The following paragraphs summarize the work of Reptiles experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Reptiles. Heed their advice to avoid any Reptiles surprises.

A terrarium is similar to an aquarium except that it isn’t full of water and fish. It’s a tank made of glass or plastic with a wire mesh lid. The mesh allows air to come in and keeps the reptile from escaping.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, unable to make their own body heat, which is why it is hard for them to move around if the temperature isn’t right in their environment. Reptiles lay eggs to hatch their babies. Unlike human babies, which are dependent at birth, reptile babies are born ready to care for themselves.

A successful terrarium is set up with the proper heat source for temperature perfection. A thermostat will ensure the correct temperature at all times. Reptiles need a basking lamp to sunbathe and a light tube for ultraviolet rays.

It sounds expensive and complicated to a beginner, and it very well may be depending on what your idea of expensive is. But once your terrarium is set up, the biggest hurdle is being able to afford the proper food and bedding. The expense of bedding is reduced if you buy two pieces of indoor/outdoor carpeting to allow one to be cleaned while you use the other for your pet.

Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Reptiles? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?

There are several ways to set up your terrarium, depending on the needs of your reptile. The desert terrarium will need coverage over the inside bottom floor. Most people choose sand or gravel for the desert appeal. Plants will add a hiding place for your reptile and helps increase the natural look and feel of their environment.

You must provide water even in a desert setting for three reasons—drinking, bathing, and moisture. Even in the desert a certain amount of water is necessary. It should be kept clean and accessible at all times for your pet’s comfort and to ward off disease from unclean water. Sometimes a lizard or snake reptile will prefer a tropical forest terrarium setting. You’ll have to make sure you regulate the day and night temperatures. Investing in some sort of timer will make this less of a chore and safer for your pet.

The tropical forest is kept damp at all times. Provide a layer of wood chips and maybe some moss to hold the moisture. Keep some sort of trees to allow your reptiles to climb among the branches.

Turtles and some snakes require a habitat that is part land and part water. You must purchase a heater designed to control the water temperature. Adding rocks allows the reptile access out of the water when needed. The rocks should be free of sharp edges to avoid injury to the reptile as it navigates through its home. Place a fluorescent light over the dry areas to allow sunbathing.

The last habitat choice is called a savanna. You can consider it a medium ground between the dry desert setting and the very humid tropical setting. It’s also cooler than either and stays only slightly damp. Shady areas should be included for the pet’s comfort. Plastic plants discourage the reptile from eating the scenery. Coarse gravel is allowed in the savanna setting.

When word gets around about your command of Reptiles facts, others who need to know about Reptiles will start to actively seek you out.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Are you looking for some inside information on Reptiles? Here’s an up-to-date report from Reptiles experts who should know.

Lizards are one of an interesting group of animals that you might not think about too much – the reptiles. The biggest of the reptiles, the alligator, is hard to miss, but they live only in the southeastern United States. Smaller reptiles, like lizards and snakes, can be found in your neighborhood. If you want to go exploring to see these colorful and fascinating animals, here are some of the more common ones that you might find.

Let’s begin with lizards. Most common lizards are between four and twelve inches long, which is about the length of one or two of your hands. If they see you looking for them, they will probably scurry away quickly, so approach them quietly. Some lizards can go as fast as fifteen miles per hour, about as fast as you ride your bicycle, and very fast for a reptile! One really interesting thing about lizards is that if another animal grabs their tail, the tail breaks off, and later the lizard grows a new one! All lizards have smooth dry skin, so do not worry about them being slimy. One of the more common lizards all across the U.S. is the skink, which has a nice round body, short stubby legs, and is very shiny. Look for skinks during the warm part of the day in areas that no one goes near, like groups of rocks in a vacant lot. Many skinks have long stripes along their bodies, and a solid color pink or blue tail!

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

Another wonderful group of reptiles is the snake family. When you see a snake, think about how it uses its muscles to move so differently than any other animal. Snakes can move very fast, so don’t be surprised if it slithers off quickly as soon as it realizes you are there. Be very quiet! Two of the snakes that are found throughout nearly all of the United States are the garter snake and the hognosed snake. Garter snakes are very thin snakes, about the size of two or three pencils, and about as long as your arm. They have long stripes on their bodies, the stripes are yellow and dark green in the eastern US, red-orange in the western US. Look for them in grassy fields or in grasses near the edge of woods, especially in sunny spots where they can get warm.

