A Practical Guide On Caring For Your Pet Reptile

Now reptiles may not be the most common pets globally, but they need to be cared for just like any other pet. So read on to get a better understanding.

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Welcoming a pet into your home can bring many joys and fill your days with love and playful moments. While cats and dogs may be the more common pets, reptiles are fast gaining popularity as well. Many people nowadays consider having a pet lizard, snake, or turtle as a pet. If you are one of them, read on to know just what to expect if you adopt a reptile and how you should go about caring for it.

Research Well Beforehand

It’s a good idea to know exactly what you will be getting yourself into if you choose to adopt a reptile. The best way to do that is by researching the different types of reptiles and their needs. You have to have a clear understanding of the reptile’s special needs and be willing to take care of those needs. If it seems difficult to accommodate the reptile’s special needs, it would be best not to bring that specific reptile home. You need to learn about their feeding habits, nutritional needs, and other requirements to be taken care of to keep the reptile happy and safe.

Ensuring Proper Nutrition

Your pet reptile will need fresh food to ensure that it gets proper nutrition. Some reptiles need to be fed mealworms or horn worms, while others require fresh vegetables and fruits. Most foods are available in the market commercially, but you need to be careful while picking out the food for your reptile. Even worms are now commercially available, making it very convenient for reptile owners to take proper care of their pets’ nutritional needs.

Don’t Use Head Restraints.

You want your pet reptile to feel safe with you instead of fearing you as a hostile predator. This is why you should refrain from using head restraints with your reptile pet. Using head restraints will almost surely make your pet think that you are not friendly or safe. The end result will be less than an ideal experience for both of you.

Pick Your Reptile From a Trustworthy Breeder

To avoid any negative experiences, you need to buy your pet reptile from a  reputable breeder. Responsible and reputable breeders will ensure your pet reptile comes with a good bill of health and has no temperament issues. Buying it from a questionable breeder runs the risk of having a pet that is compromised in health or has other problems as a result of its faulty breeding.

Keep A Close Eye On Your Kids Around The Reptile

Children can get rambunctious or just plain curious and may get involved in an accident with the pet, which is why your pet reptile should never be left unsupervised around your children. Some kids may behave roughly with the pet, antagonizing it. It might make the pet get defensive, causing it to whip its tail or bite the child. Younger children under 18 months should not touch the reptile as they have weak immune systems.

Set up Space To House The Reptile

Creating a home for the reptile needs to be accurate, as they need a lot of space to move about. Create an area that is enclosed but large enough so that the reptile can move about freely. Be sure to check if it is escape-proof so that both the pet and your family can remain safe.

Clean The Cage

Keeping the cage the reptile lives in clean is very important, and you must be willing to do it regularly. If your reptile lives in an environment that is not clean, it can develop bacterial infections. And their feces contain salmonella, something that is very harmful to humans. So you must ensure that the feces are disposed of carefully. Be sure to use disinfectant to clean your pet reptiles’ cage regularly.

Cultivate A Confident Relationship With It

You may be a complete newcomer to the world of reptile pet ownership, or you may be at this for several years. Either way, you need to be able to handle your pet reptile with confidence. This is the best way for your reptile to develop a comfortable relationship with you. Reptiles can sense nervous energies as they can pick up the energy through vibrations your body emits. So, if you are nervous around reptiles, they will not get comfortable around you.  So, don’t get a reptile for a pet if you are afraid of them.

Learn How To Handle The Reptile

Each type of reptile has a particular body shape and is sensitive to touches to different parts of its body. So be sure to research how to handle your pet reptile properly to avoid inadvertently antagonizing them.

Clean Your Hands

You do not want to be near your pet with hands that still smell of a particular food. Reptiles have very strong sensory organs and can sense any scent from afar. So if you don’t want your pet reptile to mistake your hand for a food source, wash your hands well before you go near them. This way, you will also be ensuring that you are not introducing any bacteria into the area where it stays.

Get The Temperature Right

Reptiles can regulate their body temperature according to the environment it is in. Most reptiles will have difficulty in maintaining a proper body temperature in most indoor room temperatures. This is why you must avoid keeping the pet out of its terrarium for more extended periods of time. The ideal situation would be to limit the out-of-cage time for your reptile to less than 30 minutes. You also need to check with a herpetologist to ensure what heating is required for the particular reptile you have and what arrangements you need to make to maintain that temperature.

Reptiles as pets are not a new idea, and they can prove to be just as worthwhile as a dog or a cat. So follow the guidelines mentioned above to ensure that both you and your pet can bond and have a positive experience.