Agama

The agama is a mini-monster lizard- both in appearance AND attitude. Avid insect hunters, agamas are colored to blend into the tropical forests that are their home. They are dark green/blue, with a deep red head and a white tipped tail. This lizard is often very acrobatic and vicious when catching food, but will not be AS vicious in hot weather, as it often has to stay under shrubbery and plants if the temperature is over 100 degrees. Since the agama often preys on household pests, such as termites, it is welcomed by many people and so can safely reside in tropical towns as well as it can in the brush.

As I mentioned above, the agama has quite a nasty attitude- if anything unknowingly stumbles onto the creature's territory, it turns a fierce shade of red and charges it's opponent, and a brutal fight ensues. The agama has a powerful tail, but sometimes overestimates itself and swings its tail too hard, resulting in a broken tail. The male is also very aggressive towards other males that come near his "harem" (a group of female lizards, about 5-6 per male).

Each lizard lays about 12 eggs per mating season. The season lasts from June to September. When young are born, they are very alert and in fact copy their parents- when the females and males fight for territory, the young ones will fight amongst each other in preparation for their future. I find this funny, since human toddlers often mimic their parents and come up with the funniest things... but that is beside the point. The agama is about 1 foot long, including it's tail.