You must know the proper requirements for your snakes before you commit to keeping more than one in the same enclosure. All snakes are not the same! Feeding them together is discouraged as well. Some snakes eat other snakes, too, so be careful about your choices. There are people who live in the country who will keep the king snake alive simply because it is known to kill other harmful snakes.

There are different types of corn snakes and different types of pythons. Know your type before you purchase. Some make better choices than others for pets. Don’t touch your snake if it’s in the water bowl and has developed milky eyes. This could be a sign of shedding. Because the snake has limited vision, it could strike out at you in defense, not knowing you won’t intend to harm it.

There are things that could make your snake reluctant to eat. Force feeding is not a good idea. Illness, stress, shedding, temperature, humidity, and occasional fasting may make your snake’s appetite change.

The anaconda is not the longest snake ever known, but it is the heaviest. Although anacondas have been kept in captivity, it is not advisable. For one thing, it isn’t fair to the snake. Their natural environment is a river. Some people have gone so far as to keep venomous or dangerous reptiles for pets, including rattlesnakes. This is highly discouraged, especially in homes containing children or the elderly.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about Reptiles. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

Wildlife shows make the adventures with reptiles seem fun and exciting. But most people should note that these people who interact with the snakes and other reptiles are experienced, trained professionals. They didn’t become enlightened overnight.

Scaled reptiles are classified as Squamata, which includes lizards and snakes. Detachable jaws are one of the fascinating talents of the snakes. The other qualification to inclusion as a Squamata is the scaly skin or shields.

Snakes are thought to have evolved from lizards—but most people are far more scared of snakes than they are of lizards! It’s ironic that the snake evolved from the lizard, yet lizards are one of the small animals the snake is known to eat.

Some snakes can climb trees to steal eggs from the bird nests. They’ve even been known to devour the unfortunate bird left guarding the eggs. Because the snake swallows its food whole, digestion is more complicated and tiresome for the reptile. This will cause the snake to regurgitate if disturbed during digestion so it can escape danger.

Yes, snakes can be interesting pets and interesting reptiles. Just make sure you know what you’re dealing with before you attempt to make contact!

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

1. The reptile becomes ill and/or dies because of improper care.

2. The person becomes bored with their pet and leaves it unattended or lets it go in an unsatisfactory environment.

3. The cost of the reptile becomes overwhelming.

4. The responsible owner enjoys the companionship of the pet for life.

A reptile in captivity depends on its owner completely. While it may have defenses, it is still basically defenseless. Unable to care for itself, it is at the mercy of the caregiver and every element of its care is important.

So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Reptiles. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.

To neglect responsibility as an owner can mean torture for the reptile. If you think it shouldn’t matter because a reptile is incapable of emotion, maybe you should refrain from acquiring any pet. Whether or not it does or does not show or experience emotion is irrelevant. There is still the element of pain and suffering to be considered should it be neglected.

Any living being deserves to obtain adequate care, especially one held in captivity. A reptile that has been provided for may not know how to adequately care for itself once it is put back into the wild. Maybe the reptile is released in an environment that lacks the right food sources or temperature. Protection from predators may be inadequate.

If you give your pet away or sell it, please make sure the person receiving the reptile has proper knowledge of what it takes to care for and shelter the animal.

If you decide to own a reptile for a pet and don’t practice the proper handling, you could be attacked. Who would be to blame? You.

Reptiles can be interesting as pets. The experience can be rewarding and educational. The responsibility lies in the hands of the owner. If you want a fulfilling and long lasting experience as a reptile owner, take the time and make the effort to learn about what’s involved before you purchase or accept a reptile.

If you choose a pet shop, choose a reputable pet shop. Don’t count on their expertise. Some pets unfortunately are sold merely as profit pieces. It’s often a wonder they even made it to the pet shop in one piece and alive. Exotic pet sales have gone through the roof, so many of these wonderful creatures are handled wrong right from the start. It pays to research how a healthy reptile should look before you make the commitment to purchase. Just having a license to sell a reptile does not make the management responsible people with consciences.

A responsible pet owner is not just someone who loves animals. It’s someone who makes the effort to care for the animals properly. There are many well-meaning people who call themselves animal lovers and still don’t have what it takes to be the right caregiver for reptiles. You may be the perfect match for a dog and far from the perfect match for a turtle or a lizard! Know your limits before you commit.

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

Let’s begin with the standard question, exactly how big are they? The largest of the big snakes is the anaconda, which has been reported to grow to thirty-seven feet long. You can’t realize how long a reptile this is until you measure from your room down the hallway, probably well into the living room. A truly enormous snake, and one of the longest reptiles ever! This snake spends most of its time in the water hiding in the water plants of South America.

The other four giant snakes are pythons, and are found in Africa and Asia. They grow to between 22 feet and 32 feet, depending on the species. If you see a python in a zoo or other animal show, it is probably a reticulated python from Southeast Asia, due to its beautiful color pattern and the fact that it does well living in captivity. How do regular snakes compare with these giants? Most other snakes are much smaller, and even few rarely even grow to twelve feet.

The giant snakes can live up to twenty years in captivity. When they are young they can be eaten by hawks or other predators that eat smaller snakes, but no animal would try to threaten or eat a full grown giant snake. The only real enemies of these great reptiles are intestinal parasites, diseases, and man.

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

The giant snakes really can swallow a man whole! Very few cases of that have been reported though. Once a giant snake has had a large supper, it would be the same as if it ate four hundred average sized meals. This means that sometimes these reptiles might go a long time between meals, maybe as infrequently as once a year.

