# i am getting a lizard, but which?



## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

well hello again board. 
I WAS thinking about getting me a bosc/sav monitor, but after reading a few articles around the net, and a couple on here i have a very deep fear of them :blush:

so, next question, i am looking to move on to lizards. I already have a few snakes, so i understand the basics and importance of temps, uv, etc.
but what would be a good place to start on the lizards?
i have a space cleared of about 4-5ft long so nothing too big, something to fit in there.
i (my wife) would prefferbly like something that dont eat live food, (meal worms are allowed) bright colors are always nice to watch too.

other than that something easily tamed to be handled as the kids are well into animals.

any suggestions from experienced keepers appreciated, though any help will be greatly received.

ta all
viz

N.B. this is NOT a debate thread!!!


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## kopiteleachy (Apr 11, 2008)

they eat live foods,
but bearded dragons are great. relativly eay to care for and can have great personalities if handled well. good as one but perfect if you get a pair. just be careful if putting two males together


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

i dont mind getting multiples, in fact i would love to, but not sure if its ideal for a beginner "lizarder".

i dont mind live food personally, if i could get something that eats a smaller percentage of live food than say veg/dfrosted rodents etc then i may be able to bring her round. shes just worried about having insects all over the house.

thx plz keep advice coming i am at the start of that long, long research road

ta
viz


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## kieran8143 (Mar 10, 2008)

i think you will be hard pushed to find something that does not eat insects to an extent. personally i think beardies are great starters one you have learnt wat they need. great for all the family


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## bennett (Jan 3, 2008)

Have you thought about a Gecko


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## lindzey (Aug 5, 2007)

Ur probably better off with a nice group of Leopard geckos, they dont take all that much looking after, are the easiest starter lizard in my opinion, and don't eat masses of food... The only downside is they don't really do much lol, but I love mine:flrt:


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## MattiBee (Mar 7, 2008)

I would say that you are going to find it very hard to get a lizard that doesn't eat something like locusts or crickets as a staple. Beardies are great, easy to look after, easily tamed and very friendly (my gf looks after an young autistic boy and he absolutely loves my beardie!)

I don't recall any lizards that do well on a staple of meal worms so thats going to have to be kept as treat food. Locusts are fine, i keep a few small boxes of them in my bedroom and i haven't had escapees (unlike when i had crickets and i swear more of them were escaping than being fed to my dragon!)

How about a rankins dragon? they are a small version of a bearded dragon, therefore eating smaller locusts (imo the smaller locusts are better). The 4-5 ft space is perfect for a beardies viv. 

Matt


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## Mrs_SpongeBob (Jan 27, 2008)

Already been said but Bearded Dragon's and Leopard Geckos are both great starter "Lizard/Geckos"

Beardies are great. The can grow to about 2ft including their tail but are so laid back. They do need a bigger viv than Leo's but Beardies are awake most of the day so great for you and your kids to get out during the day.

Beardies also need UV light and a basking spot, this all adds onto the cost.

Leo's can have a smaller viv and need no artificial light. The do need a heat mat on the bottom of their viv where they take in heat through their bellies. Leo's come in lots of different morphs, so their colours vary lots. They are nocturnal so unless your awake when they start to come out of their hides, it means having to wake them up during the day to see them which isn't very nice.

Both eat bugs though.


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

ok so it seems beardies, or leos thus far then, i dont mind the cost too much, im not rich, but budgeted for keeping a bosc.

how about uro's my local think they would make a good stat beings i have experience with snakes, ad they are mostly veg eaters apparently?

keep it coming all, i dont want to jump into anything under prepared, or unknowledged...is that a word


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

ok i've gone for the beardy, is there anything i should know that i havent or wont find in the caresheets?


ta
viz


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

Blue tongued skinks !
You can buy everything you need from sainsbury! They like locusts as a treat maybe and snails but thats about it. A 4-5 foot viv would be ideal and they don't need much height so perhaps you can do a stack and get a male and a female. They are quite robust, and friendly once they get to know you.


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## metalbeetle (Apr 16, 2008)

beardies are well known for their brilliant temperment and their fondness to human contact. Between them and leos they are the best lizards to start with, sadly both must eat live food ie crickets. when you said meal worms are ok, id advice you not to use meal worms as a main diet as they are hard to digest and are extremely fattening for lizards, this is due to the high amounts of protien which are tough for the digestive system to break down.


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## Ratticus <3 (Jan 21, 2008)

i know its been said (multiple times) but deffo leopard geckos, A) so many different morps B) so fun to handle and watch (beats the hell out of eastenders) and C) nice and easy to maintain


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## Brat (Oct 7, 2007)

Uromastyx's don't eat livefood..


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## Ratticus <3 (Jan 21, 2008)

althought beardies are so funny to handle (so much character)


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

as i said befor beardies are the route im taking, ive been reading caresheet after caresheet (sometimes they differ in opinion)

as for the live food, well i have a small viv left from when my corns were bubbas, wife says live food is ok as long as i get small amounts at a time and the bx goes in the viv lol she is so paranoid!!!.

i also see some pygmy chameleons, they look interesting, are they robust, and wold they suit a noobie lizarder?

ta
viz


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## Cyberlizard (Apr 1, 2008)

Beardies are a good choice. However I am not sure that keeping the live food in the viv (if I've understood you correctly) is a good idea, since the dragons will probably go mental trying to get at them. I know some of my lizards would!

