REPTILE Art Posters

You don't select an animal for a pet just because it has nice positives and few negatives stacked up against some other animal.  You select it for a pet because you personally find that particular animal to be beautiful and interesting.

Many people are fascinated with reptiles.  However, most people aren't interested in having them as pets.  You must have that strong interest inside yourself (not just that it's better or worse than a cat, dog, fish, bird, etc.) in order to do them justice.

So why are people interested in reptiles?  After all, reptiles are tough, simple, animals.  They are sometimes even grouchy and irritable.  Why have them for pets?  Well, for a lot of reasons.  They are like little dinosaurs---a whole different animal than us mammals.  They're easier to take care of than a lot of other animals.  For the most part, pet reptiles don't need a wet environment---which can be a lot of trouble to keep clean and healthy.  They don't shed hair or bark like dogs.  They can be very happy living in a small, closed space.  They eat not nearly as often as mammals, therefore have less feces---which tend to be hard and dry, easy to clean up.  Also, they can be left alone (with plenty of water) when you go on vacation.  Unlike fish, you can pick them up and handle them.  They don't fly off like birds.

Also, they have a lot of redeeming features, even snakes.  Snakes are the ultimate handicapped animal.  Snakes have no hands, no feet, no arms, no legs, no ears, and poor eye-sight.  However, in spite of their handicaps, they function just fine!  Amazing!  Plus, they are very efficient eaters.  Instead of killing an animal and chopping it up into bloody chunks, wasting a lot of the prey, like we do---snakes just swallow everything!  Nice and neat and clean, and using all the prey as food.  Just the hair remains to get excreted in the feces.  Very efficient.  Snakes are very open and totally honest---no sneaking around like monitor lizards, or teasing each other like dogs or cats.

And even though snakes have to react quickly to any threat (since they have few defenses), they can still be quite friendly and tame if you convince them you are not a threat.  Once they find out that you are their friend (protecting them, being gentle and supportive, and bringing them food) for the most part they will then be happy to be your friend as well.

I got interested in reptiles when I was in high school.  Before that, I had about every kind of animal as a pet that was readily-available.  I had fish, pigeons, spiders, cats, dogs, rats, mice, frogs, etc.---sort of like I had the mind-set to become a biologist!  (Which, indeed, was exactly what I did: eventually earning a Ph.D. in Biology!)  Anyway, I was always interested in dinosaurs, and snakes were kind of close.  So I got a couple garter snakes.  Then, that quickly became several large cages, containing lots of lizards and even large snakes!  My room became a zoo where my bed was squashed between giant reptile cages (which I built).

My folks weren't too thrilled that I had reptiles.  They weren't biology-minded like me.  But they saw I had a genuine strong interest in animals, and supported me.  My Mom was scared of snakes and didn't care for the big lizards, but after a while when she saw how tame they were, she even got worried about them if she didn't see them crawling around their cages for several days!  "Is Topper ok?" she'd ask (a big, grown, green iguana).  "I haven't seen him out for several days!"

So even though people are scared of snakes, they can easily become quite used to them when they see how beautiful and tame they are.  

There are a number of types of reptiles that make good pets.  This includes turtles, tortoises, lizards, and non-poisonous snakes.  Once again, an animal you'd prefer as a pet should be one for which you have an existing strong interest and appreciation.  

TURTLES are fun, but they mostly require wet-type aquarium environments, which can be a fair amount of work to maintain.  Tortoises don't need a wet environment, although I should emphasize that like all reptiles they also need a constant supply of readily-available water.  TORTOISES are used to living in mostly hot environments, so room-temperature cages won't work for them.  In fact, most all reptiles (since they can't control their inner temperature like mammals), need a heat source in their cages.  Tortoises need warm sand under them, a large enough cage to roam around in (small aquariums won't do).

LIZARDS can make great pets, though the type that grow large (like iguanas and monitors) will need large cages when they grow up.  Also, lizards can be difficult to handle---since they (unlike snakes) do have four legs, each with paws and fingers tipped by sharp claws.  In addition, lizards will bite---and also whip you with sometimes-large and powerful tails!  But lizards that stay small can be great cage animals, even if they don't like being handled.

