Oh Lucky & Pepper, I do highly recommend both lizards and snakes. I have two species of chameleon, 6 leopard geckos, two uromastyxes, a tomato frog, and 3 cornsnakes. I have in the past also owned crocodile skinks,
bearded dragons, crested geckos, and viper geckos.
If you have room for them beardies make great first time reptile pets, tolerate handling pretty well-easy care-hardy, etc. But they do need space and expensive light.
Same goes for Mali Uromastyx.
Leopard geckos and crested geckos are cheaper and make good beginner reptiles but aren't as interesting to observe.
Cornsnakes are very tame and easy to care for and have fairly affordable requirements and they come in so many varieties. I love mine to death.
Basically they're all great if you research them ahead of time to know what they need (their needs differ so much from mammals), find a good reptile vet, and know what to expect from them. So many people end up doing harm to or getting rid of reptiles because they expect them to be scaley versions of mammals that love human contact and attention and show affection. Some are more social and handleable than others, but none of them love a lot of handling and they just don't have it in them to cuddle and show affection.
Let us know if you end up getting something scaley. I just love the little critters!
I'm considering getting some kind of reptile or amphibian, but I doubt my parents would let me. I'll probably have to wait until I'm in college before I can get any more pets. :/
