Easier Alternatives to Challenging Lizards 

Most important: They lick their eyeballs🤓 Thank you for this video! Honestly, most people should not keep varanids at all. It always seems like a good idea at the beginning. But they require a LOT! Even ackies. All Varanus species are intelligent enough to where they know they’re locked in a box, and they generally hate it. But ackies and tree monitors would definitely be the best options size-wise, for anyone who insists on keeping a monitor with limited space. Big guns like Niles are some of the worst. And you can easily find a hatchling for around $40, which makes them even more appealing to people. I hate to think of what happens to all these animals being sold to novices. A shop I used to hang out at received a couple of rescues once while I was there. A Nile and a Black Throat. Both males, and kept in the same enclosure😱. The whole enclosure had to be transported to the shop because the owner was so scared of his OWN animals that he couldn’t even bring himself to open it. When I approached the enclosure, it smelled like death! Because the owner obviously couldn’t clean it at all, and would just open the door a few inches to throw eggs and meat in there to feed them. So the lesson there is that these big lizards are very rough animals that need constant attention and enrichment in order to even have a chance at being a reasonably tame animal. People that don’t put in the required effort end up with a Jurassic Park raptor locked in a box. It’s scary, it’s stressful, and leads to neglect. I can assure most people that the novelty wears off quickly when the daily reality sets in. Sorry for the long-winded comment. It’s a heavy topic for me🧐

Exactly why we have Jewelled lacertas

I think this is a great video, but my issue with it is that most (if not all) of the substitutes are 99% wild caught.

That Mexican alligator lizard 😍😍😍

I've never heard of Mexican Alligator lizards, but they are so pretty! 😍

I love talking about lizards people think I’m crazy I want all these lizards but who cares!!❤️ love this video!

I liked the thumbnail and the title because I love lizards!

I loved this! My husband and I were thinking of adding a lizard to our household, I really was pushing for a chameleon but he wanted something more tolerant of handling. Thank you for introducing us to the false chameleon!

I was always told lacertas were mini tegus .... man I wish Crikey had the personality of a Tegu! Now that I have a lacerta, I’ve actively talked to a lot more JL owners and I’ve come to realize if you get a nice lacerta that doesn’t mind handling you are lucky as heck! I’m on a year and a half of training with Crikey and everytime we make progress we end up taking 3 steps back 🙃 I will say they make for a great challenge! 😂

Such a fun idea for a video! I'm still team true chameleon ;)

I have 2 adult jeweled Lacertas and 7 hatchlings and they are amazing. A very underrated lizard

timore monitors and bue tree monitors are also a very reasonable size and they are GORGEOUSE

The Mexican Alligator Lizard is gorgeous never heard or seen them before

Everyone talks about how handleable cresties are and my Norbert won't let me touch him at all lol.

We had a panther chameleon once he unfortunately didn’t last long I tried telling my mom that there really more for experienced handler‘s but when do moms ever listen LOL

Any title containing the word "lizard" is a must watch for me. I enjoy the more challenging ones, but I do like to have a mix of babies with different ranges of care requirements. I've been itching to add a caiman to the family, but Pubba might be too jealous.

I love this! I'm planning in getting a Chinese water dragon, I even have plans already to build a 6 foot tall, 5 foot wide, 3 foot deep enclosure with a 3x3 12 inch deep pool at the bottom. I love them because I'm obsessed with iguanas but they get way too big and have attitudes but chinese water dragons look really similar and still get a decent size but not as big and seem more handlable, they're just hard to find from a good source😭

I want the whole tokay gecko, attitude, bite and bark

Monitors once tamed down they can be sweet hearts but Ackie are adorable I want one to start.My dream monitor is a crocodile monitor and I plan to have a large area for them in our reptile room.

I have a jeweled lacerta....he is awesome they are very smart

Oh I love ackie monitors, if only I could get one

Great video. This my second year in the reptile hobby.

My dream Herp ( and possibly the final one I’ll get) will be the Pygmy Chameleon, ( I have other lizards, but they’ll be with me for years = Crested gecko,cave gecko,Skunk gecko, eurydactylode,ground gecko,mourning gecko - all live past 8 years ) the only reason I don’t have one yet is because right now they’re all sold out, but I have the vivarium ready and already 2 months+ in development. - Great and very informative and encouraging video by the way !