Hognose snakes have funny turned up noses that they can use for digging, and that is how they get their name. They are big brownish or greyish snakes with darker colored blotches on their bodies. They like open sandy areas, and areas with a lot of fallen leaves on it. Hognose snakes have unusual behaviors when they feel threatened. If you get too close to a hognose, it may try to scare you by hissing at you and puffing out its head. If it feels really scared, it can flop over and play dead.

Go exploring to see what reptiles you can find in your area. Look on the Internet or in a book to see a few pictures of snakes and lizards in your area, so that you will know what to look for. Enjoy!

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important about Reptiles.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

When you’re learning about something new, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

Snakes are probably the reptiles that fascinate and repel us the most. One of the most visited booths at any outdoor show is the reptile area, with the little kids standing around and squealing at one special area – the area where the rattlesnakes are kept. Milking rattlesnakes has been a popular sideshow item for many years at local fairs and county shows. There are about thirty different species of rattlers, and all of them live in America.

Let’s look at these wonderful reptiles and get to know them a little better. The two largest, on average, are the eastern and western diamondbacks. The average length of an adult eastern diamondback is around four feet, and the average length of a western diamondback is about three and a half feet. There are reports of diamondbacks that were more than ten feet, but facing a live rattler may add a few feet to the story. The largest ones that have actually been measured have been just under eight feet long. A six-foot rattler can weigh as much as 11 pounds.

Generally reptiles are not thought of as beautiful animals, but a rattler has many wonderful designs to look at. The eastern diamondback, with a general pattern of grey brown diamonds all along its body, has a raccoon-like black mask over its eyes. The Santa Catalina rattlesnake (found only on Santa Catalina Island) has markings similar to heavy eyebrows above its eyes. Another fascinating feature of a rattler is the pits seen on either side of the face. These are not related to the venom glands, but are organs that detect radiant heat. The snakes use these to detect things that are close by and are warmer than the general surroundings. In this way, the pits can help locate of small animals such as mice. Since these reptiles have poor eyesight, they use the pits and their sense of smell to determine where their next lunch is coming from.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Reptiles now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

The most noticeable feature of the rattlesnake is the rattle itself, and rattles are not found on any other reptiles. The rattles are made of the same material that forms horns, claws, and our fingernails. The “fingernail” at the tip of the tail forms a rattle, and when the snake sheds its skin, this part does not come entirely off, forming a new rattle. A few snakes have been found that have as many as twenty-three rattles on their tail.

Reptiles, and snakes in particular, have very unusual ways to get around. A rattler can use the muscles in its body to push against small irregularities, or bumps, in the surface of the ground. As the snake goes by, each part of the snake pushes against the bump so that it looks like the standard snake “wiggle”. The bumps may not seem very visible to us, and it might just be a slightly thicker than usual clump of grass in a grassy field. But what happens if a western diamondback is caught on a flat rock with nothing to push against? In this case, it uses the scales on its belly, and uses them in the same way a multi-legged caterpillar uses its feet. This motion is much slower, but is also quieter, and is used by rattlers to silently get their prey within striking distance.

This is a short introduction into one of the most absorbing of the reptiles, the rattlers. Visit a rattlesnake exhibit at your local zoo or county fair, and look closely at them and watch their movements. You will be delighted.

Is there really any information about Reptiles that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

So what is Reptiles really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Reptiles–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

Of all the reptiles that can be found in an average neighborhood, turtles are probably the easiest to catch. Let’s take a tour of a turtle and see what we can learn from it. One of the most interesting parts of the turtle is the most obvious, its shell. The back of a turtle shell is formed from bones that have fused together into a hard structure. On top of the bone layer are large scales that cover and protect the surface of the bone, and give the turtle its distinctive color.
Some sea turtles have shells with bones that are separated, and the leatherback turtle has no scales at all, just leathery skin with little bony plates distributed in its skin. The shells of land turtles are typically quite high and round, in order to discourage predators from attempting to crush the shells in their mouths.

