Good Intermediate Lizard

Reptiking94 · 12-27-09, 12:38 PM

Hi, ive been looking to add to my herp collection of a russian tortoise and a uromastyx, Id call myself a intermediate herp owner and was wondering do you guys have any cool lizards that would be good for a intermediate owner, Id prefer one that isnt skitish and dosent require a cage bigger than 6x4x3, thanks in advance, Reptiking.

siz · 12-27-09, 03:40 PM

Get a frilled dragon and build it a sweet enclosure! Or a tegu, if that was mostly floor space, but they can get fairly big. You could get an ackie but they aren't really great for handling and can be fairly skittish. Blue tongue skink might be a good choice. Chameleons are super cool and I love mine..you just need to make sure you can keep them hydrated which can become an issue. Bearded dragons make awesome pets, pretty simple to take care of and I definitley recommend them, they have so much character!

Those are just a few off the top of my head. Don't forget that you'll need a UV light for pretty much any diurnal lizard, and make sure you do your research.

Reptiking94 · 12-27-09, 04:49 PM

Well I was looking around this site and saw a few pics of what I believe were your crested geckos, are they look like really cool pets because they seem within my abilities to care for, I think right now I might get two female crested geckos. Do crested geckos make good pets and do you got info specificly on their handling and feeding?

emseeKAY · 12-27-09, 06:49 PM

ive always liked water dragons, i dont have any but i love the look of them and im into building naturalistic habitats for their terrariums, im pretty easily occupied by any herp or animal for that matter but i love building and the setup of the tank so pretty much any tropical species appeals to me, also as Siz said beardies are awesome and have alot of character and they dont end up getting too big lol, if i could id have a komodo dragon in my backyard but we all know how that could end up lol! anyways whatever you choose have fun with it!

siz · 12-28-09, 03:27 PM

Crested geckos make great pets! You can keep two females in the same tank together, but be prepared to separate them if they fight or bully one another. First though, you need to make sure that they are female, sometimes geckos up to about 10 months will appear female until their bulge develops. You can't keep a male and female together as they will breed and it can do damage to the female.
They thrive at room temp, no higher than 80f and no lower than 65f , mist twice a day, once lightly in the morning, once heavily at night. It's not necessary to keep a water bowl in the tank, I do just in case they want a drink.
Feeding cresties is easy, you can go about it a couple of ways. First, you can feed Repashy Crested Gecko Diet, a complete meal replacement powder you mix with water. Although this is a complete diet I recommended feeding crickets dusted with calcium with D3 about twice a week. You can also feed a fruit smoothie diet with dusted insects 3 times a week. I can let you know the recipe if you want but Crested Gecko Diet (CGD) is easier. I feed both plus insects and a different meal replacement powder on a rotating schedule to ensure variety.
Substrate I just use paper towel and an 18x8x24 Exo Terra tank would be perfect for two geckos

Water dragons need a very large enclosure, with water which means a filter etc. I wouldn't recommend them like i would bearded dragons, which have a much more simplistic setup.

Reptiking94 · 12-28-09, 03:39 PM

Yeah Ive been doing Crested research and thats why I picked it, its cage dosent take up to much space and feeding is easy as can be, I found a exo terra cage that 18x18x24 for 110, it kinda stinks though because I want two females but I also want juveniles so what do you think I should do, buy two and hope for the best?

emseeKAY · 12-29-09, 09:45 AM

yeah you have a point... BUT WD ARE SOOOO COOOOOLLL!!!!! hahaha i should just start saying "BUTTT MOMMMM!!!" lol

Will0W783 · 12-29-09, 10:14 AM

I honestly prefer frilled dragons to water dragons. Frillies are sooo neat. My ex-fiance had one named Sh**head that would frill up and pose for the camera. He was so sweet. He had a little harness and we'd walk him and when I picked him up he'd cling to my shirt and go to sleep. I rescued another one about a year ago I named Saphira, but she had not been cared for well, had been kept too cold and without UVB lighting, so even when I added everything she needed, it was too late. I really do miss having them, and if I ever get the opportunity to acquire another I definitely will.

infernalis · 12-29-09, 11:08 AM

Beardies!!!

Smallish, Lively, Easy care, what's not to like.

marvelfreak · 12-29-09, 01:53 PM

Breadies rule! If i ever got another lizard it be beardie or leapord gecko.

emseeKAY · 12-29-09, 05:15 PM

my friend and i (while i lived with him) had a pair of beardies, they were pretty awesome, he had them for about 7 years and they were getting BIG! lol and ive honestly never seen a frilled dragon in the flesh just on the computor

Reptiking94 · 12-29-09, 05:29 PM

Well currently Im most settled on a crested gecko, african fat tail gecko, or a ball python.

siz · 12-29-09, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reptiking94

Yeah Ive been doing Crested research and thats why I picked it, its cage dosent take up to much space and feeding is easy as can be, I found a exo terra cage that 18x18x24 for 110, it kinda stinks though because I want two females but I also want juveniles so what do you think I should do, buy two and hope for the best?

If you do this I would get two separate tanks. It depends how young the geckos are though. If you have any questions about cresties feel free to ask.