1. It still isn’t going to be simple.  Keeping any animal other than fish tends to take work, and even many types of fish take a lot of work.  Like other pets, they have to be provided with clean housing, food, and water.  The feeding may not be as simple as visiting your local grocery store for a bag of kibble.
2. Do your research on the species.  Because they are less common pets, the pet store employees may not actually know much about them.  Frogs are complex animals and some species make better pets than others.  Some species can be venomous, while others will grow immensely.  For example, if you go to a pet store, you will see cute little frogs called “Pixie Frogs.”  Well, they can grow to be like this.  They are actually African Bullfrogs.
3. Try to get an active frog.  Much like geckos, some species of frogs are active, while others will just sit around and and eat and sleep.  Often, the cooler looking species will be on the less active end of the spectrum.  They will get boring quickly, so pass them up for an active frog.
4. Be ready to have to feed the frog some unusual things.  Like reptiles, many frogs will only eat live food.  Most eat insects, but some eat mice and even rats if they are large enough.  This said, you have to be okay with handling live prey or mice, which grosses many people out.

Keeping a frog can be very fun, but you must be prepared for it.  Keeping a frog can be a lot of work, so do your research and be prepared.

Good beginner lizard:

• Leopard Geckos.  These pets are fun and easy to take care of.  For starters, they are docile and take handling well.  Mine was so docile, he could sit next to me on the couch and stay perfectly calm.  They are smallish (6 inches long, approx.) and colorful.  They have bands of yellow on their backs.  They can survive on a diet of only crickets and water.  They are easy to keep in groups.

Good beginner snake:

• I don’t know too much about snakes, but to the best of my knowledge, ball pythons are excellent pets.  The two people I know who own them love them.  So, I will refer you to a about.com piece on them.  “A small constricting snake (adults reach 3-5 feet) that is usually quite docile and easy to care for. They do have a reputation for refusing to feed, so potential owners should be persistent in finding a healthy captive bred ball python (you may even want to ask for a feeding demonstration to ensure the snake will readily take killed mice). Ball Pythons can be expected to live a long life (20-30 years).”

Good beginner amphibian:

• White’s Tree Frog.  Now, before I get into this, let me explain that frogs are horrible pets for kids.  All frogs do are sit around and sleep.  They make great display pets, but you have minimal handling when you own a frog.  But if owning a frog is a must, then White’s Tree Frogs are good.  They can be handled occasionally, if they are fed well.  They eat primarily insects, but will eat just about anything.  They can live in tanks as small as 25 gallons and are arboreal.  The tank must be kept warm.

If you or someone you know is interested in having a reptile or amphibian pet, please regard this list.  It could make your pet keeping experience a happy and fruitful one.

• There may be as many as 100,000 deaths a year due to snake bites.  Now that may seem extreme, but there are about 10,00 deaths a year due to snake bites in India alone.  There are about 20 a year in the U.S. and 10 a year in Australia, but this is a direct result of advanced medical care and anti-venom medication.  Also, on the grand scale, the U.S. has few overly lethal snakes.
• There are few species of venomous lizards — only two are actually known.  They are the Beaded Lizard and the Gila Monster.  Both rarely strike, but if they do strike, they have the potential to kill a human being.  Also, several more species are close to venomous.  Both the Komodo Dragon and Iguana have mouths teaming with bacteria and large teeth, giving them quite the killing potential.  A study believes both of these may actually be venomous, as well as the Bearded Dragon and the Monitor Lizard.
• The poison frogs pretty much round the list off.  A single frog can kill as many as ten people with the venomous secretions its skin creates.  They are small and colorful… and deadly.  Ironically, they stop producing poison in captivity.  Wild caught ones will stop producing it after a time period in captivity.  There is a species of toad in America that produces a venom, but it isn’t lethal.  Rather, it can be milked and smoked for psychedelic purposes.

Keeping a venomous pet is not for anyone in my opinion.  It is dangerous and stupid.  There have been many cases of people killed by venomous pets over the years.  Also, in many locales it may be illegals, so DON’T.  ’Nuf said.

The society serves Vancouver Island, Canada. It was founded by hobbyists who often found themselves being given unwanted reptiles (shades of Alligator Bob, the Chicago gator rescuer who refuses to give his last name). Its work is very necessary in an area where the SPCA doesn’t currently accept reptiles, and wildlife centers can do only so much.

About 50 animals have been taken in by the society this past year, and 40 of those have been adopted. The rest stay with foster families, just like other pets awaiting new homes. So far, there have been no unadoptable reptiles. If the society receives one that’s too sick for adoption, it will be rehabilitated with the help of a vet.

What inspires someone to adopt a reptile? Dawn says many people who think they’re scared or disgusted by reptiles change their minds when they meet one. And reptiles can be “a good alternative for people with allergies, or who don’t have appropriate space for more traditional household pets.”

Some types of reptiles will let you interact with them, while others do better going their own way as display pets. (You can think of them as your own tiny wildlife preserve.) Research will help you decide what kind is for you.

And if you do decide to adopt a reptile, check for a rescue society in your area.