# "Spider-Man lizard" (Mwanza Flat Headed Agama)



## Mudkip (Apr 10, 2009)

Spotted this in the news, thought you guys might be interested.

Demand for a striking blue and red lizard has surged among comic fans thanks to its uncanny resemblance to Spiderman.
Pet shops specialising in exotic animals have reported a surge in popularity for the Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard, which is native to Africa.
Karen Baker, of amphibian and reptile specialist store Exotic-pets.co.uk, said that the lizards, which live for up to 15 years, had currently sold out.










She said: 'People are drawn to them because of their unusual colourings.
'These lizards usually live in groups with one dominant male who is usually the most colourful.
'We should have another batch of these lizards available in October, the demand just keeps going up and up. 

Demand for the unusual pet soared after photographer Roy Daines captured an image of the lizard while on holiday in Kenya.
He said: 'I was relaxing around the lodge pool, when the lizard appeared out from behind a wall surrounding the terrace I was bathing on.

'I was absolutely fascinated by him, I have never seen anything like it before.

'His colourings were very bright making him look like he was dressed in a suit - crawling around on the rock made him look exactly like Spider-Man.' 

Rich Nunn, of Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham said that the resemblance to the Marvel superhero was amazing.
He said: 'The colouring is unbelievably similar, especially in the chest arms and legs.

'I am sure there would be lots of comic fans who would want a lizard like this, because it looks so much like Spider-Man.' 


The story's on the Daily Mail's site. There's some pretty misguided chatter in the comments section as can be expected from the good old Daily Fail.

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## MadFerret! (Aug 3, 2009)

Beautiful. Does remind me of spider man that picture :lol2:


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

hmm worrying, people will buy it for it's looks and may well not research that well. Not sure how much this costs but quite a few Agama's aren't that expensive at all and so people might buy it and not care that much if it dies a few months later.


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## Pono (Jan 21, 2008)

Mudkip said:


> Karen Baker, of amphibian and reptile specialist store Exotic-pets.co.uk, said that the lizards, which live for up to 15 years, had currently sold out.


Virtually all the reps on Exotic pets say 'out of stock' normally though lol

Ed


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Thats cos Exotic Pets mostly sell wild caught stuff....

They are lovely looking agamas, I would love one, or two...lol


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## Mudkip (Apr 10, 2009)

Given how pretty they are and how they apparently live in colonies I'm really surprised they are not more popular in the hobby.

Image a lovely big viv with a 3-5 of those little beauties in it. It'd look stunning.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I can't say I have ever seen a captive bred one for sale, or in a shop or anything


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## kirstyink (Mar 6, 2009)

aah my friend put a pic up of one of these basking in its natural habihat she went on a safari and seen one.

i asked what it was on here as id never seen one before nor heard of them, they are stunnung but i dont agree with WC animals so i wont get one. heres the pic for those who didnt see it...


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## MadFerret! (Aug 3, 2009)

Only the males look like that though, and I would guess that only the dominant male would show that bright colouration and the other suppressed males would darken. Either that or they would fight.

You're right though, they are stunning.

Don't think anyone would actually buy one because of the spider man thing tbh, that's just your typical news paper crap.


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## mdtv (Sep 4, 2009)

haha wow!
amazing looking creature
i can bet alot of people will name there males peter XD


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## haunted-havoc (Aug 6, 2009)

haha thats awesome!


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## Scott W (May 19, 2007)

With so many beautiful captive bred lizards available I think it's terrible that someone is cashing in on a wild caught species that will go into the hands of beginners just because they look like spiderman.

Disgusted!


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

kirstyink said:


> aah my friend put a pic up of one of these basking in its natural habihat she went on a safari and seen one.
> 
> i asked what it was on here as id never seen one before nor heard of them, they are stunnung but i dont agree with WC animals so i wont get one. heres the pic for those who didnt see it...
> 
> image


It's no good not agreeing with WC animals, they are ALL wild caught at some point otherwise nobody would have anything to breed captive bred animals from lol

I wouldn't buy a wild caught animal if I knew it was, I think they should be kept by whoever imports them and only captive bred ones should be sold.


