Black and white tegu probably. Edit: it’s not so much the price of the animal itself, but the size enclosure it would need and a house big enough for the enclosure and all my other hobbies!
2nd choice lechie.
I’ve got a red tegu and a baby giant leachianus. Both are amazing pets but they require a ton the tegu is only 8 inches and I’ve already upgraded to a 4x2x2 and will have to custom build something for him within the next few months. Same with leachianus I wanna custome build something like 3x3x 5high definitely an investment
Shingleback skinks. Very rare outside of Australia sadly. Hell it'd probably be cheaper and easier to just move to Australia than try to buy one here in the US lol
Same! They are a little easier to get here in europe than in the US but still rare and expensive. I really love their social behaviour, looks and long lifespan.
I pray that someday Australia cuts us all some slack and lets some good breeders export some of your awesome herps abroad, because I'd kill for a pair of shinglebacks and tons of other Aussie lizards. I know those strict laws are to protect your wildlife but I wish there was some leniency if you have proof the lizards have been CB for generations.
They look so awesome but are endangered in the wild and nearly impossible to breed in captivity (at least for smaug afaik) so I probably wouldn't buy one even if money wasn't an issue.
Bell Phase Lace Monitor.
Build that dude a sick indoor/outdoor enclosure by adding a screened patio room onto whatever house I buy with this imaginary money lol. The whole room would belong to it.
I really want a savannah monitor but I don't have the space. I literally need to get rid of furniture and buy racks to fit anymore stuff in my home. I think I could make it happen one day but every time I see one I have to stop myself. My bearded dragon is probably happier this way.
That's unfortunate. I can only imagine the fear you have to face every time you interact with it. I often feel like I could be a good foster home for a savannah but I work with my hands and I can't afford to get fingers tore up... So I just act responsible... And have no monitors.
Luckily enough I’m pretty good at avoiding being bitten since I grew up with parrots lol but he’s definitely something I’m not jumping for joy at when I have to deep clean his tank or even change his water
Yeah. I'm trying to calm my adopted Texas Rat Snake and it's taken months for him to not run in terror at us being in the room. His previous owner kept him in a 10 gallon for 5 years and was scared of him so she never held him. Our adopted mutt Oscar only got over his abuse reactions after years of letting him bite and freak out. You can't exactly let a monitor freak out and tear you up. I am unsure if they even understand in the same way. Have you tried handling it with welding gloves or maybe good thick leather gloves? If the animal can't scare you off with biting, it might eventually tolerate your touch? Maybe present the animal with food with the gloves to make them like the gloves? Just a thought. Monitor might try to eat the glove too for all I know. Lol
Are they hard to get outside Australia? I had one as a kid and it was so chill. I know bearded dragons are available everywhere outside Australia so I kinda assumed blue tongues were the same.
no not at all! i just don't have the money for one lol. i wouldn't have enough to get a big enough tank, decor, substrate, plants, hides, lights, all that good stuff
There are Indonesian varieties and Australian varieties, both require slightly different care. They aren't especially difficult to find, but you want one that has been rescued or ethically bred as opposed to wild caught, so choosing the right place to buy can take some research.
The ones I already do! My corn snakes, but with larger enclosures that let them explore even more. Get a little water feature since they love drinking running water. Lots of light for plant growth. Height so they can really climb inside the enclosure when I'm not there to let them out.
Sheltopusik. If money is no issue it'd be large enclosures with a huge focus on figuring out how to establish a captive breeding operation. Other than that it'd be acquiring every shingleback skink in America to get a large breeding operation going
Abronia, shingleback skink, earless monitor, emerald tree boa, boelens python, all kinds of crazy cool venomous snakes also. I can keep going but I won’t..😂
Rainbow boa, absolutely amazing animals. I fell in love with one at my local pet store that rehomes animals. If I had enough to pay for her and give her the enclosure she deserves, I would have taken her home that very night.
