I want a lizard.

[conipto]

Hey folks,

I want to get a lizard. I'd like something relatively easy to care for, not too expensive, and somewhat interesting. Any suggestions?

Bill

 

[mouse]

how about a bearded dragon? all you need is UV light, heat emitter, calcium powder for the food. and if you get them as babies papertowels as bedding. i read that some use strained play sand later on when the beardie is grown, but mine are still on paper towels.

dianne

i thought about getting a horned lizard a while back (not the short tailed verion).

 

[8 leg wonder]

how about a bearded dragon? all you need is UV light, heat emitter, calcium powder for the food. and if you get them as babies papertowels as bedding. i read that some use strained play sand later on when the beardie is grown, but mine are still on paper towels.

dianne

i thought about getting a horned lizard a while back (not the short tailed verion).

bearded dragon are really expencive to feed and they take alot of work

 

[Bayushi]

how about Cuban night anoles? look just like common green anoles but are like the size of a small iggy...

 

[OldHag]

Leopard gecko, No UVB light.. just heat and a moist hide. If you play with them regularly they get very tame!! They eat what your Tarantulas eat Crickets, Pinkies...etc. Put in a dish of calcium and dust the crickets once a week with vitamins and WALAAA easy pet.

I got one for sale

 

[Zoo Keeper]

I think you would enjoy a bearded dragon more, than the smaller lizards. They get to a decent size, but not too big. My oldest one is eight years old, and still is very active.

I spend about 15 min. in the morning, feeding the three I have now. And 5 min in the evening, collecting the little present's they make for me.

Mine eat crickets, super mealworms, mixed vegatables( frozen ), and dark leafy greens (collard greens, mustard greens, kale, romain lettuce ).

Good luck with what ever you choose.

Rodney

 

[mouse]

bearded dragon are really expencive to feed and they take alot of work

expensive to feed? i have two 14months old beardies. i buy greens (mustard greens or kale or such) i have to buy crix for the T's anyways, and giant meal worms. i have a container of juvie beardie pellets for when i run low.
but most the food items you have anyways if you have T's (crix, maby meal worms or giant meal worms or even the superworms) all he'd need to get would be greens ( and thats less than 1$ for a pack wich will last a few days)
dianne

 

[Hedorah99]

To hell with the lizards. Get a snake. Much easier to care for and no need ot worry about fiddling with the UV lighting. But I would say if you want a lizard a leopard gecko or bearded dragon. Both are pretty easy to care for, a manageable size, and handleable. Stray away from any iguanas , they are NOT as easy to care for as any pet store would tell you.

 

[mimic58]

Get a Blue toungued skink!

 

[moricollins]

Bill, you could go with any number of awesome gecko species, like: Paroedura pictus (Pictus geckos) (as can be seen in THIS thread of mine), my babies should be hatching soon

Can link you to some good care sites if you're interested.

Other geckos that would be good choices include:
Ptyodactylus hasselquistii (fan toed gecko)
Coleonyx mitratus (central american banded gecko)
as well as the obvious:

Eublepharis macularius (leopard gecko)
Hemitheconyx caudicinctus (fat tail gecko)


Mori

EDIT: Bill, if you and Maggie come to the CDN get together and my eggs hatch successfully, you are welcome to a baby pictus gecko (if you so desire).

 

[becca81]

I think leopard geckos are really easy to care for (No UV light being a main factor) and they are quite tame.

I've owned several lizards in the past and I always ended up frustrated with having to buy greens frequently and keep them fresh. Since I already have crickets and mealworms for my Ts (and am raising mealworms), it's much easier.

 

[8 leg wonder]

expensive to feed? i have two 14months old beardies. i buy greens (mustard greens or kale or such) i have to buy crix for the T's anyways, and giant meal worms. i have a container of juvie beardie pellets for when i run low.
but most the food items you have anyways if you have T's (crix, maby meal worms or giant meal worms or even the superworms) all he'd need to get would be greens ( and thats less than 1$ for a pack wich will last a few days)
dianne

with 2 beardies I was going through 2 boxes(1000 count) of crix a month plus greens and shedded carrots, It was costing me about $100 cnd to feed them, I have an 85pound dog that is cheaper to feed

 

[mouse]

with 2 beardies I was going through 2 boxes(1000 count) of crix a month plus greens and shedded carrots, It was costing me about $100 cnd to feed them, I have an 85pound dog that is cheaper to feed

mine ate a lot of crix when they were babies, but when they are grown they mostly eat veggies. plus i usually buy giant mealworms, they fill them up faster. when they were little and weren't eating good i bought waxworms as a treat. but now i i buy 100 count containers of giant mealworms about 1- 2 times a month, some beardie pellets and veggies, and what ever crix are left over from feeding the T's. 100 giant mealies are about 4- 5$ .
dianne

 

[Hoosier]

Hmm emerald swifts of fat tailed geckos?

