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View Poll Results: Best pet lizard?

Voters
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  • Uromastyx

    0 0%
  • Bearded Dragon

    1 20.00%
  • Leopard Gecko

    1 20.00%
  • Blue-Tongued Skink

    2 40.00%
  • Iguana

    1 20.00%
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Thread: Best Lizards?

  1. #11
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Best Lizards?

    I've successfully kept a bearded dragon for his life span, leopard geckos (have on currently), and blue tongue skinks (have one currently).

    I advise against any large monitor unless you have a ton of space and experience. Same with Iguanas, but although they can really hurt you, probably aren't as difficult to work with as monitors. Monitors are super intelligent and need to learn to trust you. This takes a lot of time and work and not making too many mistakes. Smaller monitors can be cool, but also like space (relative to their size as they are very active), and take a ton of work as well. None of the above are easily handleable either. They don't enjoy it AND tell you (often).

    Anyway, not what you asked and I digressed.

    If you have the space, bearded dragons are great as are blue tongue skinks.

    If morphs is what you are into, bearded dragons come in many colors and textures. There are much fewer options for BTS. Bearded dragons like to climb and need a good size tank with height. BTS like to burrow and don't need as much height, but do use all the space given to them. They also like a big heat gradient, so a larger tank will help with this.

    Beardies eat often and need protein in their diet and (usually) includes live insects. I imagine someone has gotten them to eat something like reptilinks and I know they have bearded dragon pellets etc. (with a similar formulation to what BTS each and I feed Frank - my BTS - them frequently). However, many people feed live food and it's probably good to so for stimulation and nutrition, at least as part of a bearded dragon's diet.

    BTS are scavengers. I offered Frank a Dubai once. He chased it and ate it. I put another in and he looked at me like I had 3 heads. Scavengers do not enjoy working for their food. Now I put freeze dried or canned insects in his food, or a F/T pinkie, for added protein, or as a treat for him. The scavenger thing can be a plus though. No live food needed. Additionally, adult BTS eat about 2x a week while bearded dragons get greens pretty much daily, and insects about 2X a week. Babies eat more and with bearded dragons, much more protein when younger and then that switches as they age.

    Leopard Geckos are cool, but not always as interactive as BD's and BTS. They also eat insects (usually live and as the vast majority if not all of their diet). They do take up very little space relative to the other species and do not need lighting (and/with UVB) and as high heat requirements as the other species. So easier to keep.

    If you have the space, I'd go BTS or Bearded Dragon, with the former being both rewarding and relatively easy to keep because of their scavenger nature and eating less frequently and virtually anything.

    NOTE: If you feed insects to your lizard, remember, you have to gut load them (feed them nutritious food) prior to feeding them to your lizard. They can also smell, take up space, and morph into moths, etc. I feed mostly Dubai roaches to my Leopard Gecko, Carra, and she loves them, but not all lizards do. Mealworms morph, crickets smell and make noise, etc. Even with the Dubai, keeping 25-50 at a time takes space and work.

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to dakski For This Useful Post:

    Bogertophis (01-14-2023),Homebody (01-14-2023),YungRasputin (01-14-2023)

  3. #12
    BPnet Veteran Snagrio's Avatar
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    I've not kept lizards for a very long time as I only had a pair of sand skinks when I was little. Want to keep one again someday but I cannot pin down any one that really jumps out as a "Yes I want THAT one!" choice at this point. Ranges from anything to a leopard gecko to an ackie monitor (going from least to most ambitious). A jeweled lacerta would be another "unusual" choice, and uromastyx sound appealing for their fully vegetarian habits so I wouldn't have to deal with raising or buying insects perpetually.

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    Homebody (01-14-2023)

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