Day vs. Night Pet Lizards

Video Transcript

"The next thing to take in to consider, is whether or not the lizard we're looking at is diurnal or nocturnal. What's diurnal, what's nocturnal. Diurnal means he's active at day, nocturnal means he's active at night. So really, you need to find the right lizard that's going to have the right lifestyle to match your lifestyle. If you're gone all day, but are home and up late-night, you're going to probably be looking at a nocturnal lizard. So, let's take a quick look at the different guys we were looking at in the beginning here. You have your bearded dragon again. Now, the bearded dragon is going to be a diurnal lizard. They're going to be active mainly during the day, and not nearly as active at night. He's pretty much going to hunker down and sleep. So if you're home a lot during the day, or you don't spend a lot of time home at night, he might be a good idea for you, as you're going to get more enjoyment out of him. He's definitely going to be more active during the day. Now if you are at home at night, and not home during the day, the leopard gecko might be for you. Now this guy is going to be much more active at night than he is during the day. They are a nocturnal animal; he's going to sleep and hide all day, but at night he's going to come out and hunt. So that's when you'll be able to appreciate him and his behaviors. And lastly, is our crested gecko, who is a little bit of a mixture of both. They are primarily nocturnal, though they are quite often active during the day. So you kind of get a decent mixture of both behaviors. You'll see him moving around and hunting at night, as well as see him hanging out and maybe nibble a little bit of fruit or baby food during the day. So he's a good mixture of both, kind of an inbetweener."