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Table of Contents
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gallery of "Frequent Posters"
This document is copyright 2002 and maintained by Chris
McMartin; however, it may be redistributed freely under many
circumstances; the details are explained in Part 1 (section 3.1).
Some sections were originally written by other authors, who are
also identified in Part 1.
This document is provided as-is, with no expressed or implied
warranty of any kind. Every effort has been made to make this FAQ
an accurate and comprehensive source of information; however, the
maintainer offers no guarantee that these efforts have been
successful, and assumes no responsibility for damages resulting
from errors or omissions.
This document represents the understanding and opinion of a
consensus of posters to rec.pets.herp; it is not endorsed by, and
does not necessarily represent any position of, the maintainer's
employer or ISP.
Welcome to rec.pets.herp! This page answers some common
questions and provides pointers to other sources of information.
Aspiring posters to rec.pets.herp should read this document first.
You are not expected to know everything in this document cold
before posting; there won't be an exam. However, many of the most
commonly asked questions, especially by new posters, are at least
partially answered here. Take some time to look through it; your
problem may already be solved!
Part 1: Administrative Issues
1. Introduction and Disclaimer
2. Table of Contents
3. About this FAQ
-3.1 Author
-3.2 How to Get the FAQ
-3.3 Formatting and Usage
-3.4 Acknowledgements
4. General Questions Regarding the Newsgroup
-4.1 What is rec.pets.herp? What ISN'T
rec.pets.herp? --BINARIES
-4.2 What is sci.bio.herp?
-4.3 What is/isn't a herp?
-4.4 What about tarantulas, scorpions, and so
on?
-4.5 What kind of questions are/aren't
appropriate here?
--4.5a What posting format is acceptable?
-4.5b General Usenet Etiquette
-4.6 What does CB stand for?
-4.7 Glossary
-4.8 What do these numbers like "1.2"
mean?
-4.9 What are those funny things in brackets
in the Subject lines of posts?
-4.10 Who are the people who post here?
- Part 2: Other Resources
5. Other information resources
-5.1 What other online resources exist?
-5.2 What are some good offline resources?
-5.3 How do I find a nearby herp society?
-5.4 Where do I get information about
iguanas?
-5.5 Is there a care sheet for
<whatever species>?
-5.6 What zoos have good herp collections?
6. Obtaining and Identifying, and
Releasing Herps
-6.1 Where can I get a <whatever
species>?
-6.2 How do I identify this creature in my
yard? Can I keep it?
-6.3 I just bought a <whatever
species>. How do I take care of it?
-6.4 Is it OK to order herps through the
mail? Over the net?
- -6.5 Can I release <whatever
species> back into the wild?
Part 3:
Questions about Herps
7. General Herp Care
-7.1 My herp got away. How can I find it?
-7.2 Is there something wrong with using
mealworms as food?
-7.3 Is there something wrong with using
live feeder rodents?
-7.4 I can't keep my <whatever
species>. What do I do? Let it go?
-7.5 Can't you get salmonella from
reptiles?
- - 7.6 How can I measure my herp?
- - 7.7 Is it true that a pet herp will only
grow as large as the enclosure in which it's kept?
- - 7.8 My herp won't eat.
- - 7.9 Will my snake (or any other herp) bite
me?
- - 7.10 Can I keep my <species 1>
and <species 2> together?
8. Choosing a Herp
-8.1 What's a good first herp?
--8.1a Snakes
--8.1b Lizards
--8.1c Turtles & Tortoises
--8.1d Frogs & Toads
--8.1e Salamanders & Newts
--8.1f Caecilians
-8.2 My kid wants a reptile; what should
we get?
9. Change and Update Log
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The original FAQ author and maintainer was Nathan Tenny
(1995-1997). From 1997-2001 the maintainer was Bill
East. Jason Fries handled the FAQ from 2001-2002.
Chris McMartin has maintained the FAQ from
2002-present.
This document may be redistributed freely, but commercial
publication requires the consent of the current maintainer, and
any modifications must be clearly indicated. Herpetological
society documents (even if they are "commercial" in the
sense of being paid for through membership dues) are specifically
permitted to reprint any part of this document, with proper
attribution.
The section on first herps contains material contributed by many
individuals. In particular, the section on starter lizards
is a summary of material written by Melissa Kaplan; the paragraph
on first turtles was written by David Kirkpatrick; and the section
on first salamanders and caecilians was written by Stanton
McCandlish.
If you contributed to this FAQ and do not see your name
credited for information provided, please contact the current
maintainer and your name will be included in the next round of
updates.
back to Table of Contents
The latest version of this FAQ will always be available at http://www.mcmartinville.com/chris/reptiles/rph/rph_faq.htm
(unless the maintainer changes, the present maintainer changes
ISPs, or the maintainer's ISP makes a significant change to its
Web server--if you find this link broken, please contact the
maintainer).
The FAQ location is posted approximately weekly to
rec.pets.herp. It can also be obtained through a polite
email request sent to Chris McMartin (rph_faq@mcmartinville.com).
This is also the address to send mail if you have comments
or suggestions for the FAQ.
back to Table of Contents
This FAQ is written in HTML format, which is intended to
facilitate searching for particular pieces of information. Each
question/topic begins with its number and title as they appear in
the table of contents. The table of contents is hyperlinked to the
applicable question/topic, and after each question/topic a link is
included which brings the reader back to the table of contents.
back to Table of Contents
Many people have contributed to this FAQ. Contributions have come
directly from Dave Beaty, Alta Brewer, Adam Britton, Liza Daly,
Mark Ernst, Sirena Glade, Steve Grenard, Paul Hollander, Phil
Hughes, Melissa Kaplan, David Kirkpatrick, Stanton McCandlish,
Jean McGuire, Rod Mitchell, Jessica Mosher, Harrison Page, Chas C.
Peterson, Rebecca Sobol, Mel Turner, and Colin Wilson, and
indirectly from the innumerable people who post on rec.pets.herp.
Thanks are also due to the authors and maintainers of other FAQs
and related documents, including but not limited to Don Baldwin,
Tom Buchanan, Peter Donohue, Mike Pingleton, Michael Shannon, and
Jennifer Swofford. A big hand for everyone. If you know someone on
this list, buy them lunch.
Nathan Tenny wrote the original rec.pets.herp FAQ back in 1995,
bringing together a collection of related FAQs into the document
presented here. An attempt has been made to give proper
credits for those FAQs in the body of this document, as well as
links to the original author's referring page. Nathan did a
fantastic job of creating this FAQ as a resource to both new and
experienced herpers alike. His efforts are greatly appreciated by
the rec.pets.herp community, and will live on for many years to
come.
Bill East relinquished the duties of maintaining the rec.pets.herp
FAQ in 2001. Bill did a wonderful job of not only maintaining the
FAQ, but making several worthwhile changes to it since he took
over the 'job' in Sept 1997.
Jason Fries took on the responsibility through August 2002,
when other commitments required him to pass the baton.
During his tenure, Jason added many links and new sections. Many
thanks to Jason and all previous authors/maintainers of this FAQ.
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First, what ISN'T rec.pets.herp?
One of the most important things to remember about
rec.pets.herp is that it is a Usenet newsgroup. This
distinction is important. rec.pets.herp is NOT a Web-based
discussion forum--an example of such is the Forum
section at kingsnake.com.
Even though you may be using a Web-based newsreader (such as
accessing the group through Google),
the group itself is not web-based, and a number of people still
access the group through their ISP's news service via such
programs as Outlook or other text-based news readers.
In Web-based forums, some things are
acceptable which are NOT acceptable on rec.pets.herp (or most
other newsgroups). For instance, picture files
("binaries" in Usenet-speak) are generally OK on Web
forums, but not on rec.pets.herp. This is because of the
text-based nature of Usenet. Believe it or not, many people
pay for dialup Internet access by the minute, and some newsreaders
download all messages regardless of content or the viewer's
interest in a particular thread. Picture files are
inherently large and therefore cost these people money.
Additionally, some news readers automatically filter out any
messages containing such binary files, so they are never even seen
by the vast majority of readers. If you need readers to see
a picture, please post it to one of the NUMEROUS available web
sites dedicated to picture posting (or your own home page) and
provide only the URL in your rec.pets.herp post.
Note to Web TV subscribers: utilizing a signature file
(".sig" file) with a picture or background may be
construed as containing a binary file, and as such may not show up
on the group when viewed by some browsers and readers. If
you do not receive any replies to your message, it may well be
that your message never showed up on most people's
newsreaders. Try deleting your .sig file from your message
and reposting.
rec.pets.herp is also NOT a substitute for qualified veterinary
advice! While there is a great wealth of knowledge and
information to be gained by reading the group, most of the
information is based on personal experience and your results may
vary. Some of the more frequent posters will remind the
viewers of this often, and advice given will usually include
"get your animal to a vet ASAP" if a question pertains
to what may be a medical condition. Consider this a
disclaimer: any advice given on rec.pets.herp that is not
from a person previously identified as a veterinarian with herp
experience should not be construed as a diagnosis or a medically
sound course of action. Take such advice at your (and your
pet's) own risk. Offerers of such advice will not be held
responsible for any negative outcome resulting from such advice
being carried out.
