If your child wanted to keep a reptile for a pet and you're not sure because you don't have any experience, what would you do?

Here are some of the questions you may ask: Are reptiles good pets for children? Are there any better species for children? Which species of reptiles should you avoid? Are they easy to care for? Which are dangerous? What do you have to know about keeping reptiles at home?

Are Reptiles Good Pets for Children?

Actually you should ask a preliminary question - Is my child enough responsible to look after an animal. So your child should be mature responsible and to care enough of another here you'll understand what kind of dedication is required to keep reptiles as pets. In fact some children can provide the proper care for reptiles, but other children can’t.
The same is with the main question - some reptiles are good pets, they are interesting in their own special way and manageable but of course they do not give the same kind of affection like a dog or cat. Here you will find some advice on which types of reptiles are the best pets for children, and which you should avoid absolutely. From the huge field of potential species we will reduce it into a dozen options.

What Types of Lizards Are Recommended

There are two species. The first is very popular within the pet trade because bearded dragon is an interesting animal which tolerates to be handle by their owners, and is easy to care for .They prefer hot and dry environment and can be kept in an aquarium-style cage.There should be special lighting to supply the necessary UV requirements and heat. Bearded dragons eat both plants and animals. Feed them a variety of vegetables and insects but if you can’t imagine this then the second type would be better for you.
The uromastyx also like it hot and dry and they eat mostly fruits and vegetables.They are even easier than the first type to handle their care requirements. They come from the Middle East and North Africa and are interesting animals which remain a manageable size so you can hold them in one hand. You can give them occasionally an insect as a treat, but the main diet consists of fruits and vegetables.

Lizards Which Are Not Good Pets for Children

There are two species that you should avoid. These are chameleons and iguana. There are several reasons why chameleon are difficult take care of. First their natural environment is tropical or semi-tropical environments, where there is a lot of annual rainfall.
Also they get full sunlight during dayand eat flying and crawling insects. So it would be extremely difficult to duplicate these conditions at home. The chameleon does not live long if there is no proper food diversity, humidity level or amount of UV lighting. Vets agree with this because they know that chameleons suffer from a lot of illnesses and disorders.
With iguanas things are completely different, the problem is their size. You will be surprised when you understand how large these lizards can grow - about six feet in length! And they are good climbers. There are of course other lizards which could be interesting pets for children, but they will need a 55 - gallon terrarium for their entire lives.

What Do You Think About Keeping Snakes As Pets?

We can understand those parents who wrinkle their nose only with mentioning this idea. All people who have seen the movies like Anaconda, where large serpents chase eat humans would be even terrified of this idea. Almost all depictions of snakes in movies are false. There are many snakes completely harmless to humans which grow up to 4 to 5 feet.
One the most popular snake species which children and adults keep as pets is corn snake. They are reluctant to bite and over the time they become tame. They grow up to 4 1/2 to 5 feet in length and have attractive colors and patterns. You should feed them about once a week with sized rodent, should give fresh drinking water and provide a source of heat in order to thermoregulate.
Another popular reptile pet is ball python, but they are not that easy to care for. They often refuse meals when their environmental conditions are not ideal. This could be a serious problem. Not all ball pythons are finicky to refuse a meal. Some of them do not this problem at all But you should have in mind that they have very different "food personalities. There are other types of snakes which are also a good choice. We shouldn’t forget kingsnake, gopher snake and rat snake as they do not have difficult care requirements, and grow less than six feet in length.

There Are Certain Types of Snakes Which You Should Avoid

Type you should avoid are gigantic and venomous as they are absolutely inappropriate as a pet choice. So to have Burmese python at home as a pet is abnormal idea.

Having Turtles and Tortoises

There are different kinds of turtles and tortoises should understand the difference between these two main species. Turtles are interesting semi-aquatic animals which spend most of their life in water, while tortoises are land-dwelling animals. These primary differences lead to different requirements to look for these animals.
You should keep turtle species in an aquarium-style cage, but for tortoises you can use a large terrarium, or even you can keep them outdoors as they are not very fussy. Some types of tortoises become really huge and are bad good choice to be kept as a pet. So do not have Aldabra at home if you do not have outdoor space for it.

You Should Check out the Reptile Laws in Your Country Or State

You will soon understand that to have reptiles as pets it means a lot of of homework and research. Your first research should include reading all reptile laws in the state. There are some places, for example, where it is forbidden to keep one of the most popular reptiles - corn snake. In Georgia, they are outlawed in order to deplete native populations.