reptilehelp-blog

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I've had a leopard gecko for 7 years and basically we've just been feeding him meal worms and live crickets because he seems to not really like eating anything that doesn't move? and yesterday I decided to buy a little container of dried leopard gecko food which is just a bunch of bugs, and I figured he wouldn't eat it so I'm not too surprised but I love really far from the pet store and kind of have to use this before I can go back and get live stuff. how do I make him eat it?

toss the stuff. he wont eat it and its not good for him, leopard geckos are insectavores. pelleted diets are all filler, junk foods

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Hello! I'm trying to find husbandry requirements and care sheets on Marine toads, but I'm having trouble finding some from reliable and accurate sources. A lot of what I've come across is very contradictory and most of the time when I google it I get cane toad pest control related results, but I'm looking to take care of one not exterminate it. So, do you know where I could find more reliable care sheets and information? I would appreciate it a ton!

to be honest no i dont. they arent super common in the pet trade and usually are wild caught when found. if you found him outside (if he's native) put him back outside. but if hes a gift or something good luck.

id guestimate he would need a semi-aquatic habitat though. land and water to hang out in

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Hi! I have always wanted another pet, and i was thinking of asking for a high yellow leopard gecko for my birthday. I know quite a bit about them through my research, what to feed, the living needs, etc. But anyways, my mom is not a big fan of reptiles (they gross her out). Now im more responsible and i believe i can care for one. Any tips to convince her? Pros and cons of leopard geckos? Thanks! xo

woo. convicing a parent. that can be a tough one. honestly i dont have many tips in the regard to change her mind other than show her what leopard geckos look like and act like in person. an adult mind you because they are more calm

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I’m going to be the ass that makes a public service announcement, because I always see hogs being touted as a great snakepet.

Which they are. They’re awesome. And cute. And adorable. But they are not for kids’ first snake and should not be promoted as such.

While hognoses do not bite defensively, they have a pretty good feeding response and they are rear fanged venomous. Let me repeat that one, they are venomous and have venom. It may be mild, but playing down this fact or failing to mention it when telling your friend they should totally get one because they’re adoraboo (though they should be doing their own research) is irresponsible.

I have seen multiple envenomation cases over the years, and they all turn out roughly like this. This is a typical case. While they do need to chew on you to envenomate properly, they can be extremely stubborn about letting go once latched on as a feeding response.

Am I being alarmist? On one hand, yes, hog bite cases are uncommon. On the other hand, the media is already bad enough due to burmese pythons in FL that have nothing to do with pet owners nationwide. All it takes is for one little kid with a parent that said ‘okay but you can only have a snake that stays really small’, and someone recommends a hognose.

I don’t expect kids to be flawless researchers and notice the pet recommended to them is venomous. I don’t expect kids or any first time owners to be perfect at the rules of snake owning, and I definitely don’t expect kids to be able to get a snake to let go as immediately as possible. What I can expect is for a parent to freak their shit out when little Tommy’s hand is puffed up like a balloon because his snake bit him. And then the news will have a field day as per usual, and we might get more laws and bans thrown at us like we didn’t have enough of those already.

Yes, hognoses are sweet and cute and make good pets. But please be a responsible owner with a full awareness of what they are, and please inform people if you’re going to recommend them.

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For most owners looking to keep a reptile an iguana is a very poor choice. They need vast amounts of space and grow too large for most people to have in their homes. Happy healthy iguanas are also nasty, mean animals that do not want to be held or carried around on your shoulder. I know about 100 people are firing away on their keyboards saying they have healthy iguanas that love being held and cuddled. To that I say you have an iguana that is sick and you don’t know it or you are lucky and have an iguana that puts up with being held. An adult male iguana will bite, scratch, and slash with their tails and can cause serious wounds in people and are better off just being observed.

The first picture shows the absolute best place to keep an iguana- in the wild. For those that are ready to own one and understand their needs and behavior the second photo is the next best enclosure- outdoors. A large outdoor enclosure that provides plenty of climbing and basking space and gets full sun but also provides shaded areas is excellent. An enclosure like this is limited geographically though and the vast majority of people will not be able to have something like this.