Water turtles generally have much flatter shells, in order to allow for faster swimming. The bottom of the shell, called the plastron, is also fused bone, but it is covered with a different kind of scale, in order for the turtle to move easily over its territory. A few turtles, such as the American box turtle, have hinges on the bottom of its shell. The box shell turtle can withdraw into the shell and then close the hinges, so that no predator can reach any of the turtle within. These hinges also protect against moisture loss on particularly dry days.

If your Reptiles facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don’t let important Reptiles information slip by you.

Like many other reptiles, turtles lay their eggs on land. Baby turtles generally grow rapidly until they reach young adulthood, and then the rate of growth slows. Large turtles often keep growing at a slow rate for their entire life. The shells of most turtles grow to at least five inches in diameter, and the monster of the turtle family is the Leatherback, which can have a shell six feet long and weigh up to fifteen hundred pounds. One of the larger common American turtles is the Alligator snapping turtle, which can have a shell of over two feet in length and weigh up to two hundred pounds. It is easier to tell the age of turtles than most other reptiles because the plates on their back often have growth rings, similar to trees. Each time a turtle stops growing it creates a depression in each scale, and so these can be counted to determine the age of the turtle.

A number of turtles have lived for more than one hundred years, and turtles might be the longest-lived vertebrates, up to two hundred years old. Some American families carved their names and dates into box turtle shells, and these markers indicate that even local turtles can live to be more than one hundred years old.

Next time you see a turtle, check it out carefully. Watch how slowly it walks (generally at about one third of a mile an hour), and look carefully at the markings on its shell. Turn it over to see the underside of the shell, and how the two connect. See if you can see any markings on the shell to count how old it is. Check out other interesting facts and behaviors about the turtles in your area at your local library or bookstore.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Children often, at one time or another, will have an interest in learning about reptiles. Even if they are only vaguely interested, it is helpful to teach them should they ever encounter a reptile in the wild or at a relative or friend’s house. It is quite possible to encounter a reptile even if one has lived within the confines of the city one’s entire life.

Children are not the only ones who can benefit from learning about reptiles, of course. Adults should at least learn some basic information even if they never have the slightest desire to come in contact with a reptile.

You may be one of the fortunate people who enjoy animals of all kinds and soak up information like a sponge. If you are planning a career in animal care or with some other form of contact, you would do well to learn about reptiles even if your specialty will not lie with reptiles. You may be surprised when the information comes in handy later on in life.

If you’ve ever entertained the idea of owning a turtle, which is quite a common occurrence in children raised in the country setting, you may be interested in knowing there are several types to choose from. There are four kinds of painted turtles in the United States for a good pet choice. The Eastern box turtle is also a popular choice for people to have as pets. Not all turtles are the same or require exactly the same care, but most turtles usually feed on snails, worms, and plants.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Reptiles story from informed sources.

Country kids will often capture a garter snake at some point and try to keep it as a pet. A garter snake needs access to water. They like to eat fish.

Snakes often need less food than other reptiles, sometimes eating only once a year if it is a big snake and have had a big meal. Of course, smaller snakes are not quite as fortunate as they aren’t able to consume as much at one time. But because the snake requires feeding less often, it takes a little effort on the part of the owner to remember to feed them because of the time lapse between feedings.

Obvious places to learn about reptiles are zoos. This is certainly a much safer choice than deciding to take it upon yourself to get your experience first-hand by capturing a reptile in the wild! The experts on television make it seem easy, but they also advise against trying such stunts at home for a very good reason. Snakes are not the only dangerous reptile and not all snakes are dangerous.

Other places to learn about reptiles include museums, summer camps, books, vet pamphlets, bookstores, libraries, safaris, a trip to the jungle, and museums. Natural science museums offer great displays and information about reptiles from long ago and those in the present. You could encourage your child’s interest in reptiles in many ways, but remember to educate them as to the possible dangers of close encounters.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

Large reptiles need large cages or other enclosures. They will also need bedding, a water source, tunnel logs, rocks, trees, steps, plants, a ground cover of some sort for the bottom of their enclosure, and more food than a small pet. The costs can add up before you realize it! But once you have taken care of the initial investment, the big worry lies in being able to provide the proper amount and type of food and bedding. Vet care should also be considered. If you can’t afford to have the reptile treated, you may want to pass on adding it to your home.

