-
Hello!
Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.
Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....
Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.
Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.
what makes the best pet
- Thread starter Audrey87
- Start date
medusacoils
Mr. Enigma!
Rocks!! They require no food, heat, attention, water, cage, veterinary care or anything! :shrugs:
OK, really! I would go with snakes. Geckos are cool, but need daily to every other day feeding. Snakes eat once ever week + and subsequently poop that often too.
If your new to snakes, corns are the way to go. They are very hardy and relatively easy to care for. They tend to tolerate the learning curve fairly well. Very handleable and come in many colors.
Wayne
OK, really! I would go with snakes. Geckos are cool, but need daily to every other day feeding. Snakes eat once ever week + and subsequently poop that often too.
If your new to snakes, corns are the way to go. They are very hardy and relatively easy to care for. They tend to tolerate the learning curve fairly well. Very handleable and come in many colors.
Wayne
hmmm i tot so too.. because of space constraint, i can only have 1 more.
i was thinking either snake or gecko...
but what really freaks me out is the breeding thing.. dunno if i can stop myself from trying to breed them.. the things i see about the egg bound and stuff really freaks me out..
geckos are more active no?
i was thinking either snake or gecko...
but what really freaks me out is the breeding thing.. dunno if i can stop myself from trying to breed them.. the things i see about the egg bound and stuff really freaks me out..
geckos are more active no?
Nanci
Alien Lover
Snakes. Lizards have to be fed every day. Either you're making a salad, making soupy nectar, or supplying bugs.
Cornsnakes are almost universally nice. Lizards- you're rolling the dice.
The only thing I like better about lizards is they are a little more expressive. They make eye contact intentionally, and have some sort of facial expression. If I talk to Isabel my dragon, she'll cock her head as if she is listening. Snakes- you just don't get a lot of feedback. I'm not saying snakes can't communicate- it's just harder to anthropomorphise them, compared to lizards.
Cornsnakes are almost universally nice. Lizards- you're rolling the dice.
The only thing I like better about lizards is they are a little more expressive. They make eye contact intentionally, and have some sort of facial expression. If I talk to Isabel my dragon, she'll cock her head as if she is listening. Snakes- you just don't get a lot of feedback. I'm not saying snakes can't communicate- it's just harder to anthropomorphise them, compared to lizards.
wstphal
working in the Gulag
Seems like the more snakes I have the more I anthropomorphize their behaviors. While else would Humphrey come OUT of his hide when a cat investigates his viv, except to torment the cat? E-for-Evil must like me because she doesn't bite me or lunge away frantically from my hand...
Nanci
Alien Lover
Could you, theoretically, leave for a one or two week vacation and come home to a happy lizard, without making babysitting arrangements, though? With a snake it's like, I'm sorry, you are going to miss a meal, possibly two.
Can you evacuate from a hurricane (or whatever) easier with a snake, or a lizard?? The lizard is going to need heating, lighting, food. The snake needs to not overheat or freeze.
wstphal
working in the Gulag
This one is huge in my book. With my collection, I can pack all the little ones into tiny containers the size of deli cups but rectangular in about 1 hour (and I already bought these for about 50 cents each!), bag the big guys, put all of them into a couple of 60Q tubs that wedge in between my cat carriers in the back seat and be GONE if need be. So if I lose my power and there's a hotel within driving range that has rooms & power, I can decamp with the collection safely and stay at the hotel. All I need to do is offer water every day & everybody will be OK for a short stay at the hotel (say up to a week). And clean pillowcases work fine as snake bags so I don't even need to have lots of "real" snake bags.
Teddy Roosevelt
i loev cronsankes
Ease of care is the snake, hands down. If I'm not feeling up to it, I don't even have to LOOK at my snake's tnak until it's time to change the water and feed him. My geckos have to be fed daily and need frequent cleaning and water change.
However, I've found geckos to be much more personable and intelligent to work with, compared to my snake. Even though my Boo is my spoiled little baby, the interaction I get from him vs my leos just doesn't even compare.
However, I've found geckos to be much more personable and intelligent to work with, compared to my snake. Even though my Boo is my spoiled little baby, the interaction I get from him vs my leos just doesn't even compare.
Tavia
Elemental Exotics
I don't think one is really better than the other. There are trade offs with either of them, it just depends on which you are more willing to do. Then it depends on what type of gecko you got as well.
Pros for general care of snakes:
Feeding only around every week. Poops once a week generally, so major cage cleaning can be done every few months, with spot cleaning in between. Can leave for a week or so without a sitter. Can be fairly pricey for the initial setup & the animal but normal upkeep isn't much.
