Juvenile or Adult?

[Aunt J]

I'm getting my nephew a Leo for Christmas. He babysat mine for a month and fell in love. (Smart kid!)

For a pet for a responsible child (overseen by a responsible parent), do you recommend starting with a juvenile so the lizard can get used to being handled from a young age, or start off with an adult because they are generally more tame, and possibly more hardy? I've read caresheet after caresheet, but can't figure out what's best. Any advice?

 

[Mel&Keith]

If I were getting a leo as a pet I would go for an adult if I knew that it was tame. The littler ones can get really jumpy and it always makes me nervous. Adults usually move a little slower and tend to be less spastic. That's just my personal opinion though. I'm sure everyone will have different ideas to share.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I agree. The advantage of getting an adult or at least a sub-adult is that they are generally more calm, well-established, better eaters, are showing their adult pattern/coloration, etc. If your nephew is a little older and has some patience, a juvenile might be more fun because he could raise it himself.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

How old is this kid? Are we talking... 9? or like 14? It kinda scared me when you said to get an adult because they are more "hardy". It gave me the impression you had a feeling it won't be taken care of. But for the reasons mentioned above... I say adult.

 

[Aunt J]

He's nine. The Leo will be taken care of and he knows to be gentle, but I say hardy because ... he's still nine. I don't want well intentioned clumsiness to hurt the lizard.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

He's nine. The Leo will be taken care of and he knows to be gentle, but I say hardy because ... he's still nine. I don't want well intentioned clumsiness to hurt the lizard.

I agree, I would deffinately say an adult for the reasons everyone else mentioned. Good luck!

 

[gixxer3420]

I would go with an adult.

 

[BalloonzForU]

My son was 7 when he got his first leo, and it was a hatchling. They were both a little jumpy (my son and the leo), but with time and adult supervision, they did great together. Diego(Leo) is one of the most tame ones I have cause of all the work my son and I did with him. My son is fearful of Diego now, only due to a bite I got from another large male I have, but he's starting to get over it now. For me, I would look at the child, even though he's 9 I would say it's more of a maturity level of the child as to what age leo to get.

 

[acpart]

You might consider, as someone mentioned in passing, a sub-adult --4 or 5 month old who is already a good size but still has some growing and changing to do. I consider the pattern changing process to be a really special part of leo owning.

Aliza

 

[ReptileMan27]

An adult or sub adult would be better, if its somewhat use to being handled. Babies are more jumpy and nervous but I think its always best to raise something.

 

[Aunt J]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I bought an adult today. He's settling into his new home right now. Hopefully he'll be calm and happy by the time Christmas rolls around.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Got any pictures we can see??

 

[Aunt J]

Not yet. He's a regular leo, not one of the exotic morphs, but I think he's beautiful -- greenish, with a nice lavender colored tail. The store called him a "jumbo," which I think was just sales-speak for "adult," because he's not big enough to be a giant. (And I actually think "he's" a "she."

He's been pretty lively, exploring the tank, climbing to the top and back, nosing around the hides. After he'd been in the tank for a number of hours, I gave him a couple of crickets which he made very short work of. No interest in the mealworms, yet.