2000s Reptiles You Never See Anymore | Where Are They Now?

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

WHat reptiles did you see in years gone by that you never see anymore?

[@Ivies-incredible-exotics]

I really never see soft shells anymore I used to see them alot

[@1mrcow143]

I found out that the PetSmart I have in my area just started selling Cuban False Chameleons. This could mean they rise in popularity because they are an easier alternative to regular Chameleons.

[@ashersamphibiansandreptiles]

Fire bellied toads

[@L.V.exoticpets]

Bro found a savanna for 50$ at my petco

[@Ivies-incredible-exotics]

@@L.V.exoticpets dang

[@TheSnakelord_]

There was a science project at my school with green anoles and after the project was over we could take them home. (With permission, of course.) Mine was the only one that lived… research and reptile knowledge really does pay off!

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

that's awesome to hear ! happy you gave your lizard a great life

[@quix66hiya22]

I have green anoles all over the outside of my house here in Louisiana, and somehow they get inside and die of dehydration. I thought about buying a pet one but the care sheets had me concerned about my ability.

[@blackdragonflyK8]

@@quix66hiya22 I LOVE how ur so respectful of life!! My daughter wanted to bring in a big toad she found (truth be told I kinda wanted to as well…) BUT I told her that he/she has found a good home & her family & “neighborhood” is depending on her doing her job. She thought that was hilarious & she’s now building a village for the toad’s part of our yard! B
Honestly though, too many ppl see a cool animal & are like “I want that!” And w/o thinking of the impact on the animal or those around the animal, take them & pop them in a lil glass box. Then they don’t understand why they don’t survive! Really makes me sad!

[@quix66hiya22]

@@blackdragonflyK8 Ty! Yes, I always want what’s best for my animals. Glad you’re a kindred spirit.

[@_dboy_]

Dude I just commented about how they used to give them away at fairs and carnivals when I was a kid. No info, tiny plastic "terrarium". I ended up having mine for a few years and upgraded it to a larger enclosure with proper lighting and live plants. Still, only fed it crickets, but I knew nothing better lol. It's a damn shame that they'd give kids these for throwing the ball into the bucket or some stupid thing. So many must have had torturous ends. Good job keeping yours responsibly man!

[@shadele]

Oh man the green anoles. They were my first reptile, I had several when I was ~8-10 years old. The late 90s and early 00s were wild, my pet store had me keeping them in a small sized Kritter Keeper with like a single stick and a water dish. They would live for like a month and I'd be devastated every time one died. We'd go back to the store for a refund and they'd give me a new one to bring home... On public transportation in NYC in the winter... Absolutely bonkers. Feel so bad for those little guys now.

[@cristiaolson7327]

Oh, man. The critter keepers. I did the same with mine. It lasted about a week in arid central California. Looking back now, we were told all the worst advice possible.
Ironically, I spotted some for sale last time I was at Petsmart and I seriously considered getting a couple. I have several empty 40g vivariums, and all the required supplies (I used to breed snakes, and currently keep dart frogs), but decided I don't really feel like setting up a dubia colony right now for feeding.

[@Bobbitthehobbit]

I had a pair(sadly in way too small of a tank) where the female only lived like a year or less(too long ago to remember exactly), but the male lived like 4(still so short now). Would love to keep them again with my great knowledge/access to info. they are so cute. I also had a solo Firebellied toad, which now seems super weird

[@christophermichael.w.7577]

The pet store that I used to go to had a wire hermit crab cage on the counter full of them. Sometimes they called them chameleons

[@cathyp92]

Fire belly newts are another 90's popular animal that you don't see anymore. My son was infatuated with all the "fire" stuff. We had a 20 or 30 gallon tank set up, half land, half water, with a waterfall, and *cringe* (didn't know any better back then) the fire belly newt, a green anole, a baby toad he found outside, and guppies all living together. The poor anole probably never got enough heat.
Another year, he won a green iguana at the fair. That was a horrible prize to be giving to people who have no idea how to take care of them. He had a large enclosure that I built (2x4's and wire mesh), but no humidity, because I didn't know he needed that. I hate to think of how many animals suffered because of people's ignorance back then.

[@amandajenkins2267]

I was born in the 90s too and I remember seeing green iguanas literally everywhere in the 90s and early 00s. For some reason I always thought that they were the perfect starter reptile and I’d get one as my first 😂 glad I got some more information before I actually got one.