Try keeping the insects in a large Pet-Pal container with some veg and a small bit of wet sponge. If the container is reasonably deep then the crickets won't be able to escape. Also you should find that you can buy more for a reasonable price and they will keep longer. I put some of my own experience with keeping live food up at FOOD FOR REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS.


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## Cyberlizard (Apr 1, 2008)

Re pygmy chameleons, I think you would find them rather hard. I don't think I would have the resources and dedication to justify keeping them myself. The odd species is supposed to be reasonably hardy, I think, but overall I personally regard chams as not for beginners - in fact, really for the specialists.


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

ok, ta for the not on the chams.

as for the crickets, i didnt actually mean in the same viv as the BD's :lol2:

i have a small viv left from when my snakes were bubbas and thats wherethe crickets would be.
the BD's will have their own home, prob in a different room

ta 
viz


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## geckotony (Nov 12, 2007)

if i were you i would get a leopard gecko there really easy beardies need a lot more heat and in my opnion there harder also leopard geckos can be smaller



: victory:
:war: lol


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## metalbeetle (Apr 16, 2008)

alot more heat, thats just a change of bulbs it hardly makes them harder to keep.


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## DeanThorpe (Apr 9, 2006)

i think he/she meant the set up is entirely different and more complicated than that of a leo gecko..which it is.


So have you defo decided on a beardie then mate? uromastyx are very cool, as our desert iguanas, both herbivores....


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

desert iggy/ chuckwalla was my original plan, but they were so hard to get hold of. My wife and i were searching the web and she saw baby beardies, all of a sudden, insects didnt matter as they were so cute.

imo there are 3 things women cant resist diamonds, kittens, and baby BD's lol.

after making arrangements to buy the beardise, we found a chuckwalla on here. i was gutted, but the plans have been made so BD's arriving soon.

i have a question though, can they eat bell (sweet for U.S readers) peppers

ta all
viz


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## beardieLOVE (Apr 12, 2008)

if you didnt want to have as much live food you could always get an adult beardie as there diet consists of more fruit and veg than live food. but its always nice to watch a baby beardie grow and develop its colours. they grow so quikly though!


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## Cyberlizard (Apr 1, 2008)

Re the live food and the vivarium, it depends on whether it's a top-opening or front-opening viv. Personally I would expect to have several crickets leaping out every time I opened the sliding doors of a front opener, whereas a reasonably deep top opener would probably be fine for the insects. 

Sorry I misunderstood your earlier statement! :lol2:


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## vizzyuk (Apr 14, 2008)

its a top opening "bugarium" i gotta tell you all this, even if it just makes you smile.

my wife expects me to do the whole mr miyage thing with the crickets and some tongs she is so worried about finding a cricket in the bed, it makes me cry with laughter!!!

anyways, so the beardies will be here soon, i've read so many pages on care and nurturing them i fear i may start lactating!! i feel i am more than ready, all i gotta do is sort ut the food for them, but thats easy enough.

just one thing though, when it comes to "dusting" food, is it only live food, or the veg as well? and also, is it really just a case of pouring the calcium and vits over the food in a "salt and pepper" fashion?

ta 
viz


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## Rob Wallace (Sep 24, 2006)

I reckon blue tongued skinks are pretty cool, and i think they mainly eat veg do they not.... anyways good luck with the beardie.


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## MattiBee (Mar 7, 2008)

vizzyuk said:


> its a top opening "bugarium" i gotta tell you all this, even if it just makes you smile.
> 
> my wife expects me to do the whole mr miyage thing with the crickets and some tongs she is so worried about finding a cricket in the bed, it makes me cry with laughter!!!
> 
> ...


:lol2: that made me laugh! 

I wouldnt worry too much about dusting the veg too much, maybe a tiny sprinkle, but the lizards don't really like the taste of the supplements (from what ive heard) so it may put them off of their veg. 

As for the live foods they don't need to be coated in the supplements just a very light dusting regularly as oversupplementation (mainly the multi vitamins) can be dangerous. Again, if they are coated in the dust like little ghosts then your doing too much and your BD prob wont like it. 

I will be happy to answer any questions you have to the best of my knowledge (i am at work so its probably best to PM me) as i have a german giant bearded dragon for around 2.5 years with very little problems, although there are plenty of other people on here who are more knowledgeable.

Matt


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## Cyberlizard (Apr 1, 2008)

I agree, just a light dusting. I tip a small portion into a corner of the lid of the calcivit tub and then tip that into the bag of crickets and shake them up. The net effect is that they look slightly lighter in colour, but definitely not white!

You can do similar with veg and salad, but arguably that's more important for the complete herbivores like green igs and _Uromastyx_. If the lizards are getting dusted crickets then I don't think they need veggies dusting as well.


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## Emerald Serpent (Nov 15, 2006)

Well I'm going to be different and suggest a fat tailed gecko. Very similar to leopards in terms of requirements but prefer a bit more humidity. The only thing is they aren't as colourful but a friend has one and the are dotes:lol2:.


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## Cyberlizard (Apr 1, 2008)

The consensus appears to be that Fat-Tails are a bit more delicate than Leopards. I had one who went on hunger strike for months and had to be fed from my fingers, which irritated him and caused me a couple of painful bites. But he regained his appetite and became quite a voracious eater and a breeder. So more delicate than Leopards, but still quite resilient once they're happy. And they are very attractive.


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## beardymadmad (Apr 13, 2008)

i would personaly start off with a beardie as they are the easiest luzards 2 start with but do eat lots of live food


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