Lizards that are easy to feed?

Just curious, are there any lizards that
-- eat food that's easy to store or prepare (not live bugs or special diets)
-- and also make nice pets?

We love our panther chameleon, he's super friendly and fun, but the live bug thing is getting old. When he dies pf old age I'd like to get another lizard that's easier to care for.

Uromastyx.... friendly, easy to handle, reasonable size, and eat veggies and legumes. Only caveat is that they require basking temps of 110+ and lots of uvb.

Blue tongue skink, easy to maintain, you can prepare a batch of food for the month (meat veggies and fruits), freeze it and thaw when feeding.

gargoyle and crested geckos do not require live food. they eat a powdered diet you mix up with some water, can make a week's batch at a time.

I second the blue tongue skink. They can eat live, if offered. There are 3 things to be aware of: they need large enclosures (Minimum 4 foot long), the more popular Indos are still being imported so while you can tame it, it may never be 'puppy tame.' And they can be difficult to find or pricey depending on what species you are looking for (Northern is much more expensive and difficult to find vs Indos).

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Originally Posted by SilentHill

gargoyle and crested geckos do not require live food. they eat a powdered diet you mix up with some water, can make a week's batch at a time.

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I always heard this and assumed it to be true. However. I am really struggling with my crested gecko.

Hes so tiny and doesn’t exactly devour his food. I’ve had him about ten months. He was given to me as a gift.

Most crestie people I talk to say he’s tiny cause I don’t feed him bugs. Anyone else experience this ?

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Originally Posted by Phillydubs

I always heard this and assumed it to be true. However. I am really struggling with my crested gecko.

Hes so tiny and doesn’t exactly devour his food. I’ve had him about ten months. He was given to me as a gift.

Most crestie people I talk to say he’s tiny cause I don’t feed him bugs. Anyone else experience this ?

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My friend owns a crestie since it was a baby. She was told to strictly feed that Repashy/ Pangaea stuff. She also noticed how little it ate so the crestie forum suggested supplementing live crickets and that it was normal for them to pick at their mush food. After awhile it did well and now it is full grown. I would not pass off live if it can eat it.

I breed cresties, and all of mine eat Pangaea as a staple diet, but I found that supplementing with crickets results in healthier and larger babies and in adult females that lay larger eggs with larger more viable hatchlings.

i wish mine would take bugs. i rarely find one that will accept them. i have noticed a different bumping the temps up a bit. they are out and about more and have been eating their pangea/repashy with gusto. also hand feeding babies their mush helps kickstart their diets.

Thanks for all the input! I find it very useful to ask people who actually keep them rather than just looking at fact sheets on the internet. I am leaning towards a skink right now. I like their size and they seem rather chill and cool. I would not get one for quite a while, but I can keep an eye out for deals on larger enclosures, etc. now.

The crested geckos are cute too, but I somehow like the weight of the skink-- kinda like a cat or dog with scales. ;)

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Originally Posted by FollowTheSun

Thanks for all the input! I find it very useful to ask people who actually keep them rather than just looking at fact sheets on the internet. I am leaning towards a skink right now. I like their size and they seem rather chill and cool. I would not get one for quite a while, but I can keep an eye out for deals on larger enclosures, etc. now.

The crested geckos are cute too, but I somehow like the weight of the skink-- kinda like a cat or dog with scales. ;)

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A skink is most likely my next purchase, too! I just think they're so cool and I love that they eat almost anything (and I always have plenty of dog and cat food on hand...)

People are going to snicker, but I had a few little green anoles as a kid, and would love to get a tank of them again. Yeah, I know; they are feeder lizards.
Not sure if they require more than mealworms, but those at least, are easy.

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Originally Posted by distaff

People are going to snicker, but I had a few little green anoles as a kid, and would love to get a tank of them again. Yeah, I know; they are feeder lizards.
Not sure if they require more than mealworms, but those at least, are easy.

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I agree, they are super cool. Active during the day and chase after insects, fun to watch. so what if they are common or feeders!?