[@caseysilva6919]

I do remember a shop near my house that sold fish and reptiles. They had this huge savannah monitor is such a small enclosure and it would thrash at you when you walked by. Needless to say, that place is long gone.

[@DavidBrown-it9ig]

Living in FLA as a kid I was able to have Anoles and all kinds of lizards, snakes and turtles as "Pets". I put it in quotes because I would catch them, look at them and let them go. So easy to find them all the time there was no need to cage any of them to enjoy them.

[@highjinx6519]

Yep we did the same here in Texas. Grew up in the piney woods and had the best childhood I could ask for.

[@rottweilerfun9520]

Same here , I grew up outside of New Orleans. It was all swamp back then.

[@drewnoirfilmz]

I was almost expecting to see fire belly toads on this list. I remember seeing them everywhere, but now they are extremely rare!

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

exactly

[@HelloThisIsAva]

Yep, one of my first reptiles. Had it for about a day or two before my dad made me take it back.

[@JenniferMarohn]

I got a savannah monitor in like 2003 from a pet store I worked at. I was told 10 gal aquarium, no heat or heating rock, and I think sand substrate. The poor little guy lasted like two months. I’m so glad we know better now.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

insane!

[@The_Noord]

NO HEAT ROCKS!!!!!!!!!

[@JenniferMarohn]

@@The_Noord yeah that’s something we didn’t know almost 20 years ago.

[@blackdragonflyK8]

They shld have a warning on them “This animal will grow HUGE, fast! They need a BIG space & more wrk then a new puppy!” Also feel that pet shop shld go over care of ANY purchased animals with handouts no matter what! But then ppl won’t buy any pets & they go out of biz. I can see it both ways.

[@Amarichanek]

Green iguanas were fricking everywhere in Poland! People then had NO IDEA how demanding these reptiles were, how big they would grow and how ginormous enclosures they needed.

[@skinkman2121]

I got a fire skink recently, she was my first reptile! We believe she is female but not sure. She is so sweet and not very flighty. She loves mealworms too and today was the first time she shed! ;)

[@The-Critter-Box]

That’s great! What’s her name?

[@skinkman2121]

Lily

[@brennnanrodriguez1588]

Nice i also got a fire skink as my first reptile her name is Charmander she’s 4 now i hope to have her for the next 10+ years she loves super worms.

[@nataliesreptiles]

Reptile vets here in the States aren't much different. When I was a little noob in the reptile world I had a sick leopard gecko. After driving over an hour to the nearest reputable exotics vet, I spent almost $500 on an essessment and fecal sample, and going home with a special medicated diet thst idk was even appropriate for a leopard gecko.
Unfortunately my leopard gecko from PetSmart had MBD and parasites and did not live long after that. And thst is why you don't get pets from big box stores. 😬

[@geet9830]

I had a similar experience recently. I took my white lined gecko to the vet and had to pay $150 just to have her looked at. no fecals, no x rays or procedures, not even any medicine.
they charged over a hundred bucks up just to look her over and give me info I found on google before the visit. it’s ridiculous that exotic vets charge so much for the absolute bare minimum of service.

[@nataliesreptiles]

@@geet9830 That's definitely a lot if they didn't do any medical procedures. But I understand why exotic pet visits are so expensive.
Vets that treat cats and dogs are a dime a dozen. But a knowledgeable veterinarian that treats pets outside the box like reptiles and birds are a 1 in a million find. You're not just paying for a vet. You're paying someone who took extra years of schooling to become more knowledgeable and be able to care for a much wider plethora of animals.

[@kobedozer]

There's a pet store where I live that still always has savanna monitors on hand, $50 each.
I always wonder where they eventually end up, it makes me kinda sad.
I've been keeping reptiles for years and I wouldn't even take on a savanna monitor.

[@rawritsataco]

i've seen them at big chain pet stores recently too. i think about the same price.

[@billvojtech5686]

The shop near me as a kid had a Nile monitor. They put an egg in the enclosure and it took it in its mouth, tipped it up, cracked the shell and the egg contents ran down its throat.