Finally for those that have the indoor space and a large pocket book, an indoor enclosure can be made for an iguana. These must be large and have plenty of climbing and hiding areas. A strong UVB light that is changed every 6 months plus a heating lamp are essential. Some people will convert an entire room to an iguana room and this can be great but again is impractical for most.

What  should never be done with any reptile is to let them roam around a house. There are far too many things that can harm them and they will not have the proper environment. Windows block most UV light and so even if you leave all the windows in your home unblocked by blinds the lizard will not get enough UVB to have proper calcium metabolism. There are also any number of things to eat and cause gastric foreign bodies and other pets that will either harm the reptile or get hurt themselves.

Finally, reptiles ALL have salmonella. Every single one. No amount of washing or antibiotics will eliminate this. Everywhere a reptile goes it leaves salmonella behind and people do and have become seriously ill or even died. From a public health perspective this is the number one reason reptiles should not have free range of your home. This is not only bad for the people involved but invariably the news gets a hold of stories like this and it vilifies the entire reptile community and makes it harder for responsible people to own them. Please leave iguanas to those that have the monetary, knowledge, and other resources to properly care for them. There are plenty of other very cool species that make much better pets.

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Despite being the nominate subspecies, I had a hell of a time finding a nice, quality picture of the Chinese (O.t. taeniurus). This image shows  the tan head, “H” shaped black (intermixed with yellow) banding along the back, and black tail with creamy and thick stripes. [x]

Mocquard’s (O.t. mocquardi) is a colorful snake, with bold yellow stripes crossed with black along the top , and upper and lower sides. The base color is white, with “o” shaped black markings. The black half of it’s body, striped with white, ending with a very clean black and yellow tail. [x]

The golden base color of this Taiwan (O.T. friesei) is accompanied by thick black hourglass shaped markings along it’s back that become thinner the farther away from the head, eventually disappearing towards the tail. The sides have incomplete bands of black, getting thicker towards the back, then merges into the solid black. [x]

A little less colorful and bright, the��Ryukyu (O.t. schmackeri ) has an olive brown base, mottled with black markings with less distinct patterns. [x]

Vietnamese blue (O.t. callicyanous) is a blue-grey animal, almost appearing like an anerythristic beauty, with light diamond shaped patterns along the sides, and a striped tail like mocquardi. [x]

Either a Helfenbeger’s (O.t. helfenbergeri) or another callicyanous, I’m really unsure because the source is in French and I can’t find another snake with colors like this, is also a blue-grey colored beauty, but this individual has very little markings down it’s sides, and brightly contrasting yellow stripes. Help is appreciated IDing this gorgeous thing![x]

This blue-grey headed cave dwelling (O.t. ridleyi) has very faint hints of markings along it’s sides, giving it a clean gradient of orange tan, cream, grey, ending in a black tail. A creamy dorsal stripe starts mid body, standing out against the dark colored scales. [x]

Another clean cave dwelling, but a light grey-blue morph. [x]

A melanistic Chinese, a dark olive green in color. [x]

Two domestic Chinese morphs, a T+ albino with a few paradox markings, and a gorgeous calico, white with orange and black markings, not unlike a koi. [x]

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While it may look like a lizard, this species of reptile is actually one of the sole surviving members of a clade of reptiles that lived 200 million years ago. As you might of guessed by its name this living fossil can only be found on Brothers Island off of New Zealand. This tuatara species is a nocturnal hunter emerging from its burrow at night to feed on small invertebrates, eggs and even small birds. A special movement of its jaw allows them to eat their bony prey quite easily. Reproduction in this species is very competitive as females only reproduce once every 2-5 years. And as such males go through brutal fights with each-other to get a chance to mate.

