Reptile Neglect: Is the abuse Overlooked?

Ever wonder how many of our scaly friends are abused and neglected? I do. Animal abuse is wrong whether your talking about dogs, cats, birds, or any other creature. Reptiles as pets are growing in popularity. While they aren't as popular as dogs per say, they do deserve to be brought into the spotlight in terms of abuse and neglect. It would be easier to dismiss a neglected reptile because the terms governing their care is slightly different from some of the other more popular pets. This was brought to my attention when reading an article about a Minnesota man charged with animal abuse. This man is responsible for the death of 32 snakes (Ball Pythons) that he placed in a storage locker and depriving them of food and shelter. After reading the article, I thought about what defines the terms of abuse to reptiles and how many people are committing neglect. Well it turns out that neglecting reptiles isn't as straight forward as the case described above and lines between what is ok and what may not be can be a little unclear.

There are a few basic things that should be taken care of without question. Fresh water daily, feeding regularly, and proper housing accommodations. This should be a given but is it? Different types of reptiles have different feeding habits and what exactly is proper housing for the different kinds of reptiles out there. Truth is many folks who bring home a snake, lizard, or turtle should do their research way before they decide to take on such a tedious task. I think the most common cause of reptile neglect, for the most part, is do to inadequate information or no information at all.

It is a given that the reptile housing should be cleaned regularly. If it looks dirty then spot clean it and I recommend an in depth cleaning once a week. If allowed, all kinds of problems can surface from unclean housing conditions. Mites can pose a serious problem for a reptiles health and well being. Bacteria and fungi thrive in unsanitary conditions. Essentially by leaving the cage, terrarium, or enclosure uncleaned, a kind of hot spot for disease emerges. If the reptiles environment isn't kept clean the possibility of sickness increases. Depending on where you live, exotic animal vets that will see reptiles can be pretty hard to find and if one is nearby well then the price to see the vet can get fairly expensive. I'm a firm believer in practicing prevention. Instead of letting a problem linger with the chance it might come up, I'd much rather try to avoid the problem all together.

Another issue that poses a threat to a reptiles health is the lack of having fresh water daily. Stagnant water creates an environment that lots of microorganisms love. This in turn increases your scaly friends chances of getting ill. Also this type of water increases a persons risk to infection. If the animal bathes in the water for periods of time, which most reptiles will do, a greater chance of someone getting sick increases as they handle the reptile. Would you want to drink water that has been in a cage for several days? I think not. So why should a lizard, snake or turtle be allowed the same treatment. Stagnant water gives off an aroma because of the chemical processes taking place mostly do to the bacteria found in it. As for turtles and other aquatic reptiles how often to clean out the water can be a tricky area. I recommend the same kind of policing as stated above in reptile housing. The water should be spot cleaned as necessary and deep cleaned once a week. A good water filter could help lower the maintenance depending on the size of the enclosure and the size of the filtration system.

If the reptile isn't contained in a proper sized habitat, then that can be considered neglect. As babies and juveniles, reptiles may not need a particularly large enclosure for their size but as they get older and bigger this isn't the case. Improper habitat size can cause serious long-term health issues for a reptile. Everything from bone deformities to eventual death may be attributed to improper housing. I'd imagine many people don't realize how important habitat size is for their reptilian friends. This is a vital issue that demands much attention. A reptiles eventual habitat size should be taken into consideration before someone even gets a particular species. Some snakes can reach 20+ feet and lizards 6-7 feet long. So a reptile might start off in a 10-30 gallon aquarium but, eventually depending on its size may end up needing a custom enclosure.