[@fictional_emo]

A chain pet store out near me sells Savanna monitors and mangrove monitors for $45-$80. I went there for filters for an aquarium I had, and as I was checking out, I told the cashier "you may want to tell your manager you guys shouldn't be selling those for that cheap.... they're going to get big and you're going to end up with a lot of dead reptiles coming back at you." And she had no idea. I showed her pictures to prove it and she was appalled. I don't think I've seen her working a shift there since.

[@seanburns9417]

wow man you really hit the nail on the head with this one. it really took me back.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

thank you!

[@sampagano205]

I think that it's a shame fire skinks aren't more popular now that they can be found captive bred more easily. They're so cool and they have a decent number of good looking morphs, and a wild type that is also extremely impressive looking.

[@gaelperezautio8467]

I'm gonna try to get one as my first reptile!

[@maxezaz7694]

They hide a lot though. Thats probably why they declined in popularity. My fire skink took 5 months of slow care until he finally came out and wasnt scared of us. They take a lot of patience.

[@benkenobi8602]

I remember when I was younger almost every Walmart and target had a pet area good times

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

I remember those days

[@highjinx6519]

All those poor bettas 😢

[@Pandaface30512]

I'd love to see a video on how to tame down things like snakes, I'm having trouble with one of my very young hognose snakes where she thinks everything is food and is determined to eat it even after realising it is not food. She even tried to eat my duvet cover! Loving the video by the way, you make them so fun and informative.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

crazy snake!

[@loganhansen4626]

I feel like hermit crabs should be on this list as well as a bonus pet lol

[@capnmisfit]

Story time:
My (shitty) little step-brother at the time was gifted green anoles when he was about 7 years old. He got three of them and they were in a five gallon (or even possibly less) enclosure that was NOT very big and there was this log in there that was angled underneath the heat lamp. The heat lamp that my parents set DIRECTLY on the lid. The bulb touched the lid. So you can kinda see where this was going but one of them ended up burnt to a freaking crisp absolutely stuck to the lid and the log. One of them died random but seeing how there was NOTHING really on care I'm sure it was the husbandry and one of them escaped only to freaking be found MONTHS later missing half his tail, but still alive. It lived a few months after it was found but it wasn't the same after its little adventure. If I had been old enough to take care of those babies I totally would have because they sure as hell didn't deserve the way they went. Don't get reptiles just because they're cute, don't take the word of a random pet shop owner, and please do your research.

[@Cndcnm0609]

My brother in law bought a savannah monitor from pet co and it’s driving me nuts bc he has him in a 40 gl maybe 55 but it’s so sad 😭

[@lps468]

My favorite skinks are the five lined skinks. They are all over the place here in Florida. The black and rainbow colored stripes are beautiful.

[@rottweilerfun9520]

I have mostly Broadhead Skinks in my yard but a few weeks ago two female 5 lined skinks showed up. I love them ! They're so bold ! I've been hand feeding the Broadheads since last summer and they are still pretty flighty. After a week of feeding the 5 lined girls they were licking my fingers and letting my pet them under the chin. It's not easy because they don't have huge heads but they seem to like a little chin scratch. Do ya'll have Broadhead Skinks there ?

[@EsotericDrifter]

I caught and removed a five line from my parents house. Took it outside and tried to let it go. Instead it ran up my arm and onto my head. I was really confused by that.

[@rottweilerfun9520]

@@EsotericDrifter, It decided that you needed a lizard hat ?

[@EsotericDrifter]

@@rottweilerfun9520I don't know why it did it, had pictures take because it was so unusual. I'm starting to think that they have a instinct to act cute when caught by people.

[@The_Original_LBSwanson]

Definitely think the big box stores should be more responsible and knowledgeable with what they're selling.

[@katherineirons4967]

I just got an emerald swift yesterday! It's kinda funny hearing him scuttling around on the tank background

[@mpk6664]

Can you tell me a bit about them? I've heard of them, but this is my first time actually seeing one.
They look adorable. I'm quite interested.

[@tonyritter4919]

It's so refreshing to have honest knowledge about the animal industry. I think I've left you comments before that care advances on so many different areas of animal care. I was very cross studious and it can be hard to keep up on advances because we are figuring out so much so fast. I grew up in the 90s too and have much the same additude. I'm not sure where the future of animal husbandry will go, but I'm kind of excited for the animals that generations seam to be getting more ethical without totally eliminating those of us that truly enjoy caring for them from doing so.

