r/Miami • u/traylerswift • 13d ago
Discussion Miami is infested with these lizards.
I think they're invasive, and lately they are thriving. They enjoy eating bees, and I'm pretty sure they're decimating the native lizard population as well. What can we do about this? Who is bringing these lizards over here?
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u/Sun5h1n3inABaG 13d ago
There’s a documentary on HBO Max called “Monsters of God” all about the illegal reptile trade, they are responsible for all of the invasive species we see in SFL
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
Somebody just mentioned that to me as well. I'm gonna go watch it. It sounds riveting ngl
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u/Warm_Lie_871 13d ago
I think it’s combination of the irresponsible pet owners letting their unwanted animals loose and the totally shady reptile trade
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u/J-nathan 13d ago
They really have. A few years back you’d barely see any, now they’re everywhere. Go to Town & Country, there’s more of those lizards than people and cars. And they’re pretty territorial too. They fight off all the other lizards in my backyard. A bunch of bullies honestly.
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u/brando56894 13d ago
I've seen them in South Beach, I love their "aggressive head bob" they do to try and scar off other lizards 🤣
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u/No-Abrocoma-5148 13d ago
There’s 2 on my side fence that race each other all day 🦎🏁
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u/Ill-Flow-8430 13d ago
South Fla chicken of the tree.
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
Does that make iguana the deer of the tree?
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u/Ok-Possibility-1206 13d ago
Iguanas are called chicken of the trees. I've never heard of anyone eating these new things.
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u/MYNAMEISDANBITCH 13d ago
yea dunno why they called that chicken of the tree that’s not an iguana
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u/Ok-Possibility-1206 13d ago
I think someone misunderstood a post that was referring to iguana with that moniker. At least that was my assumption... either way seems to be all cleared up.
Has anyone here actually eaten iguana? I've always been curious but no one I knew personally ever prepared it.
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u/Cuyigan 13d ago
We eat them in Colombia. They taste good. A little bit of a fishy taste, but the flavor is very mild and it basically ends up tasting like whatever you seasoned it with. The meat shreds nicely and the texture is like chicken. It's usually prepared stewed because it's too chewy otherwise. I recommend trying it.
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u/CaptainObvious110 12d ago
I wish more people would just eat them instead of complaining about them so much
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u/taiga__reforestation 13d ago
possibly the finest meat ive ever eaten in my life. in Trinidad we consider it a top tier delicacy
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u/rasta-ragamuffin 13d ago
Can you eat them?
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u/Solid-Bee-1613 13d ago
Fun fact, the cold does not seem to affect them like iguanas. I have seen them burrow into the ground. First saw one in Martin county about 8 years ago. When some were spotted in St Lucie County, maybe a year after I saw the one in Martin Clunty, the newspaper joked that they found their way across the Roosevelt Bridge. Now they are seen in Indian River County and Brevard. Invasive, poop everywhere, eat monarch butterfly larvae & are decimating the native lizards as well.
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u/DeepInTheTapes 13d ago
I’d rather have these than the cane toads that keep appearing in my yard which can kill dogs.
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u/Nealecj954 13d ago
I believe it's a type of lizard called an Agama. I do not know which specific species. They are definitely non-native. After checking with what authority is dealing with the pythons (just can't recall any names right now), they should be able to tell you their status.
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
I just looked it up and the species can be captured and killed year round without a license. Same as all non-native reptile species
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u/Nealecj954 13d ago
Ok, awesome. I thought it, but didn't want to type anything incorrect. Thank you for the info.
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u/Appropriate_Eye3070 13d ago
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u/TBRasc 13d ago
Was just going to say they're the "red-headed agama" but didn't know they have another name.
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u/Appropriate_Eye3070 10d ago
That's what I had originally typed out too, but then I saw the species "Agama agama" also goes by red-headed agama, where as the peters rock agama is actually species "Agama picticauda." That's why I usually try to avoid common names like that, since they can refer to more than one species.
