a little help picking a herp for my daughter

A crestie would be easiest as everyone else has said, but if she doesn't want a gecko, I can't think of anything much easier than a Beardie. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Tfpets

Pet rock! :gj:

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lol i already sugested that to her.

x2 pet rock. If you have pets, just let your kid enjoy those. Kids lives and attitudes change too quickly! This is coming from someone who definitely pawned off some pets on my mom when I was younger.

What was it about the beardie that she found to be too much work? Beardies are fairly low maintenance and a good beginner herp. If she found a beardie too much work, she will probably find other species to be the same. The only other type that comes to mind is maybe a Blue Tongue Skink. Though, they are about the same work if not more than a beardie.

Beardies are a bit more maintanance than a Leo or crestie. The veggies, the large amount of food they eat, special lighting, high temps, and big poops you've gotta clean daily.
I never recommend beardies for beginner people or people that don't want to spend alot of time on an animal. They are great animals as far as handelability, but they get large, and need special expensive things. Secondly for people that don't want to spend alot of time I thoroughly encourage no pets. But if anything I'd recommend a crested or a Leo.
Cresties don't need anything in particular special except for Repashy. Leo's need heat, and crickets. And I personally have never met a mean crested or Leo. Even in "mating frustration".



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Low maintenance, doesn't need much handling to stay calm... x 3 on that pet rock. Blue tongue skinks, leopard geckos, and beardies are all easy friendly lizards, and if the care is already too much with beardies then I'd say just wait till she's older and can handle it.

Perhaps rethinking your beardie's setup could reduce some of the work load to more manageable levels?

I've seen a lot of people who line the enclosure with tile so poop is easy to spot, and cleanup is a simple matter of spot treating and wiping away.

Perhaps a food processor or something to dice veggies and fruits instead of doing it with a knife, and instead of crickets which need constant cleaning, smell terrible, and are a real nuisance to handle, you should look into starting a dubia cockroach colony?

Just saying, maybe you've made things harder than they need to be and that's why your daughter is finding it to be too much work.

Otherwise, I concur with the rock. Beardies are fairly bare basic. I'm assuming she's not the one paying for special bulbs, etc, so I don't see how that sort of equipment would factor into it for her.

Tile seems like a great idea for beardies, and it is, if you are home all day and you catch them poop. Otherwise, they run through it, smear it everywhere, and then it dries and you are washing beardie poop off of the tiles in your sink. Dishwasher works well too.

Beardies do need new bulbs every 6 months and the daily food prep. Definitely harder than my BPs.

I hadn't heard that issue about the tile. I know it's pretty well the standard recommendation at a couple beardie forums though. No personal experience to really comment one way or the other.

Tile is probably one of the lesser evils. But its still not rainbows and cupcakes with you are scrubbing the smear.