Make sure you get your mind right before you buy one of these - 5 star pets! (Lizards)

Member Name: CokaCola

Product:	Lizards
Date:	18/07/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, Beautiful, Diverse, Educational, allergy Free

Disadvantages: Live Bugs in the house, can die if you don't know what you're doing.

Reptiles are the fastest gowing sector of the pet industry world wide as more and more people come to realise that these animals make fantastic captives, and ignore the anti-exotic pet proaganda and lies spread by various animal rights organisations and animal charities who would like to see the entire herpetocultural hobby ended because of a few irresponsible keepers. Lizards are a very large and popular group of reptiles, and whilst they are more work than snakes traditionally, they will prove educational, interesting and perhaps incredibly ornamental in your home.

I think the key to success with reptiles is DO YOUR RESEARCH. Do not turn up at a garden centre and buy a chameleon on the spot without so much education as a quick chat to the sales employee, go home and read, google it, buy a book, join an online forum and make sure you know as much information as possible before investing in your new pet. One of the biggests mistakes people make is buying a reptile without doing sufficient research, a single online care sheet is not enough research, you must know the animal back to front if you want it to flourish, and to ensure that you are informed enough to be certain you are making the right decision.

I will not really be able to provide too much detail in this short review, but I hope I can give a general overview to lizard keeping, and hopefully teach the prospective lizard keeper a thing or two.

Most people realise that reptiles tend to come from the warmer parts of the world and therefore need special heating and lighting. Every species is different, what will work for one species will see another species dead very quickly. Therefore it is important you research the exact species of lizard you intend to keep.

Generally lizards can be divided into two basic groups. Nocturnal, and Diurnal. Nocturnal lizards, which encompasses predominantly the gecko family do not require any specialised UV lighting, because they spend their day hiding from it. Diurnal lizards on the other hand do not get the UV rays they require for healthy bones when kept indoors, and so species like bearded dragons must be provided with high UV floursecent tubes or specialist mercury vapour bulbs. Some people every year decide they will be fine without the expense of UV lighting and end up with a lizard crippled by metabolic bone disease, that cannot stand on four legs. UV lighting is not too expensive to run as it does not tend to emit much heat, only light. I would recommend the Reptisun 10.0 tubes made by ZooMed - these are some of the best UV bad boys on the market.

99% of lizard species will require artificial heating, for the simple reason that your house will not get anywhere near as warm as the tropics. Geckos again are fiarly simple, a leopard gecko for example is fine with just a heat mat (costs about £15, and then a few pence a week to run). Bearded dragons and other daylight basking lizards will require a place to bask, and so will require a basking spot lamp over a rock. This is more costly to run, and also more complicated, as it needs to be placed on a timer etc. Some species, perhaps the most popular one being the Crested Gecko are fine at room temperature.

One of the things people have to get right is their frame of mind. why do you want a lizard? Handling - ok, many will tolerate handling, but a reptile is not a cuddly pet, it will get stressed with excessive handling. It will not be able accompany you as you work all day, you will not generally be able to take it out of the house. A reptile is a pet that someone keeps for the interest, building a little micro desert or rainforest and watching it flourish, observing their chosen species, researching behaviour etc Reptiles are living art, and there is nothing cruel about keeping them for this reason, without showing them any real "love". You must realise that a reptile is not a mammal, he might look bored, but he does not want to be cuddled - that's just how they look. Aslong as he's warm, has the correct environment, has plenty of food and is free from predators, then his life is good. He does not an exercise wheel, he does not need to climb a big tree.

Wild Vs Captivity

One of the arguments people often use against lizard keeping is that they are wild animals, and therefore not happy/never adjusting in captivity. This is frankly crap pardon my french, and there are many reasons why captivity is a lot better than the wild:

1. No predators. In the wild, only a small percentage of lizards make it to adulthood, they are low in the food chain in general.

2. No shortage of food. Finding food every single day in the wild is not simple, it requires fighting for. It is a tough old life really.

3. No shortage of water. In the wild the rain may not come.

4. No risk of their trees being felled, their desert patch being cleared to build a road, or them being poisoned by pesticides.

Of course lizards are a very broad group of animals. There are many that would not be suitable for a novice keeper, because their needs are too challenging for the inexperienced in general. Here are some beginner friendly species:

- Leopard Geckos
- Crested Geckos
- Bearded Dragons
- Rankin's Dragons
- Blue Tongued Skinks

If you are seriously interested, then join a reptile forum. There are several about, and you can find one with a google search. The advise and information you will find on a forum will be totally invaluable, because it will be asked for by people in a similiar position to yourself, and will be provided by real, experienced keepers.

Most of the above species will require live insects for the large part of their diet, these can escape and can be noisy, but generally are not too much hassle. Interestingly the Crested Gecko is sometimes kept on a diet free from insects, and there is a family of lizards called Uromastyx that are generally ok for beginners, and feed on vegetables.

I hope that you have learnt a fact or two. Now get yourself a book, get onto google, buy Practical Reptile Keeping magazine and do some reading. These make great captives, but only in the right hands. Do not cause more bad press for a fantastic hobby, already somewhat battling against the closed minded and the uneducated.

Summary: 5 star pets. Period.