Enough of what rec.pets.herp ISN'T. What IS
rec.pets.herp?
rec.pets.herp is a newsgroup founded in October 1991 for
discussion of various vivarium-dwelling animals, primarily
reptiles and amphibians. News postings relating to its
creation are available at ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/to.file/rec.pets.herp
and make pretty interesting reading.
Here is the official charter of rec.pets.herp:
This newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of vivarium-living
animals as pets. The discussion will be limited to Reptiles,
Amphibians and miscellaneous exotic animals, such as tarantulas.
Mammals, Birds and Fish will not be discussed in this group. The
existing group rec.pets is useful but is often inundated with
postings concerned with the more usual types of pets. The new
group will be a dedicated forum, where only the specified types of
animal will be discussed.
In other words, rec.pets.herp is a group for discussion of
reptiles and amphibians as pets, along with assorted other
vivarium-dwelling animals. The last is generally understood
to mean terrestrial invertebrates---insects, tarantulas,
scorpions, etc.
The "pet" connection is sometimes tenuous. There have
been long (and constructive) threads about the genetics of captive
populations and their implications for reintroduction programs,
for example. Because many keepers of pet herps are also breeders,
or simply interested in the science of herpetology, such
discussions are generally welcome.
Discussions about raising animals as food items are common and
condoned, though they may be counter to the letter of the charter
(since many common food animals are mammals). This is partly
because of the obvious relevance to herp keeping, but also because
such discussions can be difficult to carry on in rec.pets; many
rat keepers, for instance, are uncomfortable with the idea of rats
as feeders, and some very unpleasant flame wars have emerged from
obnoxious postings about feeders there. Keeping the feeder
discussions in rec.pets.herp is really a win-win situation.
In general, discussions of animal rights and other political
matters are not suitable for rec.pets.herp, unless they involve
herps specifically in an essential way. For instance, discussions
of herp-related legislation are appropriate, but a thread about
the alleged practice of kidnapping household pets for use as
laboratory animals is not. This is doubly true since political
discussions are often both volatile and heavily crossposted,
leading to a large volume of posted material that is irrelevant to
the group and difficult for readers to wade through.
See also questions 4.3, 4.4,
and 4.5.
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More to the point, what *isn't* sci.bio.herp?
There are two herp newsgroups, this one and sci.bio.herp. The
latter is, as its name suggests, about the science of herpetology.
It typically features discussions on field techniques, taxonomy,
and other subjects of interest to the (scientific) herpetological
community.
Many rec.pets.herp readers find it interesting to follow
sci.bio.herp as well, and occasionally one of us will have a
question that's better posted there. For instance, if you're
curious about the recent taxonomic revision of the python family,
sci.bio.herp is a good place to ask for information.
However, sci.bio.herp is *not* an appropriate place to ask about
pet keeping. Historically, sci.bio.herp has had problems
with postings that really belong in rec.pets.herp. "My
ball python won't eat" is very much a rec.pets.herp subject,
for example, and the sci.bio.herp folks have gotten understandably
tired of it.
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The charter says "reptiles, amphibians, and other exotic
vivarium pets," but the word "herp" usually means
"reptile or amphibian." The world's living
reptiles are divided into six groups: snakes, lizards, chelonians
(turtles and tortoises), crocodilians, the tuatara (a single
lizardlike species from New Zealand), and amphisbaenians
("worm lizards"). The amphibians consist of
anurans (frogs and toads), caudates (newts and salamanders), and
caecilians (wormlike aquatic and burrowing amphibians, much less
known than their cousins).
Other exotic pets, like hedgehogs and sugar gliders, are not herps
and are not within the subjects covered by rec.pets.herp. However,
the charter of the group explicitly embraces discussions on some
vivarium-dwelling creatures that are not strictly herps (see
question 4.4, below), as well as the care
and breeding of feeder animals.
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Spiders, scorpions, and similar terrestrial invertebrates are
explicitly included in the rec.pets.herp charter. The most common
topics in this realm are tarantulas and scorpions, but other
spiders and millipedes have been discussed on occasion.
Once in a while, a small flame war erupts because someone posts a
question about a tarantula, and someone else feels constrained to
shout "Tarantulas aren't herps!" The shouters in this
scenario are referred to the charter.
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Most questions that seem appropriate are---i.e., pretty much any
question about keeping herps is OK. Certain technical questions
may be better directed to sci.bio.herp, or crossposted (but if you
do crosspost, please set followups to whichever group is more
appropriate---if you don't know what this means, you definitely
shouldn't crosspost).
Posted images are *never* appropriate in rec.pets.herp, or, in
general, in any non-binary newsgroup. If you want to distribute a
picture of your favorite tree frog, or a great snapshot from the
field, or whatever, that's fine; but put the image on a WWW page,
or post it to the newsgroup alt.binaries.pictures.animals, and
just put a brief pointer in rec.pets.herp directing people to the
image. (The WWW approach is better than the post to a.b.p.a., as
many more people have Web access than get the binaries newsgroups,
and no arcane decoding process is required to view a Web page.)
The consensus is that commercial postings are acceptable, as long
as they are not invasive (multiple posts with screaming subject
lines are Not OK) and on-topic (no phone sex ads). There is a
well-established tradition of individuals offering animals for
sale through the newsgroup, and at least one commercial herp
supply dealer posts regularly. Out of politeness, many
people offering animals and items for sale state so clearly in the
Subject line of their posting: those who are not interested in
purchasing can then save time by not downloading / reading the
posts. An example might be: "FS: Snow Corns."
However, large stock lists and other lengthy bodies of commercial
information should be deposited on a WWW page or made available
for FTP, with only a pointer posted to the group. If you run a
newsletter or organization that you think herpers should be made
aware of on a regular basis, a brief monthly posting is much more
appropriate than a daily or even weekly one.
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Posting to Usenet can be a fairly large undertaking for some
people, but if you follow some very common sense guidelines, you
will be fine. Some suggestions are as follows, with the final
decision laying solely with the poster. Remember that most of
Usenet (including rec.pets.herp) is un-moderated. This means no
one controls any group, the posts for that group, or what is said
or tolerated in that group.
- Post only in text format. Refrain (however great the urge) from
posting in HTML format for Usenet postings. Many people still use
slow connections or text only clients (including this author). And
remember, that if you can't make your point without HTML posts,
complete with sounds, you should rethink your post prior to
sending it.
- Quote. When replying to someone, try to quote ONLY the text of
their message to which you are replying. Even though your
newsreader might display older messages from a thread, not
everyone's will or does. If you quote what you are replying to, it
makes it easier for everyone to follow the conversation and
contribute. That is what Usenet is all about, after all.
Bottom-posting is the preferred method or replying since the post
can then be read like a normal conversation (top to bottom, with
original material at the top). NOTE: Outlook Express
defaults to placing replies at the top; a simple cut-and-paste
will fix the problem.
- Trim. Try to edit out the parts of the message that you are
replying to that are not needed in the reply. This saves on
bandwidth for people with slower or off-line connections. And it
is similar to the Real World. You would not related an entire
conversation to someone, just to highlight 1 point. You would tell
only the relevant portions of it, then speak specifically
regarding your point. Try to do the same when replying on Usenet.
Trimming can also apply to any .sig file that you may use.
- Spelling/Grammar. Although people from all over the world use
Usenet, and most of them do not use English as a second language,
expressing your thoughts clearly and concisely will have an impact
on how your message is received by others across the world. Over
time, most people will develop their own style of typing and
posting, but in general, it will pay dividends to spell check your
post prior to sending it. Many flame wars have been started for
the simple reason of someone pointing out a grammar or spelling
error.
- Thought. When posting to Usenet, the target of your message does
not have the chance to look you in the eye, nor to hear the tone
of your voice. Taking the time to ensure that your message is as
clear as possible will help ensure that your message is received
as intended. People tend to be a bit cavalier about posting to
Usenet, feeling that they have some measure of protection due to
the anonymous nature of Usenet. A good general rule of thumb is
this: If you wouldn't say it to a persons face, don't say it on
Usenet.
- Binaries - The posting of binary files to rec.pets.herp is
strictly forbidden by the rec.pets.herp charter. Most ISP's will
not propagate binary posts to non binary groups, so the chance of
your picture reaching the rest of us is slim to none.
Remember - these are only guidelines from someone that has been
around Usenet since before there was an alt hierarchy. In the end,
it is up to you, but remember you are judged only on your posts.
People know only what you tell them about you, and what they
gather from your posts.
