I have a tank approximately 15 gallons. I'd like a desert lizard that can survive on mainly vegetation and occasionally eat crickets and mealworms. It needs to be desert because I have a sand substrate and would like to use that instead. Does anyone know of any lizards(or any reptiles at all) that could live in these conditions? I plan on getting it for Christmas and then upgrading it to a bigger tank the next august.
What are the dimensions of the tank, what is your experience with reptiles, and what is your budget for the animal and supplies?
I'm actually planning to buy a larger tank(for my tokays.) with my current money, but I'd say in the future for the supplies about $150. And for the animal itself maybe about the $75-$80 range.
Sorry it took so long. I was trying to find a ruler but I couldn't find one. full view Side view. Front view. inside view. My experience level is good with desert lizards. Good with tropical lizards. Pretty good with snakes, and I have no amphibian experience.
I think you could get a Leopard Gecko for your tank. They are a desert climate specie and are on of the easiest specie to look after, therefor making it a pretty good choice!!!!
If you or anyone you know is handy, you could turn the tank on its end so that it stands up tall, then craft a front opening screen lid for the "front," which would be the old top. (I hope that makes sense.) In doing that you would have a good setup for a crested, gargoyle, or similarly sized house gecko. An African Fat Tail could live in there comfortably and care is similar to leopard geckos, so it would be an easy addition. Do you have steppe runners available in your area? They are fairly new in the pet industry but have become more widely available recently, and I love the one we have at work. They do require UVB lighting, however, which will cost you a decent chunk of your supplies budget. However, you could still make a nice setup with that animal and supply budget. Steppies are not expensive by any means so you could allocate some money from the animal budget to the supply budget as well. If you want to venture out of the lizard niche, a male sand boa could live in that size tank. They stay rather small, are hardy, typically good eaters, and very docile snakes. If you are interested in gaining experience with amphibians, look into green tree frogs or ornate horned "pac man" frogs. Both are widely available, good for that size tank, well within your budget, and great for beginner amphibian keepers. You could also look into fire belly toads if you are interested in doing a semi-aquatic terrarium. Let me know if you have any questions about any of these mentioned. =D
If its desert he's better off with something else entirely. African fat tail needs high humidity as they live by rivers within Africa and its dirt substrate not sand.
