Reptile Care
Heating | Lighting | Substrates | Supplements | Handling | Shedding | Feeding | Sick Reptiles | Salmonella
Heating:
Reptile and Amphibians almost all need a heat source, as they cannot completely control their own body temperature internally. They need an outside heat gradient to help them. Common heat source providers are under tank heaters or heat lamps. Under tank heaters should be placed on a rheostat, as most do not have their own thermometer to keep them from baking a reptile. I prefer heat lamps, as it seems more natural to me, since in nature heat comes from the sun.
NEVER USE A HEAT ROCK TO TRY TO HEAT A CAGE. It won't work and can cause serious burns on your animal. It causes burns by making an animal think it is still cold. They do not heat the air so the reptile will remain curled around the heat thinking it is still cold because its top side is cold.
Any heat source will need to be checked against a thermometer or plugged into a reptile thermostat to keep it safely warm for your animal. Some pet stores sell rheostats, which is basically an expensive dimmer. You use it to tone down the power on any heating apparatus (heat pads mostly) to keep it from burning your animal. With lamps you adjust the size bulb until you get closest to the temperature you want.
Most stores do not sell true thermostats, but they can be found online. Thermostats include a temperature probe and turn a heat source off and on depending on what the temperature at the probe is. More expensive ones can also deal with dropping night temperatures and multiple temperature gradients with more heat sources.
Playing with heat gradients is better done before you bring a reptile home. Having a cage set up with the correct heat gradients is ideal, but often very unlikely in the case of an impulse purchase.
Lighting:
Most diurnal (active during the day) reptiles need special lighting to keep them healthy. Recent research is proving that actually all lizards and most frogs need access to UVB light. Snakes the jury is still out on. Since they eat whole prey items it is thought they are less likely to have light deprived vitamin deficiencies. Most pet stores sell basic UVB light bulbs for this purpose. More specialized stores sell slightly better bulbs for this purpose, though most are more suitable for animals like bearded dragons that need a lot of sunlight to be healthy.
Access to unfiltered sunlight with no screen or glass in the way negates the need for a UVB light, but unlimited access to sunlight isn't that common for pet reptiles.
Substrates:
Substrates can range from ultra simple paper towels to ceramic balls under mixed coco fiber with mesh between to two to form a water reservoir so you can pump water to a waterfall. Mostly it has to do with the humidity requirements of your critter. Desert animals are often put on sand, with forest or tropical critters put on moist dirt or wood chips. I personally try to use the smallest grain of anything if an animal is fed in its cage. In the case of my corn snakes they live on aspen shavings because it's easy to clean relatively low on dust, and doesn't attract bugs as much as coco fiber.
My desert critters i.e. Leopard Geckos live on paper towels with a moist hide to help them shed. They're notorious for eating sand, so I just avoid that problem. Crested Geckos are a toss up, paper towels don't really hold moisture as well as coco fiber does without rotting, so I prefer coco fiber.
Supplements
Supplementing is mostly for herbivorous or insectivorous critter, mostly lizards and frogs. In nature these guys would be eating a much more varied diet and have access to direct sunlight. Crickets are a poor substitute for the variety of insects most reptiles would eat in the wild. Cockroaches are a bit better, but many people have an aversion to raising them, so are stuck with crickets or locusts.
This unbalance of nutrition leads to the need for dusting. There are several different kinds of dust, but most are calcium with d3 added to help absorption. This is to fix the calcium phosphorous ratio in most offered foods. If an animal needs to have available calcium in its cage it should be calcium without d3. D3 can cause an overdose if used improperly. If you have a high enough quality UVB lamp you do not need much d3 supplementing, as that is what the UVB lamp is for. It causes the animal to product it's own Vitamin D. This is a vastly simplified description. In general young lizards need more supplementing than adult lizards.
Handling
This is for generally handleable critters only. If you have a pet that is constantly trying to bite you, or clearly terrified of your hands take precautions. There is no reason to try to handle an animal that is extremely stressed out about it. You're just making it worse. Make sure to clean your hands before you attempt to handle anything as scents from other animals can cause a bite, even in animals you don't expect it from (male leopard geckos have been known to bite if they smell another male gecko on your hands.)
One other thing to keep in mind is emergencies. If you are injured and suddenly someone else will have to care for your pets would you rather critters that would tolerate beginner handling, or those that would be difficult to just get out of the cage. I recently went on a 2-½ week vacation and had to leave the care of my critters to my mother. Before I left I finally re-homed a very temperamental milk snake because I knew there was no way she would be able to feed it twice a week without losing the snake, and I didn't want to starve the snake who's only problem was being afraid. I'd almost lost it twice and it was not calming down about being handled. That left 3 geckos, a frog and 4 snakes that needed to be fed while I was gone. Everything went just fine with my easy to handle critters. It also makes it way easier to find someone willing to watch your pets.
