# Newbie Needs your Help!



## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

Hey guys!!

My name is Dom and im 22 from the south, I love lizards and all animals in fact. My dog has recently died and I am thinking about getting a new pet lizard. I have always wanted one but that has never been a real possibility until now. I am interested in this one called: *Thorny Devil* (_*Moloch horridus*_) but as I gathered from some other threads these are unavaliable in the UK. Now, as I understand there is an alternative one which looks similiar. This one: *Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos). *_

I have never had lizards or know anyone that has. My best friend has got a snake, and its looking great!! Before I get stuck in doing all the research, I would just like to see if there is anyone with first hand experiance with these amazing creatures. Or at least ones very similiar as I believe that its the best way to learn from someone whose been there and got the t-shirt.

If anyone is willing to advise me, and be up for having a chat would appreciate it lots !!!

Thanks, Dom. 
_


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Sorry if i am misreading your post... but are you looking for advice to do with desert horned lizards, or a good beginner lizard in general? lol


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

I am sorry if that was poorly worded!! : victory:

Both :Na_Na_Na_Na:

I havent kept any lizards, and I want to keep the desert horned lizard 

So firstly would appreciate advice set up wise and then specificly about the species I am interested in. 

Have been doing a fair bit of reading now, and it seems that they are not that difficult to keep from what I have gathered according to a few accounts.


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Catalyst said:


> Hey guys!!
> 
> My name is Dom and im 22 from the south, I love lizards and all animals in fact. My dog has recently died and I am thinking about getting a new pet lizard. I have always wanted one but that has never been a real possibility until now. I am interested in this one called: *Thorny Devil* (_*Moloch horridus*_) but as I gathered from some other threads these are unavaliable in the UK. Now, as I understand there is an alternative one which looks similiar. This one: *Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos). *_
> 
> ...


Desert horned lizard would not be a great beginner reptile. Usually only eat ants and may require suppliments as far as im aware. If your seriously considering getting one i would take a look at this thread...
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizards/53920-desert-horned-lizard-2.html


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Catalyst said:


> I am sorry if that was poorly worded!! : victory:
> 
> Both :Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> ...


I would say alot more difficult than the average starter reptile from what iv seen on the forum. That thread dosen't make them sound very appealing to me but hey... each to his own.


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

I hear what you are saying, but the way I look at it: if I'm going to keep a reptile I want to keep the one I love, and not just one that I have no ineterst in, and keep it as an experiment and then wait until it dies. This is something I am serious about and will not be for a while I actualy do a anything about it. Once I learn all I believe I can from the internet books and people I will take a crack at it. Going into my local exotic petstore this week at some point to have a chat with the keepers there.

As to the blood discharge Ive read on a different thread thats its only 3 species that actualy do that and they are quite uncommon.


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Ive never heard of one that doesn't. Are you sure that they didn't mean that the desert horned lizards were rare in general(as there are only a couple of variants to my knowledge)?
If its what you want to get into and you know what you are doing i dont think youd find anyone here who would be against your getting one. You should probably message some of the members with a greater knowledge of the species for exact temps, viv setups, etc.
Out of interest what has drawn you towards this particular lizard? Can't be the attractiveness of it :lol2: must be a behavior thing?


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

Definitly the attrativness. 

By far the most awesome looking lizard I have ever seen  
(maybe bar the Thortned Devil. One day perhaps..lol) 

Well as you can see im only an "egg", haha! So I am here to learn. I have already messaged some of the other users who claimed to have experiance with these. I bet there will be some sort of consistent opinion to do with these little guys. They eat ants for most part but a lot of the people who keep these say they have succesfully kept them on crickets.


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

As i said before... each to his own :lol2:
personally i think they look a bit plain :gasp:
Interesting looking but no more attractive than a beardie which is bigger, has more colour variation and spikes that are just as 'cool' looking but without the weird head haha.
I myself have only recently joined the forum but i have a few years experience under my belt. I am currently awaiting my new arrival... a male aussie water dragon(currently using a pic of one as my profile pic).


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

JonnyB359 said:


> personally i think they look a bit plain :gasp:


:gasp:

how dare you!!!!! lol You see, I like the wierd head. Dont know why, its just awesome.

Have you got any pictures of your beardies??


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## Nix (Jan 23, 2008)

These are rarely kept in captivity because their husbandry is so complex, particularly the food aspect. Would you be prepared to breed the right species of ants on a huge scale to provide a food source?

