my boyfriend is looking into getting a reptile pet, we would both like a lizard and had picked the bearded dragon as our chosen one ... however my mum and her friend just told me that they are the hardest lizard to keep? i thought they were one of the easiet apparently chameleons are one of the easiets retiles to keep ...
what type of lizard would you suggest? we would like an inexpensive lizard and we are beginners too. i do have other reptiles but not lizards.
thanks (:
I've owned a variety of reptiles, and among them all, my beardie, Puff, is by far the most docile, friendly reptile i've ever owned.
Hardest lizards to keep? No no no. Those would be chameleons, which i've owned, those little guys hate being handled, require calcium or else they will get MBD, need over 70% humidity. Fussy eaters, require a LOT of climbing area, UVB fixture, a constant flow of dripping water (WITHOUT chlorine) they will not drink water from a dish, and can be very agressive, trust me.
Puffis is a doll, never bites, i hand feed him all the time, and lazes around with me, he watches movies with me all the time. But he can get quite expensive. First, you need a minimum of a 60 gallon terrarium, NOT an aquarium. Dry desert like tanks, they are indigenous to Austrailia after all! When they are babies they eat about 80% meat and 20% veggies such as collard greens and mustard geeens, lettuce has no nutritional value. When they get older it changes to 80% veggies and 20% meat. The "meat: is mainly crickets, don't feed them mealworms a lot. Beardies need love and attention, so be sure to give it to the little guy! They NEED a UVB light or else they will die. This is up there with food. Get him some play toys and such. When beardies realize you are dominant and are trying to bow down to you, they will wave at you with their tiny lil arms. If they are agressive and trying to show you who's boss they will bob their heads up and down and/or have a jet black beard. Also, for substrate do NOT use sand, when your dragon goes to eat a cricket or something, they will get sand in their mouth which could cause an impacted dragon who needs surgery, so stick to newspaper, also keep the heat up! I live in Florida so it's not to big of a deal, but i still have 75 watt bulb fixture overhead and he basks all day . He has never bitten me.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com They're among the LAZIEST lizards and by far easiest to care for. Once you get everything set up, it's a breeze, feed your beardie once or twice a day and clean the cages.
Cheers
EDIT: Here's a few picture of my baby
This is him hanging out on my friends shoulder -
http://www.uploadhouse .com/viewfile.php? ... And this is him with a cricket on his head-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seirra/4658 ...
sara-Jan! Trust me!!! Beardies are amazingly easy to keep. I could sit here all day and tell you about them. The easiest thing to do is to sign up to my web site. All the information you will ever need for the successful care of a bearded dragon.
www.beardiesofhambleton.moofruit.com
And trust me I started off buying my partner one for a birthday present, and knowing nothing. 3 yrs on and I have 3 and breed them successfully
yes, they are but they do cost a lot of money and get sick a lot and going to the vet for a bearded dragon cost aa ton.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
if he is looking into buying a reptile i would recomend a leopard gecko, or crested gecko.
Yes they are really good.