Keep in mind you are never going to get a dog reaction from a reptile. Most will eventually recognize you as the thing that appears before food does, and many will tolerate handling better with someone they have been handled by before, but they will not suddenly be your buddy. If you smell like food most will bite. If they are made uncomfortable many will bite. All are still wild animals, which operate a bit more on instinct than we might like.
Snakes
In my experience with calm species most snakes don't react well to very nervous handlers. Don't be wishy-washy. Tentatively putting your hand is a few times can make calm snakes start wondering exactly what you're doing. If you're going to take out a snake you're a little worried about, block their head with their hide, or something else, and pick them up. Blocking their head means just blocking line of strike/sight to your hand, not actually touching the snake with anything, or holding it down. Whatever you use doesn't need to be hefty, just keep them from overreacting to your hand.
I hold snakes with both hands. I do not grab them behind the head or anything. If the snake is small I let them coil around in one hand. If they are 3 feet or more I let them wrap their tail around my left wrist (if they want to, more arboreal snakes do this if they feel they might fall, others such as my Kenyan sand boa have no instincts about gravity so need to be watched), and hold a coil of body with that hand. I use my right hand to keep track of their head. You'll note I said keep track of, not hold their head. All of my snakes are used to handling, and pulling them out causes little reaction. Keep any snake away from your face, and snakes over 5 feet or very hefty should really be handled with someone else around just in case.
However if your snake is curling around itself, hissing, and puffing, by all means leave them alone. They are telling you on no uncertain terms to go away. If you get bitten under those circumstances don't be surprised. I don't know why, but many people seem to like ignoring the warnings animals give us. If I am bitten by an animal that growled beforehand, and I still reached for them I can't blame the animal. They warned me.
The younger a snake is in general the more defensive it will be. Even baby corn snakes can be nippy when the adults are known for their calm. Do not expect a nippy young snake to become a calm adult however. I prefer squirmy but not nippy hatchlings. If they are striking at everything, but were fed recently I'm not interested. I truly like very calm snakes, but it is unlikely to get them that calm as babies. Make sure any animal is within your handling abilities. If you aren't comfortable with the nippy baby keep in mind they could become a nippy adult.
Lizards
Many lizards can be considered unhandleable. If an animal is not particularly handleable get used to herding it into a critter keeper or other alternate container every time you need to clean the cage. Some lizards most notably tokay geckos really do not like handling and will hiss, growl and deliver a nasty bite for you trying. Others are just too fast to reliably catch, or too delicate to touch. Do NOT handle any lizard by the tail.
Most lizards will drop a tail if it is grabbed. Only some will grow a new one, others will have a stump for life. If your lizard does drop its tail keep it on a clean substrate, such as paper towels for a few weeks while it heals. In an animal that uses its tail as a reserve make sure they are well fed while it is regrowing, and supplement well, as they are growing bone.
The main rules when dealing with the handleable ones is to support the whole body and tail. Animals don't like the sensation of flying. Some are more comfortable with it, but ground bound lizards will start squirming if they don't feel secure. For animals that jump and cling always keep a hand in front of the one they are perching on to keep them from leaping to nowhere.
To pick up docile adult lizards I slide my hand under their chest, and then align them down my hand with their tail over my wrist and head facing my fingers. I keep my other hand in front of them in case they suddenly decide to make a run for it. For babies I place my hand flat in the cage and encourage them to climb on it with my other hand. If they are snapping and freaking out I leave them alone and try again later. With babies don't raise your hand more than an inch or two off the cage floor once they are on it. You're acclimating them to handling, not actually taking them out. They have a higher incidence of panic compared to adults. That panic is not unexpected when you realize most are smaller than our thumbs.
If you must directly handle an unhappy lizard grasp them around the chest. Gently restrain them about the chest and body with your fingers. If the animal is large, like an iguana, make sure to hang on to the tail base as well, but not tightly. Handle them for the shortest amount of time possible, and try not to do it too frequently. Animals such as day geckos should not be handles except in an emergency due to the delicate nature of their skin.
Amphibians
There are many schools of thought on handling frogs and the like. I make sure there are no soaps or other chemicals on my hands, dampen them a little and pick up the critter. If they are aquatic treat them as you would fish using a fine mesh net. For tree frogs always keep a hand in front of them so when they jump, and most will there is something there for them to land on. Toads are better convinced into a new container under their own power, but if need be I handle like frogs. Unlike snakes I don't really take amphibians out for socializing time, as they really aren't interested. Most are quite content in whatever cage they live in and I only remove them to clean.
Invertebrates
These guys shouldn't be handled. Most of the ones kept as pets can be venomous and should be herded into alternate containers if you need to move them.