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## dracco (May 17, 2008)

I was in the pet shop today and a woman phoned asking if they stocked the lizard that looks like spiderman so I think people would buyi it for that reason


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## becca26 (Aug 5, 2009)

i think this is a stunning lizard to be honest i think i want one myself lol i like these lizards anyway and i do luv the colour :flrt:
i dont think its right the people would buy one just because it has the same colours as spiderman its just not right :bash:


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## yellrat (Jun 13, 2008)

dracco said:


> I was in the pet shop today and a woman phoned asking if they stocked the lizard that looks like spiderman so I think people would buyi it for that reason


yeah im afraid this article from the paper will fuel demand for these which would be fine if they were being bred but stealing them all from the wild to fuel a spiderman fad is a bit much tbh.


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## measha (Sep 23, 2009)

*Wow*

These lizards are beautiful!
Anyone who keeps lizards will want one of these!
I hate the fact that people will be buying them just because of these spider-man press releases as a majority of these people won't understand the sort of care these lizards need....but as a keen reptile keeper with bearded dragons,chameleons,water dragons and a variety of geckos I am very keen to add this species to my family,whether they look like spider-man or not, they are a beautiful lizard and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get them?
any help would be appreciated and if you do have any info please post and i'll send you my private address as i wouldn't want people who just want a 'spider-lizard' using info to get one.
thanks guys


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## snakeprint (May 29, 2008)

becca26 said:


> i think this is a stunning lizard to be honest i think i want one myself lol i like these lizards anyway and i do luv the colour :flrt:
> i dont think its right the people would buy one just because it has the same colours as spiderman its just not right :bash:


As a general rule, people are first attracted to a particular lizard because of the way they look, so that's a slightly hypocritical comment to make. What does it matter if people buy it because it has spiderman colours, as opposed to it being bright green in the case of CWD, or day geckos or something? The reptiles people tend to keep are the ones with interesting patterns and striking colours.

I would hope the majority of people have enough sense to think about the welfare of the animal, over their desire to own it. Yes people will go "ooh, ah, it looks like Spiderman, isn't it cool", but their second thought will then be "what are it's needs and can I provide them?". How many people go into pet shops just to look at the animals, not because they want to own them? It's like a free trip to the zoo, and a great way to entertain kids! Realistically, if people are looking for a pet lizard and have heard about this, they might well decide to buy one, but I don't think people are going to go out and buy one on a whim when they don't even want a pet. For a start they won't be able to get hold of one straight away if nobody keeps them in stock!


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## Ailsa (Aug 15, 2009)

They are fab!
But I just hope people dont do the whole "In thing" with them
buy them because they look cool but know nothing about them


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## keithb (Jan 29, 2009)

I only seen this in the paper yesterday while at my garanda's house.
Looks amazing wonder if they will become readily bred? (Sorry if this has been said never read the full thread)


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

they are a nice lizard and cheap 10.05 on pre-order on exotic-pets


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## callum gohrisch (Jan 8, 2009)

i saw that in the paper


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## Scott W (May 19, 2007)

adamntitch said:


> they are a nice lizard and cheap 10.05 on pre-order on exotic-pets


 
Great, they are evening selling them at a disposable pet price! Now wonder we have Animal Rights breathing down our necks!!!

An online pet shop shouldn't sell ANY wild caught at it is impossible for them to judge the experiance level of the prospective buyer.

There's nothing wrong with wild caught if managed and sold sensibly but plugging a story in the national press and then stocking up with loads of cheap WC stock ready for the rush of orders just shows it's ONLY about the money.

:censor:'s


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## kirstyink (Mar 6, 2009)

Scott W said:


> Great, they are evening selling them at a disposable pet price! Now wonder we have Animal Rights breathing down our necks!!!
> 
> An online pet shop shouldn't sell ANY wild caught at it is impossible for them to judge the experiance level of the prospective buyer.
> 
> ...


as above !