[@pumpkinchow]

I’m one of the few that successfully bred Savannah monitors and and have over 30 babies at the moment and 4 adults. Few months back I had 3 clutches hatch and had 83 babies in total I filmed everything and have it up on here.

[@allysontl3401]

I love my fire skink so much! She is such a good, calm girl. I take her out to hand-feed her and walk around with her on my shoulder. She is in a bioactive 50 gallon with lots of hiding spots and 6-10 inch substrate.

[@brendapatterson7123]

Our local Petland was awesome. The care of the animals and fish was amazing. The director of animal care really cared and insisted the animals were looked after properly. She eventually became a veterinary technician.

[@squeakybgaming]

I had an anole when I was 10 (early 90s). They told me it needed a desert environment. It was very handle-able, so I had him out all the time, and I think that's the only reason he didn't die as quickly as he should have, since I live in a humid city.

[@Kaegrowl]

Making me miss my fire skinks Krak and Toa. They were such sweeties, and so pretty. Would love to have some again some day.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

great names!

[@HobbiesHobo]

You mention the availability of info on the net, which is true, however I assure you that all the information really needed was available "Back in the Day", I kept a variety of Reptiles & Amphibians, in Canada, in the 70's, we had libraries, bookstores, and clubs. Misting, Humidity, Lighting, Heating, Water, Feed, Seasonal Cycling, Health, Breeding, Plants, Terrarium Design, etc. were all regular topics of discussion. This hobby spawned an interest in Botany, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, & Sciences in general.
There used to be a Vet in Lyndsay, Ontario that kept a basement full of Crocodilians which I visited on at least 2 occasions because I had a Spectacled Caiman in addition to many other reptiles. I still look at the pet stores to see what might be available. haha, Thanks, Mike.

[@madeleineturner2198]

the way the emerald swifts skitter around on the ceiling KILLS me 😂😂

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

The thought of people having pet anoles is so odd to me since they are stupid common around here

[@rottweilerfun9520]

I grew up on the West Bank of New Orleans, there were a million of them everywhere. I would have never guessed that people were keeping them as pets.

[@ZaDussault]

Anoles are still everywhere and my local pet shops sells two males and they both are in the same 10 gallon tank. Still don't know how they don't have eaten each other yet. I own a brown anole and he's not from a pet shop, he's from an imported plant my colleague had and I told her I could take care of the lil guy. They are not "easy" pets at all. You can't take them out of their tanks for cleaning and have to feed them small food. So small, that the food most often grow too fast and you can't feed it anymore. I feed the too big insects to my cats and started a mealworm farm because that was a pain tu find the smallest mealworms (My Anole won't eat crickets anymore, he would prefer starving to death, so I feed him freshly molted worms or pupae)

[@ericzeddies4471]

I love Green Anoles and for me I can't find them anywhere anymore because everyone apparently decided to switch to the browns. Also agree that they aren't easy to keep. I set up my first bioactive for my last Green Anole just to keep him happy. He also refused to eat crickets, but it was if they were on the bottom of the tank. I had to start raising moths and flies because he didn't want to go below the mid-level of the tank.

[@cristiaolson7327]

Will they take large fruit flies like heydii? I raise fruit flies for my dart frogs, and they're pretty easy and cheap to raise.

[@ZaDussault]

@@cristiaolson7327 maybe he would, but I tried raising fruit flies and ended up with mold everytime. His tank is full of whiteflies and thrips because of his hibiscus and sometimes, I see him running around after them

[@cristiaolson7327]

@@ZaDussault If you ever decide to try flies again, the trick to avoiding mold is to use boiling water and good quality fly media mix, and to let the media cool at room temp (not the fridge) with the lid on to minimize condensation while keeping out contaminants. I also found using aspen wool instead of coffee filters helped stop my cultures from getting nasty.

[@___Lucas.]