Cons: Depending on the sources available to you, mice can be fairly expensive, up to $15 to $20 a month for one snake. (that's what it would cost using the pet store around here but isn't where I buy my mice) Some people are squeamish about feeding mice.
I have decided not to breed my corns for several reasons that may or may not apply to you.
The possibility of a 30 to 40 eggs clutch is a bit intimidating to me. (unlikely to get that many but possible & I like to be prepared for what could happen)
Would need individual cages with heat for all the hatchlings. They will all hatch at once. While there might not be a problem with any of them, it is possible to get a whole clutch full of non-feeders. And finally, around here I think the market for corns is saturated. I mainly wanted to breed for the experience of doing it & quite probably wouldn't have bred them more than once. So becoming FedEx certified to be able to ship snakes doesn't appeal to me for only one clutch.
Pros to Crested geckos: (since those are the only geckos I have experience with)
Don't generally need heat, room temp in most homes is great. Eats a powder that you just add water to. Doesn't need bugs if you don't want to feed them. If you buy the powder in bulk, you can get enough to last one gecko a year for about $11 to $15. Can be pricey for initial setup & the animal but normal upkeep is minimal.
Cons: Need to be fed every 2 days. Need to be misted about every day depending on the humidity where you live, could be more often or less. (I don't personally find this a hardship, takes about 15 min. to take care of my 4) Will need a sitter if you are going to be gone for longer than 3 days.
Breeding my cresteds appeals to because: They lay their eggs 2 at a time about every 25 to 40 days, 16 to 20 eggs in a season. That gives you time to build up to more & more hatchlings & making sure they are thriving. They can be housed together (have to watch out for bullying & separate if that is happening) but since they won't require supplemental heating, it is easier to house them, even if they are in individual cages.
Pros for general care of snakes:
Feeding only around every week. Poops once a week generally, so major cage cleaning can be done every few months, with spot cleaning in between. Can leave for a week or so without a sitter. Can be fairly pricey for the initial setup & the animal but normal upkeep isn't much.
Cons: Depending on the sources available to you, mice can be fairly expensive, up to $15 to $20 a month for one snake. (that's what it would cost using the pet store around here but isn't where I buy my mice) Some people are squeamish about feeding mice.
I have decided not to breed my corns for several reasons that may or may not apply to you.
The possibility of a 30 to 40 eggs clutch is a bit intimidating to me. (unlikely to get that many but possible & I like to be prepared for what could happen)
Would need individual cages with heat for all the hatchlings. They will all hatch at once. While there might not be a problem with any of them, it is possible to get a whole clutch full of non-feeders. And finally, around here I think the market for corns is saturated. I mainly wanted to breed for the experience of doing it & quite probably wouldn't have bred them more than once. So becoming FedEx certified to be able to ship snakes doesn't appeal to me for only one clutch.
Pros to Crested geckos: (since those are the only geckos I have experience with)
Don't generally need heat, room temp in most homes is great. Eats a powder that you just add water to. Doesn't need bugs if you don't want to feed them. If you buy the powder in bulk, you can get enough to last one gecko a year for about $11 to $15. Can be pricey for initial setup & the animal but normal upkeep is minimal.
Cons: Need to be fed every 2 days. Need to be misted about every day depending on the humidity where you live, could be more often or less. (I don't personally find this a hardship, takes about 15 min. to take care of my 4) Will need a sitter if you are going to be gone for longer than 3 days.
Breeding my cresteds appeals to because: They lay their eggs 2 at a time about every 25 to 40 days, 16 to 20 eggs in a season. That gives you time to build up to more & more hatchlings & making sure they are thriving. They can be housed together (have to watch out for bullying & separate if that is happening) but since they won't require supplemental heating, it is easier to house them, even if they are in individual cages.
dickdeuel
Old Snake Breeder
I don't keep geckos or snakes as "pets", but if I did it would be a Florida kingsnake. Snakes are much easier to care for, can go without food when you're on vacation, and live a much longer life. Geckos are fragile and damage easily. Your house starts to sound like a cricket farm at night with all the food items that get away.
ZoologyGirl
Under Tank Heather
I have gargoyle geckos and snakes.
Personally I prefer snakes over geckos, they are so much easier to care for. My geckos are fussy little critters who need everything just so. I have yet to be able to get them to eat out of a dish and often find myself having to hand feed the little buggers.
Personally I prefer snakes over geckos, they are so much easier to care for. My geckos are fussy little critters who need everything just so. I have yet to be able to get them to eat out of a dish and often find myself having to hand feed the little buggers.