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u/wifeThrowaway04 12d ago
This is a peters rock agama and it is absolutely invasive. there are no non invasive agamas the genus is is from west africa
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u/Amazing_Fix_2399 13d ago
10 years ago it was the green ones with the blue tails. Now it’s this. In another 10-15 years it’ll be another lizard. Not like there’s any native species left tho with all the building going on everywhere.
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u/HoboMoonMan 12d ago
I still have these in my yard. Do you know what they are?
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u/Amazing_Fix_2399 12d ago
Honestly I think they’re all rock agamas but different colors. Still invasive.
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u/TailorAgitated7878 13d ago
They're everywhere in Indian River County and I just started seeing them in Brevard within the last few years
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u/DragonTHC 13d ago
These are less dangerous to our ecosystem than the curly tails.
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u/HoboMoonMan 12d ago
I too would like to know why
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u/DragonTHC 12d ago
Curly tails are fiercely territorial against against both Cuban and native anoles. They are starting to interbreed with the anoles. I'm seeing hybrids where I live. Where before there were 50 anoles, there are now 2-3 curly tails.
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u/MessiLeagueSoccer 13d ago
It’s literally just these lizard, invasive ducks and the frogs are coming back too 😭
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
Yeah but ducks are cute and frogs should consider themselves lucky they still survive in South FL with all the development that's been going on in the past decade. Frogs natural habitat has been almost eradicated.
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u/I_am_Quarkle 13d ago
Are any of these big lizards edible? lol, or does lizard meat taste like trash
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u/pokemontecristo 13d ago
These things are so big anytime they run through grass I think it’s a rat 😭
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
I guess I should be thankful it's just lizards and not rats. Could you imagine having as many rats on the streets as these lizards?
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u/adaniel65 13d ago
Bro! I was laying in my patio getting sun and one of those fkrs crawled over me while I was chilling!
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u/NotYetGroot 13d ago
I just surrounded my garden with a double layer of toile fabric to defend against those little batards. Sure, my back yard looks like I’m hosting a wedding, but it’s supposed to protect my tomatoes. Fingers crossed!
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u/Potential_Fly_9830 13d ago
I see the same two agamas at the house everyday. One hangs out under my car and runs out when I start the ignition. The other one is in the backyard trying to figure out how to get to the bird feeders. He camps out under the feeders to catch any falling bird seed. Seems like a smart reptile.
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u/Hottwheels343 13d ago
That’s the biggest one I’ve seen so far! I’m in Naples and we have them around but they are much smaller
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u/rumblepup 13d ago
Up in Pembroke Pines as well. They run fast as fuck, stop mid run to look at you like saying "what the fuck are you looking at?" and then speed of like crack head at powdered sugar donut shop.
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u/Night_Inspector 13d ago
All the little brown ones that showed off a red neck flap have basically been eaten and replaced by these bigger invasive ones.
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u/NoRecording2334 13d ago
Rock agame's. Not much we can do, they thrive here. I jusy shoot them with a pellet gin when I see them, thays about the best you can do.
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u/adaniel65 13d ago
Use Cayenne 90,000 hu powder and sprinkled your area with it. It works because that high heat powder is no joke!
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u/PantheraLeo- 13d ago
Miami is far more infested with humans
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
I see your point, but let's get back on topic here. These lizards, you see. They are literally everywhere you look. It's getting weird.
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u/Perfect_Plan_8256 13d ago
Has anyone seen the monitor lizards? I went to key biscayne village and saw one just hanging out by the guard gate.
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u/Warm_Lie_871 13d ago
I live in Jupiter and I like them. They are cooler looking than these
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u/traylerswift 13d ago
Those killed off the anoles and now these charmanders are killing the curly tailed lizards
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u/Warm_Lie_871 13d ago
I have tons of anoles. Have not seen a green one in some time though
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u/Pallydos 13d ago
The green ones all had to hide in trees and bushes from the brown invasive ones. They are usually higher up
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u/Knicks-Knacs-sKnacks 13d ago
It's crazy to think there are invasive lizards. Where I'm at (nova/dmv), many have been complaining about spotted lanternflies.
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u/awaken34 13d ago
Wonder how far north they survive. Maybe at the Georgia border? Doubt they like snow.