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See also the first part of 4.1
As hinted to above, etiquette on the net, or netiquette, is
just common sense adapted for the Internet, Usenet (being one of
the oldest portions of the 'Internet'), and ARPANET. An
interesting sidenote is available at http://www.dei.isep.ipp.pt/docs/arpa.html.
This is a brief outline of ARPANET history, and a small look at
the beginning of Usenet.
As with posting format, there are no hard and fast rules or laws
for Usenet, or the Internet in general. As with almost all things
in life, the final decision lies with the person that needs to
live with the decision.
One could go on for what would seem like forever regarding
netiquette. In summary, read the following link, and try to follow
some portion of it. Usenet is only the sum of the posts, and the
usefulness of the posts is directly proportional to the quality of
said posts.
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
This site, and many many others through out the 'net are a good
starting point for both novice and experienced users alike. Please
read these 'rules' and try to follow them if they make sense to
you.
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Either "captive-bred" or "captive-born";
the former meaning is probably more common.
The issue is this: herps offered for sale may have been collected
from the wild, or they may have been hatched/born in captivity.
(There are very strong reasons to prefer to purchase the latter
kind, but that's not the subject of this question.) An animal that
was conceived and born in captivity is said to be captive-*bred*.
If, however, a female herp is imported from the wild and lays eggs
shortly thereafter (having done her actual breeding before being
captured), the offspring are captive-*born*.
Animals that are "merely" captive-born are, in a sense,
taken from the wild population (though most of them probably would
not have survived to adulthood in the wild), but they enjoy most
of the same health benefits accrued by captive-bred individuals.
When breeders offer "CB" animals for sale, they
*usually* mean captive-bred. This is by no means certain,
however, especially with certain species that are rarely bred in
captivity. If you're buying a CB animal from a breeder, and you
have strong feelings against buying a captive-born animal, go
ahead and ask. Note that pet stores, especially corporate chain
stores, sometimes have no idea of their animals' origins, and once
in a while they will just make up an answer if you ask! (for
example, a guy told one maintainer that a Surinam toad---a South
American species---had been imported from Africa..)
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The following are some terms that have been known to confuse
people. This list is by no means complete or comprehensive.
Amelanistic: "Albino" in the conventional sense; lacking
all black pigment. This is a widespread mutation in several
species. Amelanistic animals are often red or yellowish, instead
of white like albino mammals; this is because amelanism does not
affect the red and yellow pigments, or indeed any pigments other
than melanin.
Anerythristic: "Black albino"; lacking red pigment.
Anerythristic animals are typically black and white. This is a
common mutation in corn snakes, and has also emerged in several
other snake species.
Anuran: A frog or toad. (There is no tightly defined distinction,
though members of the genus Rana are sometimes called
"true frogs" and members of the genus Bufo
"true toads".)
Axanthic: Lacking yellow pigment. Axanthism produces a "black
albino" effect in certain species whose dominant pigments are
yellow.
Axolotl: A species of salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum)
which normally does not metamorphose into a terrestrial form,
instead remaining in an aquatic larval stage throughout its life.
Axolotls were formerly thought to be unmetamorphosed tiger
salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum), and some older books
describe them as such.
Boid: A boa or python. (Two syllables, accent on the first, with a
long 'o'; this word is derived from "boa".)
Brumation: A term intended to describe "hibernation" in
reptiles and other cold-blooded animals. The point of having two
terms is simply that hibernation is a complex process involving
some regulation of body temperature, whereas brumation is a
simpler general slowing of all metabolic processes. The word is a
fairly recent coinage (1965, in a paper by Mayhew), and it is
reported to be falling out of usage among academic herpetologists.
It's probably fine to just say "hibernation".
Caecilian: A member of the order Gymnophiona (formerly Apoda), an
order of elongated, eel-like or wormlike amphibians. The most
familiar is the "rubber eel", sometimes sold in aquarium
stores.
Caudal: Pertaining to the tail.
Caudata: The order of amphibians comprising salamanders and newts.
Colubrid: A member of the "typical snake" family: king
snakes, rat snakes, corn snakes, garter snakes, and in general
most of the snakes that readers (outside Australia) encounter
frequently.
Crepuscular: Active at dawn and dusk. This describes many herps,
especially snakes.
Elapid: A member of a large family of venomous snakes with fangs
set in the rear of their mouths, including cobras, coral snakes, a
majority of Australian snakes, and many more.
Fossorial: Burrowing.
Gravid: The right word to use instead of "pregnant" when
you're talking about eggs. Note that all reptiles reproduce via
eggs; if they give live birth, it's because the eggs hatch
internally. In consequence, there is no such thing as a pregnant
reptile; the word is always "gravid". (However, rumor
holds that some of the more evolutionarily advanced snakes have
been found to have primitive placentas, which would actually make
the term "pregnant" more appropriate.)
Herp/Herptile: Generic terms for reptiles and amphibians; see
question 4.3. The word
"herptile" is a fairly recent coinage with no real
etymology, and some people object to it (the phrase
"linguistic abomination" has been used). Recently
the use of "herpetofauna" has been suggested as a more
scientific term - but within the group "herptile" is a
perfectly understandable and acceptable term.
Heterozygous: A proper definition of this term requires a quick
primer in genetics, which is definitely beyond the scope of this
FAQ. Briefly, saying that an animal is "heterozygous for
amelanism" means that it carries the gene that causes
amelanism, and can pass that gene on to its offspring, but it is
not itself amelanistic (having inherited a "normal" gene
that suppresses the amelanistic gene).
Pipping: The stage in the hatching process in which a hatching
snake makes a preliminary slit in the eggshell with its egg tooth.
The term has also been used to describe the process of making an
artificial slit in the egg to help the hatchling emerge (this
practice is widely discouraged except in unusual circumstances).
Ranid: One of the "true frogs" of the genus Rana.
The genus includes the majority of the hopping, bank-dwelling
animals that most of us think of as typical frogs, but excludes
tree frogs, toads, and many others.
Salienta: An obsolete name for the order Anura (frogs and
toads).
STV: Snout-to-vent (length). This is the usual way to measure
an amphibian or lizard (the point is that it's inconvenient and
somewhat misleading to include the legs of a frog or the tail of a
lizard or salamander in its length).
Urodela: An obsolete name for the order Caudata (salamanders and
newts).
Vent: The cloacal opening (location of the urinary and genital
organs), especially on a snake's belly. In snakes and caecilians,
the vent is the official boundary between body and tail.
(Actually, this is equally true of lizards and limbed amphibians,
which, however, usually have other indicators as well---i.e.,
legs!)
Viperid: A member of the stereotypical family of venomous snakes,
including rattlesnakes and almost anything with "viper"
in its name. Viperids have large fangs mounted in the front of the
mouth and have a tendency to be stocky snakes with a certain
stereotypical head shape (however, it's not safe, of course, to
decide that a snake isn't venomous because "it doesn't have a
viper head").
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In posts and price lists, it's not uncommon to see people say
something about "1.2 California kingsnakes" or
"8.2.32 African clawed frogs". This is a way of
concisely specifying the sexes of the animals; the first example
means one male Cal king and two females, and the second means
eight male frogs, two females, and 32 whose sex is not known
(typically the case with juvenile animals).
back to Table of Contents
Some posts have subjects with letters in brackets,
like [A] Question on Flipplezorb's tree frogs or [I] My
iguana sleeps hanging by his tail! Is this normal?
The letters are "subject tags", intended to indicate the
general topic of the post. The generally recognized tags are as
follows:
[I] - iguanas
[L] - other lizards
[S] - snakes
[T] - turtles/tortoises
[A] - amphibians
[V] - venomous herps
[M] - miscellaneous
You're encouraged to use them, as they help readers with specific
interests to organize the contents of the group and read only the
posts on subjects they're interested in.
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The people who post to rec.pets.herp come from all walks of
life. While heated off-topic discussions periodically arise,
the common bond for everyone here is their love of reptiles and/or
amphibians. If you really want to "get to know"
some of the people who frequent this group, consult the Biographies
page, which includes information provided on a voluntary
basis. The page is fairly new so it's by no means
all-inclusive (yet!).
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There are online resources scattered all over the net; herpers
seem to like making WWW pages. This section is somewhat biased
toward WWW resources, in part because of the ease of searching the
Web, in part because other routes of access to these resources are
pretty spotty. Anyone with knowledge of FTP sites is invited to
contribute to this section of the FAQ!
In due course, there will probably be a rec.pets.herp home page,
where most of these resources will be gathered. Watch this space
for updates.
Adam Britton keeps a Web page of crocodilian resources at http://crocodilian.com.
Melissa Kaplan maintains a *large* collection of care sheets
and informative articles on her herp page, at http://www.anapsid.org.
Mike Greathouse maintains the The Manasota Herpetological
Society at http://manasotaherp.com.
This lists over a thousand links to other herping spots.
