The care guides
Reptile species we cover
We're building the warmest, most trustworthy reptile care library there is — starting with the best first reptiles to the advanced species, each one fact-checked before we publish it.
28 of 28 fully sourced
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Lizards
Bearded Dragon
The friendly, hand-tame beginner lizard — the most popular pet reptile there is.
Arid basking lizard✓ Care guide
Blue Tongue Skink
The docile, dog-like omnivore lizard — hardy and full of personality once you learn its varied diet.
Omnivorous skink✓ Care guide
Veiled Chameleon
The iconic colour-shifting, swivel-eyed lizard — mesmerising to watch, but a look-don't-touch display animal.
Chameleon✓ Care guide
Ackie Monitor
The dwarf monitor with a dog's smarts — an interactive, dinosaur-like lizard for a dedicated keeper.
Monitor lizard✓ Care guide
Uromastyx
The sun-worshipping desert herbivore — brilliant colours, no live food, and a lifespan that can top 25 years.
Arid basking lizard✓ Care guide
Argentine Tegu
The famously dog-tame giant lizard — intelligent, interactive, and a room-sized commitment.
Tegu✓ Care guide
Savannah Monitor
The stocky African monitor sold as a bargain beginner lizard — rewarding, but genuinely advanced and too often kept badly.
Monitor lizard✓ Care guide
Panther Chameleon
The living jewel of the chameleon world — dazzling colour, and a strict look-don't-touch display animal for a careful keeper.
Chameleon✓ Care guide
Jackson's Chameleon
The tiny-triceratops chameleon — the males' three horns are unmistakable, but its cool, humid montane needs trip up many keepers.
Chameleon✓ Care guide
Red-Eyed Crocodile Skink
The tiny "dragon" of the skink world — armoured, orange-eyed and famously shy; a humidity-loving display animal, not a handling pet.
Tropical (humid) skink✓ Care guide
Green Anole
The little green colour-changing lizard sold cheaply everywhere — charming and active, but a delicate, hands-off display animal, not a handling pet.
Arboreal lizard✓ Care guide
Geckos
Leopard Gecko
The classic starter gecko — hardy, handleable, and no big lights needed.
Arid ground gecko✓ Care guide
Crested Gecko
The no-heat-lamp, fruit-eating arboreal gecko — arguably the easiest reptile to start with.
Tropical arboreal gecko✓ Care guide
Gargoyle Gecko
The crested gecko's hardy cousin — same room-temp, powdered-diet care, but it regrows its tail.
Tropical arboreal gecko✓ Care guide
African Fat-Tailed Gecko
The leopard gecko's calm West African cousin — same easy care, but it likes a bit more humidity.
Arid ground gecko✓ Care guide
Mourning Gecko
The all-female gecko that clones itself — tiny, cheap, and unusually social, kept happily in colonies.
Tropical arboreal gecko✓ Care guide
Snakes
Ball Python
The gentle, shy beginner snake famous for curling into a defensive 'ball'.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Corn Snake
The forgiving, reliable-feeding first snake — hardy and endlessly bred in beautiful morphs.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Western Hognose
The small, upturned-nose drama queen — hoods like a cobra, plays dead, and is harmless doing it.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
California Kingsnake
The hardy, glossy black-and-white beginner snake famous for one thing: it eats other snakes.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Milk Snake
The harmless coral-snake mimic — a kingsnake cousin whose bright bands bluff predators.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Kenyan Sand Boa
The stumpy little burrowing boa that lurks buried with just its eyes showing — hardy, small, and low-drama.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Boa Constrictor
The calm, heavy-bodied giant of the beginner-adjacent snakes — docile, but a powerful, long-lived, room-sized commitment.
Beginner snake✓ Care guide
Garter Snake
The active, diurnal little snake you actually see moving about — hardy and engaging, but fed on fish and worms rather than rodents.
Garter snake✓ Care guide
Tortoises
Russian Tortoise
The small, hardy, dog-tame tortoise — a wonderful first tortoise if you can give it the floor space and the decades.
Tortoise (chelonian)✓ Care guide
Sulcata Tortoise
The adorable hatchling that becomes a 100-pound, yard-sized, decades-long commitment — cute now, enormous later.
Tortoise (chelonian)✓ Care guide
Hermann's Tortoise
The friendly, manageable Mediterranean tortoise — a great first tortoise like the Russian, with the same decades-long commitment.
Tortoise (chelonian)✓ Care guide
Red-Eared Slider