Is it just me or are the substitutes even harder to find than the animals they are substituting 😂

Great video. Lots of awesome choices in the reptile hobby, some better than others when it comes to being able to care for one in a home environment. We bought 2 female caiman lizards about a month ago and plan on building a 4'x8'x7' enclosure with a 270 gallon tank. They definitely require a large enclosure with lots of wood to climb on and a huge, pristine water area.

I love this video ❤️ Thanks

Abronia Graminea is my #1 dream species and I can’t wait to hopefully find one 😭❤️

My dream lizards are tegus and black dragon monitors, (they are a hyper-melanistic variant of the Asian water monitor) but I have the good sense to not ever get a giant monitor and I just don't have the room or money to setup a tegu, only because I keep a lot of smaller animals in smaller enclosures, I rent a 2 bedroom apartment so I have a reptile room lol! but yah the space is pretty much fully taken. I think one day I'll be in the right place in life to get a tegu, but not until I own my own home and make a lot more money, and I will get there. I think blue tongue skinks can be a good substitute for tegus as well. They are usually docile and have some intelligence.

Chinese Crocodile Lizard is endangered and extremely rare in pet trade. Even you manage to find one, it probably costs at least a couple thousand dollars. So I wouldn't think it would be a realistic substitute for Caiman lizard. The more reasonable substitute IMO is Australian water Dragon. They are omnivores and very hardy. Although still quite rare, they can be found online from time to time and reasonably priced. For Tegu, Jeweled Lacerta is a good substitute, but tend to be more shy. Another option is actually blue tegu. It's still considered black and white tegu, but the size is only 2 to 3 feet.

My Pubba (BW Argentine tegu) is a handful, but he is literally my favorite thing in the entire universe. He sleeps on my belly/neck/face every single night (I've only ever been away from him for 2 nights, which he HATED). We are attached at the hip. He's almost a year old, but he looks as big as a 3 year old- he's gonna be a BIG boy. He free roams, but also has an 8x4x6 enclosure that he loves.

Absolutely loved the video! I loved the content, especially for a new keeper like myself. Great video and content as always!

A caiman lizard is my dream lizard as well, I really hope that one day I will be able to keep one. Thank you for making this videos, I now have a couple more awesome lizards to research that may be more realistic to get some time soon. ❤️ Love the video

Honestly, if I can tame and afford a komodo dragon, I would be the happiest person alive. But that's just a dream 😅

I own a tokay gecko. Yeah they are pretty defensive and bite hard.

I can get canned snails at my pet store cheep

I loved this video Tricia!

Caiman lizards are my dream lizard too. I’m hoping when we move into a house I can get one

Love this video so much great information and a great choice of lizards thank you kiddo hope you are staying safe have a great weekend

I love false chameleon over normal any other chameleon.

I have a Nile monitor I love her but they are evil but won’t change her for nothing

Great video 😁

If you like the tokay gecko for the colors get a Madagascar day gecko

My leopard gecko likes to bite and not let go😂 he will draw blood whenever he bites. I love him anyway though, I can’t get mad at his cute face lol.

This was awesome!! Thank you!! The only lizard I've ever been bit by is one of my female crested geckos. She's wack but she was born that way!! She's calmed down a little since she dropped her tail!

false Chameleons are awesome. I so want one.

when feeding cuban false chameleons, can we feed aquarian snails (from the fish section) and should we dust those with calcium/ vitamins etc. great video, i liked it a lot ‼️

Monkey tail skinks are a DREAM for me as well. Maybe one day, but definitely not anytime soon. I LOVE their hands😭❤️

Love the video, you did a great job!!! The Abronia graminea is one of my dream lizards!!! I think they’re absolutely stunning! One day I hope to be fortunate, luck, and blessed enough to be able to buy captive bred ones! Until then I’ll be happy with my leopard gecko and BTS. 😝 Happy Quarantine! 💚

Love your content. *thumbs up

My dream lizard is the tegu. Not realistic for me. I had been looking at the jeweled Lacerta and loving them. Now I have truly made my decision. Thank you. I just subscribed!

I think my dream lizard that I know I will never be able to get is a sailfin dragon. They just look absolutely AMAZING!! But they are HUGE! Adults get I think bigger than tegus. Not nearly as beefy. But still big. You would need an entire room for one. And they love to climb, so providing climbing opportunities for a huge lizard like that is far beyond what I can give. And I don't know what would be a good alternative to them. They are just in a league of their own.

