Friendliest Reptile?

Question

I really want a pet reptile, I’ve been looking at all sorts of Geckos and Iguanas and they seem to vary between downright vicious to quite friendly.
I would like to know that is the friendliest reptile I can choose as a pet.

Answer 1

GOOD:

Leopard gecko - nocturnal cricket cruncher, docile

Bearded dragon - gentle and di-nural (daytime lizards). They need a heatpad, UVB light and basking light. Babies eat crickets, adults eat crickets and salad (you can find recipes for beardie salad on the internet)

Cornsnake - very gentle, although the babies can nip due to you being a big scary monster to them, but they're far too small to cause any pain. Many beautiful colours available. Eats rodents

Royal AKA Ball python - I know what you're thinking. Python = big massive giant that wants to make lunch out of me. Relax. This python species rarely gets above five feet in lenght and won't eat anything bigger than a large rat. They need a heat mat and basking light. Docile. If they feel threatened they curl into a tight ball and hide their head in the centre, hence the US name. (they're know as royal python in Europe). Adults can go off their food for months on end, only to start eating again with no problem (it's natural for them because they come from a part of Africa where there may not be any food available for months on end). The longest a royal has gone w/o eating before resuming feeding and remaining healthy is over 2 years. The longest living royal was 47 when I last heard (I don't know whether or not its still alive)

Kingsnake/Milksnake: Similar to corns, but the little babies can be very nippy due to being scared of the big mean hand. They calm down and as babies they're far to small for their bites to hurt. They eat rodents, but they are also known to eat other snakes so house them seperately.

Dwarf burmese pythons: If you can afford one of these expensive pythons, go for it! But if you can't afford $4000 for a pair wait until they come down in price. They average about 6ft in lenght and are as docile as their bigger cousins (which I wouldn't recommend buying as although they are docile they can grow over 20ft).

Hog Island Boa: I've got one as she is very docile. A dwarf sub-species of the common boa (boa constrictor imperator which can grow up to 12ft), they grow between 3-6ft in lenght (as with most (if not all) python and boa species, the females grow larger than the males). Eats rodents


MORE EXPERIENCE:

Burmese python. Big (females can grow in excess of 20ft). Gentle giants, but, due to their large size and the fact that many of them are kept as pets, they have been known to kill humans. You need at least two people to handle a large specimen and wash your hands after handling snake food and before handling snake to get the smell of food of you and prevent snakey from mistaking you for food.

Green iguanas: Get big (average 6ft for males and the largest on record was 8ft) and can be very mean, that being said my 4ft male is quite sweet. Vegetarian.

Tortoises: Need heatmat, UVB and basking bulb. A lot more expensive but a lot easier to keep than smelly water turtles.

Bad:

Anything venomous: do I really have to go into the reasons why this is a bad idea?

Water turtles. Well, they're OK for beginners if you are prepared to clean their filter on a daily basis. They get very very stinky otherwise

Komodo dragon: Can kill humans and has bacteria-laced mouth

Snapping turtle: Can bite your hand off

Crocodilians: can give a nasty bite and large ones can kill you

Feel free to add more as you see fit

Answer 2

Just have to love the negativity Rollercoaster. Now let's see if this answer is better. Reptiles bite, fact of live. But so do cats, dogs and parrots. All of the later have got worse bites than reptiles. So let's get over it.

Now the answer to you question:

Lizards:
Bearded dragons are awesome pets, easy to care for and rather intelligent.
Rock Monitor(Likewane) makes awesome pets if you have them from hatchling. Do grow rather large (up to 1.8m) so be prepared for it.

Turtles:
I don't keep turtles myself so I would just be repeating other peoples answers. I can't see the point, in my opinion it's like having a fish tank.

Snakes:
Get a corn snake, they are very docile and with the large array of colour morphs it is a good choice for the beginner.
Kingsnake make good pets, I really love my California Kingsnakes. (Be warned they do eat other snakes so please don't house two together.)

Those would be my choices for the beginner (with the exception of the rock monitor). But most importantly find one that you like, then read up on them. Then go to a petshop or breader and ask to handel a couple of different individuals (there personalities do differ) and then pick the one you like the most. Because you are going to be looking after it for a very long time, 10-18 years. If it's your first reptile get a hatchling or yearling. You will feel more comfortable handeling them when they are big if you've seen it grow. And you should know it's moods by the time it reaches adulthood. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

If you have the time and the money, a bearded dragon. They grow to be about 2 feet long, so they require a large cage (which is expensive) and UVA/UVB lights (which go for about $30 and have to be replaced every 6 months) Food is expensive too, LOTS of crickets! If you have some money and some time, a leopard gecko. They don't require any special lighting and they can be fed no less than once a week, you don't have to feed them twice a day like a bearded dragon. They are great pets but don't enjoy being handled as much as a bearded dragon. If you don't have that much money to spend on food, get a corn snake. I got one for my 5th birthday, and loved to watch it it its mice once a month. You can hold them, but not by the tail or the head, and they are known to poop without warning in your hands! Those are my suggestions.

Answer 4

a few words of the wise (excuse my language) **** happens all reptiles are not "down right vicious" as you put it so kind sir they are only vicious if feel threatened or harmed or anything like that in which case they still are not vicious they are only in self defense with what ever they were equipped with. so my suggestion is get any reptile you want and and just be careful and things will be fine and do a little research of how to handle and how to be careful. as someone else said your basically askin for a "friendly shark that will eat out of your hand"! good luck

Answer 5

I would say out of my turtles, leopard gecko, bearded dragon, and chinese water dragon, that my leopard gecko is by far the friendliest. If I want I can watch a movie with my gecko. He will sit on my chest for hours on end. My bearded is proably second but he's not quite as docile. My chinese water dragon is crazy and just runs around like mad. He's so fast I'm worried if took him out I'd lose him. If I pick my turtles up they just go into their shell and do nothing. So in my opinions I would suggest a leopard gecko or a bearded.

Answer 6

i have been setting people up with reptiles for over 11 years as well as other pets. If you are looking for a lizard i would say Leopard Geckos, Mali Uromastix, Blue tongue skink, Bearded Dragons, new Caledonia crested geckos.
As these lizards a great friendly lizards it is still good to visit an animal to see if its personality fits you.. Any store can tell you what generally should be great but we must remember we are dealing with animals that have their own personality's.
hope this helps
if you would like any more info you can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 7

good beginner reptiles: Corn snake, king snake, ball python, leopard gecko, bearded dragon... All of them are generally very friendly, especially if worked with from a young age.

Bad beginner reptiles: Iguanas, most turtles ( a LOT of work, do NOT usually stay small and cute), larger snake species, most monitors (as mentioned by previous answer)

Answer 8

How big of a reptile are you looking to get? I'm partial to ball pythons and red tailed boas. Both are easy to care for and docile.

Answer 9

most reptiles run away when you hold them or try to hold them. Water dragons love people and attention. They're so cute!

Answer 10

Bearded Dragon, I've had mined for a few years now and she has never bit me.And they actually like to be held.