Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My male has done this many times but he would NOT let me take his picture. This is his girlfriend and she was happy to pose as long as I needed to get pictures. I didn't even know that the females changed color!

Mike

Whew, they sure are incredible when colored up Mike. Gotta love this agama.

I would have thought this to be male though, as usually the females are a bit duller, more browish, with some reddish in there head.

JUST BEAUTIFUL ! Keep the pics coming!
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Eve / PHEve

Ok, that's the second time someone has said that. I would really like to get this settled. I thought for sure that the big dull colored one was the male and the two smaller ones with the spots were the females? They all put on the same colors when they feel like it so that has nothing to do with it. It's just that the ones with the spots were sold to me as females, so they said. Maybe we'll just have to wait and see who lays eggs. But, if anyone knows for sure, let me know.

Mike

the ones here, to settle this I'm going to bring a friend over to see the pic, Great guy name is John C, he breeds these, and will tell you anything you need to know!
I'm going to email him now, so stop back, and see what he says!

Maybe you guys can get together !
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Eve / PHEve

Hi Mike and Eve,
Although it's not always a sure thing when trying to sex by color due to some of the eastern agama agama females which sometimes can almost mimic the males' bright colorations, one sure way is to view the ventral side of the males. You'll see a dark/thin row of pre anal femoral pores which run across the upper side of the cloaca on the sub adult to adult males. You can also see a slight 'belly zipper' which is usually from one inch to as much as two inches in length which runs from just above the umbilical scar and runs up toward the lower chest area. It's always centered and pretty easy to see on some of the agama but on these eastern red heads, it can be pretty thin. I've marked the pre anal pores which run between the blue arrows. The the 'belly zipper' runs between the red asterisks I've added. Also, most males show a thick black triangular or diamond shaped marking under the chin when warmed, excited or in a romantic mood. as this obvious male shows.
Hope this helps,
John

John and Eve, you're kidding! You're shattering my world over here. The pretty, mild mannered one with the spots and all the pretty colors is the MALE? And the big lug that always tries to bite me is the GIRL? Huh? I looked under the one with all the colors and everything you described is there, row of bumps in front of the vent and a nice long zipper up to the chest area. Plus, when it was showing all it's colors, it had a dark diamond shape on the throat. The big dull colored one has orange stripes on the throat. It has changed colors to a bright orange head and a blueish body before making me think it was the male, especially the size of this lizard, bigger than the other two.

Anyway, I believe you on the spotted ones, especially since you breed them. But the big one, I really need to know. Might this be a western? You can see it in that last picture, it's the one without the spots. I looked under that one and couldn't for certain determine from what you described on the others. Would you need to see the under side of him? Or are you sure that it's a female. And thanks for your help. This is quite enlightening. It's ok either way, I just want to make sure I have at least ONE female in there.

Mike

Also John, I meant to say, the picture didn't come through. So I was just going by the description you typed.

Mike