Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have a red tegu, 3 leopard geckos, 2 crested geckos, 2 bearded dragons, 2 corn snakes, 1 durmil boa, and 1 scropion and I want one more lizard. I have a empty 60 gallon tank and I want some kind of lizard to put in it. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of lizard should I get? I was thinking about getting a skink. Would anybody advise me not to? I also thought about getting a frilled dragon but I have read that as adults they eat tons. Is this true? thanx

My frilled puts my tegu to shame when eating, he can easily put 6 pinkies and about 120 crickets away with no problem, but I dont let him of course, I recommend a frilled, but they need a large(vertical) enclosure when older, minimum of 4 long 4 high, they are very personable, much like tegus though I dont think they are nearly as intelligent, my frilled, frills at anyone else but me, adult males make better pets than females, female seem to remain skittish their entire lives, they get as tame as beardeds in my opinion. I personally dont like skinks they just sit there, sorry so long I just love my frilleds and prefer them over my tegus, sorry....

thanks

tony butler

About hom much do you feed your frilled a week? Quanity and cost? I have wanted a frilled for awhile but I have been worried about the cost of food. It is not that I can't afford it but I don't know if I really want to spend a lot of money on food every week. I have a pet shop near by that hooks people up huge on crickets though! well thanks for the info.

I would say that I feed him over 300 superworms a week with about 4 pinkies a week as well, but that also varies I breed my own superworms and mice and fill a can of 25 super worms a day, for him and he eats them all and if he still seems hungry I give him some more, luckily I make a good living from home so i can enjoy and monitor his health all the time. Just be careful when feeding, most will eat until their sides split, if you get a frilled you may want to breed your own food, like lobster roaches, or crickets, they eat a ton, and if you buy by the day your going to go broke. I can post some picks if I can get my digital camera to work so you can see how tame and large they get.

thanks
tony butler

That does sound like a huge amount of food. And you are right, I would go broke. That sucks because they look and sound like cool little animals. THanks for all your help and please do post a picture if you can.

I have all the lizards that you have, and then some. I just bought a young blue tongue skink a few weeks ago, and I'm lovin' it. They are very curious, and mine is reasonably active, more so than the tegus sometimes. They handle well and can be allowed out to wander same as the tegus. I actually think of it as the ferret of the lizard world...sort of drapes over your hand, can get into any space (and will!), very curious, and gets into everything. Mine is an Eastern, but the Northerns are very popular. If you go to Google and type in blue tongue skink you will get a listing for a great website on blue tongues where you can learn about the critters.

Good luck with your choice,

Leslie

I have not been able to find any captive bred blue tongue skinks anywhere, only imports from new guinea, where did you get yours, for some reason when i think about blue tongue skinks, i dont think of them as a skink, they are very active almost like ferrets, maybe its because they seem intellegent compared to other skinks

thanks
tony butler

I got mine from Ray Gurgui here in Florida. He had Northerns, Easterns and Tanimbars. All ccb's he produced himself. Mine is about 5 months old. I agree with you; I've always thought of them as the ferret of the lizard world. If you go to Google and type in blue tongue skink, you will see a listing for a site just for blue tongues. Ray posts there, and, unless there has been a huge run on skinks, he's got some left. He's a nice guy. The only problem I had was deciding which one to get!

Check it out,

Leslie