[Railroader]

Background: My daughter has a great interest in wildlife and is very self educated. When she sees a bird she doesn't recognize she is able to quickly locate it in a field guide we have. We have started placing various bird feeders out and filling them with various feeds to attract a wide variety of species. We also have started keeping a hummingbird feeder. Those of you who are facebook friends of mine can attest to this. When she is at the library she is often spending more time in the wildlife section checking out books on butterflies or other insects. Her capacity to identify a species is very impressive. The Indianapolis Zoo's White River Conservatory has a time during the Summer where they have a butterfly exhibit and she has identified butterflies that the workers in the conservatory did not know the names of.

Well, she has turned her attention to lizards. My wife thought it a good idea that we start a lizard terrarium for her, and give her the responsibility of caring and feeding for a lizard or two.

Question: What is a very interesting beginning lizard that would be good for us to keep? We do not want to go too expensive, but would spend the money if a certain lizard were worth it. What kinds of costs can I expect for a pet lizard? I have a 10 gallon aquarium with lid, but I would buy a larger one if we need to. We will do some research on what other equipment we need such as a heater, but any tips anyone could post here would be great.

Lastly, if anyone has a recommendation on a reptile shop in the Indianapolis area I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

[imitchellg5]

I had an iguana and bearded dragon at various times. The iguana was a bit of a handful. It'd make a mess when you had to bath it, and poop in the water, and be a general nuisance. The bearded dragon was much more pet-like. Calm demeanor, would still splash around with in the tub, but it seemed more intelligent. You could play with it a bit. I got all of my lizard stuff (including the lizard) for no more than $150 on Craigslist. The bearded dragon was $35, and the tank was the most expensive component, along with the necessary lights, etc. It's been a while since I've had a lizard, so I'm not being very specific here because I can't remember/things could have changed. The only recurring costs are crickets to feed the lizard with, which aren't very expensive at all. However, I do think that your daughter will enjoy having a lizard like a bearded dragon. They're good for kids because you don't really need to pay them a whole lot of attention if you don't want to, but they are enjoyable to watch and take care of at the same time. Best of luck!

[el chupacabra]

Iguanas can get aggressive when they get big. The easiest lizard I think is a leopard gecko, it stays fairly small, doesn't bite, it cant climb, doesnt mind being handled. prices range from $20-$1000 depending on what color you get... the bright orange ones being the most expensive. I you want to get really interesting, you might look into a day gecko, they are very colorful, eat fruit and crickets, but can climb and probably dont like to be handled. I think the geico gecko is a day gecko. Also a leaf tailed gecko is kinda neat cuz it looks just like a leaf. And the ultimate lizard to me is a chameleon. It moves slow so wont escape easy and it can change literally any color.

I think you need a bigger tank.. like a 20 long at least.

Some other things to look into are salamanders. They look just like a lizard but are easyer to take care of. Then dont need a heater or specialized light for vitamin d3 processing. They can eat backyard worms; or bugs. They dont have to be fed often and when you go on vacation you can just put them in the fridge for a month or 2 and they will hibernate. and if you get a newt you can just use fish filters to do all the cleanup.

[imitchellg5]

The only thing about salamanders is that they are faster than all get out. If they get out or lost, you've had it.

[ort888]

Start small with a few $5 skinks or newts or something. That's my advice.

I've never been into lizards, but my brother had a bunch growing up. He was a pretty big lizard-nerd.

Anywho, they die a lot. I would start with something cheap.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by el chupacabra 

They dont have to be fed often and when you go on vacation you can just put them in the fridge for a month or 2 and they will hibernate.

LOL

Awesome.

-t