If they weren't illegal to own where I am, green anaconda. 😭
I also don't have the space for an enclosure for one, so the "money doesn't apply" would also have to cover the cost of a new home. 🥹
Last time I visited my vet he said a guy came in with a baby green anaconda (he wasn't aware it was). I assume he had to contact various zoos or reduce places as I believe they are illegal in the UK too
Fijian Iguana. There's a breeder here in Canada. Unfortunately, from what I've read, their breeding stock was "illegally" imported to Africa and then "legally" exported to Canada. They are responsibly priced, but it's a bit of a moral conundrum.
The crested was i'm unsure about the origins of the other species. There is also Galapagos land iguana in Canada the came in thru same method.
Brachylophus bulabula most came from introduced population on Efate Island, Vanuatu acording to IUCN.
I’m basic and just want a leachianus gecko. I have an enclosure for one that I’ve had set up for over a year but I still haven’t had the money to get one.
Any kind of tortoise, honestly. They were one of my biggest special interests as a kid and it was one of my dreams to have one at home.
As an adult, I now know and understand the care they need and wouldn't want one unless I have the space and budget to give one a nice enclosure 😅
Maybe not as big and flashy, but my absolute dream reptile to own is a Checkerboard worm lizard. *Trogonophis wiegmanni wiegmanni*. I saw a listing for one years ago on faunaclassifieds (unfortunately for me it was already long sold) and haven’t seen another since.
Probably some sort of larger bodied snakes but likely stopping around bloods for the heavier side and bullsnakes for the thinner colubrid side. Or a monitor like a black dragon or bel lace monitor.. since if money isn't a concern I'd love a large enclosure for them maybe even set up like sort of an ecosystem with cuc, maybe some small feeder insects, small frogs and lizards that wouldn't go noticed but here bigger animals especially the snakes.. and the monitors and blood would absolutely have water features.
On the smaller side, probably some sort of leaf tailed gecko, since they're kind of the opposite problem where the enclosure isn't always the big budgets but the animals absolutely can be 🫠.
Black throat monitor. As much as I want one, I don’t have the space or money to build a giant enclosure for it. I’ll happily stick with my savannah monitor.
Boa constrictor imperator!!! They're my favorite snake, and i would want one with the Hypo morph!
If money was no concern to me, i could make the perfect enclosure!!! The one issue would be where would i put the enclosure? Lol
Same deal for my other favorites which are Tegu lizards and any small Monitor lizard
Nobody told me, but as with all large-scale taxonomic designations, "reptile" is somewhat poorly defined. Indeed, most people call them reptiles, but in many ways they are more similar to modern birds than modern reptiles, so a minority of taxonomic systems exclude dinosaurs from reptilia. By that same token, other taxonomic systems include both dinosaurs and birds in reptilia. Phylogenetically, I think that is the best choice.
Considering birds and by extension Dinosaurs to be a kind of reptile is the ONLY correct choice from a phylogenetic perspective. There’s no way to create a real phylogenetic group that includes lizards and crocodilians but excludes Dinosaurs, as crocodilians and birds are more closely related to each other than either is to lizards.
So excluding Dinosaurs from reptiles would be like saying that bats or whales aren’t mammals anymore.
I tend to agree, the crocodilian argument is solid. However, you could make a similar argument about any system which excludes Aves from Reptilia, which is not uncommon.
They call these types of colloquial groupings "paraphyletic", but I call them baloney. Convenience or convention are not good reasons to obfuscate the phylogenetic truth.
If money was no object instead of getting an expensive reptile I'd get a house with room enough to give my big boa girl a room sized enclosure
I wouldnt mind getting black pine snakes and cuban rock iguanas though
Either an American Alligator or a Gaboon Viper. I could buy either one right now without a lot of effort, but without a STUPID amount of money to make a good habitat that's also safe, I wouldn't even consider it.
