Lizards help

Effluo

Hey everybody,

My mate has always wanted a lizard and i was thinking about getting him one for Christmas.
I'm not exactly sure what to get him or indeed where, If anyone has any advice i would be very grateful.

Cheers

GALWAYINDOOR

hi
it depends on his experience with reptiles the size of vivarium he wants etc ? the best to start of with in my opinion is a leopard gecko dont get very big a 2ft viv would be fine for fully grown they are cricket live food eaters need a uv light and also a heat mat
the next step up is would be a bearded dragon you would need a 4ft viv for this reptile he would eat veg and crickets requires uv and heated vivarium both these reptiles are ok but setups can be expensive

Effluo

Cheers for the response

How much are we talking about here?
What about maintenance?

And where would be the best place to get everything from? I don't mind travelling, but around Leitrim would be good.

GALWAYINDOOR

alot of pet shops would sell these two types of reptile beardie would cost you around 300e to 400e depending on shops that price would be a tank for life a gecko setup would be around 200 ish these are just approx estimates .the maintance with geckos is clean out the corner they use every couple of days geckos always use the same corner for going the toilet beardies however tend to go the toilet everywhere so that would be an everyday clean up of the faeces but of these reptiles vivariums would require a full clean out 1 a mth approx but this depends on viv size etc

donedeal.ie have some beardies for sale also have a look

PirateShampoo

Couldnt recommend a better Lizard than a Bearded Dragon. They are a great well manared lizard. I loved mine. They will happily sit on u all day long. I used to let mine lose in the living room.

Just make sure you get the right size tank for it as will grow to roughly the size of ur forearm.

If ur around dublin pop into Ben in Reptile Haven on Fishable Street next to the civic center.

Or if ur around Kilkenny pop into Reptile Village.

The Saint

GALWAYINDOOR wrote: »

hi
the best to start of with in my opinion is a leopard gecko dont get very big a 2ft viv would be fine for fully grown they are cricket live food eaters need a uv light and also a heat mat

I'd personally have a larger viv for an adult. Also Leo's don't need UV.

Demonique

Reptile Haven on Fishamble Street in Dublin is the best bet for bearded dragons and leopard geckos

Effluo

Thanks everyone for the responses

Been really helpful!
Cheers

GALWAYINDOOR

geckos need a blue light to stimulate proper natural behaviour wasnt ment to say uv as they are nocturnal

Satyr_The_Great

GALWAYINDOOR wrote: »

hi
it depends on his experience with reptiles the size of vivarium he wants etc ? the best to start of with in my opinion is a leopard gecko dont get very big a 2ft viv would be fine for fully grown they are cricket live food eaters need a uv light and also a heat mat
the next step up is would be a bearded dragon you would need a 4ft viv for this reptile he would eat veg and crickets requires uv and heated vivarium both these reptiles are ok but setups can be expensive

you left out that a 4ft viv is for an adult or a pair of adult bearded dragons. A baby beardie would be lost in there.

tallus

I'd also recommend a leopard gecko as a good starter lizard.

They don't need a tall vivarium, and don't need uv light. All you really need is a heat mat to place underneath part of the vivarium, also you can use newspaper as a bedding. Just make sure to provide a hide at the cool end and the warm end of the vivarium.

Link here to ideal type of housing for the Leopard Gecko. (very cheap)

Just make sure your friend knows that they need live food like crickets/mealworms and calcium supplement, and vitamin supplement high in Vitamin D3 and always have water available in a shallow dish. If you put cotton wool in the water dish it will stop the crickets from falling in and drowning.

If he feeds crickets, make sure that there are none left in the enclosure after feeding as they will nibble at the gecko's toes. The food also has to be fed a decent diet, so make sure the crickets/mealworms are fed on something nutricious before they are fed to the geckos.

Also.. make sure one of the hides has humidity, you can use sphagnum moss dampened in an old margarine tub as a hide as the leopard gecko needs to have a damp area to shed their skin especially regarding their toes, as if their is not enough humidity the skin can harden on the toes and they can easily lose the toes. Hmm I could ramble on and on... any questions just ask.

GALWAYINDOOR

i would rather a beardie in a decent size tank from day one then to have a tiny tank that you keep having to upgrade better to have plenty of room then not enough ! you try to give advice on here to help people but all people want to do is knock the advice given!!!!

PirateShampoo

Exactly, the beardy is gonna grow fairly fast and its going to be nearly full size in a year and a half or so.

There great lizards though, you can handle them all day long. They have great personalitys.

dbrock

sry galway dont think they were knocking you back as such, it just some lizards get lost in bigger tanks and stressed very easy, plus its a little harder for a beginer to properly heat a big tank the right way to suit whichever lizard they go for

Bottle_of_Smoke

Get a book on keeping them as pets a few weeks before you get them.

Also get timers for the lights, you feel terrible when you forget to turn them on/off late