# never had a reptile before... but I want one. :D



## becaroonie (Oct 6, 2011)

hey.

I came across this site while googling reptile types and thought it would be a great place to ask some questions... I've never had a reptile as a pet before, but always found them fascinating. I've had fish (freshwater and marine), dogs, cats, birds and everything inbetween, but never a reptile - I really want to get one! I have had a look at turtles, snakes, lizards and frogs... and I think lizards have to be my favourite - I find them cute, is that weird? I LOVE geckos, they are adorable - I fell in love with leopard geckos before realizing you can't own them in australia, so I'm back to square one. ): I would really love to get a small type of lizard - are there any types of geckos available in australia? or something similar? Though... the big chubby bearded dragons are quite cute, can you have just one of them by themselves or do they get lonely? I really have no idea about lizards and reptiles but eager to learn. :'D 

Am I way off in what I should be wanting or would you suggest something else for a beginner?

I also want to have the tank in my room... would this a be problem? I used to have my tropical marine tank in the corner of my bed room and it was really nice. I don't even know how much lizards eat, am I going to have the constant sounds of crickets in my room at night? 'cause that would creep me out... I should probably have the tank somewhere else if that's the case.

I'm sorry for my noobness... ):


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## PeppersGirl (Oct 6, 2011)

Hello 

There are loads of different geckos in Australia, many are quite easy to keep.
Bearded dragons are best kept on their own, they are good for beginners and like to be handled 

And I keep most of my lizards in my room without an issue! (If you don't like crickets, there's always cockroaches)

The most important thing is to do your research


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## pythrulz (Oct 6, 2011)

Hey Beck dont be sorry for your noobieness we all where in the same position once apon a time there are loads of cute little gekoes available they do ok on there own and easy to look after just do some research and If you cant find an answer just ask someone will help you out


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## becaroonie (Oct 6, 2011)

oo I would love to be able to handle my lizard if I bought one... stupid question but, are the spikey parts of bearded dragons sharp? haha. if they bite, does it hurt a lot? I've been bitten by cockatoos n' stuff before.

I'm so excited you can get geckos here! do you know any species? I just googled barking gecko and they are so cute! I'd love to have 2 or 3 together.

Another silly question... how do you clean their tanks? I notice a lot of them have that red sand/gravel stuff, do you just kind of shovel out stuff like you would kitty litter...?


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## Chris1 (Oct 6, 2011)

lol, no ur not weird, lizards are cute! 
(am i weird for having a shower with mine every morning, lol,..!?) 

beardies are a great first reptile, and no, they dont get lonely, its generally recommended that they are housed alone.
i have 7 of them, the 3 old ladies seem to be past biting each other and live together, the 2 younger girls and 2 boys all have their own individual homes cos they damage each other if theyre together.

if you fell in love wth leopard geckos, check out nephrurus amyae, gorgeous buggers, quite a decent size and reasonably handleable.

a bite from an adult beardies hurts like hell, id pick being bitten by a python over a beardy any day.
but a bite from an adult is very unlikely unless theyre overly enthusiastic and accidentally get ur finger while being hand fed.


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## PeppersGirl (Oct 6, 2011)

The spikes are sharp, but the skin underneath is soft (if that makes sense!) so they don't hurt most of the time - which is just as well when they decide to 'snuggle' in your neck 
They're generally docile animals, mine has never bitten anyone, is never agressive at all. That said, yes they have teeth 

The barking or thick tailed gecko is a nice, easily cared for gecko (have two females that get along great) but australian geckos are more of a 'look but don't touch' affair, they don't appreciate handling much.

And to clean, usually a matter of 'spot cleaning' their poop and changing the substrate every so often.


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## Red-Ink (Oct 6, 2011)

becaroonie said:


> oo I would love to be able to handle my lizard if I bought one... stupid question but, are the spikey parts of bearded dragons sharp? On the back of the head YES the sides NO haha. if they bite, does it hurt a lot From an adult it will break the skin ? I've been bitten by cockatoos n' stuff before.
> 
> I'm so excited you can get geckos here! do you know any species The DSE website has a species listing of all the reptiles that can be kept on license in vic you can download it then sheck the pics to see which one you like? I just googled barking gecko and they are so cute! I'd love to have 2 or 3 together.
> 
> Another silly question... how do you clean their tanks? I notice a lot of them have that red sand/gravel stuff, do you just kind of shovel out stuff like you would kitty litter...YES for spot cleaning, plus a full substrate change once a month should keep it nice and sanitary?



There's plenty of people on here that keep BDs and Gex... when you decide which one you want ask specific questions and you will get the specific answers..


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## Rhomany (Oct 6, 2011)

If you want something small you can handle often you should get pygmy bearded dragons. They have lots of personality and they're adorable! They are a bit spikey but it's more the claws that are sharp when they get older and they don't hurt. Nowhere near as much as a cockatoo bite! Geckos get stressed pretty easily but they're great to have if you want something to study and look at. I'm not too sure if all geckos species get stressed but friends of mine have them and you can't hold them too often.

Oh and with reptiles they don't bury their poo like other animals and it's more like a bird dropping. Easily scooped up with a tissue and substrate should be changed at least every 6 months. I've found you can get clean substrate for about $3 at bunnings warehouse instead of paying $15 for the stuff at pet stores. Also it depends on the species when it comes to feeding because they have slow digestive systems. You don't want to overfeed your reptile.

It's also fine to keep the tanks in your room and the crickets don't usually make noise until they're matured and your lizards (if you get small ones) won't be ready to eat those untill they're adults. You can occasionally also feed them meal worms and woodie roaches. Some lizards/geckos like company and others don't. It all depends on the species you choose.


