Thinking of gettin me a gecko... :)

[Elmolax]

Well...
To start off... I plan (after high school) To study herpetology...
(im in 9th grade as of now) And I cant think of a better way of getting a legs up than getting hands on experiance. I would love to know the best specie of snake, gecko, or lizard for a first timer. I would also like to know how to house it (substrates, all taht good stuff ). My freind recently had his albino gecko eggs hatch, so I was thinking of taking one off his hands, or getting a bearded lizard.

Please help me out!
~Ryan

 

[jdcarrel]

I would rather have a gecko then a lizard or snake, but that is just me. A good starter would be a crested gecko or leopard gecko. Crested are better in my opinion because they can climb and are fun to watch.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

One of the easiest reptiles to keep is a Corn snake. There is a multitude of beautiful colour variations. You need a terrarium, 3-4ft long, 2-3ft whide and high. Put some substrate into it, a climbing branch, a heat pad on one side under the terrarium, 2 hides (one in the cold and one in the warm area) and a large water dish and you're set.

That's the basics anyway. You'd need to know more about this ofcourse but and a bit more detail but all in all that's about it. Do read up on feeding though and more so if you would want to have 2 corns sharing the same space.

 

[Schlyne]

Do read up on feeding though and more so if you would want to have 2 corns sharing the same space.

Housing more than one snake together (unless you are breeding them at that time) isn't a good idea. If one of them is or gets sick, it's easily passed along to the other, you don't know which one pooped and which one didnt'...regurg...and so on.

Also, cornsnakes and kingsnakes can (and may) eat each other. Some times the snake that ate it's cagemate will regurge, which is very stressful on it's digestive system.

 

[becca81]

I would rather have a gecko then a lizard or snake, but that is just me. A good starter would be a crested gecko or leopard gecko. Crested are better in my opinion because they can climb and are fun to watch.

Uh, you'd rather have a gecko than a lizard?

You may want to think about what type of food that each different animal that you're thinking about requires. Some lizards need greens, some need crickets, etc. Think about what you'll be able to provide on a regular basis before purchasing.

For example, I already have a lot of tarantulas that I keep crickets for, so when I wanted a lizard I picked something that would eat crickets and mealworms so I didn't have to run to the grocery store for fresh kale every few days.

I'm partial to leopard geckos due to the fact that they're docile, fairly well potty-trained (well, corner-trained), don't need any special UV bulbs, and are really quite simple to keep.

 

[Bry]

Well...
To start off... I plan (after high school) To study herpetology...
(im in 9th grade as of now) And I cant think of a better way of getting a legs up than getting hands on experiance. I would love to know the best specie of snake, gecko, or lizard for a first timer. I would also like to know how to house it (substrates, all taht good stuff ). My freind recently had his albino gecko eggs hatch, so I was thinking of taking one off his hands, or getting a bearded lizard.

Please help me out!
~Ryan

Best beginner gecko species:
Leopard geckos, African Fattails, Crested Geckos

Best beginner snake:
Corn snake...hands down, ball pythons are okay, but they are known to have occasional feeding issues, and whatever you read up on them, don't listen to the ones that say they need to be kept dry...they should be kept somewhat humid

Best beginner non-gecko lizards:
Bearded dragon, Mali uromastyx...both species are easy to care for, but require a little bit more work than the previously mentioned species, due to required UV lighting, diet, etc...but buth species have great personality

Do your research on the species mentioned above, then decide what you would like to keep. Beaded lizards are a bad idea though, they're one of two venomous species of lizards in the world, the other being a Gila monster.

 

[cloud711]

are day gecko's good beginner gecko?

 

[Schlyne]

are day gecko's good beginner gecko?

There's really only one species that you can work with as a possible beginner. It's Standings day gecko, or P. standings? (not sure about spelling the latin right) .

You can't handle day geckos. Standings is the only one you can handle, but the skin is just too delicate on the other species, so they're not really a good beginner.

They can make great display animals though.

 

[Farom]

One that hasnt been posted here that I would like to add is the Viper Gecko, Teratolepis Fasciata. They are incredibly easy to keep and breed, and are very docile and easy to handle. However, they are very small, around 3 inches as adults. You should consider looking into these.

Here is a picture of my gravid female"

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[cloud711]

why cant day gecko's be handled? do they require the same care as leopard gecko? :?

 

[Farom]

Day geckos have very sensitive skin, are very hyper/fast, and really just dont like to be handled(from what ive heard). And they have VERY different requirements than leopard geckos. Go on the internet and look at some of the species mentioned and see which one you might be able to look after best.

Thanks,
Andrew

P.S. Feel free to send me a P.M. sometime if you have some questions...I would be more than happy to help you out.

 

[Bry]

Day geckos generally aren't good beginner species for all the reasons that Andrew listed above. They do make for some very nice display animals, but that's about it. Trust me, between the days and leopard geckos, leos are much better for beginners.

 

[cloud711]

what substrate is ideal for leopard gecko's? i heard they sometimes ingest a few substrate and they could die from it. is that true?

 

[Stylopidae]

Yes, it's true. Impaction can be very serious. One of my classes kept a pair of leos and we just used sand. I'm pretty sure it was calci-sand or something similar. We fed them crickets and never had a problem. Whenever we fed mealworms or waxworms, we used a petri dish.

 

[Bry]

There IS a risk of impaction with sand. I used Repti-Sand rather than Calci-Sand, since it's a much finer grade and is also SUPPOSED to be digestible. I never had any problems with impaction on it. But I have heard of stories of impaction with Calci-Sand which is also supposed to be digestible. If mine were impacted at all, it never got to the point where it became immediately apparent. I also kept leopard geckos on paper towels and that worked out very well too.

 

[Beardo]

Keeping Leopard Geckos on sand is pretty silly IMO. The environment that they are native to does not consist of sand dunes....they live in a rocky desert terrain much like parts of our southwest. Look at their feet....they have thin toes with claws on them, certainly not well suited for a life on dunes, but definitely adept at climbing over rocks and digging out burrows in the soil. To reduce the risk of impaction, paper towels or newspaper make the best substrates IMO. Safety is of more importance to me than aesthetics.

 

[Dozer]

I don't see any reason to even run the risk of impaction......if you want something that still looks nice but is 100%safe for them then go for slate or ceramic tiles. There are thousands of looks and they are easy to clean and look great IMO.

Ryan.

 

[WhyTeDraGon]

I don't see any reason to even run the risk of impaction......if you want something that still looks nice but is 100%safe for them then go for slate or ceramic tiles. There are thousands of looks and they are easy to clean and look great IMO.

Ryan.

and they heat real well too

 

[Bry]

Keeping Leopard Geckos on sand is pretty silly IMO. The environment that they are native to does not consist of sand dunes....they live in a rocky desert terrain much like parts of our southwest.

Oh yeah? Well.....your mom goes to college. So there! ;P

 

[Beardo]

Oh yeah? Well.....your mom goes to college. So there! ;P

Why don't you go eat a decroted piece of crap!