Reptiles - Geckos, Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles!

[Koiley]

Crickets are the main food..I would think, since they're similar to Leos. :)

[mochi.]

I remember when i was about seven my dad caught a little lizard outside. I thought he was the cutest thing! I kept him in a glass 25 gallon tank. I remember making him a beautiful little home and playing with him everyday. I also remeber i had this little barbie car. I would attach a string to the front of it then put him inside and take him for rides around the house. He was soo cute i named him Sticky. It fit him well because whenever he walked on my hand it felt like velcro. I miss Sticky lots!<3 I wish i had pictures! All my friends thought he was gross but over time we would all play with him. My lovely Sticky lived for about four years.

R.I.P
My little friend

[plum]

Hi there, later on I might get some lizards/geckos. What kind would you recommend for me?

- I don't want them to have a 'fat tail'. So no leopard geckos, for example.
- I would prefer for them not to be really large. Up to 20/25 cm perhaps? I don't know, but not very large, I love iguanas for example, but they grow up to like 2 metres, that's way too large. You get me.
- I would prefer that it won't be necessary for them to eat maggots. They creep me out. xD

Crested geckos all the way.
Really, really easy to take care of. They only need a meal replacement powder, Crested Gecko Diet, and don't need any insects. I'm not sure exactly how big they get, but I know they don't get bigger than 25 centimeters.
Care-wise, room temperature is good as long as it's between 70-80, the high humidity need isn't really that hard to take care of. As long as they in a plastic sterilite with holes in the side, rather than the top, humidity stays in.

[Jazi]

:T I'll have to get over my dislike of mealworms for my future AFT and monitors. I have no irrational fears of any insects, but mealworms make me shiver. When I was a kid we had an awful infestation of mealworm moths (also known as Indian Pantry Moths) that were impossible to get rid of for 4 years. We had professionals come in, we bugbombed on a regular basis, we tried mothballs and sticky fly traps, nada. Eventually we had to throw everything out, buy new food and throw it in the freezer immediately, and bugbomb continuously for 3 days. Seems to have worked, although we still occasionally see an adult moth and smush it asap.

After scooping out flour, chips, cereals, bread, etc and seeing it teaming with mealworms only after you've eaten a bit of it one too many times, it's not hard to guess why I can't stand the sight of them. If anything, I'll feel vengeful when I see my lizards gulping the big ones down. Unless, of course, you can replace mealworms with roaches, and then I would be a happy person indeed.

[plum]

I would think roaches would be better than mealworms. Less chitin, right?
If I ever get a reptile that eats insects, I'm starting a dubia colony. Getting crickets out of the tub is a butt, and they hop around wayy too much. And I don't really mind roaches, I don't know why people hate 'em so much.

[Jazi]

Someone I used to petsit for had a small colony of hissing roaches and two cats, and I actually really don't mind roaches as long as they stay out of my food. Sort of how I don't mind spiders so long as they don't bite me. I'd be totally okay with roaches, crickets, heck even earthworms and ants and slugs if it came to that (though I don't know of many lizards that eat those exclusively), just... urgh, mealworms. I'd be totally okay with starting a colony of roaches vs one of mealworms.

[Grimace]

Roaches are way better than crickets/mealworms in literally every single way.
As long as you stay with the tropical species, there isn't any chance of them infesting your house either.

[Crum]

A crested or golden gecko are also good choices, but leos and panthers are usually more for begginers.
Leos dont climb, not sure if panthers do. Plus they are much cheaper if there is any money issues.

(by the way anyone, here is a picture of my puppy stanley)

[plum]

A crested or golden gecko are also good choices, but leos and panthers are usually more for begginers.
Leos dont climb, not sure if panthers do. Plus they are much cheaper if there is any money issues.

(by the way anyone, here is a picture of my puppy stanley)

Personally I disagree, I've researched both Leopard and Crested Geckos and the cresteds seem easier.
Crested geckos do not need any heat source as long as your home stays in the 70s, so that eliminates the need of a heat pad and thermostat for a leopard gecko.
Cresteds only need Crested Gecko Diet to eat, you buy it in bulk and don't have to worry about insects, no worrying about gutloading or dusting, both of which are absolutely necessary to have a healthy animal.
Cresteds and leos are about the same price, although.
Both can be kept successfully in sterilite tubs, on paper towels, leopard geckos needing more floor space as they are terrestrial, cresteds needing a taller cage because they are arboreal.
Plus the original asker didn't want a gecko with a fat tail, Crested geckos don't get any kind of fat tail. Some may not have tails at all - when a crested loses its tail, they don't grow it back.

If you don't like the look of a crested, go for gargoyle geckos, the care is mostly, if not all, the same. Gargs do regrow their tails, and I've heard of them getting somewhat larger than cresteds.
If you're willing to spend the money, there's R. leachianus, leachie or new caledonian giant geckos, hella expensive, guaranteed to become somewhat cage aggressive, can reach the size of someone's forearm, but their care is basically the same as cresteds and gargs, I love these guys. So much I got one, lol.

Speaking of my r. leachianus, he's doing good. Luckily he's still sweet, so not cage aggressive yet, he's still not interested in live food so my crickets are still useless, growing well and is 21 grams and about 4 inches head to vent. Having some humidity problems so I'll have to mist more often, it's because I added a lamp to his part of the shelf to raise his cage's ambient temp a bit and give him a temperature gradient.

[IAmLink]

Since this is a topic about reptiles, anyone else here stop whenever they see a turtle in the middle of the road?

My mom and I are major turtle rescuers, lol. My mom has even stopped traffic to save one of the little guys.

On my way to work today, there was a tiny one in the road. But the poor thing had already been hit. The worst part was that it got hit in the face, but it was still alive. There was a vet nearby though, and a took it inside and asked them to just put it to sleep. Poor thing.

Most of the time the turtles I pick up are fine. I take em for a little drive, and plop them down someplace much safer. If it's not a terribly busy road though, I'll just scoot them to the side they were headed.

Anybody else stop for turtles? :3