Online gamers beware! (Exotic Pets)

i want one

You can get baby bearded dragons at almost any pet store. You can also find a lot of larger/older beardies up for adoption over at PetFinder.com. Before you get one though, you absolutely MUST do research on the species and I recommend visiting the bearded dragon forums at RepticZone.com. You can't just stick a bearded dragon in an aquarium and expect it to like you and survive. There's special equipment you need, a good bit of food and veggies to pick up every week, and a relationship you have to form and build over time. Exotic animals like Taz make great pets only when you build a lasting relationship with them. They do not want to be your friend at first and will not recognize you as a master like a dog or cat would. Once you build that relationship, then they trust you with their life. In Taz's case, I went to great lengths to socialize him with other people and pets, plus have his care right on target (he even went to a vet last July). He's 19.5 inches in full length and almost 11 months old.

Baby Taz:



Good luck if you do get one! They're quite a conversation piece if you properly acclimate and socialize them. You have to be right on top of their health though because they don't give you much warning if they get sick! Even the vets can't always help as I learned. (:(

RIP Australian water dragon, Rocky:



Anyone else have any lizards, snakes, geckos, servals, wolves, or other exotic pets? I'm sure people with the larger ones don't want to talk about them given all this absolutely rediculous anti-exotic pet ownership laws that have been springing up like crazy everywhere. I've met someone's pet cougar somewhere sometime in the past and it was really sweet, after going over the basics of what is aggressive vs. what is playful. Of course, if you don't know what you're doing you'll lose an arm.

ive never considered getting a reptile for a pet except when i was a child and wanted a snake....but your pics of your bearded dragon with the controllers....i want one now
that way ill always have someone to play games with

I have two sugar gliders. Ironically enough one is named Bambi and the other... Taz.


Google pics


GF and Taz on her shoulder


Bambi getting ready to glide

Lol! Taz loves to pose for pictures so it's pretty easy to place him atop the controller or poke it so it gets his interest. On the Xbox360 controller he tends to bite the red and green buttons probably because he thinks they might be strawberry or lettuce/greens/peas. It can be very entertaining to just place him somewhere in a room and see what he does, especially now that he understands that when I say "no" it means turn around or I'm going to come pick you up. I don't think a beardie would ever play a game with its owner when it comes to video games, but they will watch TV with you and even respond to things on the TV. There was a Turok commercial on recently and Taz saw it. He started bobbing his head when the T-Rex came on the screen! Another funny thing he does is wave at me if I spritz him with water (I normally do this every other day once in the morning when he's just getting to basking).

I think my favorite thing about owning reptiles so far is that you grow with them. They don't like you at first (Taz used to nip me) or outright hate you (Rocky would thrash, poop, and tail-smack anyone that tried to pick him up during the first month along with not eating or moving around much in front of me or guests). But over the course of a few weeks and months they grow to bond with you and become attached. Taz tends to pout in his cage until I bring him out and let him ride on my shoulder, explore my room, or investigate (AKA interrupt!) what I'm doing. He will cuddle too. He even likes to "harass" the dog by trying to lick him (you should see it when the dog runs away and Taz chases him just to lick his paw!). Before Rocky had to be put down I could actually put him on a leash for a walk outside or sit him on a body board in the pool and swim with him (water dragons love water...he was like a little torpedo!). I miss him. (:( Both of them would seek me for protection or be content with me being around. Rocky had to be put down before I could socialize him, but Taz is friendly to everyone he meets...except spiders and other bugs he catches intruding into the house.

Pretty neat. I've only seen those on TV and have yet to see them in person. There's always ferrets and other small animals available, but not even the exotic pet shop I bought Taz from in the nearby city (Harrisburg, PA) has these (they did have this neat F1 Savannah cat that headbutts/scares customers who don't understand that that means). I bet it's rather entertaining to see how sugar gliders use things around a house or in an enclosure. I bet you catch them in some interesting places like at the top of window blinds/drapes. I know I caught Taz hanging almost upside down in his cage once apparently because he got bored.

While I unfortunately don't have any exotic pets (unless you call my guppies exotic... didn't think so), I work with and train raptors (eagles, owls, and the like), and, I must say, you've done an awesome job training a socializing that guy. If you keep working on it, you can train him to do all sorts of things. I tried to teach my cat to make me a sandwich, but, that was slightly above his intelligence level. And, he tended to eat the lunch meat...

And, if I can add my two cents about your next critter, I'd get the Maine Coon. They're an awesome breed of cat, are usually super friendly, and are generally VERY intelligent. It's not uncommon for them to learn out how to open doors, since their large paws tend to make turning door knobs easier.

However, and I don't think I have to warn you about this, but I'd watch the cat like a hawk around the Bearded Dragon, until you're pretty sure that he doesn't want a new toy to play with....

Very awesome, I've always wanted a lizard. Thought about getting an iguana before, but they seem so common as far as larger lizards for pets. I wanna get something a little different.

I had no idea that lizards could be socialized in the way that you have done it, at least as far as the interactions you talk about... I only knew that they'd get bonded and would be friendly, i.e. sitting on your shoulder or something, as most pets will(I have a cockatiel who is very friendly towards me, but pretty protective of his cage hehe).

I was gonna say something else... but I'm sick and can't remember.

I went with a friend to buy a fully grown one , the person at the petshop said they are tame and my friend held one, they are massive .......I was like a scared pup lol but they seem really melo creatures in hindsight. Yeah bearded dragons from what Ive been told are probably the best house pet lizards you could get.



Would love to do something like that , I know you need to know alot regarding keeping them and handling them but I imagine thats a fulfilling thing to do. Really cool photos all , I like pets and such , dont have any exotic ones just a really cute black lab puppy, well its a cross between a lab and a spaniel

Im actually thinking "Bearded Dragons" MAY be a cool clan name

Don't get a live pet if you cannot afford to care for them. I can't afford to, so no pet here.

I have two himalayan persians... does that count?

I want a gecko as well... I'm just worried that it would eventually get tired of running around the ceiling and come down and get eaten.

I did buy a guinea pig once... and had one given to me before that... I bought the second one because I saw some kids poor mother considering buying him one... it became my cats favorite thing in the house for the next few hours

Haha awesome Bearded Dragon, I have one named Pogo. They are cool critters but sometimes they are a bit messy and stinky.