Ive had experience with several snakes and geckos so ill give the run downs of what I know.
My leopard geckos where my first reptile pets.
Pros: They are very personable, come in a wide variety of colors and patterns and generally are pretty friendly. Mine learned to reconize me over other people and were quite interactive. As far as geckos go there easy to care for and hardy and food isnt very expensive esspecially if you deicde to breed your own. Personally I hate crickets so I breed roaches and superworms for mine lizards. Many will pick one corner of the tank to be their 'poo' area so makes cleaning easyier
Cons: Need to be fed every other day and I feed hatchlings/sub adults every day. They need supplimental heating and it can be determential to them if they go to long without heat. They need to be cleaned more, though I highly recommend using paper towels or tiles with these guys, just replace the towels or whipe down the tiles and bang done.
Crested geckos
Pros: very interesting geckos with interesting behavoirs and are quite adorable. They thrive in a more 'naturalistic' appearing enclosure, which makes for a really nice looking tank. There also fairly hardy geckos and require little if no heating. They dont have to eat bugs and will do fine on the 'crested gecko' diet powder. They will also accept roaches too so no dealing with roaches.
Cons: Needs to be misted daily, and I like to keep a humid hide box in their cage if they want more mositure. Ive found them more skittish with handling than the leopard geckos and a bit more 'fragile'. They tend to poo al over their cage so one has to hunt down the poos to keep it clean.
Corn snakes
Pros: Ease of care, they eat once a week and thus poo much less making cleaning much easyier. They docile and easy to handle and quite hardy snakes. Though there not as interactive as the geckos after having my oldest for nerely 8 years i can certainly say hes got his own personality and seems to know me over other people. You can get frozen mice and keep them in the freezer for when you need them, making feeding that much easyier.
Cons: Not as interactive as the geckos and you still need to feed rodents (that bothers some people)
Ive also kept kingsnakes, but ive found their personalitys can be iffy depending on the snake. So id recommend a corn snake over one.
My leopard geckos where my first reptile pets.
Pros: They are very personable, come in a wide variety of colors and patterns and generally are pretty friendly. Mine learned to reconize me over other people and were quite interactive. As far as geckos go there easy to care for and hardy and food isnt very expensive esspecially if you deicde to breed your own. Personally I hate crickets so I breed roaches and superworms for mine lizards. Many will pick one corner of the tank to be their 'poo' area so makes cleaning easyier
Cons: Need to be fed every other day and I feed hatchlings/sub adults every day. They need supplimental heating and it can be determential to them if they go to long without heat. They need to be cleaned more, though I highly recommend using paper towels or tiles with these guys, just replace the towels or whipe down the tiles and bang done.
Crested geckos
Pros: very interesting geckos with interesting behavoirs and are quite adorable. They thrive in a more 'naturalistic' appearing enclosure, which makes for a really nice looking tank. There also fairly hardy geckos and require little if no heating. They dont have to eat bugs and will do fine on the 'crested gecko' diet powder. They will also accept roaches too so no dealing with roaches.
Cons: Needs to be misted daily, and I like to keep a humid hide box in their cage if they want more mositure. Ive found them more skittish with handling than the leopard geckos and a bit more 'fragile'. They tend to poo al over their cage so one has to hunt down the poos to keep it clean.
Corn snakes
Pros: Ease of care, they eat once a week and thus poo much less making cleaning much easyier. They docile and easy to handle and quite hardy snakes. Though there not as interactive as the geckos after having my oldest for nerely 8 years i can certainly say hes got his own personality and seems to know me over other people. You can get frozen mice and keep them in the freezer for when you need them, making feeding that much easyier.
Cons: Not as interactive as the geckos and you still need to feed rodents (that bothers some people)
Ive also kept kingsnakes, but ive found their personalitys can be iffy depending on the snake. So id recommend a corn snake over one.
ShenziSixaxis
Sticking To The Ceiling
This is a very interesting thread. I don't have much experience with geckos, so I can't contribute much. I will be keeping an eye on this though.
snakewispera snr
The Devils Advocate
I prefer snakes over legged reptiles because of the food factor, I don't want bugs in my house..
And to narrow it down even more, I prefer Morelia carpets over all other snakes because they are easier to keep than most snakes and a lot more interesting...
The thing is it's horses for courses with animals, and what floats my boat may not flick your switches....
And to narrow it down even more, I prefer Morelia carpets over all other snakes because they are easier to keep than most snakes and a lot more interesting...
The thing is it's horses for courses with animals, and what floats my boat may not flick your switches....
