May
My kids love reptiles, but they are still young. What’s the ideal reptile to get that is simple to take care of for a 5 and 8 year old? Something that is on the cheaper side to maintain. Thanks!
Answer:
Hello, while Leopard Geckos make wonderful pets; I would worry about having them for kids that young. While some juvenile Leopard Geckos are rather mellow; most babies are small, quick moving, nervous, and are very simple to drop, so a split-second accident could be life threatening for the Gecko. Most Leopard Geckos tend to settle down quite well with regular handling, but I still would be anxious about taking that chance.
If you’re interested primarily in lizards; a Blue-tongued skink could be a good match. They are often referred to as the 'Cadillacs of the lizard world', and are very intelligent, docile, interesting, hardy as long as their care needs are met, can be housed in a 40-55 gallon tank, are almost dog-like pets, and can even be hand-fed by their owners because of how gentle they’re. They are a tad on the costly side, but their personalities more than make up for it. I'm a tad biased, but in my view you really can't ask for a superior pet lizard. 
Here is an incredibly detailed care sheet that’s a wonderful resource on Blue-tongue Skink general information, care, needs, and maintenance:
http://bluetongueskinks.net/care.htm
When taking into consideration both a docile, handleable nature and an animal that is relatively affordable over-all to maintain (all reptiles have a pretty expensive upfront cost), a small, reluctant to bite species of snake could be a perfect match. As far as individual species go; I would highly recommend a Rosy boa. They are one of my personal favorites.
They are incredibly docile, one of the easiest snake species I’ve ever cared for, small come in several different colors and localities, and all around are a wonderful (albeit often overlooked) snake. Here’s a short general care sheet that I’ve typed out; hopefully this will provide the information you’ll need should you take into account one of these guys.
Temperament: They’re very calm, slow-moving snakes. Generally quite docile, most are fine with handling, and they rarely, if ever, bite people. Mine have all been content to find a comfortable place on my hand, neck or lap and just hang out, unlike Colubrids (like Corn snakes and King snakes) which constantly seem to have somewhere to go. 
Life expectancy: When properly cared for, a Rosy boa can live 20 years in captivity.
Size: Males average 1.5-2.5 feet, females are generally 2.5-3.5 feet, some a tad larger, but never more then 4 feet.
Feeding: begin babies on mice pinks, and build up to one large mouse per week for adults. The general rule of thumb is to feed a rodent about the same in diameter as the widest part of your snake’s body. They’re generally quite enthusiastic feeders; I have never had one that was a reluctant eater.
Humidity: This is a really low humidity desert species. A small water dish is fine on the cool side of the tank, but misting is absolutely unnecessary for these guys.
Temperature: Mine have done best with a basking temperature in the high eighties, around 87-89 degrees, with an ambient (background) temperature of 77-80. This can be reached by use of under-tank heating pads, incandescent heat bulbs, or ceramic heat emitters.
Cage size: a 20 gallon tank is ideal for a single adult, but a 10 gallon is adequate. Just make SURE the lid of the cage is very secure, as these guys are astonishing escape artists.
Substrate: Mine have done ideal on eco-earth by zoo-med, as long as it is COMPLETELY dry before putting it in my snake's cage. Paper towels, aspen bedding, or even reptile sand (as long as you feed your snake in a separate container to prevent sand ingestion) also works very well.
Other good species would be Corn snakes, Ball pythons, Childrens pythons, and Kenyan sand boas.
I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions at all on the subject; please feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to aid you.
Good luck!
Answer:
No matter what kind of pet you get, with kids under twelve or so you'll probably have to help them take care of it. Children are great, and they really will want to take care of the pet, but they're not adults yet. They will forget to clean the cage or feed the pets at some point. Make sure that whatever you get, you don't mind taking care of it personally.
Leopard geckos are low-maintenance and relatively tolerant of handling. So long as you don't pull them by their tails, they're pretty laid back, and they are known for being fastidious and fairly tameable. They eat crickets and mealworms, which children probably won't mind feeding to their pets. Other good geckos: African fat-tailed geckos are not as colorful, but also rather friendly.
Corn snakes are about the easiest snakes to take care of that I know of. They're pretty calm and simple to handle. They’ve been known to be escape artists, though, and they need to eat bigger prey (read: Baby mice or other such tiny animals). Other good snakes: Milk snakes, ball pythons.
I've heard that bearded dragons make great pets, also. The few that I've met have wonderful interactive personalities, but I’ve very tiny experience with them in person. They are hardy and friendly with people, but they need more space when full grown than a gecko or corn snake would.
Be warned: Reptiles live much longer than most other small pets. Leopard geckos can live for up to 20 years. Get an animal that was captive-bred, as they are healthier and generally friendlier. Wild caught animals often have parasites and are difficult to tame.
Edit: Reptiles to AVOID:
I would not advocate a turtle, as they require much more maintenance than a lizard or snake, and are generally harder to care for.
Green Iguanas. They might be cheap and easy to find, but they get -huge- and can be aggressive. They also have rather unusual dietary stipulations and once they get to full size need quite a lot of space.
Anoles. Again, cheap and easy to find, but they do not tame well, and are difficult to maintain. They will not sit on your hand, period. Very skittish.
Any kind of python except for ball pythons: They get even larger than the iguanas, and are often difficult to tame. Ball pythons are the exception, as they don't get to be longer than 4 feet and are quite friendly, for snakes.
Boa Constricters: Also massive and potentially aggressive.
Chamelons: Delicate, don’t handle well, and are usually wild-caught, which means they probably have some kind of parasites and may die of some unknown disease shortly after buy.
Tokay Geckos: Very aggressive. This gecko will bite you. I really mean it, and so does the gecko.
Answer:
In Australia, I would suggest blue tongue lizards(skinks), easy and cheap, dont need a lot of heating,eat a variety of foods such as tomato, banana, several fruits actually, and they love snails out of the garden, just make sure they're not baited. They are a very quiet reptile,fairly docile really.
my next option would be bearded dragon, a bit more difficult to look after and maintain, a lot more active, but easily tamed.
Answer:
i would go with a leopard gecko one can live in a ten gallon aquarium although a twenty long is better they eat between 5 to 10 crickets or mealworms a day which can easily be ordered on the web or picked up at any petshop. they’re easy to handle as adults but can be a bit jumpy as babies til they get used to everything they do not require heat lights an undertank heater however is required they come in many cool colors but regulars can be picked up for around 20 dollars maybe cheaper at your local reptile expo i think they make great pets another option would be a ball python they require a 30 gal minimum tank as an adult a heat lamp and eat live or frozen mice and rats which can be a tiny more high-priced and run about 50 dollars each at the petstore here but can be picked up for 25 at our reptile expo good luck with your new pet whichever variety you decide on
Answer:
get him or her a igoana. they life up to50 years and get very large. if you get then one you should do a checkup each day, igoanas are pets that need lots of care but just think it like this they grow up with you're child an the become part of his life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ91k5Wwk…
chec it out or google Shahar igoana