Shedding
All reptiles shed. Most amphibians do as well, but it is less noticeable. Animals like snakes go dull and blue for a week or so before shedding. They should not be handled or fed at this time unless they are ill. Most snakes prefer a large water bowl at this time, and many do well with a humid hide. They will need something rough in the cage to help remove the shed. Driftwood or rocks work well for this.
Snakes shed their whole body skin including a scale cap over their eyes. This is why their eyes go milky for a few days while shedding. Always check any shed skin to make sure the eye caps shed as well. Retained eye caps can cause blindness and other eye problems if left untreated.
Corn Snake in blue, note the cloudy eye
If your snake has a bad shed don't be tempted to help. You can give them a lukewarm bath (no hotter than their cage temps) and let them soak for up to a half hour making sure the water stays warm. You can rub your hands down the snake from head to tail and try to convince the skin to come off that way. Never pull it or tug trying to get it off, you could damage the skin underneath the shed. You can also try putting the snake in a damp snake bag for a while in the cage to see if that works as well. As long as the sheds eventually come off you are fine as far as health goes, but it means you need to tweak the humidity the next time the snake tries to shed. Shed snakeskin should be removed from the cage as soon as you find it.
Most lizards eat their shed skin to get back nutrients. Most of them need a humid hide to make sure all the skin is shed on touchy areas like toes. Lizards can loose toes if the humidity is low and they shed several times. The stuck shed will cut off the blood circulation and they will loose use of that toe. Right before they shed most will look a little dull and be hanging out in the humid hide.
Feeding:
Almost all reptiles eat live prey. Most of them won't even look at food if isn't moving, or doesn't smell like food. Standard fare for insect eaters is crickets, mealworms and wax worms. In other countries they often use grasshoppers as well.
As to snakes, I personally prefer frozen food. Mostly due to squeamishness on my part, but I like the convenience and with the snakes I have it isn't a problem. I also like the safety. It is impossible for a frozen thawed rodent to bite or attack your snake, whereas live healthy food can easily bite, then turn your snake off that kind of food because as far as the snake is concerned it hurts.
Most snakes eat mice or rats. A few very picky ball pythons may demand gerbils or African Soft-Furred Rats. Some specialty foods include chicks, quail, and rabbits depending on snake size. A few demand lizards or other snakes as meals. I do not ever recommend trying to find a 'better' food than rodents for snakes. Do not try feeding them cooked chicken or other nonsense. Snakes need whole prey items, fur and bones and such are all needed to keep them healthy.
How I feed a snake: Most of my snakes are removed from their cage and put in a well-ventilated tupperware or plastic locking container. I use tongs to handle their thawed mouse. You need the mouse to be slightly warmer than the room temperature and completely thawed. The tongs are to keep overzealous snakes from catching your fingers rather than the food.
If your snake is very shy or nervous you may need to feed in the cage. In that case use a substrate they can't eat, like newspaper or paper towels. On substrates like wood chips or coco fiber setup a dish that is about half the length of the snake wide. Put the rodent in that. It still needs to be warm. You'll have to watch them, but many will just eat without dragging the food onto the bedding.
Bowl training:
I assume someone else figured this out before me but whatever. I feed my White's Tree Frog and Bahaman Anoles in 6 inch white ceramic bowls. The bowls, when cleaned regularly, keep crickets in, but all my perching critters can leap in after them. Of course some crickets still end up wandering the cage, but the numbers are significantly fewer. I picked white so the crickets are very visible. I suspect bowls will work with any sticky footed critter or tree frog.
Sick Reptiles
If you think you're reptile is acting weird, or ill there are a few things to check first. Check all heat sources and temperature levels. Check that the lights are turning on when they should and that none of the bulbs are burned out.
Look the animal over. Is it keeping it's eyes closed? Breathing heavily? Scratching a lot? Blowing bubbles from its mouth or nose? Does its jaw line up correctly? Any feces on it at all? Any open wounds? Check over the animal carefully, including its belly and where its legs meet its body. These are all signs that something serious could be wrong with your animal and it will likely need a vet visit to correct any of these problems. Of course finding a vet that will treat reptiles is sometimes an adventure in and of itself.
Some of these ailments can be healed with time and corrections to husbandy. If an animal you are thinking about purchasing is exhibiting any of these symptoms run away. If one animal is sick and on display you have no idea what else might be going on in that store.
Salmonella
All egg laying animals can carry salmonella. The best defense is to be sure to clean your hands before and after handling an animal. Do not lick or kiss any animal. Do not keep cages near cooking areas, or food preparation areas. Do not wash cage decor in the kitchen sink. Do not allow children to play with reptiles unattended and make sure they wash their hands before and after. The elderly or those with compromised immune systems should not handle reptiles. In 7 years of keeping reptiles I haven't gotten Salmonella.