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## ESAB (May 22, 2009)

well said, that is so worrying, mainly because how cheap they are,I wonder how many more rescues will be appearing in the not so distant future.


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## Scott W (May 19, 2007)

ESAB said:


> well said, that is so worrying, mainly because how cheap they are,*I wonder how many more rescues will be appearing* in the not so distant future.


None, it'll be worse than that. These lizards are extremely active and need space. They also will contain parasites, which is fine unless they come under stress and being in a newbies cage with a high chance of the wrong set up will just speed up the process of it dying.

Then we as a hobby lose TWO things.
1) A beautiful lizard
2) The new hobbyist who has been put off reptiles after buying the wrong 'first lizard'.

Don't get me wrong, these lizards are great and would make fine captives in the right hands, sold by the right professionals but buying online is NOT the way forward with these!


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

maybe a worded that wroung i was just saying there cheap to buiy not a good thing by any means


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## Ozzy1986 (Jun 22, 2009)

this lizard looks awsome never seen anything lik: victory::mf_dribble::2thumb:e it


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

just thought ad add the lizards everyones on about are _Agama mwanzae_

_diffrent from what exotic pets have coming in there agama agama the red headed agama_


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## Dingle87 (Apr 18, 2009)

I have been doing some reading on this lizard, like someone said above about ppl putting them up for rehoming is spot on,Newbies WILL go out and buy one because the way it looks.
Reptile shops have gone mad just recently due to this, not just experienced keepers but more newbies have been interested, these lizards are nothing like your average beardie or any other dragon etc, these are very quick, and not to mention quite vicious! They also need alot more room than a 4 ft viv, more along the lines of 6 to 8 ft, they are soooo active, something like this should be kept alone until someone can breed these succesfully.


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## jimjam1977 (Apr 30, 2009)

they are awesome! :notworthy: i want one : victory:


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## Varanaman (Apr 13, 2007)

*Agama agama*

Well, you would be nuts - and cruel - to keep ONE .

They live in colonies in the wild in Uganda and surrounding countries with one dominant male, multiple females and sub-adult or non-dominent males.

_If you keep one, or even a pair, they usually slowly starve themselves to death over 2 - 3 months_.

We have a 3:6.0 LTC colony that is doing really well. We hope for eggs / hatchlings in 2010

_Richard & Kim_


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## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

I have looked after a group of closely related Agamas, the Red-Headed Agamas (Agama agama) and can think of numerousreasons why people wouldn't want to keep them! (Although I'm sure for some people, these will be seen as plus points, which is also fantastic!)
They need a LOT of space, and a large group to thrive. The temperature has to be spot on, as does the feeding ans suppliments to get anywhere close to the colours that you see photos of in the wild. Only the dominant male will show anything much in terms of colour, and they take months and months to settle to the point that they'll colour up at all.
Becuase of this, and the fact that they're very fast and don't tame down, there are few people trying to breed them. Well done to those that are!
They're never going to be a 'pet' for the general public though, the only box they really tick is 'pretty' and even that fails on a lot of levels.


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

yeah i agree, and would'nt people be disapointed when they realised after a day or so they went almost black due to them being unhappy and stressed, i have seen this a couple of times in pet shops, most recent with red headed agama's, the male looked stunning with a full array of colours on show FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS, and as stated above, there was only 1 male and 1 female in a viv not large enough and hey presto after about a month they were moved on to a collector with a huge colony of them befor they died.


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## mph0809 (Dec 8, 2008)

mdtv said:


> haha wow!
> amazing looking creature
> i can bet alot of people will name there males peter XD


I though that aswell, would be the obvious choice of name :lol2:


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## Owzy (Jan 19, 2009)

I took these in Africa, I can't remember where exactly

They are not the same thing are they? Certainly not as bright!


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## jordyaleo (Aug 21, 2009)

i would say spider man looks like the lizard not the other way round because the lizard has probably always looked like that for 100s of years and spiderman hasn't been round long compared to it.