If you’re interested in keeping a snake for a pet, you may want to consider the cost and accessibility of the food necessary for the reptile’s survival. Do you have freezer room and a strong stomach for the little frozen mice and rats you’ll need to feed your pet? Mice and rats can cost up to $1.50 each, with the average snake needing 4 a month. Distilled drinking water costs from 58 cents to $1 per gallon and should last a month just for drinking. Of course, if you have a large snake, you’ll need a large source of water for its bathing.

You should plan on spending at least $100 for the corn snake aquarium, rocks, heat source, water dish, and two pieces of indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor. The carpet is the most economical investment for bedding as it can be washed and reused, keeping one piece clean at all times. The corn snake itself can cost from $20 to $350, depending on what type you choose.

Pet care books are available at local libraries. But if you can’t find the one you want, they cost less than $10 even in most pet stores and can be purchases at local discount stores. Filters for turtle aquariums can cost from $18 to $30. Food for iguanas can become costly as they need fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis in addition to food you can purchase in dried form. A 40 ounce container of Iguana Juvenile pellets costs around $16.

Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Reptiles? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?

Bedding for all reptiles must be kept clean to avoid disease from overexposure to its own urine and feces. The cost can start at $2.50 and rise depending on where you purchase and what you prefer. Just keep in mind that not all bedding is safe for all animals. Replacement will depend on the size of the housing, the size of your reptile, and how many reptiles you own.

If you have a reptile that climbs, you may need a fresh air habitat with a mesh screen and water resistant bottom. The small ones can cost around $30 for one that stands 20 inches tall or $80 for one that stands 30 inches tall.

Lighting costs about $18 for a 10 inch clamp-on lamp that dims. A combination lamp can cost $48. An infrared heater can cost $23. There’s also the cost of the electricity needed to run the environmental equipment.

Other items you may need to price are huts for hiding, chemical additives for the water-dwellers, pumps, liners, netting, stands, bulbs, sterilizers, and algae scrapers. If it seems overwhelming, take your time to digest the information and make the best decision. It’s not fair to the pet to provide less than adequate housing and other needs.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Reptiles. Share your new understanding about Reptiles with others. They’ll thank you for it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, proud owner of this top ranked web hosting reseller site: GVO

The family of reptiles is made up of turtles, lizards, snakes, different kinds of crocodiles, and a small group in Southeast Asia called tuataras. Some people think that snakes and lizards are slimy, but all reptiles are covered with dry, horny scales. These scales might be hard to notice for animals like the turtle, whose large scales (or plates) have grown together into one hard shell. Not only have the plates grown together, but the turtle’s backbone has also grown into the shell!

All reptiles have to be really aware of how cold or hot they get, for their body temperature depends on the temperature of their surroundings. They spend much of their time doing two things: looking (or waiting) for food, and moving between sunny spots and shady (or wet) spots to warm up or cool off. If a reptile gets too warm, they can get very sick, and if it gets too cool, it is hard for the animal to have enough energy to move to a warmer spot. These warm spots are often the places that you find reptiles: turtles that come out of the water to sit on a rock or tree branch, and lizards that sit on a fence or sunny wall in order to catch the rays of the sun. Sometimes this search for warmth can dangerous, like the snakes that lie on a warm road at night.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of Reptiles, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

Reptiles have some interesting ways to communicate with each other. People communicate by talking, and reptiles also make all kinds of noises to each other. Baby alligators start chirping just before they hatch from their egg, in order to tell their mother that it is time to dig them out of their dirt nest and bring them to the water. Male alligators can make an enormously loud bellowing noise, kind of like a big engine! They also raise their heads and slap the water loudly with their chins in order to chase other male alligators away. Lizards also chirp and bark at each other, and some male lizards nod to each other, bobbing their heads up and down vigorously. Snakes are generally silent, and use their tongues not to communicate but only to smell. However, a frightened snake will hiss or rattle to as a warning.

How do reptiles defend themselves when they are frightened? The biggest alligators don’t have to defend themselves from anyone except man, but smaller alligators are defended by their mothers until they are more than a year old. Many lizards have tails that break off to let the lizard escape when it is in trouble, and another tail regrows later. One lizard even wiggles its tail, breaks it off himself, and the tail continues to wriggle for a few minutes to make the predator go after the tail rather than the lizard. Many frightened snakes will play dead until they think the threat has gone away. The Eastern Hognose snake is among the best at this playacting: when scared, it first flattens its head like a cobra and hisses loudly, then, if it needs to, rolls over, moves around as if it was wounded, sticks out its tongue, and plays dead.

