Puzzled 8 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Hello everyone,Im jigsaws son and am going to buy a vivarium and put some scaley form of pet in it.I would like some help and information on what might suit me in this area.Would anyone have photos of their set ups and explain whats needed to give the occupant a good standard of living.I am thinking of buying a bearded dragon as it is handled easily and interacts without geting stressed.If there are better options I would like to hear of them.Im not buying till I do some research and can give it a good home.Jigsaw is not impressed but he'll get over it,lol.Thank you Kevin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martnmagik 68 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 is it your first reptile? ive kept all kinds of reptiles over the years and bearded dragons can throw up a few problems if your not carefull id personally go for a couple of fat tailed ghekos for your first go or if you want a snake go for a corn or rat snake then later on you can get a monitor lizard like my big boy! all 6 stone of him or get a burmese python that will reach up to 16 foot! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
turbo28 1 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Get youself a corn snake mate,more fun than lizards if you ask me...good snake to start with..great to handle and good feeders atb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Durham(kev) 1 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Dragon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DottyDoo 500 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 only ever had tortoise, but they far better than snakes or lizards imo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Durham(kev) 1 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Alright mate you might have a few post as if keeps F**king me off.Anyway i was in the same boat as you mate when i got one.But i ended up with a dragon as they are the easyist to look after,all you need is a good sized viv as small ones stress them out and will not reach its proper size.Heat lamp and reflector buld,does not need to be a retile one you can get one from your local DIY store for around 1.20 and the only difference is the box does not have a lizard on it and the price reptile ones are about 8 pounds.also you need a UV lamp,basking stone,reptile branches,termonitor and newspaper for the floor for the first six months. Good Luck Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonansuki 21 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 get a male yemen chameleon there ace i had 1 built it a viv from a old wardrobe put loads of sticks in it but stuck them to the walls with expanding foam and some shelves made fron foam to used to let it crawl all over the house favourite place was on top of the curtains or on my head never bit me or even tried really hand tame if you get it young and spend time with it dont need heat mats if your house is fairly warm they adapt but the crickets do your head in after a few weeks mate there ace to watch with that big tounge trying to get there prey lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alan626 305 Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 wats up kev any black eyes lately u better hide it from jigsaw he will eat it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ratreeper 441 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 On 23/01/2011 at 18:59, jonansuki said: get a male yemen chameleon there ace i had 1 built it a viv from a old wardrobe put loads of sticks in it but stuck them to the walls with expanding foam and some shelves made fron foam to used to let it crawl all over the house favourite place was on top of the curtains or on my head never bit me or even tried really hand tame if you get it young and spend time with it dont need heat mats if your house is fairly warm they adapt but the crickets do your head in after a few weeks mate there ace to watch with that big tounge trying to get there prey lol You WILL need a heat mat/lamp (preferably lamp, it's more natural). Reptiles will not adapt to a warm house . My first reptile was a leopard gecko and he only died recently after 15 years, and I got him as an adult. So you really need to be thinking long term with many reptiles. They make great first lizards and don't need quite as much space as a bearded. But if you have the cash I would go for a pair/group of chuckwallas, they are the last reptile I kept and are much the same as bearded dragons but a bit more interesting. They are also 100% vegetarian so no crickets to worry about. Good luck with whatever you pick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnny boy68 11,726 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 On 23/01/2011 at 17:23, Puzzled said: Hello everyone,Im jigsaws son and am going to buy a vivarium and put some scaley form of pet in it.I would like some help and information on what might suit me in this area.Would anyone have photos of their set ups and explain whats needed to give the occupant a good standard of living.I am thinking of buying a bearded dragon as it is handled easily and interacts without geting stressed.If there are better options I would like to hear of them.Im not buying till I do some research and can give it a good home.Jigsaw is not impressed but he'll get over it,lol.Thank you Kevin Alright young fella......if I was a first time reptile keeper I'd go for a Bearded Dragon they're real easy to look after,can be handled easy though younger ones can be a little flighty at first until they get used to be handled.Cheap to look after they can survive on a veggy diet,fruit(not citrus)you can even get dried food for them.Though I do like getting them live food which my local pet shop sells 5 tubs for £10(locusts,crickets and meal worms) Set ups are quite varied in styles and sizes(quite cheap in freeads etc),if keeping just one then one a metre long will be ample with enough head room for a log and lighting.Beardies are social though males need seperating when they're sexually mature but can be kept with several females,though they will breed and a female only needs servicing once and she's fertile for 6 months laying upto 50 eggs every 4/5 weeks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Simoman 110 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Beardies are good beginner lizards, make sure the vivarium is large enough and has some height as beardies are semi-aboreal and like to climb so provide plenty of logs and branches, for heat use a bulb, preferably a red bulb to reduce stress and this should be wired to a thermostat to control the lizards basking temp. You will also need a uv bulb, this should be turned on between 8-12 hours a day and is essential as it provides vitamin d3, this replaces natural sunlight and is needed to avoid metabolic bone disease. Newspaper or calci sand is an ideal sunbstrate and the beardies will need adequate water and fed daily a mixture of crickets, mealworms and the occasional pinky mouse, these should be dusted three times a week with vitamin/mineral powder, beardies also enjoy spring greens/brocolli/peas etc. One more thing, females will mix well, as will a make and female but don't put two males together as they are likely to fight......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
liam mc 18 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 On 23/01/2011 at 17:23, Puzzled said: Hello everyone,Im jigsaws son and am going to buy a vivarium and put some scaley form of pet in it.I would like some help and information on what might suit me in this area.Would anyone have photos of their set ups and explain whats needed to give the occupant a good standard of living.I am thinking of buying a bearded dragon as it is handled easily and interacts without geting stressed.If there are better options I would like to hear of them.Im not buying till I do some research and can give it a good home.Jigsaw is not impressed but he'll get over it,lol.Thank you Kevin IF YOUR NEAR DUBLIN iHAVE A HEATMAT AND LIGHTING SETUP YOU CAN HAVE BUT BEARDIES CAN GET SMELLY AND THERE FOOD ESCAPES ALL OVER THE PLACE A BALL PYTHON IS A MUCH BETTER OPTION Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ratreeper 441 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Here's what I kept my chuckwallas before I had to re-home them Reptile forum thread. Something like this is too small for dragons imo but perfect for things like geckos or smaller snakes. I still have it and everything you would need, and the lighting is good enough for any purpose and isn't just 'on' or 'off' you can make it cooler at night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hullhunter 219 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 like said fat tail gecko, yemen chameleon, fan footed gecko, lepard geckos all nice lizards these are some ive had. baby fanfooted gecko what i bred Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hullhunter 219 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 lepard gecko mail fat tail Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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