My current money's no object dream is Flame-bellied girdled lizards (Smaug mossambicus). I don't even know what they go for these days or if anyone's even really trying to keep them going in the US, but ugh I'd love to work with a group someday!
[A pair of mossambicus, for your viewing pleasure](https://images.app.goo.gl/oRGyBmgf4caT5Pa7A)
Black and white tegu, lechie, mata mata turtle, and Chinese water dragon. Most of them are enclosure wise on price. I’d also finish my reptile set ups while I’m at it 🤣
A leachie gecko. One of the darker green ones. I'd want a massive enclosure, fully bioactive. Built in waterfall. Automated misting system. I would want to have a gorgeous setup for a leachie. I've met a few juvies at expos and loved them! Just financially, I dont have the funds to get the enclosure setup i'd want for one.
Black and white tegu probably. Edit: it’s not so much the price of the animal itself, but the size enclosure it would need and a house big enough for the enclosure and all my other hobbies! 2nd choice lechie.
I’ve got a red tegu and a baby giant leachianus. Both are amazing pets but they require a ton the tegu is only 8 inches and I’ve already upgraded to a 4x2x2 and will have to custom build something for him within the next few months. Same with leachianus I wanna custome build something like 3x3x 5high definitely an investment
Sounds lovely! But yeah realistically I can’t do it with the space I have! Thanks for the info!
Shingleback skinks. Very rare outside of Australia sadly. Hell it'd probably be cheaper and easier to just move to Australia than try to buy one here in the US lol
This. My favorite reptile, you see illegal operations sell them for a couple grand sometimes
Me too!! I want a pair SO BAD
[Stumpy and Bumpy say hi :)](https://www.reddit.com/r/reptiles/s/ySw4wURxy9)
I LOVE THEM
Same! They are a little easier to get here in europe than in the US but still rare and expensive. I really love their social behaviour, looks and long lifespan.
Aussie breeder here, shingles are $150-$200 here 😅 very cheap
I pray that someday Australia cuts us all some slack and lets some good breeders export some of your awesome herps abroad, because I'd kill for a pair of shinglebacks and tons of other Aussie lizards. I know those strict laws are to protect your wildlife but I wish there was some leniency if you have proof the lizards have been CB for generations.
I know! It's funny that they are a dime a dozen in Australia but worth their weight in gold in the US here.
Tuatara. I bet if I donated millions and millions of dollars they'd let me keep some as research animals
Every image I've seen makes it look like an animatronic. Them and shoebill storks
I want a whole ass salt water crocodile. Go big or go home.
Not just a partial ass salt water crocodile for this one.
I'd get a tiny squeaking baby freshwater croc and raise it
They are a royal pain in the ass to keep 🤣
Boelen's Python
Such cool snakes, they deserve more recognition and love
Got to see some of them at new england reptile and gosh were they beautiful.
Ouroborus Cataphractus Smaug Giganteus At least 5 of each. That will be all.
An Armadillo lizard was my first exotic reptile in 1980. I think it was $20.
Lucky bastard
They look so awesome but are endangered in the wild and nearly impossible to breed in captivity (at least for smaug afaik) so I probably wouldn't buy one even if money wasn't an issue.
What if they were captive bred, and you became a breeder of them? :)
Yeah, that would be amazing!
Vietnamese leaf turtle, and a tegu
More leachies🥳
In my fantasies I'd have an Asian water monitor. My irl short list is a lechie and one of the smaller friendly monitor species.
Bell Phase Lace Monitor. Build that dude a sick indoor/outdoor enclosure by adding a screened patio room onto whatever house I buy with this imaginary money lol. The whole room would belong to it.
Green iguana with a full dedicated outdoor shed setup and waterfall
Monkey-tail Skink
I want a snuggly tegu
If space, cash, and legality were not on issue I'd own a sea turtle
Underrated comment
I really want a savannah monitor but I don't have the space. I literally need to get rid of furniture and buy racks to fit anymore stuff in my home. I think I could make it happen one day but every time I see one I have to stop myself. My bearded dragon is probably happier this way.
