Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: Reptile Owner for Several Years

• Don't buy/set up the enclosure the same day you'd be putting a critter in it, whether it's a new pet or a replacement enclosure for one you already have. It's important to take some time to make sure you can maintain the desired environmental conditions - that a basking area will be warm enough without burning your poor critter, that there will be a cooler area if they get too hot, that humidity can be kept in the right range for the species (and for desert species, that you can provide a limited humid space to help with shedding only when needed), that they'll get the right amount of specifically UVB (which will require buying the expensive reptile lights; even plant lights don't go far enough into the B spectrum, and reptiles develop severe bone problems without it), etc. Some species, like chameleons, will do really poorly if they don't also have a breeze or air flow - which is extra tricky when you need to keep the temperature and humidity up. Additionally, if you're providing a more sterile environment, it's good to give things time to air out just in case; and if you're going bioactive, you should let your plants, good bacteria, and beneficial bugs have time to get established before there's a critter in there tearing the place up.
• Research the critter's actual needs. Don't trust the seller info. Sellers tend to claim various reptiles are fine in much smaller spaces than are healthy for them (not necessarily to deceive; many are just misinformed), may suggest species-inappropriate diets, may give the wrong temperatures, etc. Small dealers/breeders may have a bias toward believing info that keeps their setup "easier" to manage or may outright be untrustworthy. Large companies may provide brochures or info packets, but they may not have info for a given species (even while selling it) and I've discovered the info they do have is often highly inaccurate. They all also tend to be marketed as easier than they really are. For example, the brochure I was given for Chinese water dragons listed them as a beginner to intermediate reptile (nope), recommended lower humidity than is actually appropriate and decontextualized the temperature suggestions in a confusing way, and said adults should have a 40-gallon tank (despite seeming small enough to be okay with that, what's actually considered the minimum for a CWD to be physically and mentally healthy is a minimum of 4 feet in all dimensions).
• Quarantine any new animal. It's important to bring the critter (and some of their poop, fresh as you can reasonably get) to a vet ASAP anyway to better understand things and find out its actual condition (if nothing else, there's a high chance a new reptile is carrying parasites they need to be eliminated or brought under control). Even if you only have the one, if you put the critter in its new home too soon, you might have to take everything apart and sterilize it to prevent re-infection with something. Keeping it in a quarantine space while you wait for test result, observe it for abnormalities, etc, can save you that trouble. And if you'll be cohabing multiple critters (very discouraged in most cases), skipping quarantine can lead to healthy animals being infected, too. It's also good to check any critters you already have periodically and before introducing a new one as a precaution against things sneaking in.
• Provide hiding places. Most reptiles need a place where they can feel safely hidden away, and this very much means you won't always be able to see them. For many, you usually won't be able to see them, or any least not much of them. They need spaces that are big enough to fit in, but small enough to provide that sense of security. Some reptiles also need to be able to dig to satisfy their instincts, some of which build full-on burrows - a product called "excavator clay" can help with this.
• Ensure the enclosure is truly secure. Snakes in particular are skilled escape artists, small critters can generally get through (or stuck in) even smaller spaces, and large reptiles have more muscle and brains than people tend to realize. If there's an opening or a weak spot, it will be found.
• Red "night" bulbs may be acceptable to use during the active period of nocturnal species, but should not actually be used during the rest period. Those bulbs basically just prioritize the interest of human viewers over the comfort of the critter. If an under-tank heater (UTH) doesn't provide enough warmth while the lights are out, additional overhead heat can be provided by ceramic heat bulbs instead.
• Heat rocks are dangerous. Most of the reptiles sold as pets are unlikely to chew on the cord (though it is still a risk), but there have been numerous cases of reptiles suffering severe burns from heat rocks getting too hot. A similar issue exists with heat tape and UTHs that don't have monitoring and emergency turn-offs built in. And while I haven't yet heard of someone trying to use an aquarium heater instead: aquarium heaters are designed to be in water, and are almost guaranteed to overheat if not submerged.
• Don't ever hang a light, heater, or any other device by its cord. It may seem sturdy, but it's a serious hazard. Additionally, some form of caging should be used if there is any chance the critter can reach a light or heater; that's another thing that's resulted in a lot of burns. DIY caging is usually inadvisable, though, as many owners find out the hard way how many things lead to toes being lost.
• UV lamps often claim to be good for a year. Everywhere I've looked outside of their packaging, however, states that their UVB output diminishes to the point of uselessness within 6 months. Plan to change your UV lights twice a year, figure out proper disposal (most available use mercury, which requires special processing), and know that the lights should still be fine for use with plants if you want to get that other 6 months use in. (I should also mention that while UVB is needed for vitamin D production so they can process calcium, UVA is also important to their vision; and also that UVB is the type of UV most associated with skin cancer in us.)
• For the most part, chemicals are bad. Most cleaners are a huge risk to your critter, and even the safer options usually require a lot of dilution. If you use tap water, you need to know how your water is treated; usually you'll at least need to dechlorinate it somehow. Anything sold for gardening usually has fertilizers and/or pesticides that will harm your critter (yes, including many "organic" options). If you're doing more DIY with it, be aware that the vast majority of adhesives, sealants, paints, etc contain chemicals that will harm your critter, and even most wood comes chemically pre-treated. One of the things to keep in mind is the idea of "it's the dose that makes the poison," and that your critter has a much smaller body than you do and so cannot handle the same exposure (and you're gonna "hotbox" them with whatever you put in their enclosure).
• If you're going bioactive, do your research well. There are plenty of plants and woods that are toxic to reptiles even if not ingested, and many plants are designated "safe" when they're only safe for climbing on, not safe for ingestion. Obviously, there's lots of bugs that can pose a risk to your critter, too, or that can mess up a delicate ecosystem. Some bioactive groups can get really intense about the "right" way to do things, too, particularly in objecting to any form of sterilizing anything. Sterilizing things before adding them does have to be done with caution, but it can be done, and in at least the majority of cases, I fully believe it should be done. It's honestly not that hard to buy beneficial bugs, fungi, etc, so the risk of bringing in problematic ones doesn't seem worth it.
• If you're keeping things more conventional, make sure you buy the right types of things (for example, some substrates used for small mammals are toxic to reptiles; different types of reptiles will do best with certain substrate types; and critters who have a high risk of ingesting loose substrate may need turf mats or something else they aren't as likely to get in their mouth), pay attention to the materials your decorations and structures are made from (for example, heat and UV are major degraders of plastics, which can lead to toxic off-gassing and/or structural breakdown & dangerous plastic shards in most plastics), and know how often various things need to be changed out.

