Caucasian agama. Steppe Agama (Trapelus sanguinolentus) Steppe Agama bone development

Rocky slopes, rocks, gorges, huge boulders, ruins are the most likely places where you can find such mountain lizard like the Caucasian Agama.

This reptile extends to the territory of Turkey, Iran, Dagestan. The reptile is also found in Afghanistan and the eastern part of the Caucasus.

Caucasian Agama: body shape and color

The reptile is quite large, the length of the body without a tail is about 15 cm, with a tail - 36 cm. The weight of an adult animal is up to 160 grams. The wide body, the base of the tail and the angular massive head of the Caucasian agama are flattened, the scales are characterized by different sizes and shapes: the tail is located in regular rings. The eardrum is located on the surface of the head. The Caucasian Agama, whose claws develop from the base (as in mammals), has thin fingers. The claws of the reptile are erased and bent depending on the conditions of existence: the presence of natural shelters or their absence, soft or hard ground.

The belly of the animal is colored cream or light brown. characteristic feature of this species is dark marble pattern on the throat. In young specimens, a pattern of transverse stripes is clearly visible: dark and light.

The Caucasian Agama is colored brown or grey colour, which depends on the background environment. A reptile living on red sandstones is brown-red, on limestone rocks it is gray-ashy, an inhabitant of basalt rocks has a brown, almost black color.

Lifestyle

The animal is active until autumn - the beginning of winter. With the onset of a period of hibernation falls into a stupor. The body temperature at this time varies from +0.8 ° C to +9.8 ° C. When warm winter body temperature rises, and already in January, waking up from sleep, the animal comes to the surface.

In nutrition, the Caucasian agama is not selective: it eats plant foods (fruits, seeds, flower buds, leaves), spiders, beetles, butterflies. Can consume a small snake or a small lizard (even of its own kind).

Despite the seeming slowness, the Caucasian agama is very agile, deftly moves among the stones and is able to jump from one to another at a distance of up to half a meter. Moving on the surface of the soil, it lifts its tail high; climbing the rocks, presses it to the stones, leaning on the tail spikes. Thanks to powerful paws and tenacious claws, it is able to stay on sheer walls, steep slopes, smooth boulders.

In places of distribution, Caucasian agamas often catch the eye due to their abundance. In the morning (after sunrise), reptiles emerge from their shelters and take long sunbaths, looking for potential prey along the way. Steep slopes or boulders are used as observation points, on which they observe what is happening around. In the process of monitoring outside world periodically squat on the front legs.

Behavior in case of danger

The Caucasian agama, whose habitat is almost always associated with mountains and foothills, feels the approach of danger at a distance of 20-30 meters. Turning towards the enemy, the excitement betrays frequent head tilts. Allowing an approaching object to approach 2-3 meters, it rushes with lightning speed to its shelter and, clinging to the stones located at the entrance, disguises itself. In case of extreme danger, the lizard hides in a shelter; There are cases of reptiles jamming in a narrow gap and their subsequent death from exhaustion.

The caught Caucasian agama, whose habitat extends over many territories, does not resist and falls into a semi-conscious state. At this moment, you can do anything with the reptile: put it on its head, hang it by the tail, put it on its back - the agama will still remain motionless. You can bring the animal out of a state of stupor sharp sound(for example, clapping in the palm of your hand).

mating period

Males are engaged in the observational process and protection of the territory in which from 1 to 4 females constantly live. When a foreign male representative violates the border, the owner of the site immediately attacks him. Such actions are quite enough to turn the "invader" to flight.

Mating in Caucasian dragons begins after waking up (March-April) and continues until mid-summer. The male pays attention to all the "ladies" living in his area and communicates with them even after the breeding season is over. Nomadic males, which are most often young lizards, do not participate in reproduction.

Breeding

The female lays eggs in late spring-summer in a crack in a rock or a hole dug under a stone. During the season, 2 clutches are possible. The number of eggs (up to 2.5 cm in size) in the nest is from 4 to 14 pieces. After 1.5-2 months from the moment of laying, a new generation of such a unique animal as the Caucasian Agama is born. The development of claws and other organs is quite active. Reptiles reach sexual maturity in the 3rd year of life.

Migration of the Caucasian Agama

Basically, the Caucasian agama, whose habitat is also recorded on the territory of Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, lives in a permanent place. Sometimes, in search of deep, reliable shelters that help to survive the winter, the animal is forced to migrate. Since places suitable for wintering are often occupied by the same individuals, with the advent of spring, the Caucasian agama returns to its territory. The problem of finding a place also arises in females of this species of lizards, looking for a place for laying eggs. And since it is quite difficult to find it among the rocks, mountain agamas sometimes travel distances of up to several kilometers to find shelter with suitable conditions. The cubs hatched in the places of masonry spend the winter there, and then spread throughout the territory.

