Every pet type has its own guidebook of best tips and methods of raising. If it’s the tips for choosing the right pet for you, the necessary equipment, caring habits and more. The same is true for your Lizard. Here are our recommended tips for raising a lizard.
Choosing the Lizard Right for You
Before we delve into the tips for raising your lizard, let’s start at the very beginning – so you end up with the right lizard for your level of experience.
Regardless of the species you choose to get, ensure you find a captive bred lizard from a reputable breeder. Why? Because wild-caught lizards are usually much more stressed, difficult to train and they’re also more prone to parasites and sickness.
Since you’re probably a beginner in the pet lizard world (experienced lizard owners will probably skip a beginner’s guide) – you should definitely get lizards that are more suitable for beginners, like Leopard Geckos (small and easy to handle, don’t require special UV lighting), Bearded Dragons (also easy to handle, but require a larger tank and UV lighting), and Green Anoles (small and don’t require a big tank, but do require a full spectrum UV lighting, and aren’t as easy as Leopard Geckos).
Don’t Forget Your Lizard’s Calcium
Like most pets, Lizards also need their calcium. Some breeds need daily calcium dusted feeders, while others need it only every now and then. Juvenile and breeding female lizards typically need more calcium. Make sure to do a thorough research of your lizard breed and its specific calcium requirements. Overdose of calcium supplements (or any other vitamin) for a lizard can be as dangerous as under-supplementing (which can lead to metabolic bone deficiency, causing the lizard’s bones to be weak and easily fracture).
Don’t Forget Your Lizard’s Health Checks
As with any other pet, regular health checks at a Veterinarian are crucial for your lizard. The first check should be made within 48 hours from bringing your lizard pet home. This is important in order to get a health baseline established for your lizard. You’ll want to find any possible issues as early as possible.
Later on, you can schedule a checkup either once a year (for the less concerned), or every 4 months (for the very caring owners). In our opinion, it’s definitely worth the money to visit a vet at least every 6 months. It’s wiser to do these checkups and not find anything, than skip a few checkups and then suddenly find a serious disease.
You should remember though, that most of your emergency vet trips will probably be caused by your mistakes, like giving your lizard improper food, hygiene issues, etc.
If you’re living out of town, far away from any specialized vet who knows his way with Lizards, you can try a professional mobile vet that can come to your home. If you’re living in Australia for example, where the distance between places can be vast, you can try this mobile veterinary in Sydney.
Vet checkups for a lizard range anywhere between $20 to a few hundred dollars, depending on the issue.
Ensure Proper Temperature and Lighting
If you wish to avoid calling for an emergency mobile vet, make sure that heat and light are provided to your lizard. These are essential to its health. Lizards are cold-blooded and depend on heat, and invisible UV rays. Lizards require a range of temperatures so they can regulate their body temperature. As mentioned before, do your research about your specific lizard breed to know exactly what sort of heat and UV your lizard requires.
Keep it Humid
Humidity is another crucial environment factor that you need to control – in order to make your lizard happy and healthy. We recommend you get a hygrometer to constantly measure the humidity, so you can always adjust it properly according to your specific lizard’s requirements (which you will find in your research!). Improper humidity often leads to skin shedding problems.
Provide Your Lizard with a Proper Diet
As soon as you finish your research about the lizard you plan to buy, you’ll also know what type of food it eats. For example, Leopard Geckos eat live insects, but do not eat plants or veggies. We recommend giving them mealworms or superworms once a week. Just for your budget information – insects like mealworms, crickets or roaches cost anywhere from 5-20 cents a piece.
Finally – are you searching for the perfect name for your lizard? If you need any help – read this post of ours about some tips…:)