Phylogeny: Animalia-Chordata-Reptilia-Rhynchocephalia-Sphenodontidae-Spehenodon-guntheri

Image Source(s)

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So, HR 996: Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act. I highly suggest reading through the bill yourself, but I’ve tried to break it down as I understand it (with the caveat that I’m no lawyer). USARK has a summary you can read as well. While this bill seems unlikely to pass, it’s still important to understand what this would mean, and let your lawmakers know what you think. Also, I’m approaching this from a reptile (snakes, specifically) angle, though it could affect any species of animal that isn’t native to the US. This is going to be long. 

Full text of bill

USARK’s page, with a pdf summary/analysis

Where you can sign and send emails (free) or letters (for a fee)

Where you can contact the Natural Resources Committee

The gist: In a nutshell, it’s about regulating the movement of non-native animals, both in importation and movement between states. As well as mandating recordkeeping of their movement, and establishing import fees that will go toward paying for the management of all of this. For the most part zoos and aquariums (at least AZA accredited ones) and other “qualified institutions” are unaffected because they’re either exempt or can obtain permits.

Exempt animals: The bill includes a list of animals that are exempt, which for the most part are cats, dogs, and animals you would find on a farm. Ferrets, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs also made the cut. There are no reptiles, no “pet” birds other than canaries, and no fish other than goldfish on the list. There’s also the catch-all of “any other species or subspecies that the Director determines to be common and clearly domesticated,” but that’s no guarantee that any species not specifically on this would be exempt.

Non-native wildlife: Anyone can propose that a “nonnative wildlife taxon” be evaluated for designation as either Injurious I or Injurious II. (If something was previously declared injurious, it’ll be put into one of these two categories.) Also, there would be a process put into place so that all non-native wildlife taxa would be reviewed before importation was allowed. 

Injurious I: Dangerous to people/agriculture/horticulture/forestry/US wildlife or wildlife resources, and qualified institutions (ie zoos, etc) don’t have significant experience keeping and containing them. (If there’s an “imminent threat,” a species can be temporarily declared Injurious I, and then have its final status sorted out later.)

Injurious II: Like Injurious I, but either potentially less harmful or qualified institutions are experienced in keeping and containing them. (Per USARK’s summary, the bar for Injurious II designation is lower than what is currently on the books, so there’s potential for a lot of animals to end up in this category.)

It’s possible that a taxon would NOT be designated Injurious I or II. There’s no mention in the bill of a “white list” being created, but as USARK notes, the result would probably be similar to having a white list.

Review process: There’s a section which goes into how the risk assessment of each species will be done. The part here that concerns me most is one little word in this section:

(2) whether the taxon has established or spread, or caused harm to the economy, the environment, or the health of other animal species in the United States or in an ecosystem similar to an ecosystem in the United States;

“An” ecosystem in the United States. So, if something could potentially inhabit the tip of Florida (or Hawaii, which AFAIK already prohibits ALL species of snake), does that mean it will be labeled Injurious to the entire United States? I’d like to think that common sense would prevail, and in that case regulation or banning could be handled at a state level. But considering what happened with the Burmese python, yellow anaconda, and African rock python, I’m very pessimistic. This FAQ on the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s site about the already-enacted “python ban” flat out says that a “regional restriction on the movement of these snakes would be prohibitively costly to enforce”, so the restriction is nationwide (page 7 of the linked pdf).

Restrictions: Anything Injurious I or II cannot be imported to the US by the average person, transported across state lines for commercial purposes, or released into the wild. Of interest to the average pet owner is that an Injurious II animal, if owned legally prior to being regulated, can be transported across state lines for noncommercial purposes only:

(b) Exemption for Interstate Transportation of Animals of Later-Regulated Taxa-

(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), an individual animal that was lawfully owned prior to the taxa to which the animal belongs being regulated by the Director under this Act as Injurious II may be transported interstate without a permit by any person for noncommercial purposes only.

(2) EXCEPTION- The exemption under paragraph (1) does not apply to an animal of any taxa designated by the Director as Injurious I.

If you have an animal that ends up in Injurious II and you later have to move to another state, you can take your animal with you (assuming it’s legal to have the animal where you’re moving). But if it’s Injurious I, you’re out of luck. Note that it’s interstate transport for noncommercial purposes only. That means no selling your animal to someone in another state.

