Need help getting started

[jon_without_h]

hey everyone
I am wanting to get into lizards more. Dont know what kind i want yet. I am really new at this all and i just got the web page from my cousin. So if anyone can give me some pointers or send me good web pages to go to to learn about different kinds of lizards that would be very appriciative.
Thanks a lot
Jon

[Ixidor]

Your best bet with lizards is probably leopard geckos, there nocturnal (no uv lighting required), have nice personalities, and are fairly forgiving to husbandary errors not to mention there pretty cheap these days. As for websites, type in leopard gecko on google and have fun, you'll be reading care sheets your whole life. Ron tremper has a pretty decent care sheet too. http://www.leopardgecko.com

[jon_without_h]

Thanks a lot. I'll post how it went and what i decided to get once i look at the web site.
Jon

[BoidKeeper]

No matter what type of lizard you consider you should first locate a source for food. Some lizards eat insects and some eat vegtables, others eat both. I didn't keep any lizards for a while because I didn't want to raise my own bugs. I could have bought them at the local pet shop but crickets were .36 cents each. Now I keep 3 Ocellated Skinks. They are great because they don't need any special lighting and they eat canned cat food.
So no matter what you chose make sure you have a reliable source of food for it. You don't want to get it and then find out it is too expensive to feed.
And don't forget to do lots of reading.
Cheers,
Trevor

[jon_without_h]

Yeah i want to get some books on the type of lizard i choose.... i was going to get a bearded dragon but i realized it would take a lot of work to feed them and take care of them.. so i will probably get a simplier one that needs less work. Thanks for the advice on the food.

[Manitoban Herps]

I think the best pet lizard is a blue tongue skink :)

Origin:
Most of them are from Austrailia and a few are from Indonesia.

Temperment:
These guys are very friendly, the best handled lizard in the pet trade IMO.

What and What Species Not to Buy:
Northern, Irian Jaya's ar ethe most common blue tongues in the pet trade, ALL of them being captive bred, indonesians are beautiful but most are wild caught.

Food:
These guys are great for feeding b/c they will eat veggies, fruits, canned cat food and insects, almost anything! You will need to dust there food with vitamins and calcium every few days.

Size and Age:
These guys get 2 - 2.5 feet long, and can reach ages to 25 years!

Cage:
A 50 gallon cage is a big enough cage for these guys for life. You will need a large waterdish for him/her to soak in, logs low to the ground to hide and climb on.

Heating and Lighting:
These guys will need a basking light that makes the temperature that reaches the skink 90-95 degrees F, and the rest of the cage 80-85 degrees F. These guys also need a D3 florescent lightbulb to get there UVB requirments.

This will run you aroound 100-150$ for the set-up, but even if you buy a lizard for 10$, it should still cost you the same. The lizard should cost you around 100-150$.

Enjoy your choice, let us know what you choose :)

[jon_without_h]

Wow.... that sounds like what i am looking for. I will definatly have to look that up some more. Its the right size and the right food stuff that i wanted. And it is a reasonable price too. Thats really awsome. Thanks a bunch. I will write back and tell you if i end up choosing that one.

[peterm15]

what kind of atmosphere do you want.... forest, desert, some water... how much space do you have to work with... just keep in mind any good tank should be pleasing to your lizard and you.

[jon_without_h]

Well i already have a 3' x 1' tank. I want something with some water in it so i dont have to worry about refilling the water every day. And i want some kind of cheep covering other than water. So i need ot do some reasearching about that. Do you knwo what is the cheapest method to have as a base for the tank?

[Linds]

I agree with Ixidor, leopard geckos make great pets. They are full of personality, and unlike other reptiles, actually seem to thrive on human attention. This is definitely one of the features that sets these guys apart from the rest, as well as makes them so popular. My leos don't require anymore care than my snakes do, although they get handled much more. Who can resist such a big smile? :)

<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/22giantsgftubby.jpg">
<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/22eyecrawl2.jpg">

African Fat-Tailed geckos are similar to leopard geckos, although tend to be a bit calmer.

Blue Tongues require just as much attention as Beardies do. Uromastyx require daily care as well, but do not eat any bugs. They are one of my favourite lizards. Legless Lizards are really neat and fairly easy to care for. Unfortunately the majority of them are still WC. They are garbage cans, and eat rodents, meat, insects, etc.

Herbivorous and omnivorous animals tend to require more daily care, as well as diurnal animals, so if you don't want anything too high maintenance (as far as lizards go), I would recommend finding something nocturnal :) All of the above animals are in the $25 - $200 CDN range.

Originally posted by Manitoban Herps

Temperment:
These guys are very friendly, the best handled lizard in the pet trade IMO.


LOL never been charged by one before, I take it? :p

[Linds]

Given everything you've mentioned, I would definitely recommend going with a Leopard gecko. Desert setups are easier to maintain than forest setups. Water is very high maintenance so I wouldn't even consider any setups that involve a large amount of water. Leos should be kept on solid substrate, to avoid ingestion. This can be made to be as appealing as you wish. You can use tiles, large rocks, paper towels, newspaper, etc.