SNAKES are actually one of the better reptiles to have as pets.  They happily stay in small cages, are easy to feed (if you follow my suggestions below), come in many beautiful colors, and can be very tame and friendly.  There are many kinds of snakes that make very nice pets, especially ones that stay fairly small (no longer than three or four feet all stretched out).  These include such snakes as ball pythons, rat snakes, king snakes, and corn snakes.  Snakes that a beginner should avoid are the ones that will over the years grow quite large, such as Burmese pythons and anacondas.  Also, I don't recommend small water snakes (like garter snakes) or grass snakes (like green and blue racers), as they tend to be grouchy, very fast-moving, hard to handle, and take harder-to-obtain food (like fish and lizards).

Reptiles want three main things: 1) to be well fed; 2) to feel safe; and 3) to keep warm.  Sound familiar?  Do you want to be well fed, feel safe, and keep warm?  Sure!  We all do!  So in your herpetarium (reptile environment), you need to have three things: 1) accessible, clean water; 2) a dark box where the reptile can go to feel hidden; and 3) a gentle heat source that's always available.  If you have those three things, you can put your reptile into any escape-proof container---such as a modified aquarium, your own glass-fronted box, or even walk-in large cages---and have it be reasonably happy.  

Another thing to watch out for is chicken wire, such that the reptile will rub it nose raw trying to get out.  Either fine mesh over air openings or wire top to the cage is ok, but not a wire front or wire walls.  Wood or glass for the walls.  Whatever type or size the cage is, remember, it must have clean water, a dark cave,and a good heat source.

In the "reptile gallery" section, there are examples of these types of cages.  CLEAN WATER can be in a saucer for small reptiles, a big flat dish for tortoises to climb into, a big tub for larger reptiles (especially ones that want to get into the water like monitor lizards), up to bath-tub-sized plastic tubs or plastic garbage cans (secured with chains or rope so they can't tip-over and flood the cage).  

I change the water at least once a week, often sooner if it gets dirty or "scummy."  After dumping out the old water, I clean the bowl or dish or tub thoroughly with ammonia solution (that you buy in the grocery store).  I don't use soap or other cleansers because reptiles are sensitive to poisons, and even a little left over can be toxic.  Ammonia is good because it's very effective at killing any bacteria that might stay behind with soap and form a scum.  After scrubbing out the water container with the ammonia, I rinse it well FIVE times with water before adding the final water volume---which gets all the ammonia out.

The reptile's CAVE can be a small, closed box with a hole cut into one end, a large closed plastic container with a hole cut in, or even (for giant pythons) wooden dog houses!  I'll usually cover their cave with a cloth to make sure light doesn't get in except for the small "door," keeping it nice and dark inside.  Whatever the cave is, it must be a place that the reptile can easily get into it and feel safe (dark inside).  For snakes, I'll put a soft towel on the bottom for them to snuggle up on (that I take out and wash periodically if it gets dirty).

The HEAT SOURCE should always be on, even in the summer.  Room temperature is too low for reptiles.  I keep the air in closed reptile cages at a minimum of 80 degrees.  For breeding, reptiles need to go lower in the winter---but this can be dangerous to their health.  I recommend leaving the breeding to commercial groups, and just having reptiles as individual pets who you keep as healthy as possible year-round.  I keep a flat wall-thermometer taped to the inside of each reptile cage glass front, so I can easily see it at-a-glance, and always know how warm or cool the air is inside the cage. 

The easiest heat sources to get, which most pet stores carry, are flat pads of various sizes, and hot rocks---both of which have cords you plug into the wall socket. The pads are good for putting beneath sand, and spread heat throughout the sand.  Sand by itself can get quite cool, and suck-out the warmth from your reptile.  Hot-rocks are nice because the reptile can decide to get up on it or off of it as desired.  Both are good for small modified-aquarium cages.  I have much larger cages, for which I modify heating-tapes with light dimmer switches.  The tapes "snake" beneath the sand in whatever sections I want and give constant, gentle heat.  Sometimes it works well to bury a hot-rock in the sand, which diffuses out the heat, because some reptiles (like snakes) may actually scorch their hides by staying on the unprotected surface of the rock too long.

Overhead lights in the day provide some heat.  I also have colored (blue or green) lights I can turn on at night to provide above, radiant-heat that's not bright like day-time.  In the winter I may even cover the cage (especially if its a glass aquarium) with a large towel to keep heat in.  Be aware, also, that it's possible to cook (and kill) a reptile by getting it too hot.  Ordinarily, reptiles eat the best and are most active around 90 to 95 degrees, as in the summer.  In the winter, I try not to let the temperature go below 80 degrees for air temperature, with the sand being gently warm.