Too many people get an exotic mostly because it's just so cool and don't really know what they're in for. All these years and I'm still figuring out more in how to properly take care of just one individual of one species (and yeah, that very much means the first line applies to me, too). Exotic pets tend to be marketed in ways that focus on how interesting it is, how pretty it looks, and in a way that (especially with reptiles, amphibians, bugs, and still also fish) presents them as, in many ways, "easier" to care for than more conventional pets. They aren't marketed as companions, but as centerpieces. A lot of people just accept that, and for one reason or another, never quite fully understand that these are living creatures who have needs, experience pain, and express themselves in ways that are very unfamiliar to us (for example, things like head-bobbing and waving in reptiles is usually an expression of warning and aggression, and hiding pain has been an important survival instinct to avoid being targeted by predators). Others who want to build more of a bond tend to end up still misunderstanding what their critter is actually expressing (prior example still applies; another is that "stargazing" in snakes can look like curiosity or interest, but is usually a sign of neurological damage), and/or have to deal with a frustrating lack of info or understanding and an excess of conflicting claims simply because they do, indeed, have an unusual pet.

It can be extra heartbreaking for those who find out too late that they were missing signs of problems or had even been causing their pet harm without ever meaning to. For example, a common practice to better hold heat and humidity in the typical screen-top terrariums is to put a layer of aluminum foil over the screen, but aluminum isn't really healthy for... most animals, really. And for those who get won over by a really pretty snake morph (morph = the colors and patterns expressed by the genes), they may have to realize later on that fancy snake morphs come with a lot of inbreeding-based health problems just like shows up frequently in purebred dogs. The "bumblebee" morph in ball pythons, for example, is notorious for neurological problems; the worst case I've seen was a sweet little guy who "stargazed" pretty much perpetually, needed help eating and took exceptionally long to swallow, and couldn't "grip" things for climbing or anything. Another is that CWD groups will chew people out for even allowing a CWD to be on its back if it put itself in that position to begin with because of their supposed inability to breathe like that, but commonly think tail-dropping is an unfortunate but normal thing (CWDs are not supposed to drop their tails, not even to escape something).

Misinformation is abundant; clear information with solid sources is not. Shady practices are common enough that a friend found out at a later point that the tortoise he purchased at a reptile show was not legally large enough (and therefore not old enough) yet to have been sold to him, and I've heard far worse. It's still very common for many "exotics" (especially the ones that aren't mammals) to be wild-caught and then sold. It can be difficult to find a vet that will accept them, let alone be reasonably knowledgeable about a specific species. It's harder to find products made for their needs (even many sold for them can be bad for them). Getting food that won't end up harming them can prove both difficult and expensive, and individuals of more predatory species may refuse to eat anything that doesn't at least appear to be alive. It had be really hard to tell when something is wrong. Vet bills can get pretty high, and it's harder to get insurance for "exotic" pets; between Scamp's last two appointments, for example, I paid over $1800 (to be fair, the bigger chunk of that was for a surgical procedure). Housing for anything larger than, like, a gecko also shoots up really fast; I honestly might have spent more just on getting Scamp's new (and very much needed) enclosure to a habitable state (even reusing older things I was able to and having access to other alternative sourcing for some things, and it still needs a lot of work) than I've spent on feeding myself in the past year or so.

I don't think people are incapable of taking proper care of these sorts of critters or anything. I just think the time, effort, and money it takes tends to be vastly underestimated, and learning the hard way really, really sucks for all involved. Honestly, I still don't take as good care of Scamp as I should (sometimes forget her meds, sometimes forget to feed her often as I should, still haven't quite solved the issue of nitrate buildup in her pool, etc), and I've considered finding her a better home many times - but the terrifying truth is that I have every reason to believe she'd only end up in a worse place, if I could find anyone who even could take her.