In captivity, the animal should be kept in spacious horizontal terrariums with sufficient height, since caucasian agama willingly uses vertical surfaces. Gravel is the best choice for soil. The recommended content temperature is + 28-30 o C (with heating up to + 40-45 o C). The night indicator should be + 18-20 o C. In winter, lizards need to provide a cool climate.

The back wall of the terrarium can be made in the form of a rock with shallow cracks in which the animal should be able to hide. Various insects can be given as food. A couple of times a week, it is advisable to diversify the diet with apples, oranges, oat sprouts. The Caucasian agama will not refuse newborn mice either. For successful maintenance, it is recommended to feed the agama with various mineral and vitamin supplements and irradiated with ultraviolet light.

Agama families; distributed in the steppes and deserts of Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Northern Iran to the Eastern Ciscaucasia in the west and North-Western China in the east. The steppe agama is distinguished by uniform, ribbed scales with pointed spike-like outgrowths, a small ear opening, in the depths of which the eardrum is located. The total length does not exceed 30 cm, adult males are noticeably longer than females. Young agamas are light gray above with oval spots running along the ridge and on the sides. Older lizards become gray or yellowish gray in color; dark spots in males almost always disappear. With an increase in temperature or with nervous excitement, the color becomes bright. In males, the throat, lower surface of the body and limbs become black-blue, cobalt-blue spots appear on the back, and the tail becomes a bright orange-yellow color. In females, the main background of the body becomes bluish or greenish-yellow, dark spots on the back are bright orange, and the legs and tail become the same color as in males, but less bright.

The steppe agama inhabits sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts, adhering to places with shrub vegetation. It is also found in tugai forests along river banks, often in close proximity to water. Agamas use rodent burrows, spaces under stones and cracks in the ground as shelters. Less often, they dig their own holes between the roots or at the base of stones. They feed on a variety of insects, spiders and woodlice, which they deftly capture with a sticky tongue, as well as succulent parts of plants, flowers. Agamas run very fast, keeping the body elevated on outstretched legs and not touching the ground with their tail. Extremely deftly climb the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes jumping from branch to branch at a distance of up to half a meter. In the villages you can see them running along the vertical surfaces of adobe and stone fences and walls.

The steppe agama is diurnal; do not have the ability to drop their tail. On the site of the male lives one, less often two females. In late April - early May, the female digs a cone-shaped hole 3-5 cm deep in loose soil and lays 5-10 eggs in it. Repeated clutches occur at the end of May and at the end of July. After 50-60 days, young lizards 32-40 mm long hatch from the eggs.

In captivity, steppe agamas are kept in horizontal-type terrariums. Soil - sand with moistening from below. The terrarium must have branches on which the agamas like to sit. General level humidity is low. The temperature of the content is 28–30 ° C during the day and 20–25 ° C at night. Steppe agamas are kept in groups of one male and several females, as males are very pugnacious. They are fed with insects, they are also given apples, oranges, bananas, lettuce and oat sprouts. Mating occurs in March-May. Pregnancy is about 40 days. Starting from April, females lay 4 to 18 eggs in 2–3 batches. Incubation at 27–28 °C lasts 50–52 days.

Panorama "Steppes and semi-deserts"

Agama steppe / Agama sanguinolenta

Young agamas are light gray above with a row of light gray more or less oval spots running along the ridge, extending to the base of the tail, and two rows of the same elongated spots along the sides of the body. With age, the color changes, and adult lizards become gray or yellowish-gray in color, and in males the dark spots often disappear almost completely. With an increase in temperature, as well as under the influence of any nervous excitement the modest coloring of sexually mature agamas gives way to extremely bright colors, and significant color differences between the sexes are found. In males, the throat and the entire lower surface of the body and limbs become dark or even black-blue, cobalt-blue spots appear on the back, and the tail acquires a bright orange-yellow color. Under the same conditions, in females, the main background of the body becomes bluish or greenish-yellow, dark spots on the back become bright rusty-orange, and the legs and tail acquire the same, but less bright, color as in males. The steppe agama inhabits sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts, adhering to places with shrub or semi-woody vegetation. It is also found in tugai forests along river banks, often in close proximity to water. As shelters, steppe agamas use rodent burrows, spaces under stones and cracks in the ground. Less often, they dig their own holes, located between the roots or at the base of the stones. They feed on all kinds of insects, spiders and wood lice, as well as the succulent parts of plants, in particular flowers. Of insects, these lizards prefer ants, which they deftly capture with a sticky tongue. Agamas run very fast, keeping the body elevated on outstretched legs and not touching the ground with their tail. Extremely deftly they climb the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes jumping from branch to branch up to a distance of half a meter. In villages, they can be seen running along the vertical surfaces of adobe and stone fences and the walls of buildings. Each adult lizard has a relatively small habitat area, beyond which it very rarely goes. During the breeding season, sexually mature males rise to the upper branches of the bushes, from where the site is clearly visible. When an opponent appears, the owner quickly rolls towards him and puts the alien to flight. On the site of the male lives one, less often two females. In late April - early May, the female digs a cone-shaped hole 3-5 cm deep in loose soil and lays 5-10 eggs in it. Repeated clutches occur at the end of May and at the end of July. After 50-60 days, young lizards 32-40 mm long hatch from the eggs. The steppe agama is widespread in the desert and steppe zones Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Northern Iran to the Eastern Ciscaucasia in the west and Northwestern China in the east.

