For anyone reading this, if you know anyone who you think would be an expert on the topic of the Peter’s Rock Agama, please mention them or send this post to them. I need these questions to be answered.
Hello everyone, I just quickly wanted to ask anyone who would know the answer to these questions:
Do you think the Peter’s Rock Agama will survive this winter in orlando since it will be super cold, and how do you think they will? In other words, I’m curious how they can hide and survive through the winter. Please elaborate if possible.
Would a Peter’s Rock Agama be able to cross breed with another agama species potentially? I read online that it is possible for agamas to crossbreed.
If somehow I had agamas near my house that kind of live wild in Orlando Florida, are there any steps I can take to make sure they stay warm through this big cold front? It’s gonna get SUPER cold. I have seen them hide under shutters and stuff and a lot of them live in my roof, but I was wondering if anyone would know anything that I could build or use that’s not too expensive to help them survive the winter?
these are considered invasive in the Orlando area. i suspect that you won’t get many folks encouraging you to help them survive in the wild in your area.
Yes, agamas are invasive in Florida and likely have negative impacts on native organisms, so I wouldn’t want to support their populations. I would guess that some agamas will survive cold fronts since they are in close proximity to human dwellings with “heat subsidies”. Iguanas get knocked back by cold fronts in Florida, but populations recover/recolonize.
I have also heard that agamas can hybridize, but this will depend on the specific species pairings (and potentially the specific sexes interacting), so there probably isn’t a clear answer to this question other than what is searchable already online.
Hello @cthawley, I understand the idea of the hybridization but they are not yet officially deemed invasive. There is no proof of them harming the local ecosystem as of 2024.
even if that’s the case, what is your goal here? there are various medium-sized lizards in the area. they have to survive cold fronts from time to time – by hiding near houses and in crevices, by going dormant for a while, or however they do it. Certainly some will die, but they’re not endangered so I’m not concerned.