Thinking Of Getting A Lizard, Need Suggestions.

[Commander Cool]

Next year I'm headed to college and I am allowed only one 10 gallon tank. I am thinking of asking if instead of having fish could I have a lizard instead. I was looking at leapard geckos and house geckos. The leapards were $25 and the house was $5. Are there any other types of lizards besides these 2 that would work in a 10 gallon?

 

[demonmagus]

although people do say leo's only need 10 gallons, I think that is too small tbh, they can grow quite long, also they may say 10 gallons, but that could just mean 10 gallons of water

 

[grahamsokel]

I am hopless on sizes of a 10g tank but i dont keep any of my leos in anything smaller than a 2ft viv as an adult they can reach around 8-10"

 

[demonmagus]

2ft would probably be around 15- 20 gallons


I realised my first post might be confusing. Maybe the rules say you can only have 10 gallons of water, so you may be able to have a larger 'dry' fish tank set up for a lizard

 

[Commander Cool]

So if 10 is not enough for a leo what lizard would you suggest?

 

[demonmagus]

sorry I don't know, I just know a bit about leos

 

[grahamsokel]

You could go for some of the smaller Geckos
there is Pictus,or the smaller Banded geckos.If you look on www.thelizardwizard.co.uk it will give you some ideas on what smaller species there is although he is in the UK so you could only use it as a guide

 

[Auratus]

If you are only allowed 10 gallons just get a terrarium that is longer and shorter, but still equal to ten gallons. Like what Demon was saying. The standard ten gallon is only 2ft.

Or you could be sneeky and get a 20 long I doubt they are gonna know the difference.

Leos are easy first time lizards. I think you should go with them since you are limited on space.

 

[Commander Cool]

Ok, well I don't even know if I am allowed to have a lizard, I'll have to wait and see what they say. Thanks for the info.

 

[grahamsokel]

Ok, well I don't even know if I am allowed to have a lizard, I'll have to wait and see what they say. Thanks for the info.

Probably a good idea because although you are still planning on using the same size tank they may object to the live crickets.
I know my nephew had both a rat snake and 2 leos at collage with him but he had to bring the leos home because of a slight problem with escaped Crickets
No matter how carefull you are escaped crickets are a part of reptile keeping

 

[RandomWiktor]

Honestly, with only 10g, I'd consider a smaller species, a fish, or an invertebrate. However, if you do choose to go with leopard geckos, perhaps try to get as others have suggested a tank with a 10 gallon capacity but a larger floor area; many reptile expos sell tanks that are essentially a 20 long but cut down to have only a 10g capacity. You could only keep one either way as they're not a terribly social species and would definately fight in confined quarters. Just remember, that 10g tank needs to somehow fit 3 hides (one dry and cool, one intermediate, and one warm and moist), a suitable temperature gradient with a good 10 degrees difference from the hot and cold side, a water bowl, and a calcium dish. Also, never use sand, even the so-called "digestible" sand, since leos are notorious for eating the sand and getting impactions. Feeding out of the tank is also advised to prevent consuming any of the bedding, even if it is just paper towel.

 

[grahamsokel]

i never use sand for babys but i have used Bird sand for my adults for 15 years and not once have i lost a leo to impaction.The biggest majoraty of leo owners in the UK use sand for adults

 

[flamingonhot]

If you can keep lizards, I would honestly keep an anole or two. Although a lot of people say they can never be kept in a tank that size- i've had them in those sizes successfully over my whole life (i'm only 15 but i've kept like 70 of them). Actually, feeding and the like is easier in ten gallons. Just make sure you provide them with enough areas to climb and get some exercise...

The only other lizard that pops into my head are long-tailed skinks, but, i'd still suggest a bigger tank. The skink would definitely be temporary.

Oh, there's dwarf/leaf chameleons... but they're harder to keep, expensive, and really hard to find compared to most other lizards.

 

[Commander Cool]

Ok, thanks for all the suggestions. Skinks live around me and I have seen some massive ones in the wild. I'm going to visit the college in April so when I go I will ask them and see what they say. Even if they say a lizard would be fine, I might still just stick with fish.

 

[FishRfine]

leopard geckos rock! I have one and shes the cutest thing alive.