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## ianinoz (Oct 7, 2011)

We've been adopted by an adult female eastern water skink who lives in our house with us and I've taken the time to befriend. She's been with us for 12 months (as far as we know) and was very shy of us initially.

Only took a few months to get her to feel confortable in close company with me and to just calmly get out our way when she saw or heard my wife and I coming rather than running away and hiding from us because she was scared of us. Now she is so relaxed with me that she is happy to accept live medium mealworms, live crickets (that I've recently started buying for her) and cockroachs (that I sometimes catch and keep for her) from me as handfed treats - I really enjoy giving her live insect food treats one at time by hand and having her come up and very gently accept them and stay nearby to eat them.
She even allows me to tickle her under her chin when she's eating partularly yummy treat, and sometimes she crawls completely onto my open hand to take a dead insect or a live meal worm and I hand surf her ( she seems to enjoy it and calmly crawls off when taken the hand with her on to a landing)..... 

She has freedom of the house - she has no restrictions and regularly visits every room in the house - hunting for insects hiding under the furnature, but her fav haunts are the laundry, the kitchen and the lounge room.
She comes and goes as she pleases and chooses to spend long periods most days inside with us (we are a retired couple) and is often seen basking on the modem's transformer , and on the top of the head of the lounge - she gets into some funky floppy relaxed contented lizard positions (many of which look very funny or very precarious or uncomfortable but they work for her).

I really enjoy having our house lizard (Lizzy) around and I'm sure she gets as much pleasure out of our great relationship and knows she's onto a good thing.

She also seeks me out when I'm in the yard or on the front patio when she's outside and studies what I'm doing intently.

She's so cute and inquisitive and she's pretty cleavour too. 

I invite you read my threads - you can find out about Lizzy .

Beauty of having a resident water skink is she eats all the cockroachs that come inside and all the spiders (if she spots them on teh carpet or under the furnature) and so she earns her keep, we no longer need insect spray, surface spray or roach baits. 

She also seems to have dealt with the mice we used have in the kitchen - she's the right size to follow them where ever they go and probably ate their babies and scared them off.

I yet to try handling her other than chin tickles and hand surfs. She might never become tame enough to tolerate that , that's OK.

I think lizards are fantastic pets, my preference is for Lizzy to remain free since she is a wild skink who has never been kept in an enclosure. She's no bother, she even seems to go to the toilet outside and rarely has an accident inside. (Lizzy's poos are like pidgeon poos and are real easy to clean up and remove when they dry).

I would like one day to have some dragons (beardies or jackies are my favs) and some geckos (my favs are knottails and velvets).

I think my relationship with Lizzy the water skink is pretty special and I treasure it and interacting with her, I like watching her sleep on the transformer and head of the lounge too, and she gets very animated when she's had a treat or found a really nice bug of her own accord. (happy excited lizard mode ?)

I think lizards respond very well to kindness, regularly being quietly spoken to, and being allowed to build their trust in you at their own pace.



Rhomany said:


> If you want something small you can handle often you should get pygmy bearded dragons. They have lots of personality and they're adorable! They are a bit spikey but it's more the claws that are sharp when they get older and they don't hurt. Nowhere near as much as a cockatoo bite! Geckos get stressed pretty easily but they're great to have if you want something to study and look at. I'm not too sure if all geckos species get stressed but friends of mine have them and you can't hold them too often.
> 
> Oh and with reptiles they don't bury their poo like other animals and it's more like a bird dropping. Easily scooped up with a tissue and substrate should be changed at least every 6 months. I've found you can get clean substrate for about $3 at bunnings warehouse instead of paying $15 for the stuff at pet stores. Also it depends on the species when it comes to feeding because they have slow digestive systems. You don't want to overfeed your reptile.
> 
> It's also fine to keep the tanks in your room and the crickets don't usually make noise until they're matured and your lizards (if you get small ones) won't be ready to eat those untill they're adults. You can occasionally also feed them meal worms and woodie roaches. Some lizards/geckos like company and others don't. It all depends on the species you choose.



My remaining crickets are churping right now - it's not that loud and I find their churping very 
nice and restful.
(They also study you and seem to very curious too, but don't be lulled into thinking they like you as they are masters at the quick escape when you have their lid partly off and they'll quickly crawl and hop away - good fun for your lizards to find when they have the opportunity to explore and hunt about the room).Keep a clear plastic disposal cup handy to place over top of them when they are making a bid for freedom.

I'm replacing the slices and chunks or carrot I give my mealworms to chew on and drink from every few days (before it goes mouldy - I think mouldy carrot killed most of my first batch of worms) and I also give slces of apple to the crickets and they are replaced every couple of days.
Any dead worms, or pupa I find I remove immediately ( I keep the dead worms as treate for Lizzy and her boyfriend Scrapper (who lives outside and has been hanging about a lot lately) and the pupa I save and get beetles from. I'm hoping eventually to have baby mealworm lavae.
Any dead crickets I find either get frozen for later or get offered to Lizzy as treats. She likes them so long as they smell fresh. Scrapper is not so fussy - he'll take them even when they are starting smell off.
I also freeze a lot of the mature crickets (when they get wings) and I've also got some frozen medium mealworms from when I bought a 100g tub (froze half of them).


You could try catching and keeping some brown garden skinks, they are very gregarious and very cute little guys. To try out lizards initially. I think shop bought and breeder raised lizards can be expensive (from $50 and the skies the limit depending on the species and the demand).


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## Rhomany (Oct 7, 2011)

And you can keep meal worms in the fridge so they don't grow bigger. Replace carrots for crickets every few days and put a fresh one in when you buy them.  I also find if you put the crickets in a big container they last longer because they have more space to run around.


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