So I'm building a Kobold Witch. Right now, he's level 5 with a scorpion familiar. I'm planning to take Improved Familiar at 7th, with one caveat: the new familiar must be a dragon (because kobolds). Initially, I was going to choose the Pseudodragon, but it seems they can't use wands. So, here's all the available dragon familiars I'm aware of and whether or not they can use wands:
Can use wands: Calligraphy Wyrm, Faerie Dragon, Pyrausta
Cannot use wands: Pseudodragon, Pseudowyvern
I'm aware the Pseudodragon is likely the best of these, but I don't particularly like it. Pseudowyvern is my favorite fluff-wise, but it can't use wands. Is that a large enough drawback that it shouldn't be taken? Is Faerie Dragon so powerful that you're crippling yourself if you don't take it?
My bad, I meant to say the Faerie Dragon was likely the best.
It is pretty close to impossible to cripple a 9-level caster.
Personally, If I'm playing a witch I wouldn't want my familiar in combat at all. Wizard's and others, sure, but for the witch it isn't just your pet, it is also your spellbook, and having it participate in combat increases the danger to it dramatically.
Leaving that aside, Fairy Dragon is pretty clearly superior. A fairy dragon casts spells as a sorcerer, not just uses spell-like abilities, so they don't even need a UMD check to use wands on their list. How much of a difference that will make depends a bit on how much you plan to use it, and what tactics the party uses. I had one group where the Fairy Dragon familiar was responsible for the party haste in the first round (via wand) letting the wizard focus his first round on control. An extra action is worth a lot, but it cost a fair bit of gold as well.
Having a character and companion that you like is probably more important than any mechanical advantage though, particularly when it is likely that in the later levels you will probably be more powerful than most of your party anyway.
I'm the party crafter, so making wands shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps Calligraphy Wyrm? The thing's diminutive, so it can easily hide in my robe, and it's got decent CHA for UMD. Pseudowyvern is still my favorite, though, but I just don't see any reason to take it over a wand-user.
Which evolution? I'm not familiar with any that would allow for wand use. It's not just a matter of being able to grasp a wand, a Pseudowyvern can do that. There's a very specific list of familiars that can use items like wands: http://paizo.com/organizedplay/faq#v5748eaic9whc
"The following familiars can use spell trigger and spell completion magic items, including wands and scrolls, as well as magic items with a command word: arbiter, brownie, cassisian (in small humanoid form), calligraphy wyrm, faerie dragon, homunculus (if it can speak), imp, leshy (any), liminal sprite, lyrakien, mephit (any type), nosoi, nuglub, pooka, pyrausta, quasit, shikigami, soulbound doll, sprite, and zhyen."
That aside, I don't even qualify for Evolved Familiar, so it's a moot point.
The PFS restrictions don't always make sense, and since they're house rules for a particular game (which your kobold item crafter obviously isn't in) there's no big reason to use them. The obvious problem with a pseudowyvern though is that it doesn't have arms or forelimbs other than its wings. You'd probably have to set up a sling to hold the wand.
A tidepool dragon is one more dragon familiar option, BTW.
Avr, fair point. My GM isn't particularly good at communicating with the players (i.e. me), so I generally try to find official rulings. The PFS one was the only one I was able to find, but if you know of a ruling outside of PFS, by all means, let me know. Good catch on the Tidepool Dragon as well.