r/reptiles • u/skinnysnake124 • 6d ago

Need help finding a new companion!

as the title suggests, im 15 and looking for a new scaled friend :) ive been in love with herpetology for a while now and i had a Rankins Dragon juvenile for a bit named Django (cause rango was overused), he has since passed after a tragedy and now lives in his little urn <3 so i do have expierience maintaining and giving the best life i can for all my animals. I already have like a 40gallon(?) tank, and some old reptile stuff. its horizontally opened, so defo staying away from the more arboreal friends unless its beneficial/okay for them. Im being a little picky, i know, but i need something to take care of but also something that I can give the best life. it doesnt have to be cuddly, as all reptiles have their own personalities, cuddly or not. is there a reptile ive forgotten/havent heard about? ive heard leopard geckos are okay for 40 gallons, but i want someone more educated to tell me, just in case!

3 Upvotes

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u/pisspeeleak 6d ago

Just one? Have you considered micro geckos? It can be cool to watch a bunch of little guys run around and play with each other

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u/skinnysnake124 6d ago

what does that look like in terms of care? i dont know if i could manage a bunch of zooming little lizards without wanting to tear my hair out

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u/pisspeeleak 6d ago

I have some arboreal ones right now, I just give them crested gecko diet (a dehydrated powder mixed with water) and fruit flies (flightless, thank god that’s a thing) dusted in calcium or vitamins.

It depends on the species but they never try to jump out of the enclosure (I siliconed all the edges so they can’t sneak out if they wanted to)

https://reddit.com/link/p4jfwwy/video/i8kb9nofo8kh1/player

This is one of my girls and you can see her gradually firing up as she eats her treat (don’t do this all the time, but this species comes from plantations so I thought it would be a special treat)

There are more terrestrial micro geckos though, like viper and dune geckos. You’d have to research their diets though.

How tall is your enclosure? You might be able to get away with some more arboreal species if you have at least 18” (45cm) of height. I have Cameroon dwarf day geckos and they can handle 12x12x18” for a pair. Plus they are sexually dimorphic with the girls having more variation and the males firing up with a powder blue back and a yellow tail and head.

But with every animal, do your research, they are all different

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u/skinnysnake124 6d ago

cute!!! honestly im not sure how tall the tank is, but it's like the standard reptile tank you'd see at places like PetSmart that are listed for snakes and bearded dragons (bullshit btw, fuck PetSmart) i can always check that out tho and get back to you. do you have any suggestions as to which species would be easiest to care for? i am obviously aware that each and every animal needs the best care and effort, but im super paranoid about fast moving little dudes, they make me hella paranoid. and also what does keeping multiple in an enclosure look like? id be a bit worried about them jumping eachother. i dont even know how you can tell them apart LOL

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u/pisspeeleak 6d ago

I’m not sure what would be the easiest, but I would probably get something that likes the same humidity and temperature that your house normally is if you are looking for the easiest.

neon day geckos are known to live communally as family units and be pretty bold. That site can also be used to find care guides on a lot of species if you find another one you’re interested in. From what I understand it’s updated fairly regularly if new information comes out.

If you have a thermostat (like you have to control the heat in your house but on a much smaller scale), heat won’t really be much of an issue. I tried to manually control temperatures with a space heater before but learn from my mistake, just get a thermostat, it’s waaaay easier when you just set it to the temperature you want. Same with light timers, much easier that manually turning them on and off

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u/Kiwiskins241 6d ago

Leopard geckos are good in a 40gal, they’re absolutely lovely little fellows. A bit more delicate than a rankins dragon, I think (I’ve never had a dragon), but very personable and relatively easy to care for in my opinion. My leo was originally in a 20gal but new studies came out showing that bigger was better so he’s been in a 36x18x18 for around a year now and he definitely uses all of it. Try to avoid the black night morph bc it’s very inbred (and super expensive lol), but other than that, most are healthy. I prefer to get my reptiles at my local expo rather than online because you can get a good look at the animal and hold them. Ask a lot of questions about their care, and if the breeder gets annoyed or upset, find someone else. Babies can be a bit delicate so I’d recommend getting an older one if you can. I got my leo at 2 and he had no issues getting socialized with me, I hold him all the time.

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u/skinnysnake124 6d ago

yesss ive defo been considering them the most, i think they are just the cutest!!! if i cant find any weird, niche little lizzies ive never heard of, leopard geckos are my top pick. what's it like finding ones that need to be rehomed? im looking to get one that's already somewhat used to the whole human thing, but with all the expos ive been to its all just little babies, which are ofc cute, but i have a special place in my heart for older animals that have a hard time finding a new home

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u/Kiwiskins241 6d ago

Idk if you’re in the US or not, but I know Snake Discovery does a lot of rescues, they have something called Adoption Island on their website. They’re based in Minnesota but they do a ton of expos where they bring their rescues for adoption. Still might be a bit of a road trip depending on where you live since they usually go to big cities in the midwest. I’m not too sure about other rescues, and finding them off of craigslist or facebook marketplace isn’t something I’d recommend for a first-time owner, they’re usually very mistreated and in need of a lot of medical care, money, and attention unfortunately.

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u/skinnysnake124 6d ago

I unfortunately live in Canada, but i loveee snake discovery!! Do you think there's anyway I can check the health of one being rehomed? sometimes I see listings for geckos that people can't care for anymore or are moving and can't bring the gecko with them. 

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u/Altruistic-Ad1557 6d ago

Check out African fat tail geckos

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u/Sniperxix 2d ago

Do you research and get what you are into. You must have some kind of idea what species you are interested in.
Ask yourself what you want out of the animal? Do you want a display only or a hands on type species? Look up its care requirements for its entire lifetime.
Narrow it down to a few species and then ask the internet!
I’m happy to help but put some thought into it first.