Thought I would add my pennies worth .......... My family used to own a reptile shop in Bradford (granted, 25yrs ago!) and I have always had a keen interest in herps.

I personally recommend a garter snake as a 1st time herp as they are very cheap to buy, very easy to maintain/look after, will take food via a dish (white fish for the 1st 6 months then grow on to pinkies) and will probably never bite (99.9999999 sure!).

If he wants a lizard, I would go for Tokay gecko (JOKING!!! PLEASE DONT EVEN LOOK @ TOKAYS LOL), I would go for a babie dragon as super placid!

Hope this helps

Jay

i started with an adult corn and he's brill, well behaved and i've never been biten by him. trouble is he's 5ft something long so can be difficult to handle if its a child handling him. hatchlings grow up fast too. we got a hatchling back in feb (well six months old) and he/she has grown fast s/he's about 1.5 foot now.

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I think you should get a bearded dragon as they are friendlier than leopard geckos. To be honest, they are so nice and also relatively easy to look after, I'd say let him get one now. It'll show him responsibility and how important it is to look after animals nicely.

Go to google and search for bearded dragon care sheet.

It's really good that you're doing your research now because a lot of people just go to a pet shop and buy one and have no idea how to look after it. Many people trust in the pet shop that they buy the animals from and most pet shops have no idea how to take care of different reptiles. (I'd recommend you bought off a breeder). Try this forum too, there seem to be more members than on this one and more members = more help. Reptile Forums UK - Care, Pictures, Classifieds & More

Hope I helped, if you need anything else, just send me a private msg.

Sam

Our first herps were an adult beardie and a corn snake. Both species are very calm, docile and great first pets. Id also recomend royal pythons, they are bigger then corn snakes but make fantastic pets very tame and freindly. First time owners of any herp would be better off with an adult as they tend to be slower and less jumpy. You can often buy them with the complete set up too. Putting one together yourself can be quite daunting.

OMG you scared me when i thought you were Recommended a Tokay for a kid lol! XD


Leopard Geckos are fairly easy to maintain, and not terribley expensive

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Another option to look at is a Western Hognose. The males only grow to around 2ft (females around 3ft) so they are a nice, handleable size for a youngster. The babies are a lot less flighty than a corn and far easier to handle. You also, very rarely, have any feeding problems with them as they're greedy little snakes.

If he definitely wants a four legged creature though then a beardie or a nicely grown on leopard gecko which is used to being handled are both good choices.

You also need to be aware that a leopard gecko will live happily in a 2ft viv, a western hognose in a 2ft - 3ft and a beardie will need a 4ft viv (adult sizes quoted) so if space is an issue then that should form part of the decision.

I hope he enjoys his research.

yes I know what you mean. My daughter desperately wants a baby male australian water dragon, trouble is we live in somerset and the only ones I can find for sale are in places like Co. Durham! Where do people get these lizards from? They are rarer than unicorns!!! So being too young isn' the only reason for having to wait; not being able to buy on is a worse fate!

Look on some reptile based forums. There are some wonderful breeders and keepers around who don't advertise themselves much as they only want to sell to the reptile keeping community and like to be sure of who they are selling to, so reptile based forums allow them to talk to potential buyers and then send the animal via something like reptile taxi (who are VERY reliable).

Reptile shops are usually not a great place to buy from, as they tend to keep so many different species that catering to all their individual needs exactly would be very costly and time consuming for them, so they simply can't. They also tend to get a fair amount of wild caught animals, when can bring mites and all sorts into the shop and can end up affecting every animal there.

Honestly, i know it's more hastle to buy from an indipendent person, but the animal is usually in a much better condition and you are more likely to get sound advice.

Hope that helps


Oh, and Tinx. You should probably menchon that hoggies are rear fang venemous while you're suggesting them. They arn't considered dangerous, but if bitten it can make your hand swell up for a couple of days.. not wanting to put people off, but it would be aweful if they bought one without knowing.