The substrate for reptiles can be a soft, washable surface like a towel, or wood shavings, or sand.  I prefer sand on top of a heat source.  Its very easy to clean, just scoop out any droppings by the animal, a solid surface, and doesn't risk getting splinters in the mouth of the reptiles like wood (which can set up infections).  

Also, I should mention again that the cage needs to be escape-proof.  I usually have latches and locks on the cage doors and tops.  If there's a way out, the reptile will find it.  Tortoises can actually dig through solid wood walls over time, with their tough claws.  Reptiles can climb and find ways out of the top of cages.  Snakes can nose their way out through even small cracks.  The best way to not have them escape is to make sure the cage is locked and escape-proof.

How big of a cage?  The general rule of thumb for a snake is to have at least one of its dimensions as long as the snake is when stretched out.  So if you had a three-foot snake, you'd want to have a herpetarium at least three feet across from one corner to another corner.  In it, there'd be plenty of room for a small tub of water (large enough so that the snake can't tip it over), plus a small box to hide in.

How many reptiles should you put in one cage?  I recommend having at least two in each cage, since they will keep each other company when you're not there handling them.  Some snakes, though, you do need to keep isolated---such as the king snake, which actually will kill and eat other snakes (though some individuals can live with other snakes ok, depends).  

Lizards mostly live ok with each other, though you may get mixes that don't do well and fight.  You'll have to just try and find a nice livable mix.  I don't crowd them up.  Two or three is fine for even a large cage.  Plus, when they grow older, the males may want to try to mate with the females---where-as in the wild the females can get away when they want, they are trapped in the cage with the males, and the males may actually damage and kill the females in their enthusiasm.  So that's another thing to be careful of.

Having several snakes in one cage can make things confusing or even dangerous during feeding time---when they both may latch-onto the same (dead) rodent [see below].  With two snakes, one on each end of a dead rodent, one snake may actually end up swallowing the head of the other and suffocate it.  So you have to watch carefully if food is put in with several snakes, or quickly hand the food to one then the other---and still keep an eye on them in case the one snake finishes before the other then latches onto the half-eaten food of the other.

Most pet stores have booklets on your particular pet reptile.  Those don't cost much, and are usually very well written.  I highly recommend getting one of those booklets and reading it BEFORE buying any pet reptile.  Then you can plan for and set-up and make sure you have everything you need before making the final decision to buy the animal and bring it home.  Each kind of reptile has its particular needs.  Here, however, are some general tips on feeding reptiles, which I've learned over the years.

Tortoises and many lizards are salad-eaters.  For them, I provide a bed of green-leafed lettuce, then canned sliced potatoes, corn, and green beans on top.  I sprinkle dried, pelletted, semi-soft dog food on top of that.  Then, I sprinkle phosphorus-free calcium with vitamin D over the entire salad, and add a few drops of liquid reptile-vitamins.  You can get the special calcium supplement and vitamins at pet stores.  This gives them leafy food (which they like, but has little nourishment in it), plus substantial food---including some protein, necessary even for the mostly-vegetarian animals.

Many lizards do well on or need to eat live crickets, which you can also buy at pet stores.  I keep my crickets in their own container with egg cartons to crawl on, plus their own water and food (apple sauce, semi-moist pelletted dog food, and sliced potatoes).  When it comes time to add some of them to the lizard cages, I take out the cricket food and egg cartons, and knock-down the crickets into a bottom corner, sprinkle them with phosphate-free calcium or powdered vitamin mix, and pour/shake-out however many I want into the lizard cage.  The lizards come and munch them up.  Left-over crickets walk around in the cages.  I keep a lid with water and a small amount of potatoes on lettuce for the left-over crickets in the lizard cage, so they stay happy and fat until they eventually get munched up.  For monitor lizards, who are scavengers, I give them small hunks of cut-up meat (steak, chicken) plus salads.

Snakes are not vegetarians.  They need their vegetables inside meat---such as a rat or a mouse.  This is certainly distressing to an animal lover, though, to have to feed one animal to another animal.  Fortunately, most snakes will easily and quickly learn to take frozen, stock-piled, dead food---as long as it seems to be alive (snakes aren't very smart)!  