Snake
Species on the Web is an online resource listing snakes
available online through dealers and breeders. Thanks to Dr.
Neil Chernoff for compiling this information.
Mike Pingleton maintains the FAQs on mites, African clawed frogs,
and crocodilians, and has them all at http://gto.ncsa.uiuc.edu/pingleto/herp.html.
Jennifer Swofford has a herp page with its own domain name,
with *lots* of links to other online resources and offline
information: http://www.baskingspot.com/.
All these sites, and many others, contain pointers to
additional WWW pages. It's possible to cruise around the Web,
restricting your attention to herps, and turn blue in the face
before you run out of places to go. A good central nexus of
pointers resides on the Colorado Herpetological Society's pointer
page, at http://coloherp.org/herplink/.
The Herpetology section of the Virtual Library resides at http://cmgm.stanford.edu/~meisen/herp/
and contains a wide variety of links; most of them are of a more
scientific bent than the typical hobbyist's page.
One of the newer sites that has made an impact for the herping
community is http://www.kingsnake.com
where you will find a stockpile of information and links for all
types of herps, and also message boards (please note - these
message boards are moderated and the chat is not as 'flavorful' as
the chat in rec.pets.herp)
Webrings are a group of sites with a common interest. http://nav.webring.yahoo.com/hub?ring=snakeloverring&list
The use of mailing lists to communicate with other herps has
expaned over the last couple of years. There are literally
hundreds to choose from, with no one list being better than the
other. E-groups was recently purchased by Yahoo! and is located at
http://groups.yahoo.com.
A UK-specific Usenet newsgroup can be found at
uk.rec.pets.misc. Other country-specific newsgroups may be
available as well; check your local hierarchy.
In general, the best place to start any search, be it WWW or
Usenet, is http://www.google.com.
Google is generally regarded as the best search engine on the net,
and will provide you with a mountain of sites to the most casual
of queries.
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This is a big question. There are quite a few books about herps
of various sorts, and they range from stellar to awful. One
particularly stellar book is The Completely Illustrated Atlas
of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium, by Obst,
Richter, Jacob, et al. (TFH Publications Inc., 1988), a titanic
red tome with brief entries on a huge variety of subjects, often
just called "the Big Red Book". Also, Advanced Vivarium
Systems publishes a series of books on herp care which are widely
acknowledged to be thoroughly excellent; most of them are slim
white paperbacks that cost five to ten dollars (US). They are sold
in pet stores, especially those that specialize in herps, in both
the US and Europe.
There are several periodicals devoted to herpetoculture
(and many academic journals dealing with herpetology), Reptiles
being one of the most commonly available. This FAQ takes no
position on the relative merits of such publications; all of them
have printed good stuff and bad stuff, and it's a good idea to
seek independent confirmation of any information before entrusting
the well-being of your animals to it.
All the above print resources are in English. Other languages
have their own bodies of herpetocultural literature; suggestions
for important sources---especially the high points of the large
body of German literature---are solicited.
Local herp societies are valuable sources of knowledgeable people;
see question 5.3, below. There are also
some national herp societies, like the American Federation of
Herpetoculturists in the United States, and a number of global
organizations with more specific purposes (like the International
Gecko Society and the Tortoise Trust).
Your local university library can also be very useful. There's a
publication called the Zoological Record that indexes
zoological journals by species; many of the articles it references
will be unreadable by a lay audience, but others can be a very
useful source of captive-care information. In addition, university
libraries can order copies of articles in hard-to-find periodicals
for you; ask a reference librarian for sordid details.
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Melissa Kaplan at http://www.anapsid.org/societies
maintains lists of U.S. herp organizations by state, and by
country outside of the United States. She also has a document on
how to start your own herp society.
If these sources don't list a society near you, start asking
around. If there's a local university, ask someone in the biology
or environmental science department. Ask the zoo, aquarium, or
museum. If there's a local pet store that pays a lot of attention
to reptiles, ask there. If all this fails, you might have to start
a society of your own. Or you could move!
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In one form or another, this is probably the most asked
question on the newsgroup. There are at least three iguana care
sheets readily available on the Web, and plenty of peripheral
documents. A good central resource for iguana information is
Melissa Kaplan's iguana page at www.anapsid.org
which includes pointers to lots of documents.
It really is worth your while to read these care sheets before
posting an iguana-related question. There are a *lot* of pet
iguanas out in the world, and much discussion of them on the net,
and the chances that your question has already been asked and
answered are pretty good.
There are many books on iguanas; most of them aren't very good,
and iguana keepers on the net say that none of them are really
good enough to recommend. As of early 1996, there are more books
in the works that show some promise; however, the online care
sheets remain the iguana keeper's strongest resource for the
present.
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The lists of online resources in question 5.1
above contains many pointers to care sheets for specific species.
If you can't find it from the above sources, ask; odds are that
someone can give you at least basic care information.
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Perhaps surprisingly, lots of them. In the United States,
leaders include the National Zoological Garden in Washington,
D.C., the San Diego Zoo, Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, the
Denver Zoo's Tropical Discovery exhibit, Zoo Atlanta, and many
more (contributions solicited). The Baltimore Zoo gets extra
brownie points for having many snakes in the children's zoo.
A number of zoos in Europe have outstanding herp collections,
often equipped with great naturalistic settings; the Rotterdam Zoo
is a world leader, Frankfurt is also highly recommended.
At least three zoos in the US have tuataras. The St. Louis Zoo has
some that are said to be off-exhibit at this writing, and the
Dallas and Toledo Zoos have recently opened exhibits. The
London Zoo is now reported to have a pair of tuataras on
display.
More information for this question is always welcome.
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If you don't know where to get it, and you haven't been keeping
herps long enough to find a source, are you sure you want one?
Hard-to-find species are often hard to find precisely because
they're very difficult to keep, and should only be essayed by very
experienced keepers.
Many large herp dealers and prominent breeders advertise in the
pages of herp magazines like the one listed in question 5.2.
Local herp societies are also a good source of pointers, since
many of them have members who attend conventions regularly and
stay abreast of others' breeding projects.
Snake
Species on the Web is an online resource listing snakes
available online through dealers and breeders. Thanks to Dr.
Neil Chernoff for compiling this information.
For the record, this FAQ *strongly* discourages the keeping of
venomous reptiles by any amateurs but the most expert and
cautious. Many venomous snakes are extremely attractive and have a
powerful appeal; however, the dangers of keeping "hot"
animals are very substantial, to say nothing of the
public-relations disaster and potential tragedy that could result
from an escaped animal. (And there is *always* a chance of escape;
what if there were an earthquake and all your tanks were
shattered?) The prudent route is to leave the venomous critters to
the wild and the zoo, and go there when you feel the urge to
admire them.
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It's hard to describe an animal accurately enough for a
positive ID in text. Try a field guide first, since you can
look back and forth from the book to the animal. (Several guides
are available; in the United States the Audubon guide and the
Peterson guides are recommended. In Europe, refer to the
"Collins Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain
and Europe by E.N. Arnold, J.A. Burton and D.W. Ovenden" as a
starting reference. This book is available in several European
languages.) There are also several online guides out there--this
one is for North American turtles, for example.
If you can't make a conclusive ID, then post a detailed
description of the animal, along with any useful information you
gathered from the guide ("I thought it might be a
Flipplezorb's tree frog, but it doesn't have a puce belly").
Someone will probably post either a tentative ID or a request for
specific information. In many cases, the answer to "Can
I keep it?" is definitely *no*. Many jurisdictions have some
form of laws against keeping native wildlife in captivity, and
such laws are sometimes enforced with surprising vigor. This is
one reason why a positive ID is very important; you don't want to
find yourself inadvertently violating the law and setting both
yourself and the animal up for trouble.
Legalities aside, it's often not a good idea to keep animals you
find in the wild, and you should just release the critter where
you found it; ultimately, all concerned will probably be happier
if you satisfy your herp desires with a captive-bred animal.
However, many of us caught garter snakes as kids and kept them,
and are in no position to take a holier-than-thou stance against
keeping such animals. If you want to keep something that crawled
out from under your azaleas, make sure you've identified it
correctly, and *then* post asking for care guidelines. A single
posting saying "I don't know what this is, but how do I take
care of it?" will not get many useful responses.
See also section 6.5 concerning the
release of captive herps.
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Everyone would much rather see this question in the form
"I'm GOING to buy a <whatever>...", but it doesn't
always happen that way.
Some species of herps are quite difficult to keep and suited only
for people who really want a time sink, or who have lots of
experience, or who have a ready source of some exotic food item;
unfortunately, your average pet store doesn't know which species
these are, and so, every so often, a new herper asks something
like "I just bought a Nile crocodile. The pet store said it
would be pretty easy to take care of, but how do I do it?"
Regrettably, in the case of a Nile crocodile, the only realistic
answer is to find someone who *really* knows about working with
large crocodilians, and hope they want to take it off your hands.
