what kind of lizard should i get?, i cant choose!?

Question

im looking for a nice lizard for a pet, something that i can walk around town with it on my shoulder, but i dont want it to be totally imobalized and boring, at first i thought "bearded dragon" but they hurt to hold, i have scars on my hands from holding my friends three b.ds . i am REALLY leaning towrds water dragons, in fact i have one picked out at our local reptroplous he is a baby (aproxx 4 months old) and he is sweet, pretty tame too once he finds that you mean him no harm.. what should i do?

Answer 1

Go for a poisinous one. It makes your life a little shorter but it sure is fun.

Answer 2

If you have problems holding a Bearded Dragon your really not going to like taming Water Dragons their nails are longer and it takes a lot more time to tame them. They also may bite. A Bearded Dragon is your best bet the are very docile and have great personalities. They also require a smaller tank than a Water Dragon and are much easier to care for. I've had both a definetly recommend the Bearded Dragon.

What ever you do do not get an Iguana, I have 4 and they are not easy to care for and need a huge amount of room. They require a minimum size cage of 7' long x 5' wide x 7' tall.

Answer 3

I agree with alot of these people.... a bearded dragon is great and I really am puzzeled as to why they hurt to hold, but what ever. I think Igaunas are GREAT pets, mine acts like a puppy its awsome. Also, Crested Geckos are fantastic. I have a 1 year old crested and he is the cutest thing ever. He sings to me, squeeks, grunts, leaps like a monkey, eats baby food off of a spoon, makes a HUGE deal out of hunting his crickets and changes colors. They are super freindly too, if you don't hold them at LEAST once a day, they get depressed and will grunt non stop! I think that you would be good with anything you want really, it's all up to the owner........ maybe a snake???? I don't know... I recomend a beardy, an iguan, or a crested gecko!

Answer 4

I don't reccomend a water dragon. Although I do reccomend a bearded dragon. I know from personal experience that they happen to make great pets and are great for a pet you want to carry around. And they make little leashes and collars for them too so they don't get lost. I don't know why your friends dragon scratches you, but it might have to do with how your holding it. When you hold a dragon you have to support its whole body or it will get scared and start scratching you to try to get to a level surface. Also you might want to tell your friend to cut thier lizards nails, thier probably too long if your getting so scratched. Usually thier nails shouldn't hurt you very much. Also, you can't yell too much around them or they'll get scared. Other than that they're great pets for carrying around and taking places. But if you get one you might want to get a book on them. I like having my book on handy when I think I might be doing something wrong or my dragon, Lizzy, might be sick.

Answer 5

Water Dragons suck. Esp the Chinese water dragon. I have a Bearded Dragon and he is great. So what if it hurts, you get accustomed to it after a while, esp if you raised him from a baby. They only try to scratch if it feels threatened , eg maybe you are not holding him safely when you are picking him up.

Answer 6

Start with some basic questions first.
- Do you want a vegetarian lizard or are you ok with feeding it live (or frozen) creatures? If vegetarian, do you have time to mix up a special salad every week? The canned stuff they sell in stores is not anything you should really feed a lizard.
- How much room are you willing to give this pet? Several species of lizards are small as juveniles and stay small. Others (like iguanas and monitors) start small and get very very large (relatively speaking) and wind up requiring a hand built cage or their very own room.
- All lizards have nails and teeth. ANY pet, from lizards to purebred dogs, can be no fun to own if they aren't socialized. This means YOU have to be willing to socialize with your animal. You will have to play with it daily, bathe it, feed it, scratch-it-behind-it's-ears so to speak. Even if it comes to you as friendly as a puppy, it won't stay that way if you don't interact with it daily. And most lizards aren't going to come pre-socialized, especially any from pet stores. They may hang on your shoulder because you are warm, but this puts your ears in jeopardy if they get cranky or bored.
- Do your homework BEFORE bringing your lizard home! Cruise the internet for instructions on keeping different kinds of lizards. Keeping a reptile can become "expensive" for someone who wasn't expecting to shell out for heat lamps, special lights, special cages (bigger lizards have to have theirs hand built because of their size), humidifiers, misters, temperature sensors, etc. And then there's the vet bills. Not every veterinarian knows how to take care of reptiles. And some that think that they do don't. There's a lot of old and eroneous information out there and there's still a lot unknown about reptiles.
- Read up on temperment of different breeds. Monitors are known stereotypically as cranky. Some iguanas are as well.
- Who else is in the house with you? Reptiles can carry salmonella (learn to wash your hands, keep him off the kitchen counter, use common sense, and you'll be fine). If there are babies or small children, a large lizard should be out of the question. Too easy for them to get bitten or tail-whipped.
From experience - I have an iguana and an ADHD 10 yr old. The iguana is definately easier to take care of. But then, I'm past 30 and have been through a lot. "Easy" is a relative term. Iguanas aren't like dogs. You can't stick them in a little tank, feed them lettuce and hope they don't get any bigger. They do (get bigger) or they die. Ignatius gets a special salad (hand made) every morning. He takes showers with me. He's learning to sit and watch TV. He rides in the car but isn't that sure about it all. He's about 3 years old, 9" snout to vent, and came from the Humane Society. I think he's great, but I spent the first month wearing leather gloves because he had never been handled. He was caught as a stray and must have lived in abysmal conditions, because he would lay in his poop (in a 4ft cage) until I cleaned him up enough times that he finally got the hint that it's ok to be clean. Now he's a very clean lizard.
I guess the most important question is "How much patience do you have?"

Answer 7

If your friend's dragons hurt when you were holdin them it sounds like your friend needs to hive them a good ol nail clipping :D . My BD's claws dont hurt at all, they are pretty easy to trim.

From what you said you want to do it seems like you want a bearded dragon. In the summer time I walk around with my guy on my shoulder, his claws dont hurt at all. I have a link in refrences that shows how to properly trim nails.

Good luck with your pet, do lots of research before hand!

Answer 8

go with the beard dragon


and lizardGI do you have 4 water dragons or 4 iguanas

Answer 9

in my opinion an iguana is the best lizard. you can buy harnesses for them with a leash. I had one about 5 ft long and he grew up with my dogs and soon he started acting like one he liked to be walked on his leash and he would lay on my back while I was watching TV. they are very gentle reptiles if they are treated right and given the right habitat and alot of attention they will let you know when they want left alone

Answer 10

I would rather recommend a leopard gecko, they are very tame and like to climp on your shoulder

Answer 11

go with bearded dragon. I bet they just weren't to you holding them. they might have been partial to there owners. I had one that didn't like my husband but would let me mess with him.