Good News!

Hey there guys and gals! I have good news. My buddy Josh used to be afraid to even look at a snake. He has recently hung out with me while handling my BP and even touched it! This is a big step for him and I was talking to him today and he said he wanted to get a snake but wasn't ready, and he wants to get a lizzard (he had a pet skink while young) Basically his only requirements are relatively easy care, cool lookin' and handleable. I was just curious as to what you would recc. as a starter. He loves Chameleons but I told him to get something a little less ambitious to start with. What advice would you give him? He also loves the look of blue tree monitors but I told him that is WAY in the future.

Its great to give people a chance to overcome thier fears. I used to be one of those people I wasn't deathly afraid of snakes but even 2 years ago i would not think i would touch one. But one day i held a ball python and have had 3 of them. I like to educate people about these animals. I am not one of these herpers that go out and catch rattlesnakes and stuff but I will not have a problem approaching a rattle snake and keeping my distance just to get a good look at it. People who are scared are missing a great opprotunity to learn more about these amazing creature be it a snake or lizard or amphibian.

My wife was one of these people who were deathly afraid of snakes but after being around Jojo she is not even scared to hold him. I came home from work yesterday and she was doing loading the dishwasher with Jojo around her neck. She even goes to the reptile shop and asks to hold the big pythons like the burmese and the blood python. Her favorite is the Red Tailed Boa but we dont have the room for a snake like that. She will settle for another ball python or maybe a childrens python.

Sorry for the wordy post.

HERPS RULE!!

I would say maybe Leapord geckos (or many other types of geckos) or Bearded dragons. I would definately not suggest any sort of monitor or iguana.

Glad to see he took his first big step into the herp world. :)
Jennifer

Definitely stay away from Chams and Monitors, lol.

The best options IMO would be a Leopard Gecko, Crested Gecko, African Fat-tail Gecko, Bearded Dragon, Rankin's Dragon or Blue-Tongued Skink.

Hey Jammin' thats awsome buddy its always great to get others into herps but to also let them work their own way into it. So you wanna rec. lizards to him. Keep it simple and easy. Crested Geckos are awsome small non-aggressive and come in a beautiful array of coulor morphs. Also Bearded Dragons make a great beginner pet and usually give off warning signs when they'd rather be left alone so its not just chomp hahaha your mistake kinda deal. You might also consider Leo's and Fat tails they make for great small pets handleable and really cute. Theres a ton of others but I figured I'd just give you a tatser sample.

That's very cool, Jonah! I would recommend a Beardie to anyone, but they have to realize they require daily care. I don't know of any lizard that doesn't require attention at least once a day, and more often is better. (For feeding, cleaning the cage, etc) No matter which he picks though, be sure to help him research the heck out of it before buying anything...and then to get the enclosure set up before ever buying an actual animal. :) Congrats on the conversion! LOL :P

Don't beardies get pretty darn big though? I always thought they ended up getting the size of a juvie iguana for some reason.. I'll look it up.

A male beardie can get up to 24" long, from nose to tail-tip. I've never heard of one bigger than that. Females are smaller. And Rankin's Beardeds are smaller than the standard ones, though very similar in most other ways. They are big lizards, but I wouldn't dream of comparing them to any sort of iguana. :D

okay awesome haha yeah I just learned that thanks though I love beardies they are adorable.

I thought I read that they don't get very big but they need a lot of room to run around. How big a tank would you need for one?

well for an adult I read that a 55gal is best (not sure if that is just for one or what) up till juvie they do alright in 40gal

I'd tell him to look into Leopard Gecko, Bearded Dragon or Blue Tongue Skink. Those are the ones I was trying to decide upon for my first lizard. I settled on a Blue Tongue Skink because I've heard how intelligent and how much personality they have. I can't wait to get one!

Ditto what David said. He has the list down pat. I'm partial to the crested geckos and Rankins dragons myself.

I'm partial to cresteds for sure and I LOVE beardies - i'm gonna scope out Rankins now. He LOVED the cresteds so I think that's what he is going to go with - he has to deal with my herp boot camp though and join this site before I help him get some. :P

Excellent, Jonah! Show him the pics of my cresties. :) The Rankins are just like little bearded dragons with slightly different husbandry requirements, so if you like one you should like the other.

I've kept all of the lizards mentioned here except the BT Skink and Rankin's Dragons and I personally think Cresteds are the easiest to care for.....they can be a bit jumpy as babies but calm down easily with regular handling. Plus they don't need supplemental heat so that makes them even easier.