While this example is a *little* exaggerated, it's quite common
for unsuspecting people to end up in over their heads with a
difficult species, and the herp almost invariably suffers for
it. For this reason, it's vitally important to learn about
the needs of an animal *before* you go out and buy one!
But let's suppose you already have your Nile crocodile, you really
like it and are determined to do whatever it takes to keep it
happy and healthy, and you think you might have the resources to
do it. In this case, go ahead and post; you may take some heat,
but the best response is probably "Yeah, I realize I should
have researched it first. I'll do better next time, but now I want
to learn how to handle the situation I've got." People will
respect that.
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Sure; in fact, it's widely done, mostly because mail-order
dealers sell animals much more cheaply than pet stores (there are
fewer middlemen). There are some caveats about mail-order, though,
as you might expect. You can't see the animal before you buy it
(though you may be able to get snapshots, especially of unusual or
expensive animals); you have to trust the business to be honest;
and you face the risks of shipping (though a reputable dealer
should at least guarantee live arrival).
For these reasons, it's a good idea to stick to mail-order dealers
about which you know something. Because no business seems to
be able to satisfy everybody, this FAQ takes no position on the
recommendation of specific mail-order houses.
Note that, while many herps can be mailed, US law prohibits
sending snakes by any means except air freight. The cost of air
freight is rather high, more than enough to offset the price
savings on a small order; therefore, it's fairly common for
several people to combine small orders.
As always, exercise caution when buying anything over the net. On
occasion, people have been ripped off purchasing herps from net
folks; in particular, there was a recent fiasco in which someone
offered animals for sale at a very low price, then sent random
unpleasant objects (rotting vegetables, etc.) instead of the herps
people ordered. It was later reported on the net that the scam
artist in question had been arrested on a variety of
mail-fraud-type charges, hopefully ending his herp-fraud career.
Because of the occasional bad apples, it is a very good idea to
check out the reputation of anyone you're considering buying
from...*before* you trust them with your money.
There are several resources that you can use if you are thinking
of purchasing your herp over the net.
- A well worded message to rec.pets.herp with the potential
sellers name, address, and the details of the sale will go a long
way in gathering some information regarding your purchase.
- The Board of Inquiry, http://www.herpwantads.com/forums/Inquiry2/,
is a web page that allows people to post messages regarding
breeders and sellers, in both a positive and negative light.
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The short, and most correct, answer is NO, NO, NO, NO,
NO! The reasons for this are many. Here are a few:
- Possible exposure to disease: You may already have pet
herps, or other pets in general. Bringing in an animal from
the outside can be hazardous to both your current captives, in the
event they contract something from the newcomer, and to the new
arrival, because it can get sick from something your current pets
already have (though they may not be affected by it). By
releasing such an "exposed" animal back into the wild,
you are jeopardizing the local wild populations. One
possible example of this situation can be found in gopher
tortoises in the southeastern United States. Wild
populations are now suffering from respiratory illness believed to
have been spread by captive tortoises of various species.
- The species may not be native to your area: a common
misperception among (former) pet owners is that their captive
would be "happier in the wild," so they "free"
the animal. The problem is that oftentimes the animal
originated nowhere near the owner's home. Now, there's a
foreign species on the loose, left to fend for itself in an
unfamiliar area, with its accustomed food not available, and with
predators and other threats against which it is not
prepared. If such incidents were restricted to isolated
events, the worst that would happen would be that the individual
animal suffers for a while and then dies/gets eaten/run
over. However, many underinformed people seem to make the
same error in judgment--a perfect example is the southern Florida
predicament whereby people regularly find sustainable populations
of introduced/"freed" iguanas, pythons, boas, and most
recently, monitor lizards. These introduced species can
compete with native species for food and become a menace to both
animals and people. Even releasing species native to your
area is not a good idea, for the disease risks mentioned above and
the possibility of harming the genetics of the local populations.
- The animal may be unable to fend for itself once
released: we've all seen examples of the unnaturally fat
iguanas, savannah monitors, tegus, and snakes. which benefit from
captive care--regular feeding, treatment of illness, and so
on. Such animals are perfectly acclimatized to their
generally sedentary captive lifestyle which does not require them
to actively seek out food, shelter, and proper temperatures.
Releasing these animals often sentences them to a slow, painful
death. While they may survive for a summer, the inability to
find suitable areas to brumate (or the inability to tolerate cold
temperatures for those species which don't brumate) usually mean
death when winter arrives.
- It's illegal: while many laws exist for seemingly
capricious reasons, many states/nations have enacted laws
preventing the release of herps kept even for short periods of
time in captivity for the reasons listed above.
The bottom line is that once you remove an animal from the
wild, you've made an irrevocable commitment to ensure its
well-being. If you end up deciding not to keep it, please
find someone or some institution that will give it a good
home.
See also section 7.4 regarding releasing
herps.
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Guess which WWW page to look at? http://fovea.retina.net/~gecko/herps/misc/lost.html
(Down - June 01 2001) contains the Finding Lost Herps FAQ. It is a
collection of comments from various individuals; no guarantees are
made that these comments will be consistent with one another.
Please refer to Melissa Kaplan's page here for a brief summary of
what to do -when- your snake escapes. http://www.anapsid.org.
Fortunately, most escapes can be stopped before they happen
with some attention to the enclosure of the animal in question.
Use common sense: Don't leave snake-sized openings in the lid of
your snake's tank. Don't leave the lid off while you wander away
to get a food item (for the herp or yourself). Don't take small,
quick-moving animals out to play on the lawn. As a general rule,
assume that your herp can levitate, walk through walls, cloud your
mind so that you cannot see it, pass through the holes in
pegboard, and gravitate unerringly to the most inaccessible spot
in your home. Design enclosures and herp rooms accordingly.
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Yes and no. Many people use mealworms as feeders with no ill
effects at all, especially with lizards. However, mealworms have
hard chitinous shells and may cause digestive problems in large
quantities. Moreover, mealworms have mandibles; at least one
poster reports having seen mealworms literally eat their way out
of a garter snake (yuck), and one maintainer lost some leopard
frogs to internal injuries caused by "king" mealworms.
The chitin problem can be almost entirely ameliorated by feeding
mealworms that have just shed their exoskeleton. Since they shed
their mandibles as well, this procedure should also help with the
problem of internal injuries; however, if you're feeding mealworms
to an animal that can reasonably be expected to swallow them
whole, it is prudent to cut the worms' mouthparts off first, or to
crush their heads and mandibles with a pair of forceps. It's not
pleasant, but it beats risking your herp's health.
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(This question pertains, essentially, only to snakes, which are
the main consumers of feeder rodents. Although some lizards and
amphibians will eat rodents, amphibians typically will not take
dead food, and most carnivorous lizards eat rodents too small for
the concerns of this section to be a factor. Large monitors are an
exception, and this question may apply to them as well.)
Although a snake is a pretty formidable adversary for even the
toughest rodent, a feeder can occasionally get lucky and manage to
bite its predator. Such bites can be serious; in extreme cases,
the rodent can land one fortunate bite at the base of the skull
and kill the snake outright. Most feeding bites are much less
serious and pose no real threat except from infection, but such
catastrophes really have occurred. This is one very good reason to
prefer to use dead feeders; a prekilled mouse will rarely bite a
snake. This goes double for gerbils, which are fast and scrappy,
and at least triple for adult rats.
Another convenient feature of prekilled rodents is their
availability; it is possible to mail-order hundreds of frozen
rodents, fill a freezer with them, and have a practically
permanent food supply for your snakes. Many of the rec.pets.herp
regulars (the author included) do precisely this. It's convenient,
and also much cheaper than buying individual live rodents at
pet-store prices.
Most snakes of commonly-kept species can be conditioned to accept
prekilled prey, though the conditioning process is sometimes
lengthy and frustrating. The tricks used to encourage
feeding are innnumerable and really beyond the scope of this FAQ,
but often simply wiggling a dead feeder (with a pair of
forceps---don't use your bare hand or you *will* get bitten) is
enough to interest a reluctant snake.
Some snakes simply refuse to eat anything other than live prey. It
behooves the responsible herp keeper, when faced with such a
specimen, to take every precaution to make sure the predator-prey
relationship doesn't reverse itself (and, yes, there *are* cases
in which snake keepers have found an intended feeder rodent making
a meal of the snake)! Never leave a live feeder rodent alone with
a snake, especially in the case of tough scrappers like rats. If
possible, stun the feeder before offering it; many snakes that
turn up their rostral scales at prekilled prey will still eat live
but unconscious animals. In short, don't invite trouble.
Naturally, many of the caveats of this section do not apply to
pinky or fuzzy rodents, which are not yet developed enough to
injure anything larger than a small insect. However, conditioning
a snake to take prekilled pinkies or fuzzies while it is a
juvenile may help encourage it to eat dead prey as an adult.
