Pet lizards make wonderful pets and owning a pet such as this is a unique and worthwhile experience. Caring for your lizard requires lots of patience and to some degree, experience. There are many points to consider before you truly commit to owning a domestic pet such as this. Your pet lizard will require more care than a snake and attention to detail is important when caring for them. You must ensure that you're fully ready to commit to owning and caring for a pet lizard and if you've had no previous pet owning experience it's worth doing lots of research beforehand.
To help you better understand how to care for a pet lizard, we have enlisted some helpful tips below to ensure that you're fully equipped to care for your pet lizard.
Maintaining your Lizards diet
All species of lizards require feeding every day and often the diet varies between species. Some species should be fed on commercial food bought from a pet food shop, whilst other species require live prey as part of their balanced diet. Some species of lizards require a diet that is unique to them. Once you have decided on what species of lizard you wish to own, then it is recommended that you do your research on their preferred diet. You can also seek advice from your local vets.
Maintaining the correct environment for your pet lizard
Lizards require a certain amount of space in order to thrive and live happily. Before bringing home your pet lizard you must know the size of them as they're young and their full size when they reach adulthood. Some lizards grow very large such as iguanas. These species of lizards require lots of space in order to move around and feel free.
Lizards require ultraviolet light and therefore you should provide a good source so they get their required dose. It's best to speak to your vets about this and gets some helpful guidance on how much and how often they need this.
You must also ensure that you provide the correct heating requirements for your pet lizard. Some pet lizards require heating gradients that go above one temperature zone in their tank. You may also need a device such as a hygrometer to help measure the humanity of the tank.
Can different lizard species live together?
Caring for a lizard is very niche and requires lots of detail and patience. Not all species of lizard are able to live happily together. You will need to research the species you're interested in before deciding whether they can happily live together. You will need to focus on their behaviours and determine if they are suitable playmates.
The importance of Bonding with your Lizard
Lizards are known for being more attentive to their owners than other reptiles and respond well to their owner's behaviours and commands. They're more active, which makes them more interesting and much more fun.
Lizards prefer not to be picked up and handled 24/7 and nor do they like to be left alone all day! Too much handling or too little handling can create stress for your lizard and nervous behaviour. As always do your research first on the particular species. They require regular visits to the vets like other domestic pets and you must observe them all the time to check that they're healthy and happy. Owning a lizard is a full-time commitment, not just when they're young and cute.
Before bringing home your lizard you must make sure that they're eating well and look for any injuries, cuts or anything else that is visibly wrong. You want to ensure that the lizard is a captive breed and not taken from the wild.
If you are looking to buy a lizard please make sure to visit our Reptiles for sale in the UK section.