Vegetarian Lizards

[JCReptile]

What type of vegetarian lizard do you own or would like to own??

just wondering...

also because i want more information on all the types of vegetarian lizards available.

i want to get one that is a vegetarian and stays small so im thinking of getting a male and female monkey tail skink.

so what about you guys???

[Rhonda]

I've always liked the monkey tailed skinks BUT Uromastyx are by far my favorite veggie eating lizards! They can be many different colours and patterns and there are several different species. They range in size from 10" to 30" again, depending on the uro species. Most will become quite docile in captivity. They are also diernal which makes them great display animals. Their diet consists of mixed greens, veggies, birdseed and various flowers etc. Before making your decision about what you want, I urge you to check these awesome lizards out!

http://www.freewebs.com/uronut/

http://www.deerfernfarms.com

:medsmile:

[LdyPayne]

I don't think I would say monkey tailed skinks are small....they get something like two or three feet total length, maybe closer to two feet.

I believe most if not all iguana species are vegetarian...and not all get 5' plus. However not many of the smaller species of iguana are available.

Other than uromastyxs, I can't think of any other purely vegetarian lizard that doesn't get huge. Bearded dragons, once adults do eat about 80-90% greens, but need insects once in awhile, As babies though, insects have to be fed 2-3 times a day, depending on age..as they get closer to a year, number of insect feedings lower till about once a day for 8-14 month olds, then a few times a week or only a few insects a day after that.

If your main concern is dealing with bugs, there are many other lizards you can have that don't require bugs as a steady part of their diet. Crested, gargoyle and leachianus (or leachies for short, also known as giant geckos (don't confuse these with giant day geckos, totally different species of geckos) can be fed a mixture of pureed fruits or fruit baby food with insects, or with meat based baby food. Or, and I recommend this as a better option and healthier for the geckos, using the T-Rex diets which are specially formulated by one of the Top Rhac breeders in the US for crested geckos, gargoyle geckos and Leachies. These are complete diets, containing all the calcium, protein etc geckos need from hatchling to adult. YOu can of course give pureed fruit once in awhile as a treat, or mix it with the powered diet. But i suggest keeping the diet pure and give other things as a treat.

Crested geckos and garogyle geckos are easy to care for, quite charming and colorful geckos that don't get bigger than 10" nose to tail. Most are 7-9". Giant geckos are, well quite big for geckos...but not huge when compared to other lizards Leachies get about 15-17" depending on which type of leachie purchased.


Thing is most small lizards eat insects and most vegetarian are closer to two feet in size or bigger. If feeding insects is what you don't want to do for a pet lizard...crested geckos, gargoyle geckos, blue tongue skinks (can be fed a mix of cat food, greens, eggs and other non bug things..though they certainly wouldn't turn their nose up at a nice fat silkworm or hornworm, or even some superworms once in awhile), Leachies, all types of uromastyx, bearded dragons (if you can handle a few insects but keep in mind, if you buy a baby, they need all those insects...though pellets are available for bearded dragons, they do not always eat them nor are all pelleted diets a complete diet...often dehydration and constipation plague dragons fed too much pellets if not kept properly hydrated).

There may be other lizards out there that i am unaware of that are all or mostly vegetarian so continue research definitely worth it.

[LISA127]

I love uromastyx, though I don't have one at the moment. My blue tongued skink is great and I'll always have one of those guys. They are omnivorous though. However, they don't have to eat any bugs or live food. Bubba eats right from my fridge and cupboards! He is about 23 inches long. And fat.

[SerpentLust]

Uromastyx win hands down.

If it's a bug thing, my Blue Tongue Skink eats organic soft dog food mixed with fruits and veggies for his diet. Although I will buy the occassional bugs to spice it up a bit, you don't have to. And they get a good size, but smaller than a monkey tail that's for sure...

[ohh_kristina]

i agree with serpentlust on the blue tongue skink thing. Feeding is so easy for a bts. And I have to root for the bts team - they are great lizards. I've had mine for about 2 years now, and he's just the coolest thing. I fell in love with him the first time he ate bananas out of my hand. I'm not even a lizard person - strictly a boid girl. But the bts' are hard to resist

[SerpentLust]

Originally Posted by ohh_kristina

I'm not even a lizard person - strictly a boid girl. But the bts' are hard to resist

Haha Amen to that, I'm a snake girl all the way but for some reason, BTS' have wiggled their way into my heart.

Jenn

[gonesnakee]

Originally Posted by SerpentLust

Haha Amen to that, I'm a snake girl all the way but for some reason, BTS' have wiggled their way into my heart.

Jenn

Thats because they spend all of their time crawling around on their bellies anyway as they barely have legs to speak of LOL I used to keep a BTS for a while also. Mark P.S. Crickets suck!!!

[Ziltoid]

I just recently acquired a mali uromastyx. She's incredibly docile and really enjoyabe to take care of. They do get to be around 12"-14" though, so an uro might be bigger than what you're looking for, but their diet is mainly herbivorous.

[RIBBIT]

If I were you Id get a crested gecko but thats probably because im not you and am getting a few anyway lol but really they dont get too big theres a diet you can buy and they dont need too many insects. p.s. Im getting my cresties as starters so if you have never owned any herps it might be a good idea

[Raven22]

Greg's species would awsome for you. If you havent already gotten a lizard that is. Hardwicki are the smallest uro speices and stay under 10" greg himself is 5, maybe 6". Pretty active when its hot enough and are real gentle when handled, even if hes being pissy cause hes shedding.