Monday, September 21, 2009

Spider-Man lookalike lizard is latest exotic pet craze

A lizard that looks startlingly like Spider-Man - Mwanza flat-headed rock agama - has become the latest fashionable pet.

By Tom Chivers

The vivid red-and-blue coloring is almost uncannily like that of the Marvel superhero, and comic book fans have been flocking to exotic pet shops to snap them up.

Agamas like the Spider-Lizard, as it has become known make good pets, as they become tame and docile if handled regularly. However, they require specialist equipment in the UK to maintain their temperature.

It can grow up to a foot long, and the squeamish may find it a problem to feed – a balanced diet for an agama includes locusts, crickets, mealworms and waxworms.

Native to Kenya, the rock agama (Agama mwanzae) is unable to throw webs, but can change color – the brightly colored males will change brown at night or if frightened. They can also run on their hind legs, and – like Spidey – can scale vertical walls.

Credit: The Telegraph

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