British Kids Can't Get Enough of Spiderman 'Look-Alike' Pet

A new pet-craze is sweeping over  Britain - No it's not a $500,000 USD dog or cat, but a tiny lizard that has an uncanny resemblance to our favorite superhero - Spiderman!

The reptile, a male Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard, sports an amazingly beautiful mix of colors. It is a bright red from the head down to about halfway down its scaly body - Then, just like Spidey, the rest of its body is a beautiful blue.

The lizard rose to 'fame' after pictures of it darting around in the wild in Kenya, made its rounds in British newspapers.

Since then, the demand to own one of these has been so great, that all pet shops have run out. 

Male Mwanza Flat-Headed Agamas are very similar to Chameleon lizards. During the day, under the sun's heat, they can often be sported with the spiderman 'attire'. At night or if they are scared, their color changes to a deep brown. Female Agama lizards do not have the same capabilities - Their coloring remains just plain brown.

Native to Sub-Saharan Africa, the reptiles have a lifespan of 15 years. Though the lizards traditionally lived in the forests and African bush, they have been able to adapt to the loss of their habitat and can now be found inside thatched roof huts and other small spaces, from where they emerge periodically, to feed. The lizards are omnivores , feeding on insects, seeds, berries and sometimes even the eggs of smaller lizards. They are fast runners and just like the superhero, can scale walls quite rapidly.

Though Agamas make great pets, they do require some special care. In order to survive they have to be kept in a special temperature controlled environment and fed a balanced diet of insects that include locusts, crickets, meal worms and wax worms.

Sources:metro.co.uk,thelizardlounge.com,wikipedia,org,dailymail.co.uk, photos: D.Gordon E. Robertson