In the first draft of this answer, it was written "A
prekilled mouse will never bite a snake." However, in March
1996, a poster actually reported seeing his corn snake receive a
"bite" from a dead mouse! The snake managed to knock the
mouse's mouth open and drag the teeth over its side while
searching for the head. (Fortunately, the injury was extremely
minor.) This anecdote should only strengthen your resolve to feed
prekilled; if even a *dead* prey item presents a slight hazard,
just imagine what a *live* one could do!
Legislation affects the use of feeder animals in the UK (the
Protection of Animals Act) and perhaps other countries as well.
The UK law is not particularly restrictive---it requires that live
feeder vertebrates be used only as a last resort and that the
feeding process be monitored. Local US jurisdictions may also have
relevant regulations. Apprise yourself of the local legislative
situation as it applies to your feeding practices.
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No! Do not release a captive animal back into the wild,
especially if it's a species that's not native to your area. The
animal will either die, in which case you didn't do it any favors;
or it won't, in which case you have just introduced an exotic
species into your local ecosystem. This Is Bad; the most drastic
example among herps is the giant toad (Bufo marinus), which
created ecological chaos when it was introduced into Australia for
pest control (and it didn't even work for that). Even if your herp
is a native species, it may be carrying pathogens that shouldn't
be released into the wild, and if it was captive-bred, its
genetics may have drifted enough that you're introducing
destructive genetic material into the wild population. The problem
of pathogens is not just theoretical; some wild populations of
herps have nearly been destroyed by well-meant releases of captive
animals.
If you have a native herp that was caught in the wild, and you
know exactly where it was caught, and you're very sure it hasn't
been exposed to any pathogens while in your care, and it hasn't
been in captivity too long, you *might* think about releasing it.
Even then, it probably isn't a good idea. Most of the time,
it's illegal as well due to the dangers it presents to local
populations of animals.
If you really can't keep a herp (or other pet), try to find it a
good home. If nobody wants to take it, a local herp society
might be willing to put it up for adoption among its members. Zoos
generally will not accept donations of this sort (they have enough
Burmese pythons already), but if you have something really
unusual, it couldn't hurt to call the zoo and ask if they want
one. Or you can sell the animal to a pet store, though it behooves
you to find a good, responsible store that keeps its animals in
decent conditions. Just don't let it go.
If you must give up your herp, there are several options that are
available in most major centers of the world. Either a trade
classified paper or a Rescue Society. The easiest way to find a
local Rescue Society is to call either a herp vet or a local
seller of herps.
A good starting point for a search is The Basking Spot: http://www.baskingspot.com/links.asp?link_category=rescue
Virginia Reptile Rescue http://www.vareptilerescue.org/
Always remember that when you obtained your herp, you made a
commitment to that animal to care for it. If you no longer want to
care for the herp, please make sure that it makes it to someone
who can see to its needs properly.
See also 6.5 regarding releasing of
captive herps.
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You can, indeed. However, if you take the most elementary
precautions, your chances of getting salmonella from a herp are
much less than from, say, incompletely cooked chicken. Wash your
hands after handling herps or herp supplies. Don't put herps in
your mouth (yes, this probably means you should resist the urge to
kiss that bearded dragon). Keep herps away from food preparation
surfaces. In sum, don't treat herps as if they were
"clean" for human consumption. With that caveat obeyed,
the risk of catching anything from a herp is negligible.
Children and immunocompromised individuals are particularly
vulnerable to salmonella and other zoonotic infections. Therefore,
it's appropriate to observe additional precautions. Foremost among
these is not allowing small children to interact with herps
without supervision; they tend to put their hands, if not the
actual animals, in their mouths, which is a good way to expose
themselves to any pathogens the animals might be carrying.
Steve Grenard of Herpmed maintains a document about salmonella and
reptiles on the Web, at http://www.xmission.com:80/~gastown/herpmed/salm.htm.
It's a thorough and valuable document, with brief case histories
of some recent reptile-associated salmonella cases and detailed
guidelines on how to avoid becoming one of them.
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One of the primary problems in measuring a herp is keeping it
still long enough to get a good measurement. Another problem
is getting it to "lay straight" to get an accurate
measurement.
Some people measure their snakes' shed skins; however, the shed
skins tend to stretch easily and give erroneous measurements.
The easiest way to measure your herp is to take a photo of it
with an object of known dimensions and use this to determine
overall length. A computer application exists for this very
purpose--Serpentine
Widgets' Snake Measurer. It's a quick, free download and
includes directions on the web site.
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NO, NO, NO! :)
Unscrupulous pet store owners will tell you this to make a
sale. A Burmese python (adult size: 20 feet plus) will
NOT remain "stunted" if you keep it in a 10-gallon
aquarium. It WILL outgrow it! The same goes for
iguanas, boas, and all other herps, as well as fish. DO NOT
acquire a pet herp if you cannot maintain it once it reaches its
adult size. Always ask what the adult size is if you're not
familiar, and if the seller tells you it won't grow that big if
you keep it in a small container or if you don't feed it as much,
RUN AWAY!
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7.8 My herp won't eat.
That's not even a question! :)
Here is a great response to this dilemma (written primarily
with snakes in mind, but applicable to many herps), as provided by
Zetekitoxin:
Anorexia is the refusal of an animal to eat and can be caused
by many things. It is fairly common in snakes, but can be a huge
source of concern for some keepers. When your snake initially goes
off food, there are 5 categories of causes that you should look
into.
The first is husbandry. Snakes will often stop feeding if
temperatures are too low or if they are stressed (by things like
continuous lighting, lack of hides or burrowing substrate for
fossorial animals, lack of branches for arboreal ones, a new
environment, too much handling, etc). Check all of your husbandry,
including lights, temps, humidity, etc. Correct any problems, no
matter how minor they seem. Look for signs of stress. These would
include abundant activity, unnecessary striking, fear reactions,
etc. Remove any stressors.
The second category you should explore is that of medical causes.
A sick snake will often refuse food. Examine your snake from head
to tail. Look into its mouth for signs of stomatitis (mouth rot),
listen for wheezing and look for snot. Run your hands over the
snakes body feeling for lumps or other abnormalities. Next watch
the snake's behavior. Look for signs of lethargy or weakness. Take
a fecal sample to the vet if you haven't done so recently.
Dehydration can lead to anorexia. Dry, wrinkled skin or skin that
stays tented for more than a second after you pinch it are signs
of dehydration. Try giving the snake a soak and raising the
humidity. If that doesn't work, or if you suspect any type of
infection or illness, go to the vet ASAP.
Next you should look at mechanical causes for the anorexia, like
foreign body obstruction. Ask yourself when was the last time the
snake defecated. It should defecate on a fairly regular basis. If
it hasn't defecated in awhile look for a lump directly anterior
(towards the head) of the vent. This could be fecal material. Give
the snake a good long (1/2 hour to 1 hour) soak in warm water to
loosen its bowels. Continue daily until the snake defecates or you
get indications of an obstruction. If your snake is not defecating
and has regurged meals in the recent past, you may be looking at
an obstruction. If you suspect this, go to the vet.
Fourth, you should examine physiological reasons for the
anorexia. Snakes commonly go off feed in the fall, even
without manipulation of their temps or photoperiods. Some snakes
may go off feed in the spring as well. Snakes typically refuse
food shortly before a shed, or when gravid. Remember that snakes
can become gravid with infertile eggs even if they have never been
exposed to a male. It's not common, but it is possible. The
appearance of rapid weight gain, especially in the lower half of a
female's body and changes in her behavior are good indicators of
her being gravid. If the snake is gravid, provide a proper nest
box and be alert for signs of egg binding (you can look this one
up, my fingers are getting tired).
The last reason that snakes become anorexic is because they feel
like it. Sometimes snakes just refuse to eat for no particular
reason for a month or two, start eating afterwards, and no cause
for either the cessation or return of appetite is discernible. My
favorite theory for this involves the fact that snakes maintain a
cycle of feast and famine in the wild. In captivity they may
become overweight from receiving regularly provided meals, and
this may trigger a fasting cycle. They may also be triggered for
some other reason entirely. Whatever the reason, be assured that
many captive snakes have gone months, even over a year, without
eating and emerged from their anorexia perfectly healthy. Yours
will too.
So now you've looked into all 5 of these categories and only the
last one applies to you. Your husbandry is perfect, your snake is
healthy, unobstructed and not gravid, but still refuses to eat.
What do you do now?
The most important thing to remember through all of this is that
you have time. Lots of time. Unless your snake is dangerously
underweight to begin with, or is ill (which we just covered) it
should be able to safely go several months without food. You
needn't worry until the (adult) snake loses 5-10% of its body
weight. Tracking a snake's weight should be part of your normal
husbandry routine. It isn't necessary to do it every week.
Recording weights 2 or 3 times a year will suffice. If you haven't
been doing this you can start as soon as the snake begins refusing
food. This method isn't as accurate as if you'd consistently been
keeping track, but it will provide you with a reference point to
determine later if your snake is loosing too much weight.
