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.

no, ya know.. i just got off the phone with a place i worked with a few years ago (ben siegel if you want to look them up) and i think im going to get a crested through them.. i know in my heart thats what i want to get, and were not talking short term so i'm going to do my research from now till i get it, set that bad boy up and go from there. they were asking $50 for a red (thats what she called it) they don't typically get morphs in but if that red sells before i get up there then she will call me next time they get a shipment in. i don't want to go back and forth and not get exactly what i want. they are so cute and i love their big eyes.. and in terms of care, exactly what im looking for. i suppose with the first one we will just get a regular and perhaps add a morph later on, can you house a male/female together if you wanted to breed? (im just starting to learn about these guys so thats a long way off) when i get home tonight ill do some research and really start reading. i just needed to decide what i really wanted. iwas sad when i settled on the car we bought because it wasnt exactly what i wanted and i swore i wouldnt do it again.

See now I'd have gone a whole different direction and suggested a couple of nice, just weaned rats. A 20 is fine for them until they are a lot bigger, they make outstanding pets that small children can learn to handle safely (they don't get smooshed like hamsters and smaller rodents), they don't run endlessly on those stupid wheels, they are very easily hand tamed, don't have a lot of natural stink as most rodents do and are funny as heck to watch. Males are my preference for pet rats as they tend to mature into big, lazy lap rats - the females tend to stay busier but also do make lovely pets. A must is to get a healthy rat and one that has been kept away from the opposite sex - a same gender pair is a must - rats are far too social to be housed alone.


Think rat!

I'm not just for dinner.....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ts/HiThere.jpg

Cute fattie boy rat (his name is Lightning)....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...Lightning2.jpg

Hi there, we make great pets too!....
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...gsonFeb071.jpg

thats a great idea.. i might just do that! that baby was way cute..






although i really do want a crested someday

Nothing wrong with cresties but being a mom myself I know how much kids like to touch pets and cresties just aren't good for young kids to mess with. When it comes to the rats, make sure you judge them as you would pretty much a young puppy or kitten. Clean butts, clean eyes, clean noses, no sores on feet or tail, no sneezing, coughing or wheezing, hair shiney and not all fluffed up with guard hairs, no scabby skin under the coat or patchy coats, good body weight and nice temperment. A recently weaned pair of brothers or sisters is a good bet usually. They might be nervous at the pet store or rat breeder but they shouldn't be aggressively nippy (temperment is genetic in rats so bitey parents have bitey offspring).

Pet stores are okay, breeders are better much like any animal. There are some incredible colors, patterns, coat types and ear sets for "fancy" rats.

One of the reasons I suggested males for your sons is that they do tend to be larger at maturity (big enough to go on small ferret harness/leashes) and generally are lazier so easier for kids to handle. Very few rodents are really good "kid pets" due to nipping or being too small to handle. Rats are an exception to that and are, as far as I'm concerned, the best of the rodent group when it comes to pets.

Big thing...don't let them get fat! Fat rats die earlier, are more prone to cancers, etc. Chubby is okay...fat is not. Pet rats tend to be way overfed and way overweight (we did this back when we had only pet rats and they didn't live the long, healthy life our breeder group does).

i have posted this many times....

but how could you pass this up
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/IMG_1909.JPG

cresties are sooooo cool and so easy to take care of. although the rats arn't a bad idea, now that my collection is really growing. next open tank i have is going to some rats.

I love the little cresties they are so stinkin cute!


judging by my siggy you can tell we went and got a pet rat.. i got a female as i thought of the breeding possibility, hey she could pay her way in terms of babys (not that i could have the heart to do such a think) i got just one for now as i didnt know if my husband would kill me lol.. i do plan to go get another female for company.

You can't go wrong with a nice healthy young rat as a pet. Do tell your husband that the female will make a nicer mannered pet if she has another female for a companion. Rats teach each other social behaviours. If a rat play nips another too hard, the other rat yelps and moves away (much as puppies do to each other). This conditions the nipper that biting isn't nice and no one will play with you. This translates into their interactions with humans. Unsocialized, lonely rats tend to bite and be nervous and depressed in their actions, eating and grooming behaviours.

The other issue is with feeding. Rat mixes from the pet store tend to be a lot of waste. Even if you bought some you can bump it up easily with dry stuff from your own cupboard. Check out the feeder forum for TONS of rat information and a stick on Becky's homemade dry rat mix. It's a winner! Also here's a great link on what leftover "human" food to offer a couple of times a week. Rats are omnivores so basically can eat much of what we eat and why not put those leftovers or that last handful of dry cereal or ends of a bread loaf to use. A popular favorite here with our male rat group is leftover peanut butter and jam sandwiches! The boys will sit up and beg for Mikey's leftover lunch LOL.

http://www.ratnutrition.com/suppleme...forbiddenfoods

Teach the little rat that hand fed treats mean you are a friend. Rats are food driven so use that to entice good handling behaviours. Very quickly these smart rodents figure out that yummo treat = be nice to the human persons. :)