They’re becoming more and more popular as pets – but what are the best lizards for beginners?
If you’ve never owned one before, choosing the right lizard for you can be a difficult task. There are around 5,000 species of lizard in the world and even though a portion of those are available as pets, choosing the right one for you is still tricky – particularly since first-time reptile owners should choose one that’s easy to care for.
Take a look at our quick round-up of the best beginner lizards to help you decide which one you should get.
What are the best pet lizards for beginners?
Leopard geckos
Leopard geckos are one of the most popular types of lizards for beginners. They’re small, non-aggressive and when you take them out of their cage they’re very easy to handle.
Feeding a leopard gecko is fairly easy for beginners too as they mainly eat a diet of crickets. Just bear in mind that owning a leopard gecko can get expensive as they need to be fed until they reject the food! As a general rule an adult leopard gecko will eat 10-15 crickets a day.
Crested geckos
Not too dissimilar from leopard geckos, crested geckos are another popular reptile species for beginners.
They tend to grow to about eight inches long and they’re very tolerant of being handled (although this should be kept to a minimum for any reptile). Plus they’re extremely easy to care for and don’t require any live food (only the occasional insect).
Bearded dragons
Bearded dragons are one of the most popular pet lizards and thanks their gentle nature, they’re one of the best pet lizards for beginners.
They enjoy affection from their owners and even they don’t wear their heart on their sleeve like a dog, they are known to behave affectionately in return. Not to mention they’re very easy to control and many owners let them out of their tank to explore.
If you like the sound of owning a bearded dragon, take a look at our five reasons bearded dragons make great pets to find out more.
Green iguanas
Next up is the green iguana – one of the most popular types of pet iguana.
They’re a larger reptile so they’ll need a fairly big vivarium like this but they tolerate being handled fairly well, which is great for beginners.
Plus, they mainly eat a green diet, which means you won’t have to worry about feeding them live food or insects – perfect if you’ve never owned a lizard before.
Anoles
Anoles are also very good beginner reptiles – they’re one of the most common pet lizards and make a rather interesting pet.
They’re native to the southeastern United States and are often called American chameleons because they can change their colour from brown to a bright emerald green and they’re very attractive lizards. Not to mention they’re small, fairly low maintenance and you can keep more than one in the same tank.
Now you know what the best pet lizards for beginners are, stay on Vivarium World to find out more about keeping lizards as pets:
