Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have racked my brain..and went to countless reptile shows. Here is what we are looking for..I think I may just be asking for too much..any ideas please let me know!

We have a 4x2x2 foot enclosure..I just gutted it. It has sliding glass doors in the front and three small vents in the back..
There are bulb fixtures on each side for different wattage bulbs as well as 2 24" strip fixtures for UVB lights...Here is what we want..
Snakes are completely out..we had corns and the kids kept letting them loose and I got sick of tearing the house upside down looking for them..
I grew up with leos and beardies so those are out too..they are great pets we just want something different...
We have a sulcata tort now..so dont want a tort.our cage prolly wont hold water so no turtles..

We want something either tame or tameable..kids are always supervised but I want something that isn't going to take their finger off if they reach for it...its a nice display cage in the living room so something active during the day and colorful would be great..something that eats mostly veggies is a plus...its just easier for us right now. I know..beardie, beardie, beardie...but I really just want something different..thinking along the lines of a chuck or uro but dont know too much about them..have looked at caresheets some. ANY ideas? Oh and something that doesn't have stinky poop..LOL J/K!

Well you have two conflicting requirements, veggie eater, and clean poop. Veggie eaters generally digest less then 30% of what they eat. If your looking for something clean I suggest a vieled Chameleon, or a waterdragon, both are relatively tame and hardy.

Don't chameleons do better with a screen enclosure though? And a water dragon will out grow my enclosure? They don't have to be super clean..just remembering how bad my beardies used to stink..and I'm an avid cleaner..also wondering if the cham would stress a lot over all the commotion in the living room..thanks for your ideas

Thats a great cage size for a carpet python. They can make wonderful display snakes or you can hold them as long as you start from when they are babies.

What about a trio of crested geckos? Eat only CGD, mostly arboreal but would do fine with the 2 foot height if you add lots of green plants and branches..Dont need UVB or special heating unless you have a cold house.Handleable as well...You could also look into gargoyle geckos , bigger then cresties but very much the same. Im not sure if you can house more then one together, maybe a pair of females though....They would be happy with that much room..Only drawback is they are nocturnal, rather like leos.They still poop though( cant do much about that)..

Also there is the Blue Tongue Skink,, perfect for kids to handle, do need UVB and do eat some insects, but veggies too.And they dont stink like Beardies(I agree, the smell beardies produce is just awful)Nice and slow and non aggressive..Second best lizard ever..

I have been reading a lot about the blue tongue skinks! I think that is what we are going to go with...I know everything poops..lol but the beardies in the living room was a bit much..someday when we have a finished basement..I will have beardies again I'm sure. I love those guys! Thank you for your reply..do you have a preference as two which blue tongues would do best in my 4X2x2? And is there a species that's is more easy to tame than another..we have two young boys who are reptile crazies!

The only kind I owned was a Northern bluetongue.I had him for 5 yrs but circomstances made us have to rehome all our reptiles at that time(illness in the family).He is the only one I really missed the most..I dont have experience with any of the others.
This is a really good site with tons of info and great people if you need info and caresheets for bluetongues.Hope everything works out for you.

http://www.bluetongueskinks.net/

I have an indonesian blue tongue skink. He's really sweet, never bit. The only ones I don't like are the gigas. the others i've never had problems with.
-----
Teresa
------------------
3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watsini)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)