Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi all. i have a few questions about keeping frillies. i listed them below ---> if you don't care about the situation, you can just skip to the questions ~hehe... THANK YOU!!

situation
my brother and i (he's a junior in high school, i'm a sophomore in college) have been thinking and discussing raising a frilled dragon. our parents are extending the house, so our rooms will be a lot bigger than they are now.

my brother wants to keep a frilled dragon in his bedroom (half of the cage next to the window, the other half against the wall). also, he plans on getting light fixtures for day and night to regulate temperatures and humidity, as well as to produce the vitamins that the frillies need. i am an owner of a leopard gecko, so we plan to give the frillies a similar diet of dusted crickets, mealworms, and superworms...and plan to implement the recommended vegetables of carrots, corn, etc. we plan to have a calcium (RepCal w/ D3) dish available next to the water dish and the food dish. we also plan to take the time to hand tame our future frillies and let them explore the bedroom when we're home.

questions
1) if we let the frillies roam, how long can we keep them out of the cage? 15 minutes? 1 hour?
2) do we have to handle 15 minutes at a time like leopard geckos, or can we handle them longer?
3) are they difficult to care for?
4) if you scare them by accident, even if they are tame, would they bite you after they frill?
5) how hard does a bite hurt if you have a juvie?
6) how long do eggs stay in incubation?
7) is it difficult to sell frillies?
8) are they cheaper if they're bought at a herp event rather than online or over the phone with a breeder?
9) will they feel lonely if you're not home during the day because of school/work, but can play with them and spend time with them once you get home until you sleep? (bro gets home around 3PM, i get home at 4PM and we both sleep around midnight).
10) any advice or tips?

thanks everyone... nice pictures by the way!

[aimee]
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)

1) if we let the frillies roam, how long can we keep them out of the cage? 15 minutes? 1 hour? Don't know. When i let mine out it just stays where i put it, or runs and then stays pinned up on the wall in a corner of my roon.lol
2) do we have to handle 15 minutes at a time like leopard geckos, or can we handle them longer? in the beggining i would, but after a while you can keep them out longer.
3) are they difficult to care for? Not really, but a little harder than beardies. They need a 100 gal.+++ tank/enclosure
4) if you scare them by accident, even if they are tame, would they bite you after they frill? 99.999999999% of the time, NO
5) how hard does a bite hurt if you have a juvie? Never got bit??? And you most likely won't.
6) how long do eggs stay in incubation? ?????
7) is it difficult to sell frillies? I imagine not
8) are they cheaper if they're bought at a herp event rather than online or over the phone with a breeder? Once again...don't know...sorry, but they run from $130-$300(lower price range for breeders, higher for pet stores)
9) will they feel lonely if you're not home during the day because of school/work, but can play with them and spend time with them once you get home until you sleep? (bro gets home around 3PM, i get home at 4PM and we both sleep around midnight). They don't need atention and won't feel lonely if you never handle them. Thats just they way reptiles are.
10) any advice or tips?
Get one...they are pretty cool lizards.

Also, they most likely won't eat vegetables. They are more carnivorous than beardies. You also don't need a bowl of calcium, just calcium dusted food.

thanks john

my brother and i want to start handling them at 15 minutes/day for the first couple weeks to get them used to us... then gradually increase it so that we can just have them hangin out with us for a couple hours at a time before we put them back in their little home my bro is planning to construct a 4.5ft tall/3ft wide/3ft deep enclosure for his frillie in his bedroom. so they pin up against the walls huh? hehe, that's cute at least it'll be easier to find them! if my leopard gecko ever got away, i'd freak out and not clean my room until i found him i also read in a couple places that they do eat veggies (except ice burg lettuce...and a couple other veggies). either way, we'll still have live foods ready for him all the time we're glad to hear that you've never gotten bit! we're prepared to have it happen at least once during his first few weeks at our place... but at the same time, we're hoping to be as lucky as you we're not even sure about breeding yet because we're such newbs... but after a year, i guess we'll have to see they're just TOO COOL! also about my LONELY question... my brother and i read that they need a lot more attention than beardies, so we thought it might be effected if we're not home while he's awake. but we'll still have a few hours to spend time with him

i love the pic of your frillie... is it hard to make them pose like that? we're still excited about getting ours thanks again john, sorry for all those questions!

[aimee & arnie]
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)

Yeah...it is possible that they will eat veggies and they are good for them. But they most likely won't b/c they are more towards the carnivorous side than omnivorous(spelling????lol)

I have read that they need more attention also, but i think you interpreted it wrong. It means that beardies are basically not a challenge to tame and are normally friendly from they beggining, but frillies are a little jumpier and harder to tame, so they they need a little more attention to tame them. But in the end, they are supposed to be one of the most rewarding lizards as pets, they just take a little more attention for them to calm down and trust people.

The trick to get them to frill is to show them the shinny end of a lightbulb....lol

Good luck getting your frillie!!!

Another thing I would add is that they need to be misted down every day, and twice a day if it is a baby. Most of the time they will not drink from a bowl of water, so they drink when you spray them. Also, I would soak them in warm water every day as a baby and less often as they get larger. I soak my adults every week. It may also help to get a cat litter pan that is 4" tall to put the crickets in so they are not all over the cage, they learn where the food is quickly! Post pics when you get him!

thanks for the help john & poison!

i hope it won't be all too hard to hand tame him and thanks for the info about the crix in the pan and the soaking info... why would we need to do soak them anyway? and once we get him (next year), we'll be sure to post pix hehe

aimEe
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)