Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi gang,

Luna and I are quite settled in as it has been exactly a year since I got her and as many of you know we have been "finding our way" ever since

I have decided to get another herp as a pet, not breeding, and am considering these three

Bearded Dragon
Northern Blue Tongue Skink
Uromastyx

I am very much leaning toward one but want the input of those of you who have any or all of these. My main reason for these 3 species is for handlng.

thanks!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Hi maybe I can help you out here. My wife works at a pet store and she has been wanting a Bearded Dragon. She says you can hold them and they want jump off and try to run away. The Blue Tongue Skink I seen them at the store my self and they do not like to be held, they are a look at animal. The Uromastyx, we baby sit one and they have them at the store too, and they to are more of a look at animal. So if it was my wife and she was getting one of them. I would say she would go for the Bearded Dragon, hands down. And she really loves animals to. She says you can take the Bearded Dragon out and it will sit on you're sholder for you. Well hope this helps you decide a little better. Good luck...Scott....

I like bearded dragons also. Uro's are really neat animals. I was thinking of getting one a while back actually... and I like skinks too. Skinks can go either way I think, as far as handling. Uros can be handled, but beardies overall tend to be very tame and enjoy coming out, rather than just putting up with it, as far as I can tell. There is one at the zoo I'm doing co op at and he is a doll. A few of my friends also had/have some, and all can handle theirs without a problem. Also, they are a little more interesting looking, IMO. All of the three are great, but there is something about beardies....

i have never had a skink but i do have a bearded dragon and two mali uromastyx. both are great animals. i love them both so i cant really say wich one would be better. but i know one of my uros loves to be picked up. all i have to do is stick my hand in the cage and he climes right up. the other one dont mind being handled but would rather be left alone. as for my beardie, he likes to be handled when he wants to be. if you have food he is all for it but sometimes he gets grumpy. but all animals have their own personalities. good luck in choosing your new friend.
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brandy

If you want a hands on herp, easy care, personality, and
indestructability, beardies are the way to go.
I've had some get loose outdoors for weeks at a time, only
to find them sitting on a neighbors lawn no worse for wear.
They will eat almost ANything. (on warm days I let mine
graze the lawn for danelions and green stuff)
I've got a 9 year old female who's laid TONS of eggs
and she's still going strong!
gw

I have a beardie, blue tounge leopard gecko and just got a baby panther cham. My blue tounge likes to be held but doesnt sit real still, my beardie loves to be held and will sit on my shoulder, but she does like to jump off to a higher spot. If you are strictly going for a handleable??? animal I would go for the dragon.

ive never had any of these animals but we used to have a uro in out science classroom in HS. I would take him out and hold him every day, he was a real sweetie. Ive heard stories about all of them, and they seem to be good handlers, but some specific ones are maybe better/worse socil critters than others. (Kinda like chams huh?) Hopefully you will find one that fits you Good luck!

Erin
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1:1 Veileds (Gene and Aurora)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

bearded dragon 100% they are the 2 best reptile and you can handle them. the only thing is that they eat too much!
if that is a problem you can get uro because they eat greens

Hi Genius!

I have 2 beardies and they are absolutely awesome! They seem to love to be held. When I am cleaning out their aquarium (yes, they do well in aquariums because they love it HOT) they wont leave me alone wanting to be picked up. They have great personalities and are very docile. The only drwback I have found is keeping their temps up and the gradient low enough to provide cooler temps. I have mine in a 30gal tank right now because they are small. I will be moving them to the 55 gal tank once I have room for it and I'm sure it will be easier to keep the temps different enough for their needs. I have no experience with the other 2 herps you mentioned but I like the look of the beardies more than the other 2. Beardies are very low maintenance and since I have chams, crickets are no problem to have around to feed. I understand that some Beardie keepers recommend pinkies for their animals but I will never own a herp that requires live animals for food (I can do insects without a problem but pinkies are a different story).

Good luck with ehatever you decide. I'm sure you'll make a great mommy!
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Don't they all eat you out of house and home? Haha, that's great though. I bet your house is a fun place to visit.
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~Melissa

LOL!

The kids in the neighborhood just love coming over to the petting zoo!! The dogs are the ones that eat a ton of food. I go through about a 50lb bag weekly between all the dogs. I go through about 2000 crickets every month for the herps and a gazillion heads of romaine and assorted veggies for the torts and turts...but I love all my garanimules!
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

bearded dragon...they eat alot but you have so many insects laying around it would be the perfect pet for you...you can get them in nice orangey color if you want to shell out the extra bucks

i know it's not on your list but i love my pixie frog...he's growing into quite a nice conversation peice...my favorite thing about him is that he'll eat 15 full grown roaches every 2-3 days and can eat the hornworms that get too big for my cham...he's cool and practical

I knew I could count on OPINIONS here! I figured the dragon would come out on top. I have ruled out the uro so it is BTS or Dragon. Still deciding...I'll keep ya updated

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)