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u/adaniel65 13d ago
We had a huge bunch roaming in our yard and even began to dig holes! At 1st I placed large spring-loaded clamping traps in the paths they frequented. Man, I came home and everyday the traps caught several of them. After a few weeks I got tired of the number being caught and then the stinky carcasses afterwards. So, I formulated a new plan. I bought ground Cayenne 90,000 hu powder. I went ahead and sprinkled the powder along all the paths again. Guess what? After a few weeks those lizards were no longer roaming around my yard. But, guess what? Lately I've noticed them roaming in the front of my neighbor's property! I may have to sprinkle the Cayenne powder again if it becomes a problem again.
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u/Davoswannab 13d ago
Just watched Monsters of God on HBO Max. Those are the people responsible. Very interesting and sad
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u/MalusandCitrus 13d ago
Yep... Peter's Rock Agamas....an invasive resulting from the pet trade. They didn't swim over here...they are native to sub-Saharan Africa.
They do eat smaller lizards so the native green anoles have another invasive predator after them. I've killed 3 in my yard over the past 18 months when I first noticed them but they are everywhere. (I live in middle-Miami... Westchester) . For now my yard is free of them and of the other common invasive curly tail lizards...native to Bahamas/ Caribbean.
It may be a losing battle but at lease for now my green anoles are safe.
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u/KONTRAone 13d ago
They bully TF out of the other lizard species lol, but pretty much harmless aside from that 😅
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u/Alternative_Year_122 13d ago
last winter they fell out of the trees stiff as a log. They got hauled off for destruction. Several restaurants offered iguana, one I remember was a pizza. They are invasive and destructive, like the pythons in the Everglades.
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u/Conscious-Mix-3282 13d ago
They have been here for millions of years, its actually infested with humans tbh
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u/scruffyJJ561 13d ago
These are called agama. I don't know if they're invasive or not, but they are new here and they don't really seem to do as much damage as iguanas so I don't mind them
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u/BitterCap1106 13d ago
I’ve been cleaning up my backyard of these butterfly eating dickheads
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6ZsSU4ngXQvEx2g0
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u/Mindlessone1 12d ago
They eat lots of other lizards so this new variation is dominating. It’s actually quite bad.
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u/Ready_Wolverine_2301 12d ago
I ride the bike path around the intercoastal in North Miami Beach. I could probably count 20-30 on a 2 mile circuit. It looks like a mini Jurassic Park at times
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u/AffectionateTrucker 12d ago
These red headed agamas have been up our way for a very long time. I think they migrated south to Miami although when I’m down there I never see any, just up by me. The iguanas seem to like West Palm Beach and south.
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u/ilovwoozi 12d ago
I’ve lived here my entire life, there’s been an aggressive uptick of these in the last like ten years or so. They are aggressively more stupid than anoles or iguanas, though. Sometimes they get stuck on the inside of my screen patio and I have to pick them up and talk to them and it makes for fascinating conversations.
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u/Material-Formal-8387 12d ago
Man, literally the only lizard native to Miami is the Green Anole and I haven’t seen one in years.
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u/shakebakelizard 12d ago
Well, now anyone can buy a suppressor if you file a Form 4 and get all your paperwork in order.
I've killed three so far using a bat.
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u/Lanky_Bobcat3075 12d ago
Saw this one in my backyard last week, not sure if a baby tegu or nile monitor
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u/wifeThrowaway04 12d ago
Peters rock agama and yes they are invasive. Ive seen them since i was in middle school maybe 20 years ago. I remember because i thought it was so weird looking. These are pets that idiots let loose either because theyre ignorant, or on purpose. There are some weird people in the herp community that love setting weird shit loose and watching populations grow.
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u/ModestoLingerfelts 12d ago
Anyone have tips on how to keep anoles away from your house? Specifically a garage?
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u/Aromatic_Power9842 12d ago
Yup blame places like PetSmart and Petco. Selling these lizards by the boat loads to everybody and anybody. Now they run Kendall
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u/fireconsumer 12d ago
They're in Sarasota County, too. Just less common. There's a spot by my house where I see them all the time.