Absolutely amazing video I mean when are they not good vids can we all agree

[@LadyLithias]

I kept Reptiles starting in 2001 through 2008, and our last snake died of old age in 2017 (California King, Hatched 2001). I remember hubby seeing and wanting Emerald Swifts because they were so beautiful. But the couple we bought never lived long (now I know why!). In fact, when I saw your topic, I thought to myself, "I kept reptiles in the 2000's, I wonder if he'll have that lizard hubby liked?"
I ended up being much better at keeping mice than snakes. *ALL* my snake hatchlings ended up kinked. 100% I never did figure out why. I thought it was due to me incubating them wrong, but we did have one of our King snakes escape while gravid. We found her after she laid her eggs, hanging out in one of our mouse-bins. (no mice though, she wiped the bin out). Since she was only gone for two days, I had a good idea when the eggs might hatch, and since Kings were native to where I lived, I had some hope they might still hatch. Sadly, the day after they would have hatched, one of our cats brought a hatchling to us. It was dead. And badly kinked. Since all of our snakes (kings and corns) had deformed kinked hatchlings, I ended up getting out of snakes. I've been binging on snake videos this summer (I'm a teacher) and missing the good times (and NOT missing the bad times).
I remember one snake breeder was creating wild colubrid hybrids, and they looked awesome but most of them wouldn't eat. When I bought one snake from him, he sent ALL his non-eating hybrid babies to me, so I had to try to get them to eat and watch them all slowly die.
Crazy reptile world memories watching this video.

[@PhinClio]

I saw a very unhappy looking monkey-tailed skink for sale in a PetsMart a couple years ago. A classic example of the kind of reptile that the big-box stores shouldn't be selling.

[@tomsmith5007]

Green anoles were my first reptile as a kid because that’s all my parents would let me get since they were small. But I remember seeing swifts all the time and wanting one so bad because they looked cool with the spikes

[@kristenchard9332]

I absolutely love the videos, I e gotten more confident in reptiles and I want to get more very SOON 😌🐢❤️

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

thanks so much for watching!

[@108lizard]

Can you do a video on short lived reptiles? For people who don't know what they will be doing in 10 years from now.

[@meaganhelbig1824]

As morbid as this sounds I like rescuing senior dogs because I view them as a “short term lease” as opposed to a “mortgage”. But hey!! I give ‘em a great life

[@_Shay_]

I love the Canadian to American dollar jokes
I live for them, kills me everytime.

[@ilovebooksandmycats669]

i’m so glad chinchillas and rabbits aren’t kept in pet stores that much anymore, they need HUGE enclosures, and chinchillas especially are so sensitive idk how they even survived there

[@mrvwbug4423]

You need a room with dedicated AC kept constantly under 60F for Chinchillas to live long. They will die quickly from overheating at regular room temperature. Small alpine mammals, not good pets, no matter how cute they are.

[@JLAvey]

I just saw some anoles in a local (as in not a box store) pet store today. I remember having them back in the 90s and not taking anywhere near as good care of them as I do with Crested Gecko. She's got a nice 20 gallon tall with plants and branches. Maybe when I move her into something larger I can introduce an anole in the old one.

[@DragonFae16]

These lists always blow my mind.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

mine too!

[@DragonFae16]

@@WickensWickedReptiles Maybe you could do a list of countries where it used to be legal for reptiles to be exported out from, but now it's illegal. For instance, unless all those beardies and ackies come from illegally exported ancestors, at some point it must have been legal to export reptiles from Australia (my home country).

[@torquess454]

I can’t believe my Whites tree frogs lasted as long as they did, with the care I was told. No heat, just a little water dish, no humidity, then and me in my cold basement. I didn’t gut load their crickets, ugh, my heart hurts just thinking back

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

Oh wow!

[@starlawilson9011]

I bought a green anole in 1988 from a specialty pet store. We were told 10 gallon enclosure, we had lights, no uvb, but he said to use a plant bulb. The guy dusted all the crickets when you bought them a dozen at a time, and we immediately dumped them in the enclosure. He lived a couple years

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

wow eh

[@starlawilson9011]

@@WickensWickedReptiles I guess the store owner was a reptile guy

[@SolidPigeon]

Nice video! I like this series! Stay awesome!

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

thanks so much!

[@mrvwbug4423]

My first reptile when I was a kid was a Green Anole, all the way back in the 80s. It lived almost a year, which given how we were told to care for it by the pet store, it's a miracle it lived that long. When it was a baby we had to feed it house flies and it would only take live food, so we had to stun flies with a swatter and drop them into the enclosure. Once it got a bit bigger we were able to feed it crickets. The coolest part was watching it color change. And after that I never had another reptile until this week, just picked up a Pueblan Milk snake and the enclosure, supplies, etc for it.