I find it gets a bit murky here:

(a) Possession of Lawfully Obtained Injurious Wildlife Taxa- Possession of lawfully obtained injurious wildlife taxa within a State shall—

(1) be a matter of State law; and

(2)(A) not be federally regulated; or

(B) not require a Federal permit under this Act.

So…if it’s Injurious I or II, the average person can’t import it or sell it across state lines. But if someone already has them legally, and is breeding them within your own state, you can still buy them (but no interstate sales). If you bought an Injurious II animal legally post-regulation, could you bring your pet if you move to another state or not? Would a breeder of Injurious II animals be able to relocate to another state? They’re your own, legally obtained animals, and you aren’t selling them across state lines, but because you’re a business, you couldn’t really say you were bringing the animals for noncommercial purposes, either.

There’s also this, which I’m not sure how it would shake out. Basically trying to avoid having a rush of folks importing animals before it’s illegal to do so, but no indication of how it would be done.

AVOIDANCE OF NEW INCENTIVES- In promulgating the regulation under clause (i), the Secretary shall seek to avoid creating a new incentive for animal importers to import novel taxa prior to the effective date of the regulation.

My own personal position: While I don’t have a problem with the overall spirit of this bill—trying to prevent nonnative animals from causing problems here in the US—I ultimately can’t support it.

Based on past experience, I have zero reason to trust that reptiles will be reviewed in a fair and objective manner if this were to become law. Especially when the bill mentions that in order to make more rapid determinations on Injurious status, they can potentially “forego time-consuming optional administrative steps” as well as “forego economic impact analyses”. I’d like to believe that common sense and actual science would prevail, but I also know you’d be incredibly naïve to think that politics won’t play a role.

To many people, reptiles are icky, scary critters that no sane person would keep as a pet anyway. This makes them an easy target for Injurious designation so politicians can show they’ve “done something” about invasive species. Even if the only place that species could survive in the US is in part of Florida. And if Florida is the only place a species could survive, why regulate on a national level what should be a state concern?

Not to mention, since anyone can propose species for regulation, it sets the stage for organizations like PETA to press for species to be designated Injurious for their own reasons.

The “good” part of all this is that trade within the borders of each state would still be allowed, but that’s not ideal, either. Many reptile keepers buy and sell animals around the country, to bring in different bloodlines. Some species just don’t have many people working with them, so you need to look around the country to find a breeder. From a breeder’s perspective (particularly someone who’s been able to made breeding their livelihood instead of just a hobby) if your potential buyers are reduced to just your own state, it could very well drive you out of business.

There’s more I’d like to say about both the politics of which “invasive species” get the spotlight as well as how freaking important it is to be a responsible pet owner, but that’s for another post.

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Sunbeam Snake (Xenopeltis unicolor)

is a species of non-venomous snake native to parts of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. They get the name sunbeam due to its highly iridescent scales that make it look like the snake is lighting up. The sunbeam snake is highly noted for its reproductive abilities and it its known to give birth of up to 10 eggs at a time. Due to the fact that they have no venom the snake relies on constriction to kill their prey. They spend most of their time below ground and prey on small mammals and other reptiles.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Reptilia-Squamata-Serpentes-Xenopeltidae-Xenopeltis-unicolor

Image Sources: 1,2

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african bullfrog, or more commonly known as the pixi frog. they do take some care of there young in the wild as tadpoles

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did some research, not photoshopped :)

Black Pearl Leopard Gecko

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Send a letter to your congressmen with this form to stand against HR996!

If you are an animal lover or keeper, you NEED to do this. Don’t even think twice. Sign it. This is not a petition. Your signature gets a letter sent to your state’s congressmen, in email or if you so choose, as a physical letter as well, so do not pass over it because you think petitions are worthless. These are your babies this bill is targeting. Your birds, your fish, your reptiles, your amphibians, even your precious fuzzy sugar gliders and chinchillas.