The first step is to wait a few (2-3) weeks before your next
feeding attempt. If the snake still doesn't eat wait a few more
weeks. If the snake is underweight and you feel it simply must eat
you can try offering different food items like different color
mice, gerbils, hamsters, live rat pups or live pinkies (never live
adults!). You can scent the food with other animals (frogs,
snakes, lizards). You can brain or bleed the food. Tease feed,
torment feed (get the snake so pissed off that it bites the food
just to get it to go away – do not try this more than once a
week unless you want a very stressed out snake), leave the food
and the snake in a small dark container overnight. Try each of
these individually and then try them in combination.
Until your snake loses an excessive amount of weight, methods such
as assist feeding or force feeding are completely unnecessary and
should not be attempted. Should these methods become necessary,
they should be performed by someone who is experienced, to prevent
causing injury or death to the snake.
back to Table of Contents
7.9 Will my snake (or any other herp) bite
me?
With almost any herp, you should expect to be bitten, although
the chances vary greatly dependent upon the species. This is
not necessarily cause for alarm; even the most even-tempered dog
can bite if sufficiently provoked. Herps are no different.
Naturally, the severity of a bite can range from a harmless
pinch to damage requiring stitches (or antivenin, in the case of
venomous reptiles). You may want to consider this when
selecting an animal to keep as a pet--your capacity to handle
consequences of a potential bite.
There are two main types of bite: a feeding-response
bite, and a defensive bite. Feeding-response bites stem from
the animal thinking it is attacking a meal; for example, if you
regularly reach your hand into its cage to give it a mouse, it may
become conditioned to think it will be fed every time your hand
appears. Then, when you reach your hand into its cage to
move its water dish, it may think you have a mouse and will strike
your hand. A feeding-response bite may cause the herp to
"hang on" a little longer than it would for a defensive
bite, simply because it thinks it's getting a meal.
Defensive bites are a simple matter of the herp doing what
comes naturally when it feels threatened. Feeling threatened
may be due to a handler accidentally squeezing it, or something as
simple as cornering the animal in its cage. Defensive bites
are usually released quickly, as the entire premise of the bite is
to allow the animal to escape the threat.
Prevention is the best method of handling bites. Use
proper equipment (hooks, tongs, and/or gloves) when handling herps
capable of inflicting serious bites. If you do wind up being
bitten, try your best to not jerk your hand away (easier said than
done), because you risk injuring your pet--many herps' teeth curve
backwards, and the sudden jerking may break off several teeth.
For bites which break the skin, wash the affected area and
apply an antiseptic. Keep a close eye on bites in case you
develop an allergic reaction--this has been known to happen from
species generally considered harmless, such as garter and hognose
snakes. Of course, for venomous snakes, seek medical
attention immediately.
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7.10 Can I keep my <species 1> and
<species 2> together?
The general answer is NO, for several reasons:
1. The two species may have incompatible husbandry
requirements (different temperature, humidity, etc).
Example: a leopard gecko and a water dragon should not be
housed together; the leopard gecko is a desert species, and the
water dragon is a tropical species. Also, consider that some
species are diurnal, and some are nocturnal--one species may keep
the other one awake during its normal sleep period and vice versa.
2. The two species may be incompatible in size--the
smaller species may feel intimidated by the larger, and thus not
engage in normal behavior (like feeding!), or the larger species
may even eat the smaller one. Even similar-sized snakes may
attempt to devour each other (kingsnakes are notorious for
this). Territoriality between the animals may also cause
problems.
3. The possibility of disease transmission is greater
than if the two species were kept separately.
That being said, some species can exist together
satisfactorily. Thoroughly research each species'
requirements before attempting, and use the largest enclosure you
can afford to give each animal enough space. Many people
attempt to house different species together to economize on
enclosure space, but end up stressing (or killing) one or more of
the inhabitants as a result. The best solution is to give
each animal its own home.
Although written primarily concerning cohabiting turtles, this
page has additional considerations you may find helpful.
back to Table of Contents
Any answer to this question is necessarily colored by opinion.
This question attempts to list species that will be generally
suitable for beginners with no prior herpetological experience. It
also focuses on species of which captive-bred specimens are
readily available in North America. (Information on the
availability of these species in other parts of the world, and
suggestions for suitable species where the ones below are hard to
obtain, would be welcome.)
See question 8.2 for some generalities to keep in mind when
purchasing a first herp.
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8.1a Snakes
Good first snakes include corn snakes, common king snakes (of
which there are many subspecies: California, desert, Florida,
speckled...), and captive-bred or captive-born baby ball pythons.
Imported adult ball pythons are a poor choice, because they tend
to be heavily parasitized and unwilling to feed. Many people's
first snake is a garter snake collected from the back yard, but
garter snakes are actually quite a bit harder to take care of than
the above-mentioned species. Boa constrictors and Burmese pythons
are popular pet-store items and very attractive snakes, but they
grow rather large---especially the Burmese---and should only be
attempted by people who really are prepared to share their home
with a *big* snake.
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8.1b Lizards
There are many good starter lizards whose care requirements are
not extreme, but that can still provide much enjoyment and
interest. The leopard gecko, a desert-dwelling insectivorous
species, is readily available captive-bred and is easy to tame and
maintain. Captive-bred bearded dragons are more expensive but
equally easy to keep and handle, though it is recommended that the
beginner start with a juvenile rather than a hatchling.
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8.1c Turtles & Tortoises
A number of turtles can be maintained in captivity by beginners,
if they are willing to devote the time necessary to keep them
appropriately. Aquatic turtles will require a large tank, basking
areas, heat sources, filtration, and frequent water changes. Hardy
beginner turtles are sliders and cooters (adopt a red-ear from
your local herp society!), related species of sliders, mud and
musk turtles (including the African mud turtles), and some Asian
water turtles such as Reeves' turtles (Chinemys reevesii).
Land turtles require a large amount of land, heated quarters,
hiding areas, and an appropriate diet.
Good beginning turtles/tortoises are red-footed tortoises, leopard
tortoises, African spurred tortoises (which, however, grow rather
large), and captive-born box turtles. If at all possible, buy a
captive-born turtle; they generally do much better in captivity
than wild-caught individuals, and this may make the difference
between success and a dead turtle.
David Kirkpatrick wrote an article for _Reptiles_ magazine on
starting out with aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles; it's available
on the WWW at http://www.unc.edu/~dtkirkpa/stuff/tanks.html.
back to Table of Contents
8.1d Frogs & Toads
Any frog is more delicate than the "starter" reptiles
listed above. This doesn't mean they're off-limits to beginners,
though. Popular first species include White's tree frogs
(sometimes called dumpy tree frogs) and "Pac-Man" frogs
(properly called horned frogs; there are several species). There
are good Advanced Vivarium Systems books on both, and plenty of
keepers on the net who will be helpful. Those who are willing to
work with an aquarium have the opportunity to keep aquatic frogs;
the dwarf frog and African clawed frog are very easy to keep and
are excellent first frogs.
back to Table of Contents
8.1e Salamanders & Newts
Several commonly available caudates make good first herptile pets.
They are just as interesting as frogs in most respects and don't
vocalize (read: make noise when you are trying to sleep).
Probably the easiest to keep are western US newts of genus Taricha
(the California or golden newt and/or the rough-skinned newt,
which will happily eat tubifex worms or chopped earthworms, and
can even be trained to eat dry food pellets with time. They are
friendly, robust, long-lived, and fairly big for newts. (They are
also *extremely* toxic if placed in the mouth; wash hands after
handling!) The eastern newt (eats tubifex or *small* earthworm
parts) isn't bad, and neither are the frequently seen Japanese Cynops
species, fire-belly and paddle-tail (a.k.a. shovel-nose) newts,
which feed as do Taricha.
If you insist on a big salamander, stick with tiger salamanders
(US), or fire salamanders (Eur.), or a similar rugged and cheap
species. In the US, tigers can often be had, often erroneously
labeled "waterdogs", "mudpuppies", or even
"axolotls", for a dollar or less from bait shops, in
larval form. Tiger larvae are very similar to the more
fragile axolotl, and eat water bugs, worm chunks, small fish and
just about anything suitably sized for their mouths, including
small newts, or even smaller siblings! Don't mix and match.
Adults enjoy bugs of many sorts, meal worms, and earthworms.