Feeding reptiles can be a little different for each group depending on the type. All baby and juvenile snakes should be fed every few days and the larger they get the less they need to eat but a bigger prey item should be fed. I like to say if it "acts" hungry then most likely it is hungry. For many lizards, they need fed every day to every other day. A varied diet for the lizards is also better than one that is constantly the same. This increases the chances that they are getting everything they need, vitamins and minerals, to be healthy. In a lizards natural environment, it will not eat just one particular thing, instead it will have indulged on many different types of food items. Turtles and tortoises should also be fed daily either with a pelleted diet or fruits and vegetables depending the species. Some turtles are omnivores eating meaty food items and/or fruits and vegetables so, by "mixing it up", insures that the particular species is as healthy as they can be. While a varied diet doesn't necessarily create a neglectful situation. Irregular feeding times can be. If a snake is used to eating once every other day and then with time the owner begins feeding every other week, ultimately the long term effects is starvation. While the signs may not be immediate, several months down the road, the reptile will begin to starve. Truth is if it is a VARY hungry large constrictor, then the owner may be a potential prey item.

Looking at the overall picture of neglect among reptilian pets, I see that one of the main causes of this neglect is misinformation. I also think the general public doesn't view reptiles in the same manner as dogs, cats, or birds. Which in turn makes the issue often overlooked. Neglect is neglect no matter if it is a dog, cat, bunny, bird, fish, or reptile. These animals rely solely on us to meet their needs as child needs a mother and/or father to meet their needs. Problem is, reptiles don't have a voice like dogs, cats, or birds so they aren't as visible to others. These animals are kept in cages away from the public eye. How many die each day and go unnoticed just because they're not right in front of our eyes?




Thanks for reading,
James

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Gecko's As Pets

These lizards in my opinion are one of the best beginner reptiles someone can get. With the scientific name of Eublepharis macularius. These pets all have different personalities and attitudes. They are the easiest to care for as far as food, and space. One gecko can live in a 10 gallon tank for its entire life. These reptile are nocturnal with means they sleep during the day and are awake at night. So when purchasing this pet consider when you are home. I work during the day so I get to see the geckos at night when they are most active. They are pretty docile lizards and some don't mind being held for a little while but like other reptiles they don't really need to be held or showed affection. Below I will get more specific about needs and breeding etc..

Feeding: Every reptile owner feeds their animals in different ways. I will discuss how I do it and what works for me. Through trial and error I have messed around with different foods and methods. I found that in general all these lizards need to eat is meal worms. Other people say that you need to switch foods around because the gecko will get bored and not eat. I have found that this is not true. All I feed my geckos is meal worms. Depending if I have a gecko that needs to gain more weight I feed them wax worms because they contain more fats. I feed these worms just for this reason only. You cant feed wax worms every day because they are all fat and low on nutrition. I have spoke with multiple high end breeders from all over the country and they all use just meal worms for their normal diet. Some owners like to use crickets for a normal diet but for me they are a little bit of a pain. Crickets are noisy, and require a entire home/care center to keep them alive until they are ready to feed to the gecko. Meal worms can be refrigerated until ready to feed. Like other lizards geckos require calcium. I use calcium and supplements to dust the mealworms when feeding. I put them in a small dish and the gecko eats them when ever they want. I feed them every other day as needed. All geckos eat different. Some are aggressive, they'll eat anything you drop in the tank but others eat small amounts as they get hungry. Some geckos eat much less than other reptiles especially in the winter some cut off food for awhile. Some gecko owners get alarmed when their gecko doesn't eat for awhile but truth of the matter is these lizards can go a long time with out eating. They get much of their nutrition from their fat tales as needed.

Home: Tank set up can be very simple. I use 10 gallon tanks for their homes. The best and easiest flooring I use is paper towel or newspaper. No its not super fancy but it looks ok and is very easy to replace to keep clean. Many owners use sand but this is dangerous for these lizards especially the younger ones. They can actually eat the sand and become impacted because their body can not digest it. Why take the chance. If you ask me a  real reptile owner that cares for their pets would prefer his lizards to be safe and doesn't care about looks so much. These geckos are actually very clean and will go to the bathroom in the same spot every day. So once you see where that is you can just put a napkin there and just replace it as needed. These geckos require a hide to go and rest. They are sensitive to light and they can actually get stressed if exposed to excessive light. Flooring, water bowl, food bowl and hide then you'll be good to go. Only other thing is of course heating. I use heat mats controlled by a thermostat. I have found this works best and they prefer to get belly heat instead of a basking light seeing they are nocturnal. You may want to put heat mat on only one side of tank so the gecko can thermo-regulate. If cold, they go on the heat mat. If they get hot, they go on the cool side. As far as grouping these lizards together, it works great. Females can all be grouped together. Males must be separated because they fight all the time even to the death. I currently own 4 females and 1 male. I keep all the females together in a 40 gallon breeder tank. I have hides, water, food, calcium dish and a big heating mat right in the middle of tank. This works out great for the geckos and makes my cleaning very easy. The male is by himself in another 10 gallon tank.

