Blue Headed Tree Agama

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qydyn

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Hi all,

I have a very deperate situation and I hope I can get some advice.

I am a beardie slave, but love all animasl especially reptiles. Anyway, that's beside the point. A colleague at work's kids found a blue headed agama which appears to be very tame (strange because they are mainly wild), anyway, they are not big animal people and so they have given her to me now that the kids got bored. She's very lovely. I got her this morning.

Now she seems very small. at least her head is. Had she been a little skinnier I would have maybe assumed that she's just young. But her belly is very big and lumpy and if I gently feel the lumps they are without a doubt eggs. I'm sure this lady is pregnant! And I think her body is too small. That being said I have never laid eyes on a gravid lizard before let alone this species. These are native to my country so I'm not allowed to keep even though I would love to! but I'm worried about freeing her if she's not in the best of health. and especially if she's pregnant.

For the time being being I have an extra tank with UVB and heat etc...

I haven't gotten her home yet so we'll see how that goes.

My areas of concern are that she seems very uncomfortable and lazy and from what I've read they are usually quite active. Could she just simply be cold? or could she be egg bound considering that I think she's pretty small.

She pooped earlier and it looked healthy if not a little small by comparison to a beardies business.

and then the other question is purely curiosity - If agamas and beardies are in the same family, can they be introduced to each other? I have seen Monitors and Igs in the same habitat. Just wondering - I don't intend to do any introductions as I hope that this little lady will be back in the wild where she belongs in the near future.

Thanks in advance for all your advice!
 

NegativeCreep

Sub-Adult Member
I wouldn't introduce any other species of animal to a beardie with the intentions of living together. For outside of the cage socialization, maybe.. I would be careful.. Anyways, I don't know anything about Agamas. TBH, I don't even know where they are native to. I also don't have any real experience with gravid lizards. I do know that egg production sucks the calcium out of the mother lizard, so whatever you feed her, load it with calcium. Pregnancy of any sort can deplete a mother, so feed her as much as she wants (assuming that she was not starved where she came from). Let her eat her fill of whatever it eats. As for her size, I don't know if that could be a problem. How long have these folk had her? Do you think that the eggs are fertile?
 

qydyn

Member
Original Poster
Wow, thanks for the quick reply.

To answer your questions, I think they had her for maybe 3 weeks. and I don't think she was fed very well, definately no supplements but they were giving her about 6 crickets a day (which I found horendous, but didn't say anything - I guess they weren't to know.)

I have some calcuim which I give to me Beardie and also I have dragon dust which is designed for beardie's. I don't think it could hurt though because it has loads of D3 in it.

Needless to say I really hope she'll be ok, her and the little ones.

I have no idea if the eggs are fertile or not, I don't know if she was with people or wild before my colleague got her. Will she pass them if they aren't??

And lastly your comment about putting another lizard in with the beardie made me chuckle. Percilla is the queen of her castle and I would have to grovel excessively just to let in another beardie! lol.

Thanks again for advice
 

NegativeCreep

Sub-Adult Member
Yeah, load her up on calcium for sure. I doubt 6 crix a day would suffice, especially if she's gravid. Since she hasn't gotten a lot of food, don't let her gorge herself just yet. If she is malnourished, then an overload of food/water can be dangerous (although I don't think it could be fatal in this case). Even if her eggs are fertile, you likely aren't set up to hatch them. Some of the breeders here have such extensive setups for babies: incubators, racks with tubs for each baby, etc.. It sounds like a lot of work to me! I have heard that some people freeze the eggs before discarding them, to be sure that if they were fertile, they won't incubate otherwise. I have heard that beardie eggs cannot be turned over, either. I doubt that it would be worth trying to hatch the eggs, since you are unsure of their fertility..
Where are you from?

Anyways, I wish I could help more. I'm no lizard expert, and I don't even know what an agama is! Off to google...
 

qydyn

Member
Original Poster
Hi Again

I'm actualy from South Africa. Which is where these beauties are from. It would be lovely if I could hatch them, but as you said it seems doubtful considering the expertise required, which I certainly don't have. My line of thinking, though, was like this :

Build a large wire enclosure in my garden with ample shade, water and food, place to climb etc and cover it with wire mesh to protect her from predators. Put a whole bunch of play sand in there, with rocks and logs etc... and basically leave her to it. I figured that well she's in her natural environment (with the wire walls, yes, but still she gets food & water delivered free of charge). Had she been left alone in the wild, then surely she wouldn't have had any problems out there. That being said, I guess being caged up can't be very pleasant and no doubt the stress will affect her badly.

I think it may be best for he what do you think?

Oh and Where are you from?
 

NegativeCreep

Sub-Adult Member
I like that idea of a cage in the back yard. It would, no doubt, be the best environment. I know beardies like to dig to lay eggs, so the sand might be a good idea too. If they are in their natural environment, the eggs may just hatch. It really is great that you are trying to help her out!
That's strange, though, that you can't keep a native species as a pet.

I'm from Oklahoma, its in South, Central US - Originally from Texas, though!
 
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