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Not the best photos, but nr one is the locality with a specimen hiding somewhere in the pic. Won't mention where it was taken for obvious reasons. That is also about the distance you can normally get from them before they disappear down their holes. The second pic is of a specimen who allowed me to get to about 6m from the hole, and taken with a 300mm lens so still seriously cropped. Hope this helps!





BTW arks - a Sungazer is a Sonkyker / ouvolk / giant girdle lizzard / Sungazer / Cordylus giganteus, whatever you wish to call it. They are big spiny lizzards that occur on grassy areas in the Free State and eastern KZN. Even though they are very common where they are found and the "Extent of occurance" is large, they are also harvested for muti and the pet trade.

Thanks for both the explanation and the photo, bushsnake. Very impressive lizard indeed.

Bushsnake - this is EXACTLY the sort of pictures i am after.

I have a question regarding the Sungazer.

As you know they live in colonies, how do they prevent inbreeding? Do the males go off in search of a new, unrelated, colony or are reptiles more resistant to inbreeding?

Any more pictures of the Giant Sungazer would be fantastic.

For the really good images you probably have to wait at their holes for the creatures to come out again....and hope that it doesn't start to rain while you are there...

How giant is this giant? Obviously not Komodo sized, but 30 cm or larger?

Sungazers max out at about 37cm. They are large compaired to other members of the Cordylid family.

Bushsnake,
That was a great shot of the sungazer in its natural habitat and having owned one some 30 years ago, it was wonderful to see one in its natural environment!

If things work out, I would like to start trying to raise these in Central Californis where we do have low humidity and the climate is somewhat similar.
They are such Majestic Creatures and I really would appreciate posting pictures as often as you are ableor anyone else that would have pictures as well!!

Much Thanks,
Sprman!

Sometimes being in the veldt often (but NEVER often enough) is almost more of a curse than a blessing if one can say that! And now I mean in the veldt, on foot, walking around, not driving around in National Parks, which I've actually done very little of. Whether it was growing up, almost more in the veldt than at home, on the farms now just being "there", or out hunting, just skulking through the bush. One sometimes sees things so often, and get so close to animals in a natural habitat, that you forget that they are not so common. Saw somebody on the mammals forum say that he's yet to see an eland. I've seen so many, in Golden Gate, private game reserves, and huge hunting farms that I don't even think of them as scarce. And actually same with Ouvolk. Just the other weekend on the farm in the Free State saw one again. Must have surprised him away from his hole or something, as we just got him in the grass there - about 20-25cm I'd say. Showed him to the kids, coaxed him somewhat to move about so they could see, and then went on with our business again, leaving him alone again. Didn't have a camera with me, but actually didn't even think of it as rare either. Maybe I must start carrying the camera the moment I leave the house...

Bishop,
If you could take your camera along with you and capture photos of the Sungazers in their natural environment, it would mean a great deal to many of us that will never get that opportunity.
I regard these Lizards as one of the more magnificent of the lizard species and I always have since I owned one many years ago!
I am hoping that I will be able to raise these great lizards someday and that I could be successful with them.
Please post any and all pictures that you are able as their is obviously not enough study material about them and it would be appreciated by many of us that hold them in awe!

Sprman

Here is a picture of one of my Sungazers - Cordylus giganteus



I would love to see some more pictures of this species either in captivity or in the wild.

Best Regards,

Not the wild ones, but these were taken at "Pure Venom", a reptile park outside Port Shepstone last year April. Enjoy.