[@leftovers6135]

I might get some flack for this, but I now work at one of those pet stores. And let me tell you. Care has gotten MUCH BETTER. at least at mine. Almost all of my coworkers and I know proper care for any kind of reptile or amphibian sold. I know they don't always come from the best place, but we do try to make it as comfortable as possible. And we don't sell the animals to people who don't have the proper care either. Watching this video and hearing about older "care tips" makes my stomach turn. Thanks for what you do!

[@hey-hl3wo]

i would def say any kind of skinks although i still view them as absolutely fascinating and very unique little creatures 🐍🦎🐢🐸

[@EarthWalkerOne]

I had an Emerald Swift in the 90s. It was pretty cool and easy to care for. I'd rate it as a better pet than a bearded dragon.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Though Beardies are a lot more handleable.

[@calewarner06]

It's funny that petco and pet smart has always been a topic. Love your videos

[@lilliancassady8954]

Can confirm anoles definitely like it warm and humid. It’s summer in Texas and boom they’re everywhere

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

no doubt!

[@tiamcrae4735]

An interesting twist might be, what 5 reptiles do you think will fall out of favorite in the coming years?

[@flamindorito]

I was thinking of ball pythons…but considering the massive popularity of morphs i don’t see them losing popularity. Rather just hognoses being popular alongside them. Beardies and leos are really popular still and i don’t see them dying down anytime soon. Idk tbh

[@JordanNixon-vg3jd]

I hope ball pythons

[@christopherkirby8086]

I worked at a big brand pet store during this time! You mentioned fire skinks, which I totally agree with you and to add to that sandfish skinks also had mostly the same problems. They just came in, parasite ridden, and destined for death. Such a cool lizard and so sad they were even being imported for the pet trade. No business in the industry. And emerald swifts! Lol another thing purchasers didn’t expect! If the swifts didn’t give birth in store (yes, they had live birth) a new emerald swift parent often found themselves with a baby in a few days and of course were calling the store right away for advice! Luckily the babies were usually big enough they were not hard to care for, but it happened often enough! Great video!

[@samuelneuin1988]

You pretty much nailed it with all of the animals. The 2000's were pretty much the end of the "fire belly" and emerald lacerta phase in my area

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

bingo!

[@yellowanaconda4595]

Love the channel thanks for all the great content 👍🙂

[@_dboy_]

I remember getting a green anole from a fair as a prize as a kid. They came in tiny plastic containers, and I can't imagine how many kids won them and kept them in this tiny thing basically torturing them. Luckily I had some knowledge and an extra 15 gallon tank that I set up with real plants and lighting. I ended up having that little girl for a few yrs, which is probably a few yrs longer than intended. I wish I'd known to feed them more than crickets, however. Terrible to think of how many just got thrown away, starved, or let go in a temperate climate. Anyways, glad the hobby has evolved.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

glad you set yours up properly!

[@_dboy_]

@@WickensWickedReptiles luckily I was the kid who when someone asked me at 3 yrs old what I wanted to be when I grow up...I literally told everyone "a herpetologist" 🤣🤣

[@simpled5755]

Another banger! Hello Adam hope you’re having a wonderful day today!

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

Thanks for the visit!!!!

[@jasonjackson6533]

Reptile and amphibian care has come a long way in the last 10-20 years

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

it sure has!

[@jaykrizzle]

"Very small for its size"
🤣 brilliant

[@chasepotter4716]

I have a fire skink… love the little fella. 100% recommend

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

for sure

[@victornoname7269]

I feel so bad for all the fish and the few reptiles I kept as a kid. I had no idea what I was doing. I'm glad proper information is so much easier to find now.

[@LillianoPiano]

green anoles are at every pet smart ive been to! i didnt know they were so complicated and have never been interested, but they're definitely at petco and petsmart and probably still considerably common.

[@WeightlessFlex]

Woe seeing that pic of you with hair is wow

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

Hahahaha

[@gswetharani]

I love watching ur vids even thought I don’t even have pets lol

[@elliotperez5071]

Petland my neighbor zoo I miss those guys...Great video Adam

[@powerhouseexotics]

I have a 4 yr old green anole. He's pretty cool to watch and overall he's really easy to care for

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

awesome!