HR996 is the re-written form of HR669, but rewritten means nothing but bringing it back to threat status. It is still as harmful as ever, aiming to take exotics away from the people who love them, certain to put many out of work, demolish millions of dollars of revenue, criminalize exotic pet owners for doing something simple like taking their pets with them, and risk the lives of every animal that does not make the white list. All species are treated as guilty until proven innocent, so you can guarantee not many will make the white list, and even fewer will be permanently banished to the black list for a reasonable purpose.

For the full proposed bill: http://usherp.org/2013/03/18/hr996-hr669-rewrite/

Think this could actually do some good against invasive species? Think again. If this bill was actually to deal with invasive species by adding them to a black list criminalizing their importation and interstate transport, it would be redundant. We already have the Lacey Act for that, and it operates in a more sensible manner: innocent until proven guilty. HR996 is a bill targeted specifically at taking exotic pets away from the people who love them.

Note that there is absolutely no mention of what is to happen to any animals that don’t make it on to the white list already in-country, nor mention for the keepers that already maintain such species. You can expect that the animals will NOT be protected, and that the very moment the opportunity would arise, they would be put to death.

If you are a reptile lover, it is ESPECIALLY up to you to step up to the plate. If you remember the HR669 fiasco, you will also remember that the death of the bill only gave rise to the years-fought and only wounded, not defeated, Python Ban. We are the BIGGEST targets. Our beloved pets are among the most misunderstood, and unlike insect or rodent-like pets they are assumed to be a murder happy public menace by the ignorant masses. We already lost our burms, condas, and rock pythons in the wake of HR669’s original form. LET’S NOT LOSE ONE MORE SPECIES.

As with the Python Ban and HR669, you can expect HSUS to be lobbying with all their might for this to pass. They have already proven they are not against tossing money and penning fiction disguised as scientific study to try and get their way. Not aware of what a sack of crap HSUS is? Educate yourself here: http://humanewatch.org/

Do not assume that the sheer stupidity of this bill and its intentions means it will fail even if you don’t lift a finger. We already have seen that presented the right way, bans CAN happen. Learn from the Python Ban. Take action.

Even if you don’t keep exotics, you should still be concerned about and stand against the rights of others being stripped in ignorance and the lives of animals being endangered for nothing but baseless fear.

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Lizard Thought To Be Extinct for 135 years, Rediscovered!

by Vijay Singh

MUMBAI: Indian scientists have rediscovered a rare lizard that British colonel RH Beddome had last spotted in the Eastern Ghats in 1877. “This elusive lizard, Geckoella jeyporensis, commonly named as Jeypore ground gecko, was believed to have become extinct since it was last seen in 1877. But in 2010-11, a PhD student of Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Ishan Agarwal, and his team spotted it again in Orissa,” Bombay Natural History Society senior scientist Varad Giri told TOI. Giri studied this rare find. “After properly studying its features and taxonomy, we were thrilled to learn that this is the same gecko which became ‘extinct’ 135 years ago. This rediscovery was recently published in the scientific journal of Hamadryad,” said Giri…

(read more: Times of India) 

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Forgot Tegu's as well, monitor lizards its still a debate whether ot not they even need UVB

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THIS is what reptile abuse and neglect looks like at it’s worse. If you have ever caused an animal (not just a reptile) to live like this then you should be ashamed of yourself. No, wait. YOU should be more than ashamed, you should be living in a tiny ass jail cell in the middle of nowhere. 

Now, I realise this is some serious neglect or abuse however, this is only what we can SEE. Abuse and neglect comes in many forms and all because you can’t see a change on the outside, that doesn’t mean the animal isn’t suffering from within. THIS is why you should ALWAYS do you research and give your animal what he or she needs and never less. THIS is why when your animal is sick you travel whatever the distance so they can see a doctor and be helped. Reptiles are silent sufferers; they can’t tell you if their basking spot isn’t hot enough, they can’t tell you that they’re hungry…it’s your responsibility to know this.

These pictures were found on the following forums: a, b 

If one of these photos belongs to you and you would like it taken down, send me a message.

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yay!