If you could it would then be a case of getting your hands on one. Not cheap if you could find one. 

I hear what you say about keeping a species you like but that is a giant leap. I have been keeping lizards and snakes for year (frogs too!) but I don't think I would cope.

Have you seen the red eyed crocodile skink? I think they look pretty awesome and people do keep them here in the UK


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Oooh yes! The red eye crocodile skinks are awesome! I would love to own a pair, am i right in saying the female carries her young on her back? Thats so cute! haha.

To be honest, i don't have any experience with desert horned lizards.. but from what i've read they are very complex to keep.

I understand about the whole 'not getting a lizard i don't like for the sake of it' kinda thing, but there are many, many species of lizard to choose from, any i'm sure there will be one that you love that is relatively easy to look after and you can gain experience with. 
The trouble is, is that if you do go ahead and get a more complex lizard to keep.. You may get the set up, husbandary etc perfect from researching but you don't have any experience in keeping lizards. You don't know how to recognise symptoms should the lizard be stressed, ill, etc etc.. 
I am not being mean or trying to put you down or anything! haha.. i just don't want you to spend £££ on a lizard, and for it to become a bad experience.


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

I thought about getting a couple of red eyed croc skinks but theyre impossible to get a hold of. I suppose with perseverance i would have found some but my heart was set on an AWD(which was also pretty much impossible to get a hold of).

I no longer have my beardie but i do have some older pics kicking around somewhere. If i come across them ill be sure to post them. He was just a bog standard beardie but he did have an orange beard.


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

Hey Thanks for your help guys!! 

@Nix - The red eye crocodile skink looks awesome too!! Ive never seen one before, looks real cute, would be happy with that! What do you currently keep?

@ Starfox - Dont wory you've only gone and ruined my life and dashed my childhood dreams... just kidding lol! You are only trying to help and I appredciate and respect that. You do speak sense. Perhaps I am being too abitious and the last thing I would wanna go through is to see the lil guy suffer. Nice to see you care about my money! :lol2:

What did you start with at first ?

@Jon- what do you currently keep?? 



Thx guys ill look into the red eyed crocs, they do look real nice and then one day perhaps achieve the dream


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Lol!! You'd be surprised at how interesting some of the 'boring' species are too  

Would you be looking for something you could handle or just observe? 

I'm sure there are a few members on RFUK that own/breed red eyed crocodile skinks, you just need to do a little hunting


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

Mainly keep but would like to handle as well.


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Orange-Eyed Crocodile Skink Care Sheet

This is quite good, gives a nice overview of keeping. One thing i might add is probably ignore the bit about feeding waxworms.. They are high in fat and don't have much nutritional value.. they can also be addictive and are dibbed the 'mars bars' of the reptile world! lol


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Hey...
I started with 2 leopard geckos, then i got a flying gecko, then my beardie, and now im awaiting the arrival of my AWD.
The flying gecko passed away first(don't live long). Then my male leo(named leo) passed as he got impacted because i was recommended sand as a substrate from the rep shop :bash: (he was 5) ALWAYS do your own research and make an informed decision. From then on i switched to paper towels and my female leo(gnasher) lived a good bit longer. She ended up with an eye infection that the vet couldn't do anything about but i hand fed her and bathed her for about a year and a half before she passed (she was 7). May have been prolonging the inevitable.
My beardie (Draco) is still going on strong and is going on 7 years old now. He was rehomed to a family friend as i was living away from home at uni and he wasn't getting the attention i feel he needed.

So currently have a fully set up 4 x 4 x 2 viv awaiting the arrival of my AWD(named raptor).


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

I'm going to be bias and say get a leopard gecko


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

starfox said:


> I'm going to be bias and say get a leopard gecko


:lol2: take it you love leos then. You ever kept anything else?

If you want handling to be an enjoyable experience for you and the rep then id go for a beardie as they seem to enjoy sitting on your shoulder etc whereas leos, in my experience, 'put up' with being handled.


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Haha, i looove my babies lol.
I have kept basilisk lizards before .. They are AWESOME but require a lot of space, space that i don't have anymore :/.

Hmm.. i'm going to agree and disagree with the leo thing.. i've seen some leo's that are very skittish and don't like handling at all..

