SUN GAZER

These are interesting relatives of the Geherrosaurids, or plated lizards. While not colourful (most are a mud brown colour) they have spiny keeled bodies and the defensive habit of curling up with the end of their tail in their mouth when feeling threatened. Some of them also bite hard and readily.

  The only drawbacks with the sungazers is

(a) they are now quite rare, due to import restrictions and conservation in their African habitat, and

(b) there is a dearth of in-depth information about them.

  The smaller ones are fairly easy to care for, but the larger ones carry a hefty price tag as the result of their rarity and threatened status in the wild.