Help picking a reptile

I've kept some other lizards before (some locals & some exotics), & what surprised me the most about the bearded dragon was how he behaved towards me. Initially he was kept in a smaller cage (temporarily) & when I'd get home from work, he heard me & started scratching at the sides of his cage. He was a work in progress as far as the constipation situation, but thinking he wanted some exercise, I'd pick him up, and it turned out that all he really wanted was to snuggle on my shoulder. Talk about endearing behavior! My vet suggested dosing him with mineral oil, and I also fed him small amounts of fruit or veggie baby food to keep up his strength; every night I gave him a long soak in shallow warm water in my bathtub, which also helped to hydrate him. He finally did 3 massive dumps in the bathtub (on successive nights), at which point he was empty (so skinny!) & ready to eat normal foods- he grew rapidly after that.

His original owner made 3 mistakes: feeding only crickets, feeding crickets that were way too big* and keeping him on wood shavings. The crickets back legs are very hard to digest...that's what he was full of, that and wood shavings that he ate in apparent desperation. Bearded dragons have such a huge mouth that some owners assume they can take larger insects than what they should be given. (they don't thoroughly chew their food) Long after "Spike" recovered I happened to be eating some ice cream with him snoozing on my shoulder: suddenly he woke up & nearly dove into the bowl, lol- I guess it reminded him of the baby food I'd given him at first, & obviously that was something he enjoyed and remembered. (& no, he didn't get any ice cream, but I did get him a suitable snack)
I wish more people read up on pets before they acquire them; all animals have "pros & cons" and most pet stores don't discuss the "cons" because they fear they'll lose a sale.

Well I like snakes so all my suggestions are going to be snakes... lol! But if you want something a bit more active than a BP with a bonus of being lower maintenance, I really enjoy corn snakes quite a bit. They come in plenty of morphs too.

Like BlueCrowned, I'm mostly a snake-keeper too, and totally agree that corn (& other rat snakes) make awesome pets. Besides corn snakes, I especially recommend Trans Pecos & Baird's rat snakes for their docile temperament, beauty, & easy-to-handle size. You would have a lot less to worry about when you're gone for a few days a week. All of these snakes feed easily on frozen-thawed (or freshly killed) rodents, & are very easy to live with. Of these, corn snakes are the most readily available & less expensive (depending on the morph), & all enjoy cages with branches for activity, making them interesting just to watch.

A king snake or corn snake, would be my recommendation. Mostly great feeders and relatively easy to keep. Good luck on starting the best hobby one could have!

I've had a bearded dragon for over 5 years, their great, easy to keep and very tame. Mine bit me once while feeding, he does get excites when he spots food. He likes it outside in the summer and the uvb rays do him good. He likes crickets best will sometimes eat greens but he's fussy with them.

Hello, if you want go see the guys over at exotic creations on main st. in tonawanda,ny. They are a small shop and have a little bit of everything. From geckos, snakes, and bearded dragons ( 2 pretty nice ones). They will let you handle them all which may help you in deciding which reptile you may want. They make you feel at home as it’s a very relaxed atmosphere compared to some other reptile stores in our area as we really don’t have many. I was just there this past weekend to drop them off a bunch of blue horn worms my bearded dragon wouldn’t eat. ( yes I do believe a may have the only beardy that turns her nose away from them...lol) Here is their FB page. Hopefully they can help u with your final decisions
https://www.facebook.com/JaeDezz/