steppe agama- medium-sized lizard (length up to 10-15 cm) with pronounced sexual dimorphism in color. It lives in deserts and semi-deserts of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus and Central Asia. Outside Soviet Union widespread in northern regions Iran and Afghanistan, in the northwestern part of China.

The color of the steppe agama is quite variable, but usually it is gray or grayish-yellow (sand-colored), it has large dark spots on its back, and vague dark transverse stripes on the tail and upper side of the paws. The color of the body depends on the ambient temperature, the mood of the animal. With fright or strong excitement, sexual dimorphism in color becomes better visible: males have a throat, belly, Bottom part the sides and limbs become dark blue, while in females this does not happen.

It lives in open areas, but in extreme heat it uses rodent burrows, cracks in the soil, voids under stones and plant roots as shelters. To protect the body from overheating on hot soil in the heat, it climbs onto the branches of saxaul and other shrubs. Territorial males have their own territories and protect them from other individuals. This must be taken into account when keeping agamas in order to avoid fights between males.

In nature, the agama feeds on beetles, ants, bugs and spiders, in addition, it eats leaves, stems and flowers of plants, especially in spring.

In captivity, it is kept in terrariums of the "Desert" type at a temperature of 27-29 ° C, with heating. It eats flour worms, cockroaches, crickets well, and from green fodder - dandelion leaves and flowers.

Sometimes lays eggs in a common terrarium.

Website "Siberian Zoological Museum" (www.bionet.nsc.ru), photo by Yu.K.Zinchenko

Steppe Agamas (Agama sanguinolenta) are Central Asian lizards from the large Agamidae family. It is difficult not to notice them or confuse them with anyone: in their habitats they often catch the eye of a person and even let him close to them, allowing them to see themselves in all their glory.

This is a medium-sized lizard: the total length of its body does not exceed 30 cm, more than half of which falls on the tail.

The body is valky, covered with rhombic ribbed scales overlapping one another like tiles. The head is relatively large, high, with a rounded muzzle and is also covered with small scales. The cervical interception is strongly pronounced, further emphasizing the size of the head. On the sides of the back of the head and neck there are scratches in the form of spines, the shields of its front part form a pronounced edging on the sides above the nostrils and eyes. Behind the eyes there is an ear opening, in the depths of which the eardrum is located.

Her limbs are powerful, with developed claws. Clawed paws help her climb trees and shrubs, boulders and outbuildings. With the help of them, she can also effectively defend herself if she is captured. But its main defense is a mouth with solid teeth, among which developed fangs stand out.

An adult can bite a person quite noticeably. If she manages to cling to living flesh, she clenches her teeth and does not open them for a long time.

Young lizards are painted light gray on top, and transverse uneven dark and light stripes and spots are evenly spaced across the main background. different sizes. The underside of the body is light grey. In males, the throat and chest are darker.

So humble gray color has a young dragon

Adult dragons, like most desert reptiles, are gray or sandy gray in color. But this is only at rest and at low temperatures. If the animal becomes very warm in the sun, and also due to fright or nervous excitement, the inconspicuous coloration changes dramatically: the throat, sides, chest, belly and limbs of males become black-blue, and bright blue spots also appear on the gray background of the back, tail turns bright yellow. In this color, males are an impressive sight!

Females under the influence of the above factors also change color, but it is a little more modest. Their general background becomes bluish or greenish-gray, the spots on the back are orange, and the tail is light yellow.

Outwardly, the agama gives the impression of something rough: and indeed, if you pick it up, you can feel how hard and prickly it is.

habitats

The steppe agama can be found in Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Iran, northwestern China. In Russia, it is known in the Eastern Ciscaucasia.

These lizards live in sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts. Especially a lot of them where shrubs grow. They are also found in rocky gorges, on salt marshes, in dry riverbeds. Settle on the outskirts settlements and along roadsides, they also enter cultivated lands - fields, vegetable gardens, melons.