 

[conipto]

Bill, you could go with any number of awesome gecko species, like: Paroedura pictus (Pictus geckos) (as can be seen in THIS thread of mine), my babies should be hatching soon

Can link you to some good care sites if you're interested.

Other geckos that would be good choices include:
Ptyodactylus hasselquistii (fan toed gecko)
Coleonyx mitratus (central american banded gecko)
as well as the obvious:

Eublepharis macularius (leopard gecko)
Hemitheconyx caudicinctus (fat tail gecko)


Mori

EDIT: Bill, if you and Maggie come to the CDN get together and my eggs hatch successfully, you are welcome to a baby pictus gecko (if you so desire).

How tough are those to raise? Similar to leopard gecko? They look awesome! Especially that one with the big white diamond shapes on the back..

Bill

 

[H-D]

I'd recommend either a Bearded Dragon or a Blue Tongued Skink. Geckos are all well and good if you're priority is the cost of their setup, and you're not too bothered about how personable the animal is. From my experiences with both my Bearded Dragon and my Blue Tongue, neither of them alot of work and neither of them are expensive to maintain. My Corn Snake and my Leopard gecko are still cool and all but there's not much in it in terms of interaction (IMO). My Bluey and my Beardie always make eye contact with me whenever I'm in the room and can sit on my lap or shoulder for literally over an hour while I surf the net, watch TV etc (In comparison my Leopard Gecko gets restless quite quickly and is constantly on the move). If price is the major factor however, then a gecko may be the best route as the initial cost of a Bluey/Beardie and their set up isn't very welcoming in comparison.

My Guys:

 

[moricollins]

They are incredibly easy to keep, akin to a leopard gecko (the requirements are virtually identical in fact),

here are some caresheets:

http://www.thelizardwizard.co.uk/pictus_care.htm

http://geckosunlimited.com/pictacare.htm

In my experience they are similar to a tarantula in terms of interactivity, it depends on when you view/feed the geckos to how much interaction you get, though i have one trained to eat from a pair of tweezers.

Mori

 

[Dragoon]

May I suggest a European legless lizard (scheltopusik)?

I have two, as well as beardies and the leopard geckos already mentioned. I highly recommend the scheltys as best in all areas.
They are medium sized, inexpensive, hardy, require no UV and personable. They do not bite or scratch, or piss on the floor. Or run and hide somewhere. They are carnivorous, but eat anything. Scrambled eggs, ground turkey, thawed mice, BBQ chicken bits, crickets, roaches, mealworms.
Insects are best served frozen and thawed, since they are pretty clumsy comical animals that are pretty inept at catching live bugs. Which is perfect, less chance of escaped crix...

And they look cool.
D.

 

[Schlyne]

Btw, I think anoles require UVB.

There is also the crested gecko. Crested geckos can handle temps from 65 to 80 F. I keep mine right around 75. Unless your house is really cold, they don't need extra heat. While they will eat bugs (you do get the occasional one that would rather starve than eat bugs...seems to be afraid of it), they also eat fruit. There's crested gecko diet which can mixed up and fed to them all the time. You can also alternate bugs with babyfood. You're going to need calcium powerd with D3 and some some sort of vitamin supplement. Crested geckos are also arboreal. You can keep females together.

Here's one of my female's sleeping and some links to other cresties I have owned. I have some other much cuter pictures, but some of them are POTM contest entries on herp forums right now. Most of my guys are tigers. The harlequins are one of the more outstanding morphs.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13555905/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13555747/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13556592/

 

[Herps&Inverts]

Okay, I gotta step in here and speak up for the Crested gecko. They're absolutely the most awesome lizard out there. If you're wanting a single one, you can flip a 10 gallon on its side (making it an arboreal cage), add a few sticks and lots of silk leaves (cost like $2 at walmart). I feed mine babyfood (5x) and crickets (1x) during a single week. Dust the crix in calcium and D3 (huge bottle costs like $4 at a petstore) and mix CGD (available at petsmart or petco, they run be .99 up to 2.99 a bottle). If you use one bottle of babyfood per week, we're talkin' maybe 60 cents. They're really an easy animal to keep. They do NOT need extra heating or lighting. They need to be kept around 75 degrees year round. Sit them near a window so they get some light and let them be. Adults grow to an average of 7 inches. (I prefer the little tailless ones)...unfortunately, they don't grow their tails back if they drop them...but they're so cute!! Who cares?!?!? Even better, they come in a variety of affordable morphs. I, personally, like dalmations the best. I'll attach a cute picture so you'll be convinced to buy one. Oh! and we have a few for sale *HINT HINT* and even a few eggs prepping to hatch out soon.

Sam

Warning!! There is some gecko porn below! hehe. I couldn't resist. The dalmation is Rosco and the flame with the great dorsal pattern is Tyco (he's breeding Ginger, one of our red girls).