[jon_without_h]

The leopard Gecko sounds very appealing. I am happy to hear that water is hard to do. Its good i find that out now and not when i try and set it up. The desert is what i will probably go for for the cage. I am going to be going to a reptile show this sunday in toronto so hopefully i learn lots there and maybe i'll pick some stuff up for my lizard. If anyone has any good sujestions about what i should get that is cheaper at shows give me a shout.

[CDN-Cresties]

Okay this is going to be bias but I'll post anyway :)
Crested Geckos are a great beginner gecko.
1)Require no heat at all, they thrive at room temperatures.
2)They can eat crix, babyfood, fruit or crested gecko diet.
3)They are great to handle and full of personality.
4)They come in different colours and patterns.
Check out this site for more info!
http://www.acreptiles.com/geckos_crested_basics.htm

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/1671malecrestie-med.jpg

[Ptindy]

I agree with crested geckos being an awesome first pet. I don't know how crested geckos get overlooked as being good beginner pets. Even carpet pythons are overlooked as being good beginner pets opposed to corn snakes and balls. I didn't do anything different for any of my snakes when I had a ball, 2 carpets and a corn snake. The only difference was temperatures and setups. Carpets I think are an awesome first snake, especially the IJ's. Jungles tend to be more nippy which can be a turn off but just don't buy a nippy one! Anyways back to the crested geckos. They don't need heat, or UV lighting and can be fed off a powder and water mix bought for 5 bucks that will last a month or more. I don't feed mine crested gecko diet but I'm sure it lasts a while. Or baby food at 23 cents a container from wal-mart and a supplements. That's an awesome first gecko if you ask me. Just don't heat em up that's all you need to know. And spray em twice a day, in the morning a light mist and a heavier one at night depending on your setup. They're aweome to watch when they hunt but can be flighty as babies so you have to be careful not to lose one. My two cents.

Mike

[jon_without_h]

I am just doing some reading up on the creast geckos and they sound very interesting. Simple yet not too simple to be boring. And they look cool too which is awsome. Do you knwo if baby food has calcium in it or would i hve to dust the food still? I am still no qite sure what it means to "dust". Can anyone fill me in on that?

[CDN-Cresties]

You would haveto mix the calcium in the babyfood but if you buy Crested Gecko Diet, it has everything you need for a healthy gecko.

[jon_without_h]

I think i would probably stick to the gecko diet just because its simplier. I just dont have all the time to be consintrating on a indpeth diet because i will only be liviing at the household myself with the lizard that i will be buying one weke on one week off so my dad will hav to take care of it so i want it to be simple. Do you think it is better ot have two of them so they have company all the time?

[CDN-Cresties]

You can house two together as long as they both not males. If you do choose to buy a baby crestie, I would recommend that you use crix and the CGD together. If they are on CGD alone, they grow rate slows down, thats what I have noticed at least.

[Ptindy]

Yes you would have to dust the food still with calcium and multi-vitamins once every other week. To "dust" means to simple add calium powder (or calcium dust) or vitamin powder to your reptile's food. Baby food you could mix it in. Crickets you simply shake the crickets around in a cup or zip lock in the dust to get them covered. There is a product called the T-Rex crested gecko diet. Most pet stores should have it. It is a complete supplement for crickets and baby food. It's cheap and easy. If you were to choose to feed it baby food I would suggest if you have access to crickets to feed them crickets every couple weeks (just buy what you need). If not, babyfood will suffice. Jon, do you have access to pet stores that carry reptile products and feeders???

Mike

[jon_without_h]

I dont want to end up with any eggs right off the bat because i wouldnt have any idea what to do with them so i will probably get two femals and then maybe later get a male and start bredding them. They arent that expensive only like $50 i think. Is there any6 problems with more than one female?

[jon_without_h]

I am not sure what repital stuff the pet stores around me have. I am going to go out and see whats around for pets. If i do feed them crickets i will probably try and bredd crickets to savve myself the movie because i heard crikects are expenive. I may just stick with the diet foods or the baby food.

[Ptindy]

Yea Jon go check it out. Around here I get crickets for 10 cents each. More then 2 females can be housed together but it is possible that they may fight, but no likely. Also, if you are buying babies you can't tell the sex till about 6 months. So if your planning on buying babies you have to seperate them as soon as you see fighting or a buldge above it's tail (indicating its a male). So unless your prepared to keep two seperate crested enclosures then I would only buy one. Sexed females can and usually are more expensive then males and hatchlings. Going to find out if your pet store sells the crested gecko diet is a good idea and how much crickets are. My cresties get fed 5 or 6 crickets per feeding so at 10 cents a cricket it works out to about 2.40 a week. Breeding crickets is not a good idea unless you have many many geckos. They are stinky, cleaning their home is gross and they are a pain in the butt!