Lifestyle and behavior of the steppe agama

The lizard is diurnal. She is very thermophilic and prefers air temperatures up to +30 - +35 ° C. However, hotter weather makes her either hide in holes or use other methods of protection from overheating, for example, climbing bushes and other elevations (air temperature at a height of about 1 meters a few degrees lower than at the surface of the earth). In addition, here the lizard is blown by the wind. In order to increase heat transfer at the same time, the agama opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue. Bushes are also used as an observation post: rising above the ground, the reptile carefully surveys the surroundings.

Caucasian agamas lead sedentary life. Each adult lizard occupies a rather vast territory - several hundred square meters, beyond which it very rarely goes. Males protect their territory from other males, but young individuals and females are allowed to freely move around their possessions.

These lizards climb bushes well, run quickly on any substrate, while keeping the body elevated on outstretched legs and keeping the tail in the air, and also deftly climb the walls of buildings. When a reptile runs away, it does so with a bang, hitting everything in its path.

Observing his territory, the male periodically sharply crouches and nods his head. According to scientists, these nods - ancient form signal, demonstration behavior of lizards. Agama can nod at the sight of danger, at a meeting with a marriage partner, and even at the sight of large prey.

When two males meet, they exchange display nods and usually disperse. But sometimes there are skirmishes. Enraged opponents become like small dragons: they straighten their throat bag, open their mouths, rise above the ground, arch their backs, and inflate their bodies. They do this in order to demonstrate the size of their body and demoralize the enemy. Each of the males tries to stand sideways in front of the muzzle of the other, and since both fail to do this at the same time, they move in circles for some time, intimidating each other. One of the rivals, having realistically assessed his capabilities, can simply run away, but if both decide to go to the end, a fight occurs: the lizards cling to each other, exchanging bites in various parts of the body.

During the day, steppe agamas, as a rule, are located on the branches of shrubs, but at night they hide in shelters, which they usually serve as rodent burrows. Sometimes they dig holes on their own, choosing a place at the base of stones or between the roots of a bush.

Agamas winter in the burrows of other animals, mainly gerbils, as well as in deep cracks and depressions in the ground. Depending on the distribution area, they leave for wintering in late September - October and leave it in mid-February - early April.

diet

The basis of the diet of the steppe agamas are insects. These are mainly large beetles and orthopterans - they grab them with their jaws and crack them with powerful teeth. From small insects, for example, desert ants, they also will not refuse - they grab them with a sticky tongue.

Agama belongs to the lurking predators. She never sneaks up, and spotting potential prey from her observation post, she rushes at her with lightning speed. Sometimes a reptile tries to grab a flying insect, but it is too massive and clumsy for this. If the prey roll was successful, then it immediately eats it and returns to its original place.

Sometimes agamas also eat plant foods - they bite flowers and fresh shoots of some herbs.

procreation

The mating season for agamas falls in the spring. When caring for his chosen one, the male shows her the size of his body, inflates the larynx, torso and raises the body above the ground.

At the beginning of summer, the female makes one or two clutches, each of which contains from 6 to 18 eggs. Eggs of the correct elliptical shape, up to two centimeters long and about one centimeter wide, are covered with a leathery shell. The female lays them in loose soil, in which she digs a special mink. In order to disguise the location of the offspring, she carefully and for a long time levels the substrate thrown out during the construction of the nest.

Young growth appears by the end of summer, after 50-60 days of incubation. Newborns have a body length of 3-4 cm, a tail - 6-7 cm. Having come to the surface, the cubs dry out and then scatter.

From the first days of life, they boldly defend themselves from any danger. If you reach out to them, they aggressively rush at her, jumping up, swelling their throats and opening their mouths wide.

They are very mobile and feed intensively, increasing daily by 0.5-1 mm. They reach sexual maturity in the third year of life.

Enemies of the steppe agamas

These lizards have many serious enemies. They are hunted by day and night birds, snakes, corsac and fox. Therefore, many crippled agamas are found in nature - with scars, damaged limbs, broken tails. Fortunately, they are very tenacious: even serious wounds on them heal very well, and disabled lizards continue to hunt and breed successfully as well as healthy ones.

Agamas suffer not only from predators: these reptiles, not afraid of the proximity of a person, often die under the wheels of cars.

The content of the steppe agamas in the terrarium

Often the steppe agama is kept as pet. It requires a terrarium of a horizontal type, the minimum dimensions of which are 50x40x30 cm. days - 12-14 hours.

The terrarium must be decorated with dry branches on which the reptile will sit. As a soil, sand is used with a layer of at least 10 cm with moistening from below. She also needs shelters - in a cold corner they equip a shelter in the form of a cave made of flat stones or snags.

In addition to insects, steppe agamas are fed with the juicy pulp of fruits and vegetables.

In principle, these lizards can be kept in groups: 1 male for 1-2 females. Since dragons are territorial, adult males cannot be kept in the same terrarium.

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