Hi everyone,

I might get a Frilled Dragon. What do you think? Is that a good or a bad idea?

Thanks.

Darra

Hi Darra.

My answer to this question would be to firstly ask what is your experience history with reptiles? What do you currently own?

Frilleds are beautiful lizards, but as far as I gather, they are by no means suitable for early reptile keepers.

__________________
"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I have got one lizard called Zack he is a african fat tailed gecko but I have looked up frilled lizards and learnd quite a bit about frilled dragons.

It is good that you have done a lot of research - you need to know everything you can about an animal before you own it, IMO.

However, I would still urge that you wait a while.. Frilleds are quite different to fattails and the care required is much more complex. I'm no expert on Frilleds, but I believe they require fairly large tanks and, as opposed to fattails, they need UV lighting and completely different care. They can also be quite flighty while young and need a lot of time and patience to grow calm and tame.

At the same time, I don't want to completely put you off.. we have purchased "more difficult" species in the past, without a vast amount of experience of other species, and have spent the time researching and making sure we could care for them properly, and it has all turned out very well. I would always urge you to be sure you can take care of an animal, but at the same time, I would never recommend buying other species to gain experience if you didn't really want them.

Do you have a tank set up or the means to do so? Are you able to afford the food needed and the heating./lighting equipment?

__________________
"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I agree with bitis...and they do require large tanks and UV lightingh which is rather expensive...but like bitis said if you have the means then go for it, but I would suggest maybe starting out with a species that isnt quite as hard but requires the same husbandry

An adult frilled lizard needs a cage that is 6 feet tall, 4 wide and 3 deep. Will you be able to provide that? Also the need expensive UVB lighting and can give a nasty bite if they feel threatened. You also need to factor in the cost of food and vet bills.

Just look at these chompers!


Granted you could always send me the frilly and i'll send you a nice gecko in exchange

I would recomend trying your luck with a bearded dragon first so that you can get more experience with a larger lizard that needs UVB lighting and what not (plus then once you think you are ready for the frilly you'll have 2 cool other pets to play with too) Good luck with your decision!

__________________

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

~Lacey~

My Photos

they are really cool lizards but you definitely want to make sure you can care for them properly. good luck with whatever you decide. we'll be here to help.

__________________

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

I looked into getting one before I got my water dragons and they were deffinately not for beginners. Yes the enclosure has to be very large, and there are a lot of other expenses as well that would probably add up to almost $1,000 just to get the initial set up correctly (those were my calculations anyways). Plus the fact that they are expensive themselves, they have a complex diet and are high maintnance. It will be a lot of care, if you have the money and are ready then ok but I'd really advise thinking it out first.

__________________
0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

Yeah Frilled are expensive to buy, but not anyworse than CWDs to enclose. I would get some xp with a medium challenge herp first. I know I wish I would've gotten a Leo or something before Pez as its been so long since I've owned a reptile, but since you have xp with the fat tail maybe you can move onto a difficult pet like a juvi ig who just doesn't like you at first. I know I plan on working my way up to Frilled Dragon. Right now I'm looking at Bearded Dragons, more CWDs and Leopard Geckos for my next reptile batch, but I might get an Ig if its still available.

__________________
Chinese Water Dragon 1.0.1 (Jim Morrison, Slim Jim)
Iguana 1.0.0 (GINO)
Nile Monitor 0.0.1 (Harry)
Myspace

my boss has a frilly, but it's not an adult. I did happen to see an adult pair on display at a zoo in tennessee and I thought they were freggin komodo dragons at first! these guys get HUGE.

__________________
-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"