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Originally Posted by distaff

People are going to snicker, but I had a few little green anoles as a kid, and would love to get a tank of them again. Yeah, I know; they are feeder lizards.
Not sure if they require more than mealworms, but those at least, are easy.

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I’ve never kept them, but have always loved anoles. The are native to NC where my best friend lives. I never get tired of watching them run around on his brick walls or the patio. Cool little critters.

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Originally Posted by FollowTheSun

Thanks for all the input! I find it very useful to ask people who actually keep them rather than just looking at fact sheets on the internet. I am leaning towards a skink right now. I like their size and they seem rather chill and cool. I would not get one for quite a while, but I can keep an eye out for deals on larger enclosures, etc. now.

The crested geckos are cute too, but I somehow like the weight of the skink-- kinda like a cat or dog with scales. ;)

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I agree, BTS rock!

Frank, my northern BTS, is awesome.

A few thoughts:

1. I think 5X2' or bigger is better for a BTS. Frank is in a 6X2' and uses every inch.

2. They need UVB, but not super hot basking spots. 95-100F for a hot spot and 90+ hot side work well. They also need an 80-84F cool spot during the day, and I have that drop to 78F at night. They like the night drop, but are diurnal.

3. They are scavengers and happily accept dead food and veggies, fruits, pellets, etc. They are smart, and know what they like. Frank loves canned insects, F/T fuzzy's (cut in 2 pieces or more for him) - pinkies are loved but fatty, mixed veggies and occasional fruit (although know what to avoid for him), ferret pellets, and occasionally, wet dog food or Zoo Med Zoo Menu omnivorous canned food.

4. Food = Variety

5. Get Captive Bred!

6. Know what you have. Different subspecies need different humidity. Frank is a northern BTS, and needs less humidity (30-40%).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?250951-Frank-The-Blue-Tongue-Skink


I also love my Rhacodactylus. However, I have a Chewie and a Leachie. Both are great, don't take up a lot room, need much heat, and both eat powdered food. Ferry is much more social, but he needs insect supplementation. Leachies are big and can be very good being handled, but are usually cage defensive. There are ways to handle this, much like hook training a food driven snake.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?259007-Ferry-Rhacodactylus-Chahoua-(Chewie)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...nnaise-Leachie

I have a BTS (meruke), cresteds, gargs, and a leachie. All can live without live food. None of my rhacs will accept live and I've tried several different types of live feeders with them My leachie has easily grown to 400g without any live food and all of my gargs and cresteds are fat and happy without it. I do keep them in a heated reptile room that stays at 75f or warmer with lights for their plants which also bump their terrarium temps a bit.

My BTS is fed once a week and I give him an ice-cube-sized chunk of quality wet dog food and another ice-cube-chunk of prepared veggies and fruits. I prepare the dog food and veggies once every few months and freeze in ice cube trays, then store in freezer bags until needed. Food is thawed and supplements added. I house my BTS in a 4'x2' pvc cage and don't have UVB installed, so he gets a cal+D3 supplement along with his multivitamin each feeding. I have had no issues doing it this way (no MBD, etc.). I agree that larger caging sizes would be beneficial. I don't have room for a 6'x2' cage in my reptile room, but would upgrade him given the chance. He also accepts treats like live or dead dubia roaches, blue berries f/t pinkies, boiled and raw eggs, etc.

If you are wanting something smaller, pink tongue skinks are similar in care to BTS except that they are smaller, climb more, and according to a breeder I spoke with, can be tamer than some BTS. I'm actually looking into getting a pair for my empty 3'x3'x18" planted terrarium.

I just wanted to add this regarding UVB and BTS since as you see in the earlier posts, you will find a lot of conflicting statements about it. I personally used no UVB for the first 6 months then UVB after for my skink. He had been seen by a vet and confirmed clear of MBD.

My advice to you or anyone else interested about BTS is: It does not hurt to have UVB but use a low powered one like a T8 Reptisun 10.0 instead of a T5 plus Calcium +D3 supplements. I have yet to see an overdose of D3 vs the consequences of MBD in BTS which does exist and not as uncommon as one would think. The owners who had them must have neglected them by not feeding the proper diet/lack of supplements/lack of UVB.