[@hinatot]

a green anole was my first pet- i'd wanted a reptile for ages, and my parents got me one for christmas. while looking back i wish i had given him a bigger enclosure and made sure his basking temperatures were in the correct range, we were doing some things right at least, since he lived for about three years. i remember dusting crickets for him before putting them in his enclosure and misting it down every day with a little squirt bottle. i was devastated when he died, never got another after that

[@MostMarvelousMOCs]

I be love this series it’s great I’m gonna get a savanna monitor

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

haha nice

[@niamhpreece7548]

One from the late 2000s/early 2010s in the uk was mangrove snakes. You used to need a Dangerous Wild Animal permit to keep them but in 2007 they were deregulated and they exploded in popularity. They were bought by a lot of people who wanted the status of having a ‘venomous’ snake without the whole risk-of-death thing.
You don’t see them anywhere near as much these days because they aren’t exactly the kinda pet everyone can handle but they really are fascinating

[@zander145]

Theres a local breeder for Emerald Swifts near me. I've had a male for about a year now. You hit the nail on the head with them, great reptile to look at, but not to be handled. Really easy to take care of too. I remember seeing green iguanas everywhere back in the early 2000's, hardly see them now.

[@saylerzak3164]

Hah, all these species are very popular and new for Russia now. The most rare reptiles here are leaf tailed geckoes, uroplatus and crocodile skinks. Reptile keeping is kinda young in my country, but it’s growing pretty fast. I hope that one day we will get close to the whole other world in this hobby)

[@billvojtech5686]

I had green anoles as a kid. Back then, nobody was even talking about UV light, except in one care guide they said if you used a plastic container and put it on a window sill, the lizards might get some UV light and it might be of some benefit. And yet, I was doing a much better job than the shops that sold them to me. They gave anoles water dishes when they only drink from dew drops. I just had a regular aquarium light with incandescent bulbs. Mine produced eggs, but they never hatched. I got wingless fruit flies from a friend so I'd have something to feed them if they hatched.

[@stevenshepard2381]

I remember back in the 60s you could go to Woolworths and buy Caimans sold as baby alligators for only two dollars and fifty cents. You could also get all kinds of baby turtles for fifty cents apiece. Unfortunately nobody knew anything about full spectrum or uvb l

[@ansellexotics]

I literally hang out in the reptile section and try to educate the “dada I want that one” crew. Them I hand them the number to a rescue group

[@rottweilerfun9520]

Wow , I never realized how beautiful the tree frogs are. The blue on the side is so neat.

[@TealCheetah]

Get that earlobe, Diamond! Reach for the sky!

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

Hahaha

[@thekeeperscraft8720]

Lovely to see emerald swifts get some love. They're very personable little critters.
Heads up to anyone getting a pair, they are live bearers and adults will eat the babies if they are particularly driven to, so be prepared for that.
This video features Eranikus, my boy, he was handleable because he was injured and needed specialist care. Definitely not the norm. Closest I've gotten with the others is they will hop down onto my hand to take a waxworm or something, like my girl in the intro, but they don't stick around. If you can hand tame a swift you're very lucky, these guys are at the bottom of the food chain more or less and are scared of *everything*
They also need more space than you'd think for such a small lizard, they can get quite territorial, even just in pairs, and fighting and bullying is common.

[@RabbiKolakowski]

I saw an Emerald Swift at a chain pet shop recently. It reminded me of the Fence Swifts I used to see in the wild in Virginia. I understand they live in NY also but I never see them.

[@_dboy_]

I'm in NY And I rarely if ever see any lizards on my hikes. I see plenty of wildlife. Snakes, snapping turtles, and smaller varieties, lots of amphibians. But never lizards of any kind. They always amaze me when I see them running around in Florida or Mexico when I've been to those types of areas. Really cool.

[@RabbiKolakowski]

@@_dboy_ there are two native lizard species in New York State, which are Fence Swifts and 5 Lined Skinks. I have never seen either of them in the wild in NY state. I live upstate. There is one invasive species in New York City which is the Italian Wall Lizard. I have seen a lot of those. If you want to see them, go to Cemeteries in Queens on a hot summer day and you will see dozens of them. I understand they are in the Bronx as well.

[@sampagano205]

This reminds me I need to film more emerald tree skink footage for you.

