Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friends is stuck between a beardie and a uro. which one would be better for a first lizard? he wants somehting tame and one that likes to be held. one that will sit by him while hes on the computer. and one that is fun to watch in his cage. which do u recomend?

I would recommend the Bearded Dragon as a first reptile pet. Uromastyx have very detailed and strict diet requirments, and they are a little harder to acclimate to "pet-life". They also require a much hotter environment than beardies. Bearded Dragons are relatively easy to care for, and are definately one of the tamest lizards available. Try contacting an exotic pet store near you, and ask for a Bearded Dragon Care Sheet! (By law they must have them if they are selling them)

-Paul

uromastyx can become quite tame with time, however, are not a beginner's lizard, they can be tough, and must be de parasitized. A bearded dragon is a much hardier pet, and once they reach a good size and have been accustomed to regular brief periods of handling, will sit anywhere you put them, even go shopping with you, sitting on you're shoulder, they also tolerate mistakes much better.

well it all depends, if your thinking about getting a wild caught uro then get a bearded dragon because it will be hard with the uro, but if your gonna get a captive bred uro then it won't be all that different from a bearded dragon, thing is to learn as much as u can from and read about uromastyx and if u get a captive bred one u should be fine, i would get one from urotopia.com thats where i get mine, i bought a egyptian occelated about a month ago from lindsay pike, no problem whatso ever, very very very tame and eats alot, i would get it from him since he has alot of hatchlings and i do mean captive bred ones, a uros temps should be air temps on the hot side 100-105 and the basking spot 120-130, the cool end can be in the 80's-90's, go to deerfernfarms.com they have a section on how to take care of them you'll basically find everything there, i keep mine on zoomed repti-sand as the substrate it is expensive but i want the best for my uro, u can go to home depot and get a 50lb bag of playsand for like $2.50 just be sure to sift the little pebbles and stuff out the sand so that your uro won't get impacted because they might try to eat the little pebbles in the sand so get a sifter and sift the sand if u get pl

My URO is more tame than my Beardie and my Beardie is VERY tame!My URO was the 1st pet i had that was already tame and docile when i bought him!Uros are funnier to observe mainly when they go inside their birdseed bowl and start to eat like a bird turning their head sideways!But they are more full of energy and curiosity than a Beardie so i dont think they will stay too long on your friends computor!lol!

I've had my uromastix for about three years. She has never tamed down, does the spiked tailwhip and tries to bite if i hold her. She is a wild caught one that I got from LLLreptile. However, I don't consider this as a typical uromastix. Most pet shops have very calm and docile ones. If you can get a captive born one, it would be best.