New To Reptiles

you know igs can be difficult to handle. when displeased they will bite and hit you with thier tail. a full grown igs tail is a weapon. i have 3 beardeds and they won't eat anything dead. even in a vibrating bowl. i have heard of beardeds eating the dry food formulated for them but you would have to find a breeder that has only fed them this from birth. i've seen this advertised on a few sites. i think it would be very hard to switch one from live food to pellets. of course a dragon from a web site costs more than one bought from a show. i'm getting a crested next month. been looking at them for awhile now.

 

Zoggy. I know you want something to that will grow large. However I have done some research into larger lizards, mainly the monitors and tegus which are carnivorous however have come to the conclusion I don't really want one for a pet. They are not low maintenance and can be extremely hard to handle. Defiantly not a beginner's pet.

My sister and I got Crested Geckos at Christmas. Now we did our research before we got them and went through the stuff on beardies, anoles, and other beginner lizards. We decided not only would the cresties fit in our tank the best but they would be the best for us. They eat baby food and crickets once or twice a week, but you can feed them the CGD if you don't want to handle crix. As for growing when we got ours they were 6 weeks old and mine fit snout to vent between the joints of my thumb. (1 inch) He is now larger and is approximately 4 inches snout to vent and could get another inch larger. This does not include the tail. They are fairly handleable, however our two older ones are skittish because we didn't handle them when they were young. We were afraid of them losing their tails and they don't regrow them. That and we didn't trust ourselves with them out of their enclosure. That’s enough on my crested geckos.

I have read the posts also about the gargoyles and they sound like they would but just as easy to take care of and have the bonus of regrowing their tail. I just personally don't like the looks of them.

Obviously leos are out because of the crix but my cousin has one and likes him a lot. They also sound like a good starter lizard. Once again I didn't like the physical appearance.

Those are my impressions, I don't know much about the Uro but it sounds like what you are looking for, larger than the crestie and no crix.

Just remember that lizards are not the cheapest pets. You will spend a lot on their enclosure and lighting, for a nice place for them to live, plus the cost of the reptile.

Hope that helps you, I know it is long winded but I thought I would let you know what I thought. Hopefully you can find something that you like and will have enough room to keep.

 

Some one is a Wheel of Time fan LOL

 

Yea, it makes for an easy nick too.

 

I would have to say that all of the omnivorous/carnivorous lizards are not for beginners. Uros even are hard to keep at the right temps and humidity. I would take liza714's advice, if your not into geckos or crix, i would just skip on the whole reptile thing for now. I get your position on lizard size, and growth, but all big lizards are hard to handle and have them thrive. Just go to a local petstore and look at the igs or beardies, its usually not a pretty sight. Goodluck with finding a pet, and a definite thumbs up researching before you even considered buying an animal. If everyone was like you it would lead to alotmore happy healthy lizards.
-Richard

 

So your looking for something cheap, easy to care for, handleable, somewhat large, and colrful/pretty?

Gunna be pretty diffucult to find an herp with ALL of those qualities. What EXACTLY are you willing to do for the animal? How much time and space do you have? How much money do you have and how much would you be willing to spend? Would you be willing to feed some other kind of insect just so long as it isnt a cricket (because you can feed silkworms, roaches, mealworms, butterworms, waxworms, superworms, and more). Although, only the 1st two can really be staples for most herps but mealies and supers can be staple for a couple if properly gutloaded).

In your situation right now your best bet would be a large stuffed animal lizard. Very minimal care, handleable, and probably pretty cheap =)

 

Price doesnt concern me just as long as it isnt over 200$.
I dont know, Im going to research more on crickets and stuff.
Im not worried about feeding them to the reptile, im worried about how I'll get them and how much they will be available to me.
I also need to know what to feed them in how many days, how many days they live, and where do I put them?

Edit: The reptiles dont even have to be large. I really like the crested geckos, they look cool and I can feed em CGD and baby food. I could even feed em crickets once a week for a while when they're young. I mean its not like its a hassle if I want them to be healthy.

 

Then you definately don't want a bearded dragon. Not only will you drop that much on the setup alone (probably more), but they will eat you out of house and home! The babies need so many crickets, I think I spent about $40 a month on crickets alone for one baby dragon, and I bought them online in bulk.

If you do buy crickets in bulk, what most of us do is keep them in a large rubbermaid tub. You feed them on cricket gutload formula and fresh fruit slices or moisened pellets for moisture. They can live up to a month, but the problem is that they grow so quickly, if you have a baby or a small lizard you have to feed them off before they grow too big for him. We usually recommend buying them a few sizes smaller than you need, so you'll at least have a week or two before they grow too large.

However, it sounds like if you like the crested gecko, that might be a good option for you. Less insects, less expensive, and they really are SO cute!

 

Crickets for cresties are really easy, especially if you live close to a pet store. If the pet store carriers crickets (some don't), just buy enough for the gecko, and throw them all in.

not a good idea. You need to gutload those cricks for atleast 24 hrs to make it worthwhile feeders to say the least.

 

What about chuckwallas? Im surprised no one mentioned them.

 

And you though Uro's looked funky =)

From what I've read they require quite high temps, LOTS of UVB, and a large enclosure. I'm not sure if chuckwallas are right for you if you only have $200.

Here's a caresheet i found with a quick search
http://www.anapsid.org/dichuck.html

 

you could get a desert iguana 2-3 ft. but do eat crickets. i kepp my friends for a week and his was very fun and active. With the crickets you can do mealworms or silkworms.

 

I did some looking. It may not be what you are looking for but a tortoise might fit your life style. Veggies, big, handable, and look "dinoish". Im not sure about the price range, but maybe do some reaserch and find a small one. How much space do you have for this reptile if you are living in an apartment?

 

I researched on turtles and all and people don't consider them "pets".
They say they are very demanding and dont give much back.
So having a turtle is like having a cat?

 

i still am going to suggest a uro or a desert iguana

 

I have a small yellow belly that lives in a pond we built him in the back yard. He comes crawling out as soon as he sees us and lets my daughter play with him all the time. He will eat crickets or kale right out of my hand. He is the first turtle I have kept but so far so good. It is by no means as rewarding as my beardies but its better than my gecko lol.

 

Liza, What kind of Gecko do you have?

 

I think I'm going to agree with most of the people here and just say if your not willing to feed crickets, and spend over $200 and all that. Maybe consider another kind of animal? Ferret maybe? My friend had one, it was one of the most fun and entertaining animals I have been around. They're great and they're very social also. The only downside is that to first set them up they can get kind of expensive but after you buy everything they just eat pellets and the ocassional snack.

 

I was gonna say... ferrets can be pretty expensive too. and also VERY demanding of your time.

 

I have a golden gecko. His name is either Vang, Jonathan or Nasty based on who is holding him. He is getting better but man can he move when he wants to. My little sister was holding him once and he skittered away and under the door, up the stairs and into the attic and we thought he was a goner. We left the lid off his tank and 3 days later he was back.