Home Herpetarium

When you have a cat or a dog, you can be pretty sure that you won’t have people over visiting your house on a regular basis that will be afraid of your pet.  Most people can handle interacting with cats and dogs, even if they don’t particularly like animals.  But when it comes to reptiles and other exotic pets, it can be harder to find people who are comfortable being in close vicinity to them.  Some people actually have severe phobias to snakes and spiders, and won’t be able to even set foot in your house if they know that you have them inside. 

Some visitors to your “home herpetarium” will be the complete opposite.  They will want to touch and hold everything they can, and may stick their heads into enclosures and pick up animals before you can tell them not too.  These types of people may seem like they would be better to have as visitors, but in reality they can be alot of trouble.  If you have snakes that are prone to biting, or tarantulas that do not like to be handled, you could wind up with a wounded visitor before you know it.  

It is a good idea to always keep in mind that just because you love your scaly or 8-legged or hard-shelled friends, other people might not.  Make sure any visitors you have to your home are aware that the animals are there, but also ask them up front if they have any fears in regards to them.  If they do, make sure everyone is placed within their enclosures during “guest” time, and don’t make a point of showing them off if your visitor isn’t up to it.  If you have a visitor who is very into seeing your reptiles and exotics, let them know the rules for touching and handling before you bring them over.  Telling them they will get bitten before it happens is alot better than trying to explain afterward. 

The number of reptiles each individual herp owner will want to bring into their homes will be different then other herp owners.  Some people get one or two snakes, or maybe a pair of turtles, or a breeding group of Bearded dragons, and then call it quits.  Other people dedicate whole sections of their homes and lives to reptile ownership, collecting dozens of types of snakes and tortoises and always looking for more.  While there is nothing wrong with owning many snakes or lizards, it is important to take into account what each animal needs to be healthy and properly cared for before adding more, and more, and more to your menagerie.  

Tortoises may not need regular affection like a dog or cat might, but they do need to be feed regularly and properly every day.  They also need a suitably sized enclosure with a heat lamp, a water dish, and substrate that they can dig around in and burrow in.  And each time you add a tortoise to your group, you have to factor in that they will need more space, more food, more water, and more room to bask under their heat lamp.  Plus different sized tortoises can’t necessarily be housed together, as larger ones will run over the top of smaller ones and possibly hurt them.  It can also be necessary to house males and females separately, and desert tortoise species will need to be kept somewhere warm and dry, while tropical tortoise species need to be kept more humid.  

As you can see, the more tortoises you want to keep, the more difficult it can be to accommodate them all.  The same can be said for multiple snakes, multiple lizards, and multiple amphibians.  So if you have a room in your home that you can devote to your reptiles (we call ours the Reptile Room), and you have the money and space and time to devote to them, go ahead and gather your personal herpetarium.  Otherwise you should stick to one or two of your favorite herp pets. 

Everyone loves to find a great deal, especially when it comes to buying reptiles that can be expensive.  But just because you find an animal in the newspaper or online classifieds for an unbelievable price doesn’t mean you’ve hit the herp lovers jackpot.  There is a chance that the sweet deal on an adult Russian tortoise or Spider Ball Python really is too good to be true.  Before you hand over your money and start patting yourself on the back for getting the deal of the century, only to wind up with a sickly or genetically inferior animal, make sure to ask some important questions first.

1)  How long have the current owners had the reptile?  Where did they get it from?  Why are they getting rid of it?

2) Has the reptile had any health problems in the time that they had it?  Has it ever been checked out by a veterinarian?  Has it been housed with any other animals since they’ve had it?  Did any of them have health problems?

3) What have they been feeding the reptile?  Have they had any problems with it refusing food?  Has it ever gone a prolonged period of time without eating?  Has it ever shown signs of sickness from something that it ate?

4) If you are seeing the listing for this animal online or in the newspaper, can the current owners send you some pictures so that you can get an idea of what it looks like?  Can they give you pictures from several sides and angles, including the head, back, tail, and underbelly?  It is important for you to take a good look at the reptile to see if it has any problems with its scales, limbs, eyes, ears, or mouth.

5) Can the current owners tell you how old the reptile is?  Can they give you an approximate size for it?  While tortoises can live up to 80  years, lizards such as Bearded Dragons live a considerably shorter amount of time.  It can be difficult to pay for a reptile after being told it is a young adult, only to have it die of old age shortly afterward.

6) Do the owners know if the reptile was captive bred or wild caught?  Wild caught animals are more likely to carry internal parasites then ones that were bred in captivity, and knowing their background can help you decide if it is a good idea to bring them into your home.    

If the current owners of the reptile you are interested in won’t answer your questions or show you pictures up front, or if you find the animal very different upon meeting it as you were expecting because of the current owners’ answers, you should seriously rethink purchasing it. 

Size means alot in the reptile world.  You will need animals that are the right size in order to breed them, or keep them housed together, or to keep them in certain types of enclosures.  You will also need to know what size your reptiles are so you can keep track of their growth (especially when they are still babies and juveniles) and in case you need to medicate them.  If you take one of your pets to the vet they will probably be weighed there, but it is also a good idea to purchase a scale for your home where you can weigh your animals whenever you feel it is necessary.  In most cases a gram scale will be best, as many reptiles such as geckos, baby tortoises, small snake, and lizards will not weigh more than a couple of pounds at the most.  My partner and I bought a relatively cheap scale from Bed, Bath, and Beyond that weighs items up to 6.6 lbs, weighs in gram measurements, and figures out how much an animal weighs even if we have to put them in something to get them to stay on the scale.  For some of our critters we weighed them on the first day we had the scale and haven’t weighed them since, as they are older reptiles and don’t seem to be having any troubles growing.  Others, such as our baby Sulcata Oliver, we are weighing at least once a month (and sometimes more.)  We are curious to see just how fast he is growing, so we keep careful track of his weight each time we take it.  We also measure his length along his bottom shell, to make sure he is growing properly that way as well.  To keep track of each weight taken as well as lengths measured, we keep a notebook with a page for each animal and their stats.  I also have marked down their species, gender, latin name, and the date they joined our “family.”  This way we have information that we can easily refer back to if needed.  Keeping this size information will come in handy when it is time to breed some of our snakes and tortoises, and will also be useful if we ever have a sick reptile and need to give details to our vet.  I highly recommend that every herp owner keep a log for their animals as well. 

While traditional pets such as dogs and cats can be great companions and friends, they are not the only animals that can move in to your home and steal a bit of your heart.  All it takes is one Russian tortoise rushing at you for food, or one Bearded dragon “snuggling” into your chest, and you will see that reptile pets can be just as interesting, amusing, and fun to care for as furrier companions.  But unlike similar breeds of cats and dogs that can be cared for in the same manner, each species of lizard, snake, tortoise, and turtle requires its own special level of care.

 As an avid fan of reptiles and other exotic types of pets, I will share some information and advice every weekday on caring for and keeping these wonderfully interesting animals.  From tips on how to give a medication shot to a Ball python with a respiratory infection, to how temperature effects exotic pets such as Mexican Redknee tarantulas, to what fresh vegetable mixes are best for Russian tortoises, I’ll share what I know to make reptile keeping a little more accessible and fun for others.