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What is the cheapest Reptile Pet to care for?

I am really interested in having a reptile pet, maybe lizard or snake. I am 18 and I am the youngest sibling. I have a part time job. But I am looking for a great beginner affordable reptile as pet.

Anyone know the approximate cost? Lets say I get the reptile for free, and just have to buy the supplies + yearly supplies. How much would I spend a year with a reptile.

Thanks in advance.

Answer
id say leopard gecko is the easiest and the best beginner reptile to take care of by far. they arent too finicky they don’t mind being handled (if you work at it). it takes 15 mins a day of handling to get them used to you. they sleep most of the day(nocturnal) so u should do the feeding late at night or early mourning so u dont disrupt there sleep, they eat everyday a baby will eat up to 10 small crickets and a full grown gecko will eat 3-4 large crickets a day.. they pretty much take care of themselves u just need to have everything they need. like 10g tank a humid and dry hide bottle for misting, reptile carpet or paper towel. undertank heater and heat lamp, crickets for feeding a water dish and calcium for dusting the crickets and a digital tank thermometer. u need to make sure when u feed you gecko the crickets that she eats them all if she doesn’t want to eat the remaining ones take them out (they bite). the only trick is getting your tank to the right temperature. use the heat lamp and undertank heater plus put them in a common room if u live somewhere cold that way theyll be more heat in that room for them. also place the end stick of the thermometer low on the tank so u get the temperature of the air your gecko is feeling not the temp of the air above it. the temp need to be aprox 90F on the warm side and 80F on the cold side and 70F at night. plus leopard geckos are so colourful and cute. and fairly common so it wont be hard to find a vet who will really know what hes doing if your gecko gets sick. overall id say for setup and gecko ud be paying $130- $170 depending where you buy and the age of the gecko.once you buy everything the only cost your looking at past that is the cost of a vet if its sick or the cost of crickets. one tip: ask friends and family if they have an old 10g tank there not using or look at second hand store just clean and disinfect it before you use it, you could save $30-$40.

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Should I ever get another pet again (please read all details before answering)?

I am known as being a big animal lover. I have had pets all while growing up. I had a special bond with each of my pets. All of my pets were very tame and very sweet. People have said I have a gift with animals. Growing up I my pets were family and mourned when they died. Okay well I do not really consider pet fish as family.

When first living on my own I made some mistakes. I have some mental issues. While I was not seeing any couseling and either not on the correct dosage or not on my medication I committed animal abuse. I flushed some unwanted live fish a couple times. I would get pets, rehome them and then get new pets an obsessive amount of times. I let some unwanted cats go in a neighborhood. I did not want to those cats to be euthanized at the local pound. I thought I was helping them out in a way even though I knew it was discouraged. I did not want the cats to starve or be run over by a car. I hoped the cats would find a new family. The neighborhood was a good one, there was not much traffic, a stream was close by and there were many outdoor cats there already. But still it was animal abandonment/neglect.

I felt guilty. I thought about suicide. I felt I did not deserve to enjoy the birds singing outside or watch animal planet anymore (one of my favorite channels). I have always been such a animal lover! From all growing up the animal abuse was so out of chartacter for me. I could not forgive myself for the longest time. But I realized I still loved animals. I tried to stop loving them but I could not. And then I realized something- my friends and families pets still loved me too. I promised myself to never flush live fish, never abandon/neglect again.

I could never undo what I did and had to move on. I stopped the bad behavior and started being responsible. There were other areas in my life that I needed to make positive life changes. I got back on my meds, actually held a job, donated to an animal shelter. I decided to start small as far as taking care of life- I got two goldfish and developed an interest for plants and flowers.

I think my ‘animal abuse’ was from not being on the meds and from being a young and irresponsible. I needed a reality check and needed to grow-up!

I am thinking about getting a dog sometime in the distant future. Sometimes I still feel guilty for my past and wonder if I should just stick to plants and fish. But I have changed. I also know the responsibility involved through taking care of the dogs at a job I had.

I am also thinking about my future children. Should every child have the opportunity to have a pet? I would want to teach my children how to take care of pets- the right way. I do not want them to make the same mistakes I did regarding animal abuse!

I read stories or see on the news about animal abandonment and feel guilty. I read peoples comments online about how those people should die, blah, blah blah. I think everyone deserves to live, be happy. I also believe people can change and in second chances.

Please no name calling. I am looking for respectful answers. This site is known for very rude, degrading, hateful, judgemental answers. Thanks.

Answer
Well, I would say that the choice to get another pet depends entirely on you. If you feel that you can handle the responsibility and let go of the guilt (because those things happened in your past, and if you’ve changed then they don’t apply to you anymore! You need to let go of the guilt), then I would say that you could get another pet. But if you do decide to get a dog, you really should have a friend or family memeber that can keep you accountable for giving the dog good care, and that could help you out if you feel you can’t handle the dog anymore.
Be sure to choose a breed that will fit you and your needs so that you don’t become frusterated with a dog that’s “hard to handle”.
Also, I would say that thinking about pets for your kids is a future thing that you don’t need to worry about right now. See if you can handle a pet now, in the present, and make decisions based on what you find about about yourself now.
And instead of letting your guilt eat at you, and wallowing in your past, change! Learn from your mistakes and do better.
That’s my advice. Hope it helps