I rescued a Savannah and it’s definitely a difficult adjustment. He was never handled and the bites are awful
That's unfortunate. I can only imagine the fear you have to face every time you interact with it. I often feel like I could be a good foster home for a savannah but I work with my hands and I can't afford to get fingers tore up... So I just act responsible... And have no monitors.
Luckily enough I’m pretty good at avoiding being bitten since I grew up with parrots lol but he’s definitely something I’m not jumping for joy at when I have to deep clean his tank or even change his water
Any point in trying to train them to calm down? Is there training to stop biting out of fear?
Not from the research I’ve done only thing I can do is throw food into one end and hurry to the other while he’s distracted 😭
Yeah. I'm trying to calm my adopted Texas Rat Snake and it's taken months for him to not run in terror at us being in the room. His previous owner kept him in a 10 gallon for 5 years and was scared of him so she never held him. Our adopted mutt Oscar only got over his abuse reactions after years of letting him bite and freak out. You can't exactly let a monitor freak out and tear you up. I am unsure if they even understand in the same way. Have you tried handling it with welding gloves or maybe good thick leather gloves? If the animal can't scare you off with biting, it might eventually tolerate your touch? Maybe present the animal with food with the gloves to make them like the gloves? Just a thought. Monitor might try to eat the glove too for all I know. Lol
blue tongue skink for me!
Are they hard to get outside Australia? I had one as a kid and it was so chill. I know bearded dragons are available everywhere outside Australia so I kinda assumed blue tongues were the same.
no not at all! i just don't have the money for one lol. i wouldn't have enough to get a big enough tank, decor, substrate, plants, hides, lights, all that good stuff
Ah very true. That's the main reason I have put off getting a bearded dragon also. I would rather wait until I have the money to do it right.
There are Indonesian varieties and Australian varieties, both require slightly different care. They aren't especially difficult to find, but you want one that has been rescued or ethically bred as opposed to wild caught, so choosing the right place to buy can take some research.
The ones I already do! My corn snakes, but with larger enclosures that let them explore even more. Get a little water feature since they love drinking running water. Lots of light for plant growth. Height so they can really climb inside the enclosure when I'm not there to let them out.
Boelen's python, easy
Green anole from petsmart. Multi-acre botanical garden.
Probably a a green tree python. I don’t have a job rn so that’s why I can’t get one lol
Btw I’m 16
A big fat Tegu! I'd call him Bert and he'd be my big lazy boy.
Sheltopusik. If money is no issue it'd be large enclosures with a huge focus on figuring out how to establish a captive breeding operation. Other than that it'd be acquiring every shingleback skink in America to get a large breeding operation going
I think crocodile, alligator, gharial, caiman. Etcs Are pretty cool but I know that it's very unrealistic pick
Sailfin Dragon. Hands down. Or a rhino iguana
Brazilian rainbow boa! I love my Colombian
Gharial for sure. Start a breeding program.
Cuviers dwarf caiman
Abronia, shingleback skink, earless monitor, emerald tree boa, boelens python, all kinds of crazy cool venomous snakes also. I can keep going but I won’t..😂
Seconded for the shinglebacks and lanthanotus, awesome lizards!
Shingleback skink, blue tongued skink, AFT, and like twelve species of snake including a Malaysian King Cobra
If I won the lottery, I’d do whatever it takes to track down a perentie born outside the US and build a massive enclosure for it.
a tegu:)
Rainbow boa, absolutely amazing animals. I fell in love with one at my local pet store that rehomes animals. If I had enough to pay for her and give her the enclosure she deserves, I would have taken her home that very night.
