Raising a Reptile as a Pet
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.
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.
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Dangerous Reptiles When people decide to buy reptiles for pets, some inevitably cross the line of safety and wisdom. Although ...
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Setting Up A Terrarium for Your Reptile A terrarium is similar to an aquarium except that it isn't full of ...
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Watch out for Reptiles! Reptiles seem more like creatures from another planet than any other animal, and snakes even more ...
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Gigantic Reptiles! Of all the reptiles, we are usually most interested in the largest ones - alligators, crocodiles, komodo dragons, ...
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Choosing A Vet for Your Reptile Carefully research your options for proper veterinary care before you decide to purchase a ...
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Searching for Small Reptiles Lizards are one of an interesting group of animals that you might not think about too ...
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A Lizard's Eye View of Life as a Reptile If you think of lizards at all, you think of those ...
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Learning about Reptiles Children often, at one time or another, will have an interest in learning about reptiles. Even if ...
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Reptile History Many people overlook that dinosaurs were reptiles, as are tortoises and turtles. Frogs are often lumped into the ...
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What Types of Lizards Make Good Reptile Pets? There is nothing wrong with wanting a reptile for a pet, provided ...
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Vacation With a Reptile! Are you fascinated with shows on TV that show wrestling, wrestling between man and alligator? Do ...
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Where to Buy a Reptile to Keep as a Pet Reptiles can be intimidating. They can also be great pets. ...
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Introducing the Reptiles! The family of reptiles is made up of turtles, lizards, snakes, different kinds of crocodiles, and a ...
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Rattlers - The Dangerous Reptiles! Snakes are probably the reptiles that fascinate and repel us the most. One of the ...
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Reptile Diseases Dangers exist when keeping reptiles as pets, but not just as bites and scratches. You can also contract ...
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Understanding Reptiles Did you think a frog is a reptile? Maybe it would help to learn the difference in reptiles ...
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A Day in the Life of a Fascinating Reptile, the Alligator Let's travel to Florida to meet one of the ...
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Reptile Accessories and Supplies Large reptiles need large cages or other enclosures. They will also need bedding, a water source, ...
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Safety With Reptiles Reptiles are animals to be respected. Many people think it's funny to irritate a reptile to get ...
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Snakes As Reptile Pets Most common snakes kept as pets in the reptile category are the corn snakes and the ...
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The Responsible Reptile Owner Many people think reptiles are cheap pets, easily accessible and easy to care for. However, after ...
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The Slow and Steady Reptile: the Turtle Of all the reptiles that can be found in an average neighborhood, turtles ...
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Reptiles Have Special Needs People have all kinds of different pets. Some people only feel safe with what is considered ...
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Raising a Reptile as a Pet You may have admired the unusual looking lizards at your local wildlife center, or ...
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Which Reptiles Do Not Make Good Pets? Basically, any reptile that is caught in the wild is discouraged for use ...
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Disclaimer
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site is a common sense guide to Raising a Reptile as a Pet. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
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Dangerous Reptiles
Setting Up A Terrarium for Your Reptile
Watch out for Reptiles!
Gigantic Reptiles!
Choosing A Vet for Your Reptile
Searching for Small Reptiles
A Lizard's Eye View of Life as a Reptile
Learning about Reptiles
Reptile History
What Types of Lizards Make Good Reptile Pets?
Vacation With a Reptile!
Where to Buy a Reptile to Keep as a Pet
Introducing the Reptiles!
Rattlers - The Dangerous Reptiles!
Reptile Diseases
Understanding Reptiles
A Day in the Life of a Fascinating Reptile, the Alligator
Reptile Accessories and Supplies
Safety With Reptiles
Snakes As Reptile Pets
The Responsible Reptile Owner
The Slow and Steady Reptile: the Turtle
Reptiles Have Special Needs
Raising a Reptile as a Pet
Which Reptiles Do Not Make Good Pets?
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