So you can go to a pet store and get frozen mice or rats (or order them out of a reptile pet-supply magazine).  Much easier to buy dead, packaged rodents than having to raise and kill them yourself.  Just keep them frozen in thick-plastic, sealed, closed freezer bags, and they'll keep nicely for years.  When you want to feed the snake, just take out the correct-sized frozen, dead mouse or rat, thaw under low heat in the oven (about 150 degrees) until they are thawed and not cold anymore.  Then I put them at 300 degrees for five or ten minutes to make sure they're strongly warm (but not cooked or bloated-up).  Immediately, I hand them on the end of long forceps, tongs, or a snake-stick to the snake (the excited snake may strike at the dangling rodent, miss it, and latch onto your hand or fingers if you try this by hand instead of like I recommend).  Then the snake's instincts take over and he wraps around and squeezes the (dead) rodent to have it not be able to breathe and quickly expire (though it's already quite dead), and after a while will relax and swallow it down.  It's a good idea to get the snakes used to getting food in the late evening, and to turn off the light and go away and leave them alone during this time---if they're disturbed they may drop or regurgitate the food and not get the nourishment.  

Also, some snakes are so jittery you need to "box" or "bag" them.  For some snakes I need to put their warmed dead food in a paper bag, gently get the snake by the tail and lower them in, seal the top by folding over and clipping it with paper clips, and leave them alone like that in the dark.  Or I might put them in a cardboard box with the top folded together.  In this way, they have nice darkness to feel safe to eat their food---and also are protected from other snakes coming along and trying to take their food.  Some snakes are intimidated by their companions and need a place all secluded before they'll feel safe enough to go ahead and eat their food.

Of course you can pop a live mouse or rat into the snake's cage and let the reptile grab the rodent and kill it directly.  I don't recommend that, however, as the rodent may put up a fight.  It may kill the snake!  And if it stays in the cage when the snake isn't hungry, it might even chew on the snake and do damage!  Also, even though the snake kills its prey quite quick (the rodent is usually unconscious within a few seconds), it's probably easier on the rodent to be humanely killed at the pet store or snake-food supplier.

Unfortunately, reptiles in captivity often do not do well, get sick, and die!  That's usually because the owner has a cage where the animal doesn't feel safe (therefore won't eat) or isn't warm enough (therefore, again, won't eat, and can easily get sick).  The best way to deal with reptilian health problems is "PREVENTIVE" MEDICINE---keep the animal in the proper sized cage, with clean water, with a "safe-cave," and a good heat source.

Another good thing to use is "dry die"---a silica-powder that I sprinkle around the cage.  It kills any mites or ticks without harming the snake (it's not a poison; it physically interferes with the wax coating of the parasites).  "Pest strips" are not good---they have toxic poisons that can harm the reptiles.  You can get Dry-Die by ordering through reptile magazines.

Reptiles can come down with any illness other animals can, though, especially as they grow older.  I've had reptiles with infections, broken limbs, even cancer!  Most veterinarians don't treat reptiles (reptiles being a special category of animals), but some do.  Get the phone book out, and call up the vets.  You'll most-likely find one within driving distance that knows how to properly treat reptiles if your pet if it gets sick.  Yes, it costs money.  But with the proper preventative care, and occasional emergency care, you can have a reptile that lives as long as a cat or dog---up to ten to twelve years.

If you happen to get a lizard or snake that grows large (which I don't recommend for beginners), with proper care they will grow large!  It may take ten years, but you could easily wind up with a Burmese python that is fifteen feet long and weighs one hundred pounds!  I enjoy the big ones as much as the small ones, so that doesn't bother me ("the bigger the better!")---but many parents are justifiably distressed when their son's baby, 1 and 1/2-foot, beautiful pet python turns into a giant!

Most pet stores don't want giant snakes.  They want little babies that fit well in small cages.  So for the most part they won't take-back (forget about selling-back) your now-giant lizard or snake.  Fortunately, there are a few serious-minded reptile folks that indeed will take in large, no-longer-wanted, reptiles.  Often your local pet store will know of folks like that and can refer them to you.  If you can't provide your reptile with a loving, caring home anyone---then find someone who will!  You probably can't sell it for any money, but at least you can find it a good home.

It's best, though, if you know the kind of animal you're dealing with from the very first, plan on it living a nice long life, and make sure that it gets the best environment and care possible for its entire life-time.

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