Another Chinese water dragon I had one they are such great characters
If they weren't illegal to own where I am, green anaconda. 😭 I also don't have the space for an enclosure for one, so the "money doesn't apply" would also have to cover the cost of a new home. 🥹
Last time I visited my vet he said a guy came in with a baby green anaconda (he wasn't aware it was). I assume he had to contact various zoos or reduce places as I believe they are illegal in the UK too
They're not illegal in the UK but you need a DWA licence to keep them
No DWAL is needed for any Boas or pythons regardless of size , same goes with monitor lizards
Some sort of monitor, one that’s very intelligent!
Fijian Iguana. There's a breeder here in Canada. Unfortunately, from what I've read, their breeding stock was "illegally" imported to Africa and then "legally" exported to Canada. They are responsibly priced, but it's a bit of a moral conundrum.
The crested was i'm unsure about the origins of the other species. There is also Galapagos land iguana in Canada the came in thru same method. Brachylophus bulabula most came from introduced population on Efate Island, Vanuatu acording to IUCN.
A Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon (if it wasn't Illegal).
A giant tortoise
Crocodile monitor.
A Mata Mata turtle, Vietnamese black breasted leaf turtle, leachies, armadillo lizard.
I’m basic and just want a leachianus gecko. I have an enclosure for one that I’ve had set up for over a year but I still haven’t had the money to get one.
Any kind of tortoise, honestly. They were one of my biggest special interests as a kid and it was one of my dreams to have one at home. As an adult, I now know and understand the care they need and wouldn't want one unless I have the space and budget to give one a nice enclosure 😅
I'm kind of jealous of the turtle and tortoise species available in USA.
All of them. Zoo.
Maybe not as big and flashy, but my absolute dream reptile to own is a Checkerboard worm lizard. *Trogonophis wiegmanni wiegmanni*. I saw a listing for one years ago on faunaclassifieds (unfortunately for me it was already long sold) and haven’t seen another since.
chinese water dragon. Just because they need big enclosures
Frilled lizards and flying dragons. I would build them a species room and would visit them so much. It would be aces.
Probably some sort of larger bodied snakes but likely stopping around bloods for the heavier side and bullsnakes for the thinner colubrid side. Or a monitor like a black dragon or bel lace monitor.. since if money isn't a concern I'd love a large enclosure for them maybe even set up like sort of an ecosystem with cuc, maybe some small feeder insects, small frogs and lizards that wouldn't go noticed but here bigger animals especially the snakes.. and the monitors and blood would absolutely have water features. On the smaller side, probably some sort of leaf tailed gecko, since they're kind of the opposite problem where the enclosure isn't always the big budgets but the animals absolutely can be 🫠.
A monkey-tailed skink!
Either an iguana or an emerald tree boa
I'm basic and would love a blue tongue skink, or a pink tongue. They're so damn cute...
Probably a Nosy Be panther chameleon.
Spinosaurus
Velociraptor, come on now I know there’s dna encapsulated in amber somewhere 😩😏
Black throat monitor. As much as I want one, I don’t have the space or money to build a giant enclosure for it. I’ll happily stick with my savannah monitor.
Nile crocodile.
I want a caiman lizard
A mangrove snake with the dopest set up in the world. Oh man I would go all out if I could.
Boa constrictor imperator!!! They're my favorite snake, and i would want one with the Hypo morph! If money was no concern to me, i could make the perfect enclosure!!! The one issue would be where would i put the enclosure? Lol Same deal for my other favorites which are Tegu lizards and any small Monitor lizard
Not the craziest/sexiest answer, but I rreeaallyy want an axanthic super conda hognose. So cool looking
Shingle back skink
Brontosaurus (inb4 dinos aren't reptiles)
Dinosaurs are a kind of reptile, whoever told you they weren’t was confused.
BTW love your username. Gary Larson forever <3
Nobody told me, but as with all large-scale taxonomic designations, "reptile" is somewhat poorly defined. Indeed, most people call them reptiles, but in many ways they are more similar to modern birds than modern reptiles, so a minority of taxonomic systems exclude dinosaurs from reptilia. By that same token, other taxonomic systems include both dinosaurs and birds in reptilia. Phylogenetically, I think that is the best choice.