European readers would do well to start with Triturus cristatus
(the crested newt) or Pleurodeles waltl (the ribbed newt);
both are hardy, active, aggressive feeders, and easily obtainable
in Europe. Also easily obtained in Europe are CB Asian
species, such as Cynops and Paramesitroton. Taricha
, Ambystoma, and Notophthalmus species are also
available in Europe if care and time are taken to find a suitable
and reliable source.
back to Table of Contents
8.1f Caecilians
The only commonly available caecilian, the rubber "eel,"
can be found in lots of aquarium shops (many of whom have no idea
what it is - be sure it is in good health, as it may not have been
fed properly). They eat small worm bits, tubifex, and small
water-dwelling creatures including tiny feeder fish, water insect
larvae, etc. A parting word of caution regarding caecilians: They
love to escape. Get a tight-fitting screen top, and make sure it
stays closed at all times. Even a few seconds is long enough for
them to go wandering, so keep an eye out when feeding them with
the lid open.
back to Table of Contents
There are some things to consider before buying any herp.
Remember, first, that buying the animal itself is likely to be the
*cheapest* part of the process; that $20 iguana will cost closer
to $250 when equipped with housing, a substrate, furnishings,
lighting, heating, food, and initial veterinary care. Second, many
herps are sold as juveniles and will be many times larger at
adulthood than at purchase; consider whether you are prepared to
provide suitable enclosures as the animal grows, and just where
you're going to put those enclosures. Third, many lizards, and all
frogs and snakes, are carnivores; to keep one, you will need to
provide other animals as food items, possibly killing them
yourself (see question 7.3). Fourth, even
vegetarian herps have specialized needs; lettuce is *not* a
suitable diet for an iguana or other vegetarian lizard, and you
are likely to have some strange conversations about turnip greens
with your produce manager.
Other things to consider: many herps have the potential
to live for a LONG time if properly cared for--often more than
twenty years. The animal you purchase may well outlive
YOU! If you are unsure of your financial, housing, etc.
situation for the foreseeable future, you may want to hold off on
your purchase.
Of the many species of herp currently available, only a small
percentage are currently bred in captivity. This means there
are a large number of wild-caught specimens available in the pet
trade. It is unadvisable for a beginner to start with a
wild-caught animal. These specimens often harbor internal
and external parasites, and have been stressed by a long trip from
initial capture to final retail destination, and consequently do
not usually fare well except under the care of an experienced
herpetoculturist. The budding herp enthusiast should look at
purchasing a captive-bred animal.
When a herp (or other pet) is being entrusted to a child, there's
also the issue of responsibility. Many herps require relatively
little care to do well, but this ease of maintenance actually
makes neglect easier; after not feeding the frogs for three or
four days, it's easy to forget for another week or two. In
addition, certain large or flashy herps have a surface appeal that
may draw people (and especially young people) for the wrong
reasons: "If I had a *really* *big* snake, I could scare the
heck outta my friends!"
Let's assume that the kid is responsible enough to take care of a
pet, and that its reasons for wanting a reptile are good reasons.
In this case, the species described in the answer to question 8.1
are good places to start looking. The large snakes, however, are
particularly contraindicated in households with small children;
incidents in which a snake injures a human are *extremely* rare,
but the effect on the public image of herpkeeping and the
potential for tragedy are great enough that it's better to play it
safe. For obvious reasons, venomous herps should never be kept in
households with children.
Many, probably most, herpers started as children, and strongly
encourage the fostering of a child's interest in herps and other
animals. This answer is not intended to discourage children from
keeping herps, but to suggest the most responsible and rewarding
routes to that end.
back to Table of Contents
28 November 2003--Added 7.9 regarding
bites, added 7.10 regarding cohabiting
different species, added material to 8.2
about longevity and wild-caught herps, added a couple of links,
and corrected some spelling errors.
27 July 2003--Added 6.5 regarding
releasing captive herps to complement 7.4.
12 May 2003--Added a suggestion for posting links to pics
(rather than posting binaries) and made a convenient
bookmark for that portion of the FAQ to refer folks.
10 May 2003--Added 7.8 ("my herp
won't eat").
05 May 2003--Added 7.6 (measuring herps)
and 7.7 (will a herp stay small if kept in a
small cage?).
04 Feb 2003--Added "What rec.pets.herp ISN'T" section
to 4.1
30 Oct 2002--Added link to Snake
Species on the Web to sections 5.1 and 6.1.
24 Aug 2002--Added 4.10 and a corresponding biography
page.
17 Aug 2002--Converted .txt FAQ to HTML format, added hyperlink
cross-references, minor changes here and there (CMc)
Tues, October 31, 2001--Changed email contact address
Sat, October 05, 2001
<4.5a> Finally wrote the damn thing
<4.5b> Diddo
<5.1> Added www.cracked22.com/faqindex.htm as the unoffical
rec.pets.herp home page.
Fri August 03, 2001
<4.5a> What format is acceptable - added
<4.5b> General Usenet etiquette - added
Wed August 01, 2001
<6.2> Added European field guide.
<8.1e> Added various CB Asain and European species.
Fri June 22, 2001--checked for acceptable posting format - html
vs. txt
Fri June 1st 2001
Corrected http://http://manasotaherp.com/
<7.4> Added URL's for Rescue Societies
<5.1> Checked all URL's for validity
<5.1> Noted sites that were down
<5.1> Added kingsnake.com
<5.1> Added groups.yahoo.com
<5.1> Added webring.yahoo.com
<7.1> Added M. Kaplan's page for escapees
Fri May 25th 2001
Started maintaining FAQ (Jason Fries)
Changed home page URL
Changed copyright information
Sun Aug 5th 2000
<5.1> Updated Manasota link.
Mon Jan 18 1999 2.2
<5.1> added Manasota site
<5.1> fixed Colo. URL
Sun Jul 12 1998 2.1.7--<5.1> changed Britton's URL
Sun May 24 1998 2.1.6
<4.5> Added suggestion for FS: subjects
<5.6> Added Toledo Tuaturas
Thur Jan 15 1998 2.1.5
<5.1> Checked URLs. Corrected Slither and CHS links,
annotated the
African Clawed Frogs FAQ link.
Fri Nov 14 1997 2.1.4--<5.1> added uk.rec.pets.misc to
online resources
Mon Sep 22 1997 2.1.3
Started maintaining list (Bill East)
<4.9> re-added subject tags (never say die). Modified
slightly - no more weekly posting.
<5.6> Added London Zoo to list of Tuatura exhibits (supplied
by
E. Butcher).
Wed May 14 1997 2.1.2 NT
<3.2> Corrected my URL.
<4.9> Deleted this question, having given up on subject
tags.
Tue Apr 22 1997 2.1.1 NT--<5.1> Corrected URL of the
Colorado Herp Society links page.
Mon Apr 07 1997 2.1.0 NT
<5.6> Added info on the Dallas Zoo tuataras.
<4.7> Added definition of "axolotl".
<4.7> Made several amphibian-related improvements suggested
by Stanton McCandlish.
<4.3> Corrected description of caecilians.
<7.3> Changed "anurans" to "amphibians"
upon being informed that some salamanders do in fact eat small
rodents.
<8.1e> Clarified section on erroneous common names for tiger
salamander larvae; added European species.
Tue Mar 25 1997 2.0.5 NT
Added brackets to all the URLs.
<4.1> Added date of creation and a pointer to creation
documents.
Wed Feb 12 1997 2.0.4 NT
<5.2> Added information from Mark Ernst on availability of
AVS books in Europe.
<4.7> Added Jean McGuire's information on some snakes
apparently having placentas(!)
Tue Jan 21 1997 2.0.3 NT--<4.7> Added Chas Peterson's
contribution on "brumation" vs. "hibernation".
Added definitions of "crepuscular" and
"fossorial".
Wed Jan 15 1997 2.0.2 NT--<4.7> Added Phil Hughes'
explanation of how brumation is different from hibernation.
Fri Dec 13 1996 2.0.1 NT--<5.1> Added the Basking Spot to
the list of online resources (a long-overdue change!)
Tue Aug 06 1996 2.0 NT--Went to multipart format with complete
reorganization.
Fri Jul 19 1996 1.3.9 NT--<5.1> Added Melissa Kaplan's home
page.
Fri Jun 28 1996 1.3.8 NT--<4.8> Added this question and
answer.
Tue Jun 25 1996 1.3.7 NT--Typo corrections in various places.
Wed Jun 19 1996 1.3.7 NT--<5.1> Added subscription
instructions for the slither mailing list.
Mon Jun 10 1996 1.3.6 NT--<4.7> Added definition for
"pipping".
Wed Jun 05 1996 1.3.5 NT--<6.9> Added
salamander/newt/caecilian sections; split this question into six
parts.
Wed May 22 1996 1.3.4 NT--<5.1> Deleted erroneous reference
to Rod Mitchell's page.
Mon May 13 1996 1.3.3 NT--<6.5> Added material on relevant
legislation, especially in the UK.
Fri Apr 18 1996 1.3.2 NT--<5.1> Added Adam Britton's croc
page.
Tue Apr 16 1996 1.3.1 NT
Started keeping this log.
<5.4> Fixed subscription information for the iguana list.
<5.1> Wordsmithing; deleted a couple of stale or redundant
URLs.
back to Table of Contents
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