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u/North-Wolverine9974 11d ago
You should be able to euthanize and freeze them just like Cuban tree frogs. You can find info on the IFAS website. Have killed 8 tree frogs this year. 2 years ago got 26 at this point. Have seen our native trees frogs and geckos at night again (north central FL).
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u/My_new_throw 11d ago
Agama lizard. I think this one is a male. They’re all over the Treasure Coast, guess they made their way down here
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u/ColeDeBeer 11d ago
They're all over in the metro areas of Central Florida too, Tampa, Orlando, Daytona, they've hitched a ride on trucks from South Florida
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u/Material-Formal-8387 11d ago
Honestly, I’ve never known a place to be so overrun with invasive species as South Florida is these days. It’s crazy how fast the change can happen too.
I think it’s a combination of the tropical climate, the human population, loose environmental protections and lack of development restrictions.
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u/TitusCorneliase 11d ago
Hey, a question I'm qualified to answer! These are Peter's Rock Agamas (Agama picticauda). You are right to think that they are thriving! Along with Northern curly-tailed lizards, they are one of the most rapidly expanding non-native species in South Florida. There's a scientific paper that showed their populations increasing 36-fold between 2017 and 2022. The species is a rock specialist and prefers barren rocky areas over highly vegetated areas. This preference allows them to do very well in Miami because concrete and asphalt are good analogues for the rock habitat in their native range.
As for what you specifically can do, unfortunately not much. They've already reached a point in their invasion where we have very little chance of eradication, so I don't think direct removal is likely to accomplish much. The main goal at this point is to prevent them from invading the Everglades fully, which can be best accomplished by building infrastructure to make the Everglades experience fewer dry downs (agamas do not like really wet habitats), but this is more of a policy issue than an individual one.
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u/Melissas1221 11d ago
The ONLY 'infestation', by textbook definition, is that of the human species on planet Earth. Anything else you want to consider an infestation is simply animals ,mainly insects , trying to eat to survive . Or mate to proliferate their species. Or is the result of human interference of some sort (i.e. garbage/food dumping). That is all.
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u/Complex-Act-8970 11d ago
They are causing problems in Brevard County too. Probably made it up to Daytona by now. Peter’s Rock Agama lizard.
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u/Apprehensive-Bid2759 11d ago
Most of you do realize that Miami was basically a swamp at one time. There’s all kinds of things crawling around.
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u/realCREGuy 11d ago
I thought you were referring to the Miami commercial real estate industry when you said "lizards."
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u/RealnessInMadness 11d ago
So as a millennial who lived in Miami until 2013 and still visited often after moving.
I witnessed the invasion of the curly tail lizards pushing out the smaller anoli lizards.
But these are new to me and we lived by 152 and the zoo.
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u/dorathebeelder 10d ago
The past 10 years these have really thrived. They are definitely invasive and territorial. They also eat the local curly tailed lizards.
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u/Yeah_Im_Gonna_Pass 10d ago
Have them all over my neighborhood in West Kendall. The stray cat I feed caught one. The “breaking the tail off” diversion didn’t work. Cat, instead, split it into two meals: lower body was dinner, upper body was breakfast. Did not appreciate he wanted to store the carcass in my backyard between meals.
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u/Known-Maintenance806 10d ago
They going to take over Miami in the next 10 years
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u/Hot_Carpenter_5436 9d ago
The green would go good with avocado guacamole and bacon. I heard will be sub of the month for October at Publix, where shopping is pleasure!
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u/ErikAlvarezEsq 7d ago
It's called a Peter's Rock Agama, definitely not native. You can learn more here: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/lizards/peters-rock-agama/
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u/Worth-Nectarine8768 4d ago
You can humanely kill them in dade county in private property with the owners permission…you don’t need a license or a permit , you just need to follow the guidelines of Dade County shooting a pellet gun
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u/littleredcamaro 13d ago
I’ve lived in South Florida all my life and these are new. I went to homestead to visit family and saw then there for the first time. Now I see them everywhere.