Hello, I just thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Laura. I'm a mother of 4 boys, 2 cats and god only knows how many hermit crabs! After stumbling upon a 15g tank that some one had left out for the trash I started thinking maybe we should get a reptile of somekind. So of course I'm here to try to figure out what.

So here's where I'm at. No snakes, no spiders. I can handle feeding the live insects but no mice or other small mammals. I know I have heard bearded dragons are excellent but I really was hoping to stay smaller. Most geckos are nocturnal. Anoles from what I'm reading are more or less look but don't touch.

My kids are 9, 6, 4 and 2. The oldest two at least will want to be able to pick up and hold whatever we get. I also thought maybe a year or two down the road that breeding might be a good educational experience for the boys.

I currently have a 15 or 30g tank available. I suppose I'm willing to go a little bigger, but..... I have a 70g for my hermies and my husband would probably go ballistic if I bring home anothe huge tank.

So, I look forward to being here. I'll be reading around and.... I'm very open to suggestions and hearing about peoples experience. There's alot of conflicting information around. I've read that anoles can be easily tamed. Yet, people tell me they're not good for handling. I've been told that the frogs are mostly look don't touch, but then someone else suggested one. So, I'm very open to everyones suggestions.

I'll be reading and asking questions.

Sorry for rambling.

You can try leopard geckos. They are great lizards especially starter ones and on the smaller side. The 30 gallon would be a great environment for it! You'll just make sure you want to supervise the kids with it.

Check out the caresheet for them.

http://reptileguides.herpcenter.com/...read.php?t=122

No, anoles are mostly a 'look but don't touch' pet. Especially with young children.

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Welcome!

I might be biased but I think in addition to a Leo you should consider either a Crested Gecko or a White's Tree Frog. Yes all three of those animals are nocturnal, but with at least the Crested Geckos and the WTFs they don't seem to mind it if you wake them up a little early.
Whites Tree Frog Caresheet (Litoria caerulea) - Reptile Information - Caresheets Database
Reptile Forums - The HC Network - Crested Gecko Caresheet (Rhacodactylus ciliatus)

__________________

Welcome to Herp Center. Rambling is ok here. Make yourself at home here.

__________________
Warmest Regards from Lyn

Thanks everyone. I've been reading around for about a week now, and starting to wonder if there is the perfect reptile for us. I may be Bearded Dragon sitting for an old neighbor. We'll see how that goes if it happens.

How complicated is it to breed bearded dragons? What would be the smallest acceptible tank be for a pair? talking a year or two down the road here. we'd start with one.

more reading.....

Here's the caresheet for bearded dragons. There should be a link at the bottom that takes you to information about breeding.

Reptile Forums - The HC Network - Bearded Dragon Caresheet (Pogona vitticeps)

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Welcome to HC!
Pet-sitting is a perfect way to get an idea if a BD is the right reptile for you!

I'm biased to snakes, so I can't really advise on the lizards. (You can buy frozen rodents for snakes, just thaw and warm them up before feeding... I couldn't keep snakes if I had to feed live, but this is no problem for me.) I can't handle bugs in my house, though, so no lizards for me!
Good luck and don't rush; reptiles when cared for properly will live a long long time, so you'll want to be sure beforehand that it's the right one for you and your family.

__________________
Andrea

Welcome to Herp Center. Glad to have you join us. I've been to Sarnia, nice place.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Welcome to HerpCenter.
With your situation, I would point you in the direction of a leopard gecko or a bearded dragon. Both are excellent starter lizards.
With the small tank you are going to be very limited in what you can do and the Leo would be the way to go. However they are nocturnal, even though mine seems to forget this fact and can be seen wandering around at times during the day. They may be a bit delicate for handling by your younger children and, if frightened, will drop their tail!

If you can go for a bigger tank (40 gal minimum) a Bearded Dragon might be a good idea. They are very personable and once grown will be sturdy enough for the kidlings to handle.
And they actually seem to like humans.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thanks all for the welcome Yeah, It's looking like it's going to be either a Bearded Dragon, leopard gecko or fat tailed gecko. Got thinking this AM with summer holidays coming I may just wait until after all our vacations. Although I do have a teen that tends to my hermits when I go away. I see lots of leopard geckos and Bearded Dragons online that people are getting rid of. makes me wonder....... I might consider one of these as I don't really trust any of the pet stores in town. PetSmart is the best we've got. There's a reptile place across the border but don't know what the rules are for bringing one from US to Canada.