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## tokay (Mar 13, 2007)

Had someone in the shop yesterday asking if i could get them a spiderman lizard.....:censor: i said yeah i can get them but i wont , cue me with a cheesy grin ....then i walked off and carried on spraying down the animals lol


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## Leopardman98 (Sep 30, 2009)

awesome looking lizard:mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:


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## jnc0_ (Sep 9, 2009)

that first pic looks photoshopped to me. i didnt even believe it was real until i scrolled down and saw the second pic

i think someone messed with the saturation in the first pic or something


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## mph0809 (Dec 8, 2008)

tokay said:


> Had someone in the shop yesterday asking if i could get them a spiderman lizard.....:censor: i said yeah i can get them but i wont , cue me with a cheesy grin ....then i walked off and carried on spraying down the animals lol


:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

hi guys im actually looking at getting some of these and not cause they look like spiderman lol Im struggling on care sheets etc tho I have a male blue headed lined up with its current viv but I need to no more. It did till recently have a mate but she became egg bound and died so ill be looking at getting more females. I need to no anywhere that may be stocking them or breeding them. I have a 5x2x4Ft space available for them as I no they like to climb. Please help me lol these are proving to be a nightmare.


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## tony23 (Feb 9, 2008)

Home

have them back in stock ive been waiting ages but there finally in now so ordering mine tommrow the set up is basically the same as beardies but these like to climb and need hiding places and basking spot only needs to be 95f
tony


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

i have 5 coming wednesday or thursday cnt wait there going in a huge viv made just for them


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

tony23 said:


> Home
> 
> have them back in stock ive been waiting ages but there finally in now so ordering mine tommrow the set up is basically the same as beardies but these like to climb and need hiding places and basking spot only needs to be 95f
> tony


 
OMG LMAO

why order from there they want £75.00 for a PAIR A PAIR of WC tokay geckos


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## silky_smooth (Jan 1, 2009)

*lol*



adamntitch said:


> OMG LMAO
> 
> why order from there they want £75.00 for a PAIR A PAIR of WC tokay geckos


I bought one I had reserved a while ago in my local reptile shop. He only cost me £18. He's wonderful and ever so cheeky! Beautiful too. :flrt:


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

silky_smooth said:


> I bought one I had reserved a while ago in my local reptile shop. He only cost me £18. He's wonderful and ever so cheeky! Beautiful too. :flrt:


a tokay or red headed agama hun:2thumb:


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

adamntitch said:


> a tokay or red headed agama hun:2thumb:


I'd guess a tokay.

But omg looked at that site..
Mexican red knee (B.smithi) adult 15cm leg span...£125!:censor:

....I hope that's a female....and that their going to do a 50% off sale at least...:lol2:


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## Omerov1986 (Feb 11, 2009)

joeyboy said:


> hmm worrying, people will buy it for it's looks and may well not research that well. Not sure how much this costs but quite a few Agama's aren't that expensive at all and so people might buy it and not care that much if it dies a few months later.


just like the teenage mutant ninja turtle fad and the finding nemo fad, terrapins in our ponds and dead clown fish every where


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

Omerov1986 said:


> just like the teenage mutant ninja turtle fad and the finding nemo fad, terrapins in our ponds and dead clown fish every where


 
and worse thing about them (red headed agamas ) is there nothing like the pictures there realy dull unless its a mature male in breeding colours


so people will buy keep a while realise there not so colourful and sell or dump


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

yea breeding and with the perfect lighting and temps and even then you will struggle for the brightness of colours. ive got my agama atricollis now (blue headed tree agama) slightly different to the mwanzae rock agamas but the same in how they colour up only in perfect conditions


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## tony23 (Feb 9, 2008)

mine are on the way they got some good stuff delivery for uk mainland is £19.99

link: 
Exotic Pets - Amphibian, Reptile and Invert UK exotic pet shop


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## silky_smooth (Jan 1, 2009)

adamntitch said:


> a tokay or red headed agama hun:2thumb:


a red head agama. He's my funky new man!


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## SteveCourty (Oct 4, 2009)

what sort of setup do you guys have these in? Im thinking about these as a future rep when I have my blue headed all sorted and settled in


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