These fun facts are just a glimpse into a whole world of fascinating behaviors and unusual animals in the reptile family. Find out more information about your favorite reptile at the local library, or on the Internet!

Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on Reptiles.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

You may have admired the unusual looking lizards at your local wildlife center, or perhaps a neighbor may have an iguana in their back room. If you have not raised a reptile before, let me suggest that you start with a leopard gecko. The leopard gecko has two very big advantages, and one of them is that it does not get very big. The other major advantage of a leopard gecko is that is has been kept and bred in captivity since the 1920s, and is among the healthiest lizards and easiest to
keep.

A juvenile gecko is quite active, but as they mature they become rather quiet and tame, and can be held and will take food from your fingers. The adult gecko does not get larger than nine or ten inches, and can be handled by older children. Even younger children can hold them, but make sure they are supervised to handle the gecko gently and to avoid picking them up by the tail, or holding the tail tightly. As with other lizards in the reptile family, their tails can break off. Actually, this might be an interesting occurrence for children, as the tail will be regrown, though it never looks exactly the same as the original tail

Leopard geckos are easily kept in an aquarium or other plastic cage, as long as each gecko has at least ten inches square of floor space. The cage should be a minimum of twelve inches high. Have a shallow bowl for water that doesn’t spill as the lizards crawl into or over it. The food bowl for the gecko can be something about the size and shape of the lid for a gallon jar, a larger flat area. You will be using crickets or other insects as food, and it is better if the food remains in the food bowl. The bottom of the cage should have some kind of paper toweling so that it can be changed in order to keep the cage clean.

If you don’t have accurate details regarding Reptiles, then you might make a bad choice on the subject. Don’t let that happen: keep reading.

One really important point about raising reptiles is to keep the area sufficiently warm. Geckos thrive best when the daytime temperature is in the eighties, up to eighty-eight degrees. Nighttime temperatures can get to the middle sixties without causing any health problems. If your house is normally cooler than that, a lamp with a forty-watt bulb over the top of the cage should create enough heat to keep the gecko warm. There are also hot rocks that you can buy and put in the cage. Keep the cage out of direct sunlight (because it will get too warm) and have a screen cover for the top if you have small children or cats in your household.

Once you have the environment, go to a reputable pet store and select your geckos. Leopard geckos come in a variety of colors, and you can keep several in the same cage as long as there is only one male in the group (most geckos that are sold are female). They eat mealworms and crickets, and correct care and feeding should be discussed at length with the seller. A well taken care of gecko can live as long as twenty years.

Raising a reptile can be a fascinating hobby whether you are eight or fifty-eighty years old. Leopard geckos are among the easiest to raise, are easily tamed, and are always beautiful and interesting pets. Consider a gecko for your next pet.

So now you know a little bit about Reptiles. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

Basically, any reptile that is caught in the wild is discouraged for use as a pet. It is cruel for a reptile to be removed from its natural environment, for it to be thrust into captivity against its will, just so someone can say they own it as a pet. If you must have a reptile for a pet, buy one that was raised or born in captivity.

Compared to lizards and turtles/tortoises, snakes tend to be easier pets for kids to raise. Just make sure your child is old enough to be properly educated in the handling of the reptile for the child’s safety and the reptile’s safety as well. Because reptiles carry salmonella, it is essential that any person who handles the creature either wear gloves or wash their hands immediately after putting the reptile back into its housing.

But there are some lizards, turtles/tortoises, and snakes that are truly not suitable for pets. Although it is possible to keep them in captivity, it is better for the reptile to respect that it is meant to be kept in the wild.

Burmese pythons can certainly become tame enough to make good pets; however, the cute little baby will grow into a very huge adult. The size alone, once it is grown, will make it less suitable to keep as a pet. The African Rock Python and the Reticulated Python have been known to be kept as pets, but their temperament makes it more of a challenge. Just because they are so cute as babies, it doesn’t mean they will still be appealing as adults. The price should not be your only decision in owning one of these reptiles. Pet shops will often sell low cost animals that often turn into high cost maintenance, which certainly enhances the chance of return business. But it is really unfair to the unsuspecting consumer.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

Imported reptiles such as the pythons are often sold with problems that occurred before or during transport. The prospective owner must be well-educated to be able to spot any deficiencies in the animal prior to purchase. Mites, ticks, dehydration and emaciation are some of the possible problems.

