Help me decide on which critter to get?

[DracoKat]

Hi all! New to the forums.

I am also new to reptiles in general. I used to have Anoles when I was younger, but, I did not have the proper education on caring for them. I've been doing a lot of reading up on Anoles and geckos.

So, I have no idea what I'd like to get.. Anoles, a gecko, bearded dragon, a small snake of sorts.. I don't want anything too large. One that can be safely handled (mostly by me, but I have nieces that would want to hold them as well), but also content to be left alone most of the time.

I won't mind feeding live animals, however, it seems live feeder mice are hard to come by, unless I am not looking in the right stores. Unless a snake will readily eat frozen mice...

I want to share my plans with you, and hopefully you guys can come up with some suggestions. Depends on what you guys feel is best for my plans below, i will look into proper equipments (lights, heat, etc.). I like frogs, but I am not interested in them.

For starters, I do not have a cage yet. I am considering a 15 or 20 gallon long glass aquarium (dollar a gallon at +++++ when it goes up for sale again). Maybe longer, depends on what I can find.

I'd love to put real plants inside to make it a more attractive terrarium. I like things to look natural as possible as I can't stand fake stuff (heck, I don't have anything fake in my FW Planted!). I was reading that dirt/sandy bottoms are not a smart idea for most critters.. I won't mind the plants in pots either. Can someone suggest a good bottom for a tank? I'd also like to put in a piece of wood for basking, as well as some climbing rocks.

My layout would be (picture this..) one side of the tank would be pretty much open, minus a branch for basking. This is where the basking light would be. The dish of water and food would be in this side too. The other side of the tank will be more dense with plants and climbing rocks to offer lots of hiding space. I may create a cave of sorts with the rocks. I will have an under tank heater on this side.

Plants will depend on which critter is chosen.. Bearded Dragons is more of a desert critter, so I'd go with more desert like plants.

phew, sorry, I wanted to put as much details and thoughts as I can offer to help get the right critter. Any advice/suggestions??

 

[elliotulysses]

Sounds like you want a dragon! No uth is needed, just basking and uvb lights.
If you wanted a snake your plant idea might be good for a green tree python, but those are considered an intermediate animal. I'd say go simple with the plants and try a ball python

 

[Ruvik]

If you want a beautiful planted tank i would go with a crested gecko. You can do a nice jungle theme with them and they loooooove real plants. There are a bunch of videos all over youtube on hot to make tanks for them. They stay a little small, have really cool morphs, and you can put eco earth on the bottom of their tank, meaning you can plant real plants right into the eco earth. You wont have to worry about impaction seeing as not many crested geckos walk on the bottom of their cages, they love to climb and will stay up in the plants most of the time. They dont really need lighting or too much heating as long as they stay about 78-80ish. The only thing you really have to worry about is humidity. Becareful when using real plants though. You need to get some with no fertilizer or insecticides on them. I've seen many cages for crested geckos and I find them beautiful to the eye.