Fundamentals to be considered when choosing your reptile pet.

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1 Reptiles Before you make a decision about adding a reptile to your family, be sure you know whether or not reptiles are allowed where you live! Many areas have laws pertaining to dangerous reptiles, including constricting snakes and venomous snakes. Pick a captive bred reptile whenever possible. Wild reptiles that have been tamed are not as used to human handling as captive bred reptiles are. At the pet store or breeder, be sure you pick out a healthy reptile. Look for a reptile with clear, alert eyes and no visible sores or lesions. Make sure your reptile seems to be generally healthy, and is kept in a clean cage. Snakes are a popular pet choice for those who are new to reptiles as pets. Certain starter species, like corn snakes, ball pythons, king snakes, and milk snakes are generally easy to care for and not too picky when it comes to dinner. These snakes are relatively small and easy to handle. Other types of snakes may be too large or strong for one person to care for on their own. Believe it or not, turtles can be a challenging pet reptile. Generally, turtles are long-lived, messy, and can grow large, needing larger housing space. They also need exposure to ultraviolet light. But turtles aren't the only reptiles that need special light and heat. Proper lighting and heating is essential to keeping pet reptiles healthy. Knowing and maintaining the proper environmental conditions for your pet of choice is just part of being a responsible pet owner.

2 Fundamentals to be considered when choosing your reptile pet. 1. Research Before you bring a reptile into your home, you need to know everything about the animal's care requirements. What kind of food does it eat, and how often must you feed it? How much space does it require? What about heat, humidity and lighting requirements? These are just a few of the things you need to research before you put a reptile into a cage. 2. Selection The best way to keep a reptile healthy is to start with a healthy specimen to begin with. You won't know what a healthy specimen looks or acts like until you have researched the topic. We strongly recommend that you purchase a captive-born reptile, as opposed to one captured from the wild. Captive-bred animals are generally healthier than wildcaught specimens. A reptile taken from the wild might have any number of diseases or parasites, none of which you want to deal with. Taking animals from the wild can also stress their populations, which is why so many reptile species are endangered these days. These are all good reasons to purchase a captive-born specimen!

3 3. Habitat Reptiles are incredibly diverse. Some live in desert environments, while others exist in rain-forests and other tropical regions. Some are active during the day (diurnal) while others are nocturnal. Some need a basking area well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while others do well at room temperature. You get the idea. Before you bring a reptile home as a pet, you need to set up a proper habitat. Pop quiz: What's the difference between a cage and a habitat? A cage is basically a box of some kind (made of plastic, glass or screen) that holds the reptile. On the other hand, a habitat includes everything the animal needs to survive. The habitat includes a substrate of some kind, heating devices, lighting, hiding areas for your reptile, climbing furniture and more. The "ingredients" of the habitat will vary, depending on the type of pet reptile you are keeping. 4. Diet What do reptiles eat? As with everything else we've talked about thus far, it depends on the species you keep. In captivity, most snakes will do well on a diet of mice and rats. Chameleons will eat a wide variety of insects. Bearded dragons will eat a combination of fruits, vegetables and insects. Green iguanas are strictly herbivores, eating fruits and vegetables. Turtles and tortoises may be omnivores or herbivores, depending on the species. Different reptiles have different dietary needs. Before you bring a reptile home and put it into a cage, you need to know (A) what it eats and (B) where to find those food items. Herbivores are easy -- you can feed them fruits and veggies from the grocery store. But what about lizards that eat insects only, or snakes that eat rodents? You need to have a food supply on hand from day one. Knowing what to feed your pet is important, but you also need to know how often to feed it. An overfed reptile can suffer from all kinds of health problems, just like an

4 overfed human. And the same goes for underfeeding. 5. Maintenance Pet reptiles require ongoing maintenance and monitoring. They don't need as much maintenance as a dog or cat, but you do need to keep an eye on certain things. Here are four things you need to monitor: The temperatures and humidity inside the habitat The cleanliness of the habitat The feeding schedule The overall health of your pet The first three items on this list are fairly simple. The last item (health) is harder to observe. In many cases, a reptile can be ill without showing any outward signs or symptoms. And by the time they do manifest some kind of symptom, the illness could be in the more advanced stages. Why is this true? Because reptiles do not show any outward expressions. If your dog or cat became sick, you would know it right away. Dogs and cats have very expressive faces, and they can frown and whine and whimper when they're not feeling well. But pet reptiles can do none of these things. So if you don't provide the proper habitat for your pet snake, lizard or turtle, it will suffer in silence for a long time. What does this mean to you, as a reptile keeper? It means you must be proactive and diligent about providing the right care. You must check the cage daily to make sure the temperatures and humidity are correct. You must keep the cage clean to prevent bacteria buildup. You must learn the normal behavior of your pet, so you can tell when something is out of the ordinary. And, if necessary, you must take your pet to a qualified reptile vet when something goes wrong.

5 Pet Reptile Care - Conclusion and Summary These are the key components of pet reptile care. If you get these five things right, your pet will be more likely to have a long and healthy life. Every pet deserves the best care its owner can provide, and that includes reptiles. And now that you know what to do, there's nothing left but to do it. Good luck! We stock all the products to set-up your pets correct habitat.