What lizard next?

[dragonmetalhead]

What about a fire or Schnieder's skink? Or a small plated lizard?

 

[Deac77]

Steepe runners are very handleable and fun to watch!!!

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Are they really handleable?

 

[Deac77]

Yup! They are very calm for a small lizard

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Could i keep a couple of them in there?

 

[Deac77]

Quite possibly they are only 6" long lol

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

hmmm I'm considering that. What do ya'll think about uromastyx?

 

[laurarfl]

I think you could keep them together. I've seen them kept together with ill effects if you don't overcrowd them. They are fun little guys.

Uros are kinda meh, IMO. I never thought of them of being that handleable. kinda spastic.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

hmmm. Any other lizards you can think of? Just seein what's out there, tryin to do some research.

 

[Scott_k]

I was in the same boat as you, I had an empty cage and wanted to put something in it, although the cage I had wasn't as big as yours. I opted for a pacman frog which is pretty neat they eat like crazy and it was my first time building a frog terrarium which was alot of fun. As I was at the reptile store I was thinking about this post and what about spiny tailed iguanas the do not get that big and you could have multiple ones in a cage as big as yours. Look into swifts they don't get that big but those along with the iguanas are more for display than hands on but nonetheless neAt to watch.

 

[mike97]

hmmm. Any other lizards you can think of? Just seein what's out there, tryin to do some research.

leopard geckos all the way for me!!!!!!!

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

yea I was considering like 3 leapard geckos!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

hmmm I'm considering that. What do ya'll think about uromastyx?

I have a 13 year old Mali named Spike. I'm pretty sure he's wild caught and he's never tamed down. He hates to be handled, he often defecates if over-stressed, and will not hesitate to tail whip and thrash in your hands; he once bit a chunk out of my knuckle. I do use him for outreach, but I don't let the kids hold him. Spike has done a good job of souring me on uros, although he's tough as nails and has outlived two girlfriends and been through countless setups, but I usually hear they're pretty friendly. And they fact their herbivores makes caring for them easy, you just have to keep them hot.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Hmm right now im thinking leopard geckos are my top choice... How many do you think i could house in there?

 

[Tannaros]

Hmm right now im thinking leopard geckos are my top choice... How many do you think i could house in there?

Most breeders do a 1.3 or 1.4 mix in tubs.

Granted that's limiting space as-is, and fairly suboptimal.

I would say you could do a similar mix quite comofortably. Granted, that's assuming you'd want babies. You could go with an all-female colony instead. Also, in any group living situation you should keep an eye on and gauge the temperament of the inhabitants. I've had a number of breeder female leos who were just complete @#&%^es to the other females and I had to move them to separate enclosures.

Remember, leos are very good climbers. If you're planning on using light bulbs for heat be cautious. If you're using wire screens make sure it's too small for them to fit in. I've seen some geckos get stuck to the barring and have to be cut out.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Hmm we will see... How many babies do they have at a time?

 

[Tannaros]

Hmm we will see... How many babies do they have at a time?

It depends on the age of the female, and individual in general.

However, in general females lay 2 eggs per clutch - or if they're first time or just yearling females they generally lay 1 for the first few. Number of clutches varies, though most of mine do around 4-5.

You can alter temperatures in order to try and produce certain sexes. ~80-83 or so usually produces mostly females, where as 87-88 produces mostly males. You can go inbetween to produce a mixture.

You can also incubate for color. Essentially you incubate the first two weeks or so for gender, then increase the temperature for better coloration. Though many breeders look down upon this practice as it's alteration of physical characteristics without a genetic backing.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

hmmm very interesting..... I think i'm stuck between leapord geckos or maybe a pair of rankins dragons..

 

[mike97]

hmmm very interesting..... I think i'm stuck between leapord geckos or maybe a pair of rankins dragons..

a pair of rankins will need a 4ft imo. 3x18x18 for a single rankins. a pair of leopards will be happy in that size viv

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

we will see, the breeding of leapord geckos sounds appealing to me.