But.. i've also seen ones that love it. Mine come to the front of their RUB when they want out, i put my hand in and they climb right on! They quite happily sit on my shoulder or warm tummy as i watch tv and they love exploring. Mine get to roam my living room every day 
My MSE even jumps! I was lying on my bed with my knee's up, and she was on top of my knee. She started climbing down, but it was too steep. She haunched her back legs up like a frog and leaped a good foot out from my knee with her arms straight out haha.. The bed was lovely and soft so she didn't hurt herself, and now it's a regular thing of hers lol. She's a jumping leo! haha


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

:lol2: Jumping leo.

I think basilisks are great. I've always wanted a large arboreal lizard and my parents rightly made me start with a gecko(leos) as i was quite young when i got into lizards.

Can't wait to get my AWD think they look amazing compared to CWDs and are much hardier.

How big was your basilisk viv?


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Emmm.. it was a few years ago i had my basilisk.. it was in a 4ft high X 4ft long X 2ft deep  it had 1.1 in it


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

They are amazing creatures, awesome to watch. If i had the room i'd have another pair in a flash


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Thats the same size of viv i have for the AWD im getting and according to bert langerwerf( an AWD specialist) you only need a 3ft high x 4ft wide x 2ft deep viv for two of these stunning creatures. Just saying cuz if my memory serves me correctly the basilisk is smaller.

Was your viv not big enough? Or u have to sell it?


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

The viv was plenty big, they are really active and use every bit of space you give them. I actually had to sell them due to moving to a flat that didn't allow pets.. but then i moved again and now i have pets haha


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## JonnyB359 (Apr 3, 2011)

Oh i had to get rid of my beardie for the same reason. Gutted.
But i got myself a scorpion because it would be easy to conceal and its a bug... so doesn't it constitute 'pet' status in my mind :lol2:

The owner never knew anything about it haha.

Ohh and just noticed ur from the kingdom :lol2:


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## starfox (Nov 21, 2010)

Haha!

My landlord is awesome! He isn't a _real _landlord.. he's just a guy in his late 20's who lets out a flat haha. He doesn't mind me having reps, because they are in RUB's and don't make any mess.. i think he'd be a little miffed if i got a dog though.. haha


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Thought i'd add some lizards i'd love to keep to give you some ideas 

*Black tree monitor *(or blue, green, yellow...)
*Pygmy chameleons* (will be getting these at some point this year hopefully)
*Chinese crocodile lizard* (only discovered these recently as someone posted about them on here, they are pretty much my dream pet , semi aquatic practically a mini croc)
*Plumbed basilisk* (stunning)
*All day geckos!!!* Love love love these guys!!!
Prehensile tailed mossy gecko 
*Skinks *(especially fire, gold and blue tailed)
*Sungazer *(you might like these as they are spiky, not sure on care though)
*Longtailed grass lizards*
*Anoles*
*Ackie monitors* and similar dwarfs
*Chameleons* (especially Jacksons chameleon and flap necked chameleon)

So just a few (there are more but that will do for now). I'm not saying these are begginers lizards just trying to offer you some ideas as to other interesting looking species out there :2thumb:


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## Catalyst (Apr 10, 2011)

Apperciate the input. The sungazers looks real nice definitly would love to keep one!! But I think It is too big for me to start with, however I found the Dwarf Sungazers. The more research I do the more I feel cluless about what I want to do haha, funny that..! lol

Possible guys I would want to keep so far are:

Destert horned lizard - Granted not the best option as a begginer lizard 
Red eyed crocodile gecko - Love this one!!
Dwarf sungazers - real cute guys havent done any research on keeping them yet however.

As you guys have probably gathered I like spiky lizards


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## ch4dg (Jul 24, 2008)

i was 12 when i got my first rep which was i green iguana(rescued) which would be slated online now-a-days if some 12 year old said'' i'm getting an iggy what do i do with it?'',but i loved him to bits and done every bit of research poss (mainly from books from the library). so i would say if you put enough research into it...go for it, but this is not an easy rep.... so think very long and hard before you decide to get one


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## emmilllyyy (Oct 9, 2010)

dragon agama, fenec swift, desert collared lizard, fence lizard, desert spiny swift, mountain horned dragon, forest crested lizard, or a jewelled curly tailed lizards are some 'spikey' looking lizards  dont ask about keeping though, i have no clue :lol2:
id love to own an abbott's crested lizard some day and theyre kind of spikey looking, theyre absoloutely gorgeous! :flrt: 


or maybe have a look at gargoyle geckos or mossy geckos, theyre not spikey looking, but gorgeous!


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