The Best Lizards for a Beginner Pet Owner

Lizards can make an interesting first pet for beginner pet owners, if the right type is selected. Bearded dragons, some geckos and the blue-tongued skink are good choices. Even young children can successfully learn the basic steps required to care for one of these smaller lizards. Larger lizards like the green iguana are another option, but they are somewhat less suited to new pet owners because of their size and care requirements.

  1. Bearded Dragons

    • The bearded dragon is a medium-size lizard, reaching 17 to 20 inches long in adulthood. Despite its somewhat frightening appearance, it is generally "user-friendly" and tolerates being handled quite well. Young pet owners will enjoy playing it with and watching it in its glass tank, where it is typically active for extended periods during the day. Feeding the dragons is the main challenge for beginner pet owners, since they need a careful balance of insects and vegetables. This balance changes throughout the lizard's life, so its owner will need to keep careful track of what it needs at each stage.

    Blue-Tongued Skinks

    • This skink is similar in size and temperament to the bearded dragon and requires a comparably sized tank. It eats a diet of vegetables, worms and insects. It is quieter at night than the dragon and only slightly less docile. Like the dragon, it is active in the daytime hours, a plus for young pet owners who want to watch it move around. It has the longest life span of the lizards discussed, sometimes living as long as 20 years. The main downside is its cost, which is considerably higher than the price of either the bearded dragon or geckos.

    Leopard Geckos

    • Leopard geckos are small lizards that tolerate frequent handling. They come in a variety of color patterns and are not expensive compared to most other lizards. Their diet is simple for new pet owners to manage -- they eat live crickets, readily available at pet stores that sell reptiles. As this gecko grows, feeding costs rise, since an adult may eat 10 to 15 live crickets every other day. This species has one disadvantage for very young pet owners: They are largely nocturnal and are not very active during the hours when a young child is awake to enjoy them.

    More Challenging Lizard Pets

    • As pet owners become comfortable with the requirements of caring for these "beginner" lizards, they may opt to move on to other varieties. One option is the green iguana; it is not particularly difficult to care for, but it does require a much larger tank and more food than its smaller cousins, and it does not tolerate handling as well. Chameleons and anoles are other choices to consider. They typically fall in size between the gecko and the skink and eat comparable diets. They are climbing lizards, however, so they require more elaborate setups in their tanks, including leafy wooden branches.