A Clown (painted) Agama is a breaded dragon in a smaller package. Similar care. I personally like emerald swifts too. & Uromaxtics are great! Just gotta make sure they are hot hot
1 Like
Yeah, I was thinking of suggesting a painted agama.
2 Likes
Painted agamas are good if you can find them captive bred, but not if wild caught (I have never seen captive bred for sale). Emerald swifts are not something I recommend given they need 100% humidity due to being native to cloud forests and they are also mostly wild caught. Uros are ok if you can get captive bred and handle the high temps, but captive bred are expensive. The cheapest captive bred I have seen was around $400 for a baby. I would never recommend a beginner starting with a wild caught animal due to the vet care that will be needed, especially for parasites.
1 Like
Yeah, that’s why I recommended a captive bred painted agama to my friend
2 Likes
Litterally one of my 1st lizards as a kid…like 30yrs ago was an Emerald & he was amazing. AlthO yes…very hard to find CB…but recently a pet store around me had a bunch of CB babies. But yes also CB. Guess it was 14yrs ago…but I have CB Morrocan Uro…I gave 120 for…granted…14yrs ago. I actually haven’t seen a Morrocan in years now… well mine I see everyday…lol * another one in years.
1 Like
Most lizards…that arent a breadie…or leo…or fat tail…or Crestie. Your gonna have to loslittle harder to find CB under certain price points …
1 Like
A good friend of mine has a Zebra Skink…& they are absolutely amazing lizards with great personalities. Ive seen them offered alot @ shows CB…& thats how she got hers. Highly recommended… depending on how much you wanna spend…they run any where from 200 to 300. AlthO I have seen em Slightly cheaper…once.
1 Like
Yeah, I’ve also seen a ton at expos around here. I’ll suggest that one.
2 Likes
Hey there! I highly recommend leopards, cresties, or fat tails for beginners! Leos are awesome, mine is my first reptile and I love him a ton. He currently lives in a 40 gallon terrarium but I plan to one day upgrade him to a 75 gallon bioactive vivarium because he is rather active and uses every bit of his enclosure! For leos, maintenance care is quite cheap, with the main costs being substrate and feeders. I spend roughly $8/month on feeders for my guy, but keep in mind I have him on a rotation of mealworms, dubias, hornworms, and waxworms.
Also, the fear of loose substrates is very false. I have successfully kept my guy one loose sub ever since he finished QT and never plan to change him off loose. So long as you aren’t using calcium based sand, most leos do just fine on loose sub. You have to remember, in the wild they’re going to ingest small bits of dirt anyway, so they can handle a tiny bit of substrate. I currently keep Sunni on a mix of organic topsoil, silica free playsand, whole pebbles (like the kind you get for fish), and a dash of coco fibre. I’ve never had an issue with this mix and it’s ready to go for once I’m set up for bioactive!
Cresties are also quite reasonable to keep for beginners, especially since they’re fun to observe and handle, have CGD, and come in a variety of colors and patterns while still being very affordable. I currently keep my crestie in a modified 56qt tub, with plans to make a custom 2’ x 2’ x 3’ bioactive vivarium for him. He is a lot of fun and it costs me about $20 in CGD to feed him for an entire year! I also supplement with insects, which is about $4/month between crickets, dubias, and mealworms since I usually only buy one feeder per month for him.
Anoles are lizards, too… Even if they are small and seem cheap and insignificant to most people, they’re not a terrible starter either, very simple to care for and extremely hardy, in my experience. I haven’t kept them since the early 00’s, but I still see them fairly commonly available.
I beg to differ. Many people, including me have lost a leopard gecko because of loose substrate. Please do not tell someone the fear is false. It’s very real and the pain from losing a very precious gecko HURTS.
3 Likes
Which lizard doesn’t lose their tail? I vote that one >.<
2 Likes
Does it count if they grow back too? 
I myself have been lucky with it, my fatties are all bio, and when I had Leos they were.
But like you, I’ve read of people who’ve lost reptiles because of it.
So you need to keep an eye regardless, I like to watch my lot eat anyway so I usually watch them for a bit then leave them too it.
But you’re correct, it’s not ’false’ at all, it happens! 
2 Likes
I apologize for your loss and will be editing my post for clarity. I’ve come to see many people say that leopards are simply incompatible with loose substrate but… for them to live in the wild they need to be able to handle not living on paper towels since it’s not something that’s naturally occuring.
I do appreciate you catching this and bringing up a very valid and real experience and I hope those who come across this thread in the future are able to learn from everyone’s contributions as a whole.
EDIT: orrrr perhaps I won’t? Doesn’t seem I can edit the post any longer 
If anyone can direct me to the correct course of action that would be much appreciated!
1 Like
At the bottom of the post, there should be a
, if not, your trust level might have a time limit on editing.
2 Likes
To clarify, in the wild leopard geckos are on tightly packed soil. Which I think is reasonable in captivity, I think the problem is when they’re on only loose substrate that can move around and be eaten.
2 Likes