[@matthewmonteagudo679]

I got a Nile monitor for 30$ kept it in a 40 gallon breeder as prescribed...almost lost a finger 😂😂

[@surfpanther]

Anoles are mostly feeders now! Pet shops here still carry them, but they are fun when you have like 10 in a tank, they jump around like tarzan lol fun to watch

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

super fun to watch!

[@katiegregory7126]

I AGREE WITH THAT LAST PART ENTIRELY ABOUT BIG BRAND PET STORES! I walked into a petsmart just to get some cat food for our Siamese and walked past the reptile section. As I walked past an enclosure I saw an ackie monitor with a temperature of 72 degrees F as a basking spot, and no thermometer on the other side of the cage with the UVB bulb. So when I told the pet smart employee that for a juvenile it should at least be 90-100 degrees F, 120-158 degrees F as the grow older with a cooler spot of 75-82 degrees F,and that they should probably put a thermometer on the other side of the tank to tell the cool side temp. The employee told me they didn’t know the temps the animal needed and that they’ll tell somebody, and their bosses might fix it. I’ve also had to tell other petsmart employees about the dangers of keeping a baby bearded dragon and a juvenile that is substantially bigger in the same tank. Because most beardie owners know that if you do that it’s either a competition for food and space and one lizard will get sick and starve. Or the possibility of the bigger one eating the smaller one, and it was only when I told them they would lose money on sales if they didn’t fix it that an employee actually told their boss about it, and actually separated them.

[@musician200X]

FINALLY there is like no info on these. My brother had one in like 2003 and we kept it in a critter keeper. Of course we did.

[@TopFurret]

Ah I remember the early 2000s. Anything other than a dog or cat, good luck finding good care info. I remember going to the public library as a kid and checking out pet care books to scan and print for personal reference. So many were so so so bad and outdated.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

this sounds right!

[@carlosibarra609]

Got Green Anoles in my backyard in central Texas, I gotta say, this environment is anything BUT tropical

[@sunflowerwillow6114]

I keep Anoles.....and by that I mean I live in Florida and they climb all over my house and yard outside. I don't bring them inside. They sometimes come inside though when we leave the door open. They are fun to watch through the windows though :)

[@Repti-verse]

This is actually a really cool list for me to watch because this is like right before I got into reptiles in 2010 when I got my BP. So some of these guys were more available and popular at shows for a year or two after I got my first snake.

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

glad you enjoyed!

[@timothywalton8331]

All five of these are at local pet shops in my area 🤣 but thankfully our pet shops hire people for the reptile dept that actually own reptiles and ask about enclosure sizes

[@OFFICIALLUSH]

My mom used to catch and smuggle wild anoles in Tupperware on flights from Florida back to New York for me (couldn’t get away with that now!). I had about 5 total and fed them ants from outside 😆. They lived a pretty long life for anoles from what I remember. I thought they were the coolest pets ever 🦎

[@megazillasaurus]

I saw a green anole at a petstore once last year

[@mandyluna]

I completely agree with you on pet stores part.

[@denikamichael844]

These reptiles are so so cool

[@leafwitheyes2473]

Is there going to be a present day version of this?

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

yep!

[@Gankasaurusrex]

Here in PA you can still get ALL of these!

[@kevinfoley7704]

The savanah monitor is an awesome pet. I thought it was sold more in the early 90's. I would have picked the nile monitor and the white throat as the monitors they shouldn't have been selling. I would say if people want to have a monitor lizard, and have the room for a decent size enclosure and also have an outside area for it in the summer, the savanah is the best option. Dry climate and high temperature is easy. I'm also surprised you didn't talk about the tokay ghecko. Absolutely beautiful lizard, but not one people want to put on their shoulder, or hold, or put their hand close to.

[@melskunk]

Oh yeah, I hadn't remembered some of these but I absolutely remember Savannah monitors (or Nile monitors, or just unsuitable big monitors in general) being in every pet store in the 2000s

[@Captainluck12]

I have a fire skink right now and she’s so beautiful and so sweet she’s very very tame some of them are flighty but very great eaters

[@WickensWickedReptiles]

they do like to eat!

[@amentia]

0:38 hair! 😯

[@VTwinFTW]

Dude in the mid 90s when I was 8-10ish years old, I had 2 anoles in a 10 gallon with no heat or light. *shudder* they did not live very long