Q: friendly lizards

Answered by soulonyx on 5/31/2004, 8:40 am

A: friendly lizards

The only good starter lizard I can think of that will tolerate handling without dropping its tail will be the bearded dragon, however they absolutely cannot be contained by a small ten gallon. The bearded is a semi-starter lizard, meaning they require a little more experience and set up than the leopard gecko or fat tail gecko.

The leo or fat tail is among to most tame of lizards. Your best bet would be to start your son on a full grown-already-tame leo or fat tail. If you get a baby or juvenile you will find yourself getting very frusterated as they are very fast to run off resulting in injuries or a lost gecko. Babies require a lot of patience, one of which a child usually doesn't have lol.

Yes, the leo or fat tail has the defense mechanism of losing its tail when feeling threatened, however an adult tame one will not be so quick in dropping its tail. It actually takes a great deal of stress for this to happen but this requires you and your son learning the proper handling techniques for your reptiles safety. For example, do not approach to pick up your reptile from above as they view that as a predator attack, like from a bird. Allowing your gecko to become used to you (hand in tank for a week or two without handling) is a must. That is just the start of it though.

THe leo and fat tail are both nocturnal so you will see more activity from them during the night... mine tend to come out during the day a lot looking for food or just to socialize sometimes, but that all depends on its personality.

The leo and fat tail are more simple to keep than the bearded. They require a staple diet of gut loaded crickets. Adults will eat up to three times a week, babies should be fed almost every day. Crickets need to be dusted with a calcium and other vitamin/mineral supplement once to twice a week.

They are a desert species, meaning dry evironment. A small water dish should be provided (very shallow as they can easily drown). A humid hide made out of a plastic container, top still on with a hole cut in for entrance. In this humid hide will be moist paper towels or other acceptable moist bedding. The humid hide is for when they need to shed without making the entire cage humid because remember, they are a desert species and if kept in a humid environment they will die from disease.

They need to stay warm. A 75 watt night bulb (found in pet stores specifically for reptiles) will do the trick in maintaining a temp of around 80 on the hot side.. a cool temp on the other side needs to be around 70-75. Plenty of hides on each side need to be provided for your gecko to feel safe.

If you go with the leo or fat tail I really recommend getting a 20 gallon long tank for their rompling pleasure. People will tell you that a ten gallon is adequate but you will start to find the space fo rthem to walk around in very inadequate once you put the needed accessories inside. A 20 gallon long is not that much more expensive than a 10 gallon.

Ok I think I threw enough at you for now. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask away.

Good luck.