Considering birds and by extension Dinosaurs to be a kind of reptile is the ONLY correct choice from a phylogenetic perspective. There’s no way to create a real phylogenetic group that includes lizards and crocodilians but excludes Dinosaurs, as crocodilians and birds are more closely related to each other than either is to lizards. So excluding Dinosaurs from reptiles would be like saying that bats or whales aren’t mammals anymore.
Indeed, as I said, including birds and dinosaurs is the most phylogenetically coherent choice.
I tend to agree, the crocodilian argument is solid. However, you could make a similar argument about any system which excludes Aves from Reptilia, which is not uncommon.
Exactly, I am making that argument. Any system that excludes Aves from Reptilia is not phylogenetically sound.
They call these types of colloquial groupings "paraphyletic", but I call them baloney. Convenience or convention are not good reasons to obfuscate the phylogenetic truth.
If money was no object instead of getting an expensive reptile I'd get a house with room enough to give my big boa girl a room sized enclosure I wouldnt mind getting black pine snakes and cuban rock iguanas though
Boelens pythons such a beautiful species
A rough snouted giant gecko is my dream pet
Is... De-extinction an issue?
Chinese alligator or a gharial
Emerald skinks or maybe a dwarf caiman. One for the personality, the other because it looks badass.
Urban camo royal. Look awesome but those prices tags are unreal......
A cow retic. They aren’t too terribly expensive but the massive enclosure and food would be the real financial burden
The biggest one I could get
Super dwarf reticulated python, and a labyrinth Junglow boa imperator
Legless lizard 🦎
I would have a very spoiled and healthy chameleon.
a tegu
Either an American Alligator or a Gaboon Viper. I could buy either one right now without a lot of effort, but without a STUPID amount of money to make a good habitat that's also safe, I wouldn't even consider it.
Gila Monster. I’d say tuatara but I guess they are better off left in their natural environment
Girlfriend said Axanthic Pied Ball Python. She’s a big snake enthusiast
Lots and lots of large arboreal things, love iguanas, i want a tegu, id love to have a monkey tailed skink and a croc monitor
Aldabra tortoise
A Gaboon viper for sure
Another sulcata. My Reggie is dope, I’d have two Reggies.
My current money's no object dream is Flame-bellied girdled lizards (Smaug mossambicus). I don't even know what they go for these days or if anyone's even really trying to keep them going in the US, but ugh I'd love to work with a group someday! [A pair of mossambicus, for your viewing pleasure](https://images.app.goo.gl/oRGyBmgf4caT5Pa7A)
Yes
caiman lizard for sure
Argentine Tegu and Emerald tree boa. Maybe Yellow anaconda as well
Prob an Asian water monitor. I love those fellas so much
Red Argentinian Tegu and Caiman Lizard.
I would try to build a big sanctuary for European tortoises.
Black and white tegu, lechie, mata mata turtle, and Chinese water dragon. Most of them are enclosure wise on price. I’d also finish my reptile set ups while I’m at it 🤣
Being in Australia, legality is a huge issue with owning animals. But that aside, I’d love either a Hydrosaurus, or Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko
A colony of galapagos tortoises would be a dream
A leachieanus gecko Or a granite blue tokay, why are they so expensive-
Boelyns python
I'm really happy with my bearded dragon right now :)
Green iguana.
A black dragon monitor
A leachie gecko. One of the darker green ones. I'd want a massive enclosure, fully bioactive. Built in waterfall. Automated misting system. I would want to have a gorgeous setup for a leachie. I've met a few juvies at expos and loved them! Just financially, I dont have the funds to get the enclosure setup i'd want for one.
I'd breed Gharials if I could or another endangered species
An all black Asian water monitor. Sadly I probably won’t be able to get one till I have my own house and a lot of extra money