Amazing video topic. Love your love for reptiles. In my opinion You are the best reptile RU-vidr. 🙂

Caimen’s are also my favorite lizard!

My dream reptile has always been a black dragon. I like to think that I will have one someday but it is highly unlikely

Want a little tagu, but don’t want to pay for The jeweled Lacerta? get a Green ameiva aka dwarf tagu

Axle is still need tons if space 8x4x4 min with 2 feet of substrate

My dream lizard is the Sailfin dragon, I don’t know if I’ll ever have one because they get big and they need a huge water area.

What a great topic!!! Love this! Can you do one for snakes?

Great video! Do you feed your gargoyle geckos live insects?

Interesting how you rate them. :) I have several Monkey tailed skinks, been keeping them for years, whereas Abronia graminea is - and probably forever will remain - an unattainable dream. They are extremely rare, horribly expensive and apparently very hard to care for properly. Personally, I'd say a reasonable alternative for Monkey tailed slinks would be Pink tongue skinks. And a reasonable alternative for Abronia graminea is probably the Emerald skink.

Quick question about beardies, I just adopted an 8 month old, I'm letting him get used to his new enclosure and surroundings. How old will he be when he lies like a couch potato like yours? Right now he is not in the mood to sit in my hand for very long

I think pink tongue skinks are a better alternative for a monkey. Because they both have similar personality and much more cooler actually. Kind of similar looks, just the colors is different but the size is best feature of them.

Great video Tricia! I also love the Caiman lizard but the care is just too much.

Nile monitors are horrible pets for 99% of people. That attitude is just terrible. Someone who wants a big impressive monitor would do far better keeping a black throat monitor. Much nicer animals, no giant pond needed, and just as impressive.

I’ve been looking to keep amphibians, also great video and I love more amphibian related videos

I looove iguanas but you know... size, space, temperament 😬 Not really for me. Luckily I'm also in love with basilisks and Chinese water dragons, I just got my striped basilisk a few days ago!

I want a Rhino Iguana, a Frilled Dragon, or a Dwarf Caimen (spelled that wrong). I don’t have the space for any of them sadly.

I was getting close to deciding to get an caiman lizard but the only thing that stopped me was their diet. But my alternate is something different then your option. My alternate would be a Philippine sailfin dragon. And I have an Ackie, I love to feed him

I gotta say I dont think there is any Substitute for the tokay gecko. They are a unique experience of their own. Also did chinese crocodile lizards drop in price? Last I saw pairs were going for 2.5k

Can you add metric system in idk subbtittles? Personally i can understand how much is 1ft, but for example 24 inch ? Still great video tho

my dream reptile is a Australian water dragon and red eyed crocodile skink

Hi, so my son had a salamander we found in the basement and kept bc it was January and way too cold to let it outside well he fell in love with it and my cat kinda killed the poor guy. So I’ve been trying to find another yellow spotted salamander and have had no luck. Does anybody know where I can order one or pick one up?

Could you do a snake version?

What about Green Iguanas?

I just like BIG lizards, bigger the better

Leachies are literally one of my favorites! But rn I don’t have $1000 to spend😒😭

Hey, I asked this question already on another vid, but I was wondering what you use to edit? It looks like iMovie but seems too good to be iMovie.

Thank you for this video! I tried to order and coupon code doesnt work:(

Whatever you do don’t get a Colombian gold Tegu they may only grow up to be 3 feet but they are aggressive as hell

Isn't the Shinisaurus endangered tho?

6 foot is to small for a lizard what’s gonna get 4 foot that’s way to small a bit bigger than the animal

So, the bare minimum for a caiman lizard is basically the size of my boa enclosure, mmh. I'm sure they'll get along don't you? 😉 jk of course! Kept 2 Chinese vir...eh water dragons in the past bc of size reasons compared to iguanas for instance. They were fantastic pets rather tame for farmed animals living about 15-17 y in my care. However, I probably was lucky and wouldn't recommend them as beginner pets now due the way they are treated in those farms, shipping and so on. Captive bred in the West, different ball game and definitely a good alternative. Well explained by Clint on his episode on them. Awesome topic as always! Can't wait for your snake alternativ video ;-)

i have a pet moss ball and pac man frog they literally to nothing.

Love this vid 1st

Tage😥

brian barczyk has two baby caiman lizard so mayby in the future he breeds them and zoomed sells snails in cans .....escargo lol

Chameleons are my favorite reptiles in the world. :)