccan Agamid species might be the next bearded dragon, or crested gecko, or leopard gecko phenomenon, and this OP is the one who helps the rest of the world to "discover" and come to love them, as we love all the other species that we do know because of people like him.

Your opinion, not mine!

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Have you ever been to Morocco? There is no one breeding reptiles there. Not like here or Europe or Asia...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking animals from the wild, getting them healthy and giving them a good life free of predation, starvation, disease and weather extremes. That is how every single one of us got our beloved tortoises. Someone, some "amateur", had to take the first bearded dragon from the wild and figure out how to manage them in captivity. I applaud that pioneer, and look at how much all of our lives have benefitted from it. You wouldn't even know what a leopard tortoise or Russian tortoise is, if someone hadn't done this very thing. Its only a problem if too many are taken from a given area or if they are not handled and transported correctly.

I have plans right now to go out and find a baby chuckwalla from the deserts near me and legally collect one to bring home as a pet. I may breed them in time, and the babies cannot be sold, so I'd be giving them away to friends and family for free. My herper friends know where to find them and we are going out soon. This lizard will have a great life with healthy food, good hydration, a huge outdoor enclosure, and proper vet care if it is ever needed.

This Moroccan Agamid species might be the next bearded dragon, or crested gecko, or leopard gecko phenomenon, and this OP is the one who helps the rest of the world to "discover" and come to love them, as we love all the other species that we do know because of people like him.

Hi Friend, I like Chuckwallas

 

[Tom]

I have previously prepared an outdoor enclosure with a branch of tree, a pond of water, and many holes. As for food, is the meal worm good for them or do I need to feed it other things? I do not want to take the risk and feed it food that might harm it. How can I determine the male from the female?

Meal worms are not a great food. Gut loaded crickets or roaches would be much better. Occasional meal worms, earthworms, wax worms, black soldier fly larvae, and other such things are good for variety if that sort of thing is available there. Like a beaded dragon, they might also like some chopped greens. Most Agamids do not, and are solely insectivores, but give it a try and see what they do with the greens. If they ignore them, you might conclude that they aren't omnivores like some of their cousins.

Be sure to dust the insects with calcium before feeding most of the time, and also feed the insects a variety of healthy foods for a day or two before giving them to the lizards, to "gut load" them.

I don't know how to sex this species. I never heard of this lizard before your post, and I don't recall seeing them while I was in Morocco. I might have seen them in their off season, non-breeding, colors. Try comparing femoral pores, look for hemi-penal bulges at the base of the tail, head size and shape differences, and possible seasonal color variations. Most of my reptile breeding experience is with tortoises. I've bred bearded dragons, which are also an Agamid, but those are easy to tell using the criterion I listed here. Male beardies also get the black beard when they are fired up, and that makes it even easier to sex them. Someone more versed and experienced with breeding unusual Agamas can probably direct you better than some guy with little experience on a tortoise forum. I'll bet there are Agama breeder groups on FB. Maybe you could find some help there?

 

[Tom]

Hi Friend, I like Chuckwallas

Wanna go herping in the desert? Come to CA!

I'll check to see if there is a legal way to do it, and I'd be happy to send you one. I'm pretty sure its not legal though... I think you need a CB non-native species. If you get one, I wanna hear about it!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I wonder if the care is anything like a Uromastyx lizard.

 

[Roney loves food]

Meal worms are not a great food. Gut loaded crickets or roaches would be much better. Occasional meal worms, earthworms, wax worms, black soldier fly larvae, and other such things are good for variety if that sort of thing is available there. Like a beaded dragon, they might also like some chopped greens. Most Agamids do not, and are solely insectivores, but give it a try and see what they do with the greens. If they ignore them, you might conclude that they aren't omnivores like some of their cousins.

Be sure to dust the insects with calcium before feeding most of the time, and also feed the insects a variety of healthy foods for a day or two before giving them to the lizards, to "gut load" them.

I don't know how to sex this species. I never heard of this lizard before your post, and I don't recall seeing them while I was in Morocco. I might have seen them in their off season, non-breeding, colors. Try comparing femoral pores, look for hemi-penal bulges at the base of the tail, head size and shape differences, and possible seasonal color variations. Most of my reptile breeding experience is with tortoises. I've bred bearded dragons, which are also an Agamid, but those are easy to tell using the criterion I listed here. Male beardies also get the black beard when they are fired up, and that makes it even easier to sex them. Someone more versed and experienced with breeding unusual Agamas can probably direct you better than some guy with little experience on a tortoise forum. I'll bet there are Agama breeder groups on FB. Maybe you could find some help there?

Thank you for your valuable time and for all this information. I will try to find a special forum for agamas. I wish you a nice day