I'm not really familiar with many of the TX lizards, but you're right; this does NOT look like a native US species. Although the pic is small, from what I can see this almost looks like a Frilled Dragon, a native of New Guinea and Australia. Those are the one what spread out the big neck frill if they feel cornered or threatened, though simply moving away is their first line of defense. The head definately has that shape like a member of the Agamid family, and a foot and a half would be too big for a Fence Lizard, which is also in that family. Frilled Dragons are commonly sold as pets, though they are quite expensive, so if that's what it is, it must have escaped from someone-someone who is VERY upset! Check with the local papers' "Lost and Found" section and see if anyone has lost such a pet in your area, and you should certainly try to catch it without hurting it. Sharon McKenzie

Marilyn - sorry - just wanted to clarify that my previous post wasn't aimed at you in the very least. Again, you are doing the responsible thing by not releasing that animal. If you would like some more options as to care and whatnot - you've prooobably got a nearby or local herpetological society that might know of someone responsible who would take it off your hands. Now, while they can get quite aggressive, they are nonetheless interesting, impressive animals (rather personable and curious) and make good display animals at zoos. A local nature centers might also be interested if they have setups showing "Exotic Species". Then again, sometimes these unwanted rescues end up having silver linings to them - I've got a few animals that I took in as rescues and couldn't get rid of initially that I've become quite fond of (even if they are still a pain in the butt at times...haha). As for enclosures, you could possibly make a relatively cheap, large, outdoor enclosure for the animal which would solve many many problems and keep costs and maintenance down to a minimum. Since Ctenosaura are excellent diggers, I would recommend making what is basically a wood-framed (1"x1" pine wood beams work well) box that is enclosed on ALL sides with a lockable, hinged lid. I'd also probably use 0.5" x 0.5" heavy duty wire that is stapled to the wire frame. Dig a hole, sink the enclosure in there a bit and fill in with dirt - this way the animal can behave naturally and dig, but not escape. You could also landscape it with some boulders and plants...make yourself a neat little outdoor enclosure that I'm sure you'd end up enjoying. Here's an example of an enclosure that I made for my turtles if that helps you visualize what I'm talking about at all - I would just recommend making a wood frame and keeping the rest wire though. This cost about $100 to make and measures around 9x4 feet and 24" tall. It cost a little more than what you'd make because I used cedar (the moisture levels here would have rotted pine in a couple years). Here is another enclosure I used (for turtles) that is more suitable for a lizard. What you can't see is that the enclosure is totally enclosed - that enclosure is essentially a wire box that is sunken into the ground. Hope that helps and gives some encouragement. ~Mike

OK --those are really creepy pictures. They look like little mushrooms. How do you get rid of them?

Without close examination it can be difficult to positively identify. The Butterfly Lizard, Leiolepis belliana , comes from a very wide range, from South China to Sumatra in Indonesia and has a number of subspecies. Generally with that big a distribution you can expect a lot of variation in colours and patterns. If you're in Florida then there's 3 species of Agamid lizards that have been introduced and established themselves. This is a bit on subspecies Leiolepis belliana belliana I found: L. belliana belliana. Butterfly agama; Smooth-scaled ground agama; Smooth-scaled agama. Several subspecies. Gray to olive dorsally, yellow to red with black stripes on sides. Thailand, Burma, Laos (?), Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia (Sumatra, Pulau Bangka). If you haven't already seen it check thisLINK.