National Reptile Awareness day is celebrated in October- consider these factors prior to purchasing or rescuing a pet reptile. This will be a two part series!
Now, you may ask – what is a reptile exactly? Simple: an animal that is cold blooded ( aka needs heat from the sun or artificially for their organs to function!). This can include lizards, geckos, turtles, tortoises and snakes as pets usually.
We spoke with Dr. Price Dickson from My Pets Animal Hospital in Lakeland to discuss her 3 main things that EVERY reptile owner show know about owning a pet reptile that will save your time, money and stress: The 3- H’s
Heat
“Whichever species you choose- look up the natural environment they are from and the temperature” and try and mimic that in their enclosure.” says Dr.Dickson who is a member of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians
Be sure to give them a gradient of heat areas to choose from- the super toasty section all the way to the cooler area with a hiding area . Every reptile species has different heat needs – Factors can include their metabolism, breeding season, and even their growth needs.
Humidity
“These guys need to shed their skin and and they cannot do that properly if the humidity is wrong” notes Dr. Pierce. Reptiles will secrete a fluid by using the water content in their body to help with this process. If chronically dehydrated- they cannot create this fluid and then the skin will not come off properly and cause issues- such a blocked pores, poor vision, loss of toes due to the restricting skin and even infections.
Soaking in a water bath is an alternative option to help with shedding and drinking and ensure skin is moisturized from outside- but if a pet is put back into a dry enclosure the chronic dehydration will keep occurring causing other long term health issues as well-so this is only recommended as a back up option.
Healthy Foods
The goal is to mimic the diversity of a natural diet by providing different forms of fresh protein sources added to high-quality commercial diets available to ensure different forms of essential nutrients are being offered.
Just about any snake will do fine with just mice as the primary food source, but others species of lizards, and geckos need different types of insects such as meal worms, crickets,and roaches to diversify their diets. Turtles and Tortoises also need access to a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits frequently. The goal is to avoid Metabolic Bone Disease which is very common in reptiles with improper husbandry (a fancy word for caring for your pet).
Reptiles create a lot of phosphorus and it needs to bind to calcium. If a diet that is not rich in calcium is provided- either from insects that are fed high protein diets or from adding calcium powder manually- this phosphorus will pull calcium from the bones of the pet and cause bone weakness and deformities.
Amber Van Denzen Suarez, CPPS
Owner Atta Boy! Animal Care Pet Sitting + Dog Walking