what's out there

[RaVeNo888o]

Hi. im just doing some research to find out what types of herps are out there that would suit me. I have a cal king right now, and am interested in a few other snakes, but recently lizards have been catching my eye. Im not sure though because the care is different from a snake and it may be smarter at this stage to just stick with snakes because that way it simplifies it for me and they all eat mice , ect...

but.. i was just wondering what lizards would fit these (or most) criteria
-small (beardies are cool but they can be up to 2 feet)
-can be caged with several others of the same species (ie/ have 2 or three lizards in one cage)
-Relatively easy to care for (beginner lizard)
-Food: something simple, not hard to maintain food source, not really expensive to feed 1 or 2. It would also me cool if the 'prey' wasnt all in one place in the tank and they could 'hunt' for them. i know this can happen with crickets, but would it be neccesary to keep my own, or would the alternative of buying from the store regularly get too expensive.

thats all that i can think of at the moment. Any suggestion would be much appreciated. Not in a possition to be gettin anything right away but would like to plan ahead.
thanks in advance

[RaVeNo888o]

ive seen alot of post about leo's do they fit the criteria i set out?

[CDN-Cresties]

Oh yea, i think you want a crested gecko.

1)They can grow 10 inches but most of that is tail.

2)They can be caged as a trio, two females, one male.

3)They are easy to care for. ( No heat lamps or UV light required, room temp is fine)

4) Food can consist of crickets, babyfood. However they have this Crested Gecko Diet that is amazing. It elimanates the use of feeder insects.

5)There prey can move in the enclosure and you can watch them eat (this is cool)

6)The only downside is that they have the ability to drop thier tail when they feel threatened, but their is no major health concern when this happens. The plus side of owning them is that they can be handled, and some people say that they are taking over the title of best pet gecko away from the leopard gecko.

If you want addtional info, just give me a email and il send you this amazing interactive caresheet. You can also pick up the 2003 Annual Reptiles Magazine, it contains a great article on their care.

Hope this helps

-Steve-

[enso]

Try your hand at leos, easy to care for, east to breed, beautiful little beasties.

[lynsey_togofire]

i agree with "enso" that leopards are your way to go...keep as a duo or trio (male/female or male/2 females). i have one peice of advice though: DO NOT NOT NOT keep the crickets in with them overnight. the ones they don't eat will come out at night and ATTACK your lizards. a lot of people just buy the cricks and let them all in their to reduce having to "feed" every day. THIS IS NOT NOT NOT ADVISED. my skink stopped eating cricks at one point when he was in the petstore because of this. (that is the one MAJOR sign that they are being attacked. when they start killing the cricks and leaving them.) anyway, back to the question, leos are the best choice. they are very tame and in fact i just talked my boyfriend into getting one of those. he wanted a lizard that is as friendly as my iggy and that was the number one choice that i gave him. hope that helps and keeps things in mind for you.

lynsey :)

[Aaron_S]

African fat tailed geckos
Green anole
Pictus gecko

[Dragon_Slave]

I want a crested gecko so bad! They are so cute! I can't decide what I want more though, to breed my beardies or buy a pair of crested geckos, *sigh*... decisions decisions.

As for ''what is out there''... African Fat Tails, Leopard Geckos or Crested Geckos would be your best bet! Let us know what you decide on! :D

[RaVeNo888o]

seems to be between the crested and the leo. Any oppinions on which is the best out of these two? maybe some pros and cons of each?
thanks for all your help so far.

Oh lynsey, Do you just put the cricks in the morning and take em out at night? is it hard to find them all?

[RaVeNo888o]

hey crestie, is this the article that you were talking about? just stumbled accross it doing a search
http://www.sandfiredragonranch.com/reptiles/geckos/ciliatus/Crested%20Gecko%20Article.html