Green anoles are sold at a low cost, but their set up can be expensive. Anoles tend to be caught wild which means parasite infestation is more likely; and they don’t like to be handled.

Wild-caught ball pythons are known to have heavy parasite infestation and are picky eaters. Their stress during shipping causes trauma, which affects their temperament, appetite, and overall health. Captive hatched or farm raised are still imported and still suffer from shipping distress.

Wild-caught chameleons suffer stress, parasite, and crowding from being imported as well. They are an antisocial creature even without the added negative aspects caused by shipping, so a beginning reptile owner would find this animal a disappointing challenge. They don’t react well to everyday household noises like children, other animals, vacuum cleaners, loud radios, and so on. It’s not a guarantee that they’ll be happy when housed with other chameleons either because they aren’t even sociable with their own kind.

Other reptiles which do not make good pets, especially for a beginner, are Tokay geckos, caymans, and alligators. They are quick, aggressive, and very strong animals. Make sure you know what you’re getting before you invest your hard-earned money into the cute little pet shop reptile!

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you’ll be glad you took the time to learn more about Reptiles.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his top ranked GVO affiliate site: GVO

If you have even a passing interest in the topic of Reptiles, then you should take a look at the following information. This enlightening article presents some of the latest news on the subject of Reptiles.

Dangers exist when keeping reptiles as pets, but not just as bites and scratches. You can also contract salmonella disease from not washing your hands after coming into contact with the feces or urine or touching something that has. It’s important to keep your hands away from your face, food, or food preparation areas or utensils until you’ve properly washed and disinfected your hands.

Salmonella can be transferred to your countertops from the reptile’s feet, so allowing the little bugger to walk on in your kitchen, on your dining table, or even near your toothbrush is inadvisable. Mild infection of salmonella includes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. More severe infection happens if the germs travel to the bloodstream, bone marrow, or nervous system.

Other diseases that can be passed to you from reptiles are toxoplasmosis, Lyme disease, rabies, or chronic fatigue syndrome. These diseases are known as zoonotic diseases, those which can be passed from animal to animal or animal to human. It is important to understand that reptiles are not the only animals that transmit these diseases, so there’s no need to panic just because you weren’t aware of them before you bought the reptile. Lyme disease is passed by tick bites, and you can get ticks from walking through tall grass!

Most of this information comes straight from the Reptiles pros. Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that you’ll know what they know.

Proper handling of your reptile is the most important issue to keep diseases from being passed to you or your loved ones. So, make sure you educate your children on the importance of proper handling and hand washing. If you aren’t sure they are old enough to understand, it is best if you keep the reptile away from the child’s reach at all times. The temptation of touching the reptile or putting their hands in the cage just might be too much for them to resist.

Besides the risk of diseases being transferred to humans, the reptiles themselves can suffer from several diseases. Mites, ticks, worms, rickets, osteoporosis, fungal diseases, bacterial diseases, anemia, depression, or anorexia are just a few. There’s also a disease known to attack lizards called metabolic bone disease. It’s very painful for the reptile and is often caused by lack of calcium. Improper ultraviolet radiation also causes the reptile problems because of the inability to release vitamin D3, which enables proper absorption of calcium. The symptoms of this disease are brittle bones, swollen jaws, swollen legs, recessed jaws, and no energy. Just imagine how horrible it must feel!

Other problems reptiles can encounter are mouth rot, skin disease from improper shedding, organ bleeding from an overdose of vitamins, colds, and respiratory infections. Central nervous systems can suffer with vitamin B1 deficiency. A female reptile can acquire overloaded ovaries or post ovulatory eggs, which could require surgery.

This is why you must take your animal’s welfare seriously. If you are well-armed with knowledge on how to care for it, the chances of it contracting or becoming worse from disease is much reduced. Of course, you have much less control over something the reptile may have had prior to your care. This is where it will help to have some background on the history of the pet shop where you decide to purchase. It also helps to know what to look for to spot some problems before you purchase!

I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO