Care Sheets?

we have a 20gal long tank with nothing to do with it... i would like to put something in our childrens room for them. what would be a good pet that could be observed (The balls are pretty shy, especially when the kids are around) by looking in the tank? preferably something i could keep warm with an UTH so there is one less thing to pull/fall over. We do already have lamps (uvb & heat) so if needed we have them. I would like to get its enclosure set up and the tank placed in their room several days before we would bring something home.. i was thinking maybe a tortouise (Sp?) or geakos?? something that isnt too horribly difficult to keep alive would be great lol, we had a horrible experience with our last reptile supplier so we wont be going back there... bearded dragons are cool but seem difficult to maintain... any suggestions for a first timer? weve had a pair of veiled cameleons, they were awesome "google and leid" sadly passed away when we moved, they never did grow much come to think of it.

thanks in advance

crested and what was the other type of leo?

i guess i need to look up what they look like, both sound great. i love that they dont need supplemental heat AWESOME!!! i like the idea of mealworms as crickets can be smelly and if one gets away forget it! we had a cricket get away whenwe had the cameleons and the dang thing chirped for days before we found it! lol

I would definitely recommend a Leopard Gecko or even a Crested Gecko. Leos require a bit of belly heat, but are very hardy, easy to feed and maintain, and some don't mind being handled. Mine is a pretty active little toot.

Cresteds don't require anything other than room temp(anything over about 83-84 and they will not do well. Cooler is good for them. They are very easy to feed and thrive on a pre-made diet such as Crested Gecko diet or the Repashy mix you can buy. They can be VERY funny little things.

WOW, thats great.. the temps would be perfect for our home, im scared to have too many plugs/wires/things to fall over/exc. do you have any links that i could go by in terms of breeders and more information on them? Were going to start with the research first ;) My husband and I would be the only ones to really handle the animal.. we do some observing handling with our older boy with savanna only, caution is still getting aclimated and i think hes a bit stressed so weve left him alone (neither have been messed with since yesterday when we seperated them)

There are sevral breeders for crested gecko's. Emily *member of the forum* breeds them, I also like Matt from Pangea *sent you the link in a pm* My brother own's two of them they're a blast.

hmm.. according to the link you sent me the glass aquarium we have is not suitable for crested.. it specifically says they should be housed in a 20 tall

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

hmm.. according to the link you sent me the glass aquarium we have is not suitable for crested.. it specifically says they should be housed in a 20 tall

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You can turn the tank to stand on its end. Although I do understand your concerns with young children and not wanting things that might be knocked over. But if it could be placed in a corner, it would be pretty stable, I think. :)

HMMM.... we live in south florida so we might just set it up in their room and catch some local lizards and see how it goes, im sure they eat crickets and what not.. im sure there are some care-sheets laying around. I want the tank to lay right as i said before, the little people can be a bit distructive, especially when they want something lol. the tank (And animal inside) is much safer on top of the dresser to be observed. ive busted our baby (16mos) on top of the dresser more than once, they sure can climb!

You can leave that 20gal right side up for now. When he gets older you will have to buy a bigger tank, but not right away. I know you guy's have an abundance of Anole's down there, but they require heating and some say Uvb lightning that's alot of care over a Crested Gecko. Cresties are quite social I might add, anything WC in Florida will be aggressive and not promote handling to well. Just my .02 cents. :)

At this point im really not sure what were going to do, we might just hang on awhile and do the nessesary research so i have time to figure out what i really want and how much time its going to take to do it all. ive always been facinated with many different reptiles (red eye tree frogs for example, i would love someday to have one or two of them).. i really like the tokay gecko patterns that ive seen online... but ive heard they are agressive. i love the crested's but they look to be pretty pricey to start out.

we had a tegu a long time ago but he was really agressive, not that we would handle all the time but it would be nice, if you can understand that? as for WC local lizards we wouldn't be handling them at all.