#spiny tailed lizard

[webvein]

What if ackie was dragon?

[herpsandbirds]

Black spiny-tailed Iguanas (Ctenosaura similis), family Iguanidae, Yucatan, Mexico

photographs by Brian Thomas Roach

[atlas-the-ackie]

Imagine being so small you can bask on a single finger 🥹😭

[critter-creature-or-beast]

By cndyntdhn - bdfhbdx, CC BY-SA 4.0

[snototter]

A Moroccan uromastyx (Uromastyx nigriventris) perches on a rock in Morocco

by Fernando Iglesias

[antiqueanimals]

Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink (Egernia cunninghami)

Reptiles and Amphibians of the World. Written by Hans Hvass. Illustrated by Wilhelm Eigener. Originally published in 1958.

Internet Archive

[breserker]

more animals from my childhood, this time from nuevo león, mexico. might squeeze in one more later but im arted out for the day

[lizardsdaily]

🦎 Eastern Pilbara Spiny-tailed Skink - Egernia epsisolus 

📷 Matthijs Kuijpers

[monsterlets]

I was at a reptile house and they had a spiny tailed lizard and a shield tailed agama housed together and the agama was just sitting on top of the much larger spiny tailed lizard. just chillin

images: x x

why they do that? is it a protection thing? sharing body heat? they're certainly not affecting each other's camoflauge

[sabistarphotos]

February 15, 2020

Phoenix Zoo

[philosophicalparadox]

The difference a proper enclosure can make

Look at this adorable fuckin lizard. Look at it. It's too cute to bear. (On record we Think she's an Oaxacan Spiny/Club tailed Iguana. The person I got her from had no clue what species she is though. We assume female because most males are green, but honestly I have no idea).

First time she (they?) Have ever slept out in the open. Normally Skit is...well, skittish. Hence her name.

But ever since I upgraded her enclosure from a 20 gallon long (the only suitable tank i had at the time) to a 67 gallon tall, the difference has been literally day and night. I fully expected the ultra-neophobic iguana in her to freak the hell out being put in such a huge space - which in a lizard looks like hiding all the time, not eating, etc. but she's done precisely the opposite. Her appetite is bigger than ever and *fanfare noises* I actually have gotten her to eat from my hand! It hasn't even been a week since I moved her over - a very stressful affair in spite of my trying. Normally I use a critter keeper and trap her rather than grabbing so there's minimal contact. But it was too urgent to move her quickly so I had to use The Gloves, which she hates. Tail whipping, (which is why they are leather gloves, cause they don't call em spiny club tails for no reason) biting, hissing kind of hates.

But she got over it pretty quickly and within less than 24 hours was out and about and exploring. I've seen her tongue flick more in the last 3 days than I've seen in three months. (Tongue flicking = happy, curious iguana). She even copies me! If I tongue flick at her she will do it back.

The abrupt change in our relationship has caught me wildly off guard. She used to bolt from me, retreating to her hide as soon as I so much as walked in the room, and she outright refused to have anything to do with my hands (we think she was wild caught, her terror of hands was so severe when I first got her). Now she casually comes up to me (!) And doesnt even mind me moving my hands around her. She is suspicious of them still, and cautious about taking anything from them. But she will gladly eat wax worms from the tip of my finger - the ultimate incentiviser for anything that eats bugs. (And Yes, unlike green iguanas, these guys Do eat animals).

Idk why I'm sharing this here, I'm just so elated that progress has been made and utterly shocked by the abrupt change of its pace. I've had her three and a half months now and in spite of my expectations to the contrary she's thrived in her new set up.

This is what it looks like btw. It's too awkward to take a pic of the whole thing at once so I had to take two.

The hot side, where she likes to casually bask. Look at her sleeping right in the middle of the tank. Unbelievable for such a previously shy animal.

The cool side, with her favorite hide. (And turtle buddy, because it came with her and its important to include familiar objects in New environments) She has a network of burrows she's dug already from inside the hide - she's quite the excavator!

Im really happy with her now. If I wasn't sure I was keeping her before (I was just supposed to foster her until she got better) I definitely am now. The difference a proper setup can make!

[atlas-the-ackie]

Atlas being a pancake 🥞

Did you know many lizards will inflate and flatten themselves to absorb more heat and UV while basking? They will also do it after feeding in order to help with digestion and is commonly referred to as "pancaking"! 🏜

☆---------------☆

Name: Atlas

Age: 5 months

Sex: Male

Species: Ackie Monitor (Varanus acanthurus)

☆---------------☆

[normal-with-adhd-is-a-joke]

I'm not sure what kind of lizard this guy was but he was sitting on top of his tank mates when we arrived. They seemed relatively unfazed by the encounter. Not pictured: the blue-tongued skink hiding under this rock.

[labradoritedreams]

[that-dinopunk-guy]

This lizard looks like it just won its home country's first democratic election in three decades and a magazine's doing an article about it.

Moroccan Spiny-tailed Mastigure (Uromastyx nigriventris), male in breeding color, family Agamidae, found in Morocco & Algeria

Mastigures are also commonly referred to as Uromastyx, ala Moroccan Spiny-tailed Uromastyx.

photograph by ZTH Photography

[tashgoose]

Got an exciting commission by an anonymous client to design a dragon based on varanids (the group including komodo dragons and monitor lizards.)

These are some concept sketches to explore the design.

The first one is based more on the arboreal species, the blue, black and emerald tree monitors. I'd imagine it gliding through thick forests looking for insects and perhaps small mammals. It has those little parietal eyes to sense sudden changes in light to give it an early warning of a bigger predator above it. With long claws to clamber up trees and I just had to include that long spiraling tail the tree monitors have!

The second is based on water monitors, with more aquatic adaptations. This one doesn't really have wings, it's based on those kind of wing/fin like structures on medieval dragon art combined with exaggerated skin folds. It also has webbed toes and more webbing on its tail.

The third is a big apex predator, largely based on komodo dragons but with a spiny tail inspired by ackie monitors, and some spines on his neck to complete the look. It has the typical dragon body plan with four legs and a pair of wings, though depending on how fantastical this project is I don't think it would be able to fly. Instead it might use them to aid in sunning and intimidating rivals.

Pencil with digital edits