Breeding: This for me has been the best part of owning these reptiles. It has been a great experience for me and the family to breed these lizards. It is easy to do and you just have to make sure you have the space to deal with extra lizards. Some people don't realize that and before they know it they are over run with baby geckos. So make sure to have space or new owners lined up for babies once born. To start you obviously need a male and female. Female has to be at least 50-60 grams in weight to breed to make sure they can carry the eggs. One male can breed to up to 5 females. That is why I have so many females and only 1 male. You can either put the male with all the females to breed or put one female in with the male. The male will start dancing around to show he's a male and start biting the female in the tail or head. This is common breeding behavior. The male may get turned down but he will try again until the female submits and lets him breed. He will lock up with the female and do his business. Sometimes you will witness it and sometimes you won't. Best way is to just keep the male in with female for about a week. He will get the job done in that time. It is a good idea to take and separate the male and female after mating because the male will stress the female out and continue to try and breed. The male only needs to breed with a female once and she will have multiple eggs. They lay eggs in clutches. Two eggs at a time and she will continue to lay eggs about every 30 days. First time around, the female will lay about 2-3 clutches. The second or third time around they may lay much more up to 15 clutches in some cases. My gecko's laid 4 clutches the first time around. A lay box will need to be put in the cage. This can be simple, like peat moss sprayed with water to keep moist. They will lay the eggs in there when ready. You have to keep a eye on the cage because they will sometimes just lay the eggs anywhere. You must find them before they dry out. That's what the lay box is for, to keep the eggs moist until you get to them. Another fun part of breeding them is the morph making. You can basically create your own color by mix and matching the type that you breed.

Incubation: I have tried different methods for this until I found what works best. I made a homemade one first. I took a 10 gallon tank and filled it like a little over 1/4 of the way up with water. Then I took a aquarium heater and put it in the water and adjusted it to about 80 degrees. Then i put a container in the water with the eggs in smaller containers on the top of that one. I put tin foil on the top cover to keep humidity in. This worked a little and I hatched a few eggs but lost some because the extra humidity was causing mold and ruining the eggs. I switched to using a regular incubator. Its basically made from styrofoam and comes with a built in thermostat to keep temps steady. It has a little water on the bottom but not much. This worked great. No mold and hatched the eggs perfectly. As far as the container the eggs are in, I use regular deli cups. I fill them about half way with perlite and make 2 indents in it to lay the eggs in. I found perlite works best because it breaths better. At one point I used peat moss which is like dirt but that causes to much mold. Eggs incubate for about 30-60 days depending on temps. You can control the gender that hatches based on temperature. 75-84 degrees for female. 85-90 for mixed gender. 90-95 to hatch males.

Hatching care- These little guys are very simple to care for once they hatch. I use shoe box size plastic containers with a hide, food and water. You can put half of the container over some heat tape to keep a little warm. They don't like to be bothered at all. They are straight little demons when they're first born. They will hiss and jump at you for no reason because they are scared. It passes after a few weeks. I feed them the small baby meal worms and it works fine.

In conclusion I recommend this reptile for the first time reptile owner. They have been fun for me and the family to care and breed them. You will notice they have their own personalities. You will notice it more when you group them together. I have some that don't want to be bothered much. They just want to eat and sleep and don't want you holding them all the time. Others will walk up to the front of the tank and greet me because they know I have the food. All and all these geckos are a must have for any reptile lover.


Leopard Geckos by Jovanie Velazquez

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