New To Reptiles

Don't ferrets smell?

Turtles are cute little things, especially when they get on their hind legs and stick their head out.
I still want a reptile, if getting any it will either be a crested gecko or a uromastyx. Not sure yet.

 

In my opinion, if you keep their cage clean ferrets don't smell much worse than any other small mammal. They have a natural musk, but they are usually fixed and descented before they are sold, so it's very mild. I think the rumors of their smell are greatly exaggerated.

 

Have you looked at lepoard gekos they are semi colorful they do have to eat crikets but you can hold them( just watch that they don't pee on you) my grandma started with leopard gekos and their still going they are hard little things so they make good begingers and we found they don't eat and extreme amount she had 3 and it took them maybe a week to finish 4 dozen crickets so maybe it's just where we get them but here it's only like a buck a dozen. But i'm a snake girl so maybe i'm wrong

 

Ferrets dont smell? Never heard that one before. I had a ferret for 9 years and boy did it smell!!! they say there descented but the thruth is they still have a pretty strong odor about them, if you keep their cage clean then it's not to bad but personally I think that ferrets are a lot harder to take care of than herps and you dont have to worry about getting a unnuetered ferret,reason number1.because it's illegal 2. they don't want you to steal their buisness. but it's been a while like 2 to 3 years since I've had one so maybe my memory is just failing. In truth, they dont smell to you because you get used to it but ervery one who walks in your room comments about how bad they smell but thats my humble opinion. And good luck with finding a pet!!!

 

Leopard Geckos make great first herps ( I got my first two days ago) and yes they do eat crickets although not very many, where I get crickets their only 75 cents a dozen, and they do pee on you, when I first held mine he peed and pooped on me.

 

My friends ferret did not smell. If the ferrets cage is cleaned reguarly and are trained to go in a litter box, then usually they don't really smell at all. yeah its true they DO have natural scent glands but those are usually removed when theyre babies so they might have a slight musky smell. but its not like a bad smell, you cant really notice it unless you put your face in its fur

this was just one example, i dont really know about ALL ferrets but i know my friends did not have a smell issue

 

Yea Lep Gekos are really good first ones they are really tough to kill lol they are extremely hardey which is a good thing for a first timer b/c if you screw up alittle you'll learn with out hurting you herp to much

 

Hm, the uro is starting to grow on me, and the only geckos i like so far are the crested geckos.
But keep the new info coming

 

If you can't feed crickets stay away from basilisks. They are almost strictly insectivores. I am currently keeping my two semi-adults on a rodent diet, but even that has to be strictly regulated. They are definitely a hands-off pet too. The only way to get them to "run on water" is to scare them, which in turn causes stress and in reptiles stress is death.

Uros are awesome pets. I have kept them in the past. They have incredible personalities and can and should subside on a strictly vegetarian diet. They do like to chase crickets too, but it seems to be more of a game than for survival. For one it would need to have at least a 40 gallon breeder tank to live happily. They can be kept on sand as a substrate, but definitely need lots of tight hiding places and A LOT of heat. They are incredibly dinosaur like. and can be lots of fun. I miss mine a lot, just haven't wanted to replace him yet.

Iguanas are no longer legal in New York, so they really should not be sold there. You would, as far as I know, have to buy a permit to keep them. They really are not a fun pet anyways. I have two iguanas and even the calmest one can have its bad days and trust me you know when it's having a bad day.

Chuckwallas should have extremely large and seemingly wasteful cage sizes for their size. They should have a 100 gallon cage at least. They can be extremely active if they are kept right.

In all honesty if you are not going to be able to feed crickets a lot or a little, your best bet is going to be a Uromastyx. Trust me they have as much if not more personallity as beardies. Give your Uro a couple of days to get used to everything without handling it at all. Then begin handling it for short sessions, 10-15 minutes. Eventually, you will be able to handle for an hour or two without a problem. You just need to make sure they don't get too cold. Uros really are not a cold tolerant animal. If you would like anyother information on them just post or PM me with your questions. I would be more than happy to try and help you out based on my experience.

 

Hm, didnt realize chuckwallas get larger than iguanas...

So if I am going to buy a uromastyx, what species should I buy?
Give me everything I need to have for it, temp, substrate, cage size, diet etc... based from your and other peoples' experience.

 

Chuckwallas don't get larger than iguanas. They just need large enclosures. Iguanas need even larger enclosures than a 100gal.

From my experience, they are all about the same as far as temperment goes. The temp needs to be around the low 90s for the ambient. It needs to have a basking spot of around 120 and night temperatures can drop to about the mid-60s.

Substrate should be washed playsand with plenty of rock ledges and hiding places, such as crevices. If you stack rocks, they need to be secured together to prevent them from crushing you Uro.

Cage size for an adult should be a minimum of 40gal. A baby should start in a 10 or 20gal enclosure.

The diet should be a lot of veggies. Such as, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, and a personal favorite of mine was sweet potato, but use that sparingly.

You should dust the food with a multi-vitamin supplement as well as calcium. This should be done for every other feeding with babies to once or twice a week with adults.

You can put more than one female in a cage, but only one male. The cage size should be 1 1/2 times the size of the enclosure for one. So if you have two the minimum adult enclosure should be a 100 gallon tank.

They don't need water dishes as this can actually cause many problems.

That should be about it. If you are serious about getting one definitely go out and buy a book on these guys, they are really cool. They are usually called Uromastyx, but can be called by many names. So do your research so you know exactly what to look for.

With Uros, colors can be very different. There are red Nigers, yellow backed Malis, and of course the multi-colored Ornates. There is also an Egyptian which is less colorful, but gets much larger than the others.

 

I see, thanks.

I was at the beach today and saw a boa.
Normally I dont care for snakes, I mean I saw some small ones at the pet store, they were alright, but this boa was amazing. It was only 2 years old but just watching it crawl in the sand was insane.
Anyone here have snake experience? What are the best things to feed them, temp's etc...
Also, are boas the best beginner's snake?

 

Personally I think cornsnakes or kingsnakes are the best beginner snakes. I don't have any experience with larger snakes, but I've heard some have been known to stress easily and have difficulty feeding. Maybe someone with large snake experience can go more into that.

The great thing about corns and kings is that they stay relatively small and are pretty simple to keep. They also come in countless different patterns and colors, so there's always sure to be one you'll love.

They eat mice about once a week as adults. Most everyone will recommend using pre-killed and frozen mice or rats, not live, to reduce risk of injury and transmition of parasties. They need a heat lamp or a mat to keep one end of their tank at around 80-90F, give or take (specific temps depend on the species). Give them a few places to hide and a bowl of water to soak in when they want, and they are good to go.

Compared to most of the lizards we discussed here, they are 10X easier to keep healthy and happy.

Here's a pic of my california kingsnake.

 

Boas probably are not the best beginners snake. Considering they can get up to 6-8 feet, and you need at least two people to handle it when full grown. They need large enclosures. Ball pythons are smaller but have a tendency not to feed (right?)
If you are looking for a begginer snake, probably go corn. Pinkies to mice (sometimes rats), colourful, and stay 4-5 feet.
Kings can also be good, small, nice patterns, but can be aggressive.

 

Well, what snakes are calm and cool, dont ont react to stress by swallowing the cause of the stress/constricting it, and that dont grow more than 4-5 feet.

Edit: Nevermind. My mom almost got a heart attack when i showed her pics on google. Basically, the only pets she would allow me are: Small lizards, cat, dog.