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Good Lizards To Get?

tricksterpup said:
So the good list.
Leopard Geckos
African Fat Tailed Geckos (same care as leopards)
Bearded Dragons
Crested Geckos
Blue Tongue Skinks
Great recommendations, Trickster.

One that I would add to the "do NOT get" list are Tokay Geckos. They're beautiful animals, "eye candy" really, but I've yet to see one without a pissy disposition. Mean buggers, each and every one.

regards,
jazz
 
I do feed my dragons pellets. It is something that you generally have to start when they are young. I put pellets at the bottom of the dish when I feed them greens. By no means would I feed them this solely, however it is a good back up if something happens and you can't get live feeders or veggies. I generally trick the babies to start eating pellets when they are about 4 weeks old.

Also, since you are in NC I can speak from experience that the show in Raleigh will supply you with all the set-up material. You should be able to find a cage for a much lower cost than you would pay in a petstore and ESU or ZooMed usually have a table set up where you could find everything else also there are several good breeders that will also have dragons.

Blue Tongues also are very cool pets. The caging and food requirements are almost identical to dragons. However I would probably be a little more careful of climbing (on shoulders etc) they have very small legs and from what I have seen they are not all that graceful.
 
Casey, my hat is off to you for checking out all this stuff prior to buying a pet. Most people do the opposite and it usually ends with tears. Been there, done that.

I don't know what kind of environment you live in or what your financial situation is so I can't really give advice based on that but I would recommend a bearded dragon if you really want a lizard. Yep they do cost a fair bit to get all the proper lights, food, etc, at first but over time they can easily eat to suit your budget because they eat so many different things. Mine eats pellets with calcium, fruit, veggies, dragon bites, and my personal favorite; crickets. I like to put some crickets in a bag with calcium powder and shake it up to cover those suckers and then I get the benefit of watching the carnage while my beardie gets his vitamins.

I love beardies because they have big personalities. They're tough as nails and don't spook easily and they will sit on your shoulder for hours if you let them. Mine will even do this hug thing where it sits on my shoulder and pushes its face hard against mine and then licks me before falling asleep. Plus he has a spiteful attitude that I love. When I put fresh water in his tank, he'll instantly kick sand in it and then stare at me. I liken beardies to the cornsnakes of the lizard world.

No matter what anyone here says though, you have to choose based on what will suit you the best and what animal you can give the most benefit to. It's a two way street.

Good luck :)
 
Found an interesting page on feeder insect nutrition...

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/general-care-and-husbandry/-/feeding-insectivorous-reptiles/

I feed my Giant Bent-Toed gecko a mix of mealies, superworms and crickets, just for variety. I've found that my cricket colony only stinks if I let it go too long, so I guess it depends on how much work you want to put into them lol

I've also heard that some of the "Bites" products contain modified dairy products in them? Is this true?
 
screw crickets and mealworms - i feed Turkistan roaches. no stink, no infestation, can't climb, and prolific breeders.


As for a lizard, I'd have to second the Blue Tongue Skink recommendation. They're awesome

I know you said you didn't wanna spend too much money, but i'd also have to recommend an Ackie (Dwarf) Monitor. They're way cool too...
 
Well, i doubt i'll be able to get one very soon. I'm just out of Highschool, and still living with my parents(starting college later this year, though. so i'm not just being a bum).. So my parents need to okay any kind of pet i'd be getting. It was hard enough to convince them to let me get my Corn! So i'll probably have a lot of time to research stuff about Beardies and other lizards before i convince them to let a big lizard into their house. I know that my mom HATES crickets, though. One time when i brought up getting a beardie, she said "i don't want to get anything that eats crickets, 'cause they'll get everywhere!".

Anyhow... Do most pet shops sell roaches, and how hard are those to raise yourself?
 
very few shops sell roaches, but they're super-easy to raise on your own

the turkestans don't climb glass, so they're just in a plain 20g tank, bunch of egg crate, and i just dump in dry dog food or carrots in anytime i don't see any food (day or two). heat pad on the side because they do prefer a warm environment... the adults are the same size as large crickets...
 
Speaking of sifting, what do you use? I haven't been able to find anything I like that works well to sift mine.

I use a metal kitchen sifter/strainer thingy--it's like a metal basket on a handle. I also will put the vaccuum hose near their kritter keeper & try to suction off the sheds & deads without getting anything that is still alive. The eggs & very tiny worms do go through the strainer but that's why I save the "discard". they can then grow up a little & get caught in the next sift.
 
I had a lot, and I mean A LOT of Geckos when I was lil' Kev1144...Day Geckos, Crocodile Geckos, Leopard, Fat Tailed, Tokay Geckos



First off, I don't know why Pet Stores even sell Tokay Geckos...you might as well buy a Piraha, cut your finger and stick it in the tank, because you will be less likely to be bit than sticking your hand into the tank of a Tokay Gecko. Mine personally sucked and it was 5 years of misery, but he did look nice.


That aside, I loved my 2 Leopard Geckos...I read someone saying they are small...when they aren't really at all. Both my Geckos were great and would actually eat hand fed and fall asleep in my hand. The Day Gecko was ok, fast moving, and the Fat Tailed Gecko was a really good pet as well. The Crocodile Gecko was like Grey Wolf in Metal Gear Solid. I'd put the crickets in, you would see flashes of brown and blood flying everywhere, but you wouldn't really see the actual Gecko, just utter carnage. I never even attempted to hold him. But from someone that's owned a lot of Geckos I would recommend a Leopard Gecko.
 
The Nothing said:
very few shops sell roaches, but they're super-easy to raise on your own

the turkestans don't climb glass, so they're just in a plain 20g tank, bunch of egg crate, and i just dump in dry dog food or carrots in anytime i don't see any food (day or two). heat pad on the side because they do prefer a warm environment... the adults are the same size as large crickets...


If I had any ROACHES in the house, my Girl would shoot me, rip out my heart, pound on my head until I would give my final gasp for life. :shrugs:
 
I didn't want to start another board on the same topic, so i'll just continue on this one...

I read a little about Argentine Black and White Tegus. That they're big, but have good temperments and all. What do you guys think of them?
 
Eventually I would like to get one but right now I do not have the room for a lizard like that. I say if you have the room, the time and cash to spend on a lizard like that, why not? I would say a cage that is 6x6x6 would be a nice size cage.

Here is a great link to info on Tegu's and a good place to get them from.
www.agamainternational.com This guy deals with more larger type of lizards.

Here is a link to the housing of Tegus.
http://www.agamainternational.com/pages/tegu_housing.htm
 
i always loved the look of chinese water dragons.... but don''t really know much about them.

i'd guess that they'd be a little more difficult than beardies habitat wise, but i just think theyre gorgeous.

just a suggestion for reasearch direction :)
 
jazzgeek said:
Great recommendations, Trickster.

One that I would add to the "do NOT get" list are Tokay Geckos. They're beautiful animals, "eye candy" really, but I've yet to see one without a pissy disposition. Mean buggers, each and every one.

regards,
jazz

I have a friend that raised one from a baby, hand feeding it every chance he could, it is the only tokay I have ever seen that was not mean.
 
I've seen a few 'tame' (term is relative lol) Tokays. This guy belongs to Dan @ manhattenherps..

pic147.jpg


(hope that works)

We just got a couple of Argentine Black and White Tegus in at work, they are my new fave! If only I had the space! Great-looking, very intelligent and potentially trainable. Ditto what trickster said, if you have the time and resourses they'd be worth it!
 
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