I own just about everything dogs, snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, salamanders, fish, a raccoon. I love plants and animals always have! the lizard in the pic is a Crested Gecko.... They come in MANNNNYY color patterns mine is Extreme harliquin. I have never been bitten by my gecko tho the nile monitors I used to have were ferocious haha....but those are for advanced reptile owners lizards are great they are for the most part one of the easier reptile species to keep expecially crested geckos because they come from a mild climate so they enjoy room temperature 70-78 degrees.... kinda like plants haha...I always had them ever since I was little and just kept getting more and more. I would highly recomending gettiing a reptile they are fun to keep and watch and can have very unique personalities. And no those spikes are soft and silk and his skin feels almost like velvet really cool creature they were known to be extinct until a scientist found them on a remote island in 1994! crazy man shows that there are still ALOT of species to discover! What kind you want is totally up to you and your budget the skys the limit with reptiles ive seen snakes sell for over $50,000 a piece!!!!