The giant snakes have extremely strong muscles, and use them both in movement and in hunting their prey. Their jaws are also very strong, but that isn’t as important as how wide their mouths open in order to eat their prey. Generally the giant snakes kill their prey before the snake begins to swallow them. The giant snakes rely on squeezing their prey (which is why they are often called constrictors), but they generally squeeze only hard enough to prevent the prey from breathing sufficiently, and eventually suffocate the prey. They do not need or intend to squeeze hard enough to crush or break bones, as people sometimes think.

A constrictor throws several coils around the body of its prey, very neatly, and at each breath simply applies a little more pressure until the prey can no longer breathe. There are stories of skulls of goats being broken, but this is not necessary and not even the way that the constrictors work. One interesting behavior is that sometimes the giant snakes will break bones in order to “fold” a victim in two in order to swallow it more easily.

Many snake handlers consider the giant snakes to be quite intelligent, and find that the giant snakes are easily handled and come to recognize and accept their trainers. They are among the most fascinating of reptiles, and make sure you visit them if they are in a nearby zoo or other naturalist area.

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

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

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

The more authentic information about Reptiles you know, the more likely people are to consider you a Reptiles expert. Read on for even more Reptiles facts that you can share.

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

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

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

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

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

Are you fascinated with shows on TV that show wrestling, wrestling between man and alligator? Do snakes repel you, but you still dream about them at night? Do you sometimes feel like a turtle coming out of its shell? If so, you might want to head to the southern part of America and visit the alligators, and all of their reptile relatives. The states of Florida and Louisiana have a spectrum of places to visit reptiles – from the traditional alligator farms that have been around for the last fifty years, to modern wildlife refuges with tour guides that have doctorates in ecology.

If you start in Louisiana, here is a sampling of places where you can see reptiles at their largest, best, and most active. You can start with a boat tour given by Alligator Annie Miller Tours, who has been giving tours of the area by boat since 1979. You can stay near Annie’s at an alligator bed and breakfast in Gibson, La at Betty Provost’s Wildlife Gardens. Each cabin has an attached deck overlooking the water, and a number of reptiles swim up on the chance that you might throw out some small pieces of alligator chow. These reptiles include small alligators, spiny soft-shell turtles, and red-eared sliders. The bed and breakfast also has a mile of nature trails that truly have the sound and feel of a real Louisiana swamp. Near Slidell, La. (close to Baton Rouge) is Dr. Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Tour, and is run by the wetlands ecologist. He gives tours through a beautiful cypress swamp, and presents so much fascinating information about the alligators, other reptiles, and waterfowl that live in the area.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

If you visit Florida, make sure to stop and see the alligators. Two of the biggest and best alligator attractions in the state are Gatorland, and St. Augustine Alligator Farm. The Farm is really a zoo that was started in the city of St. Augustine in 1893. While there you will hear some amazing sounds, like the bellow of a large male alligator. It sounds somewhat like an airplane engine, with a lot of vibration that you can actually feel in the air. Bellowing helps the animals locate each other, and brings males and females together during courtship behavior. The farm is also the only park to have all twenty-three species of the crocodile family, some having come from Asia. One of their showcase reptiles was a crocodile brought from New Guinea who grew to nearly eighteen feet long, and weighed seventeen hundred pounds when he died.

As you go near Orlando you cannot miss the signs for Gatorland. This is also a Florida institution, and has been open for fifty-six years. Gatorland has boardwalks crossing over the area where you can watch alligators in their natural habitat. Nearby is the area where you watch large gators propel themselves out of the water at feeding time to retrieve pieces of chicken. Here you will also see alligator wrestling, which is something that was supposedly started by the Seminole Indians. After selecting and wrestling his opponent, the gator handler asks the visitors which is the most dangerous part of the alligator. It is a split decision between the tail and the teeth, but remember which part of the alligator the wrestler is holding shut!

Take a vacation with the animals and see reptiles like you never have before. See them in their power, in their distinctive beauty, and take time to experience their native habitats, the ancient feel of the southeastern swamps.

Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about Reptiles into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about Reptiles, and that’s time well spent.

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

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

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

The information about Reptiles presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Reptiles or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then you have the people who pride themselves on being “outside the norm”. These people may be the sort who likes to consider themselves and their pets unique. Or maybe they just love animals of all kinds and welcome any and all types as pets. Reptiles have been kept as pets for many years, but as the number of pet stores has grown so has the number of reptiles kept as pets. Sometimes this is bad news for the reptiles. If a dangerous reptile is chosen, it could be bad news for the owner as well.

Sometimes the type of pet a person has depends on the area in which they live. Availability may make the choice for them. Environment is also a consideration. In south Louisiana, a child may be raised thinking an alligator is normal to keep for a pet! It would be impractical for a child who lives in the midst of the city to own a pet cow.

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there’s more to Reptiles than you may have first thought.

What types of reptiles are popular as exotic pets? Snakes, lizards and turtles make the choices wide. There are some, however, of each type that makes some better choices than others. Unfortunately, these types of pets are also the most often abused and neglected simply because of failure to learn about their proper needs prior to ownership. Once the new wears off, they become forgotten. Because reptiles are often quiet and contained, it is easy to forget they are around.

Corn snakes are often chosen because they are known to be easier to care for. They are excellent escape artists, though, so great care must be taken to keep the latches tightly closed on their enclosures. It may seem funny in the movies to see a snake escape and scare the family or guests, but it can cause great harm to your pet in reality.

Boas are a well-known reptile pet, but people often underestimate their lifespan and their great size when grown. A snake kept in an area it has outgrown will not be a happy, well-adjusted pet. It may cause the snake harm and you as well, should he choose to fight back because of his discomfort.

Those cute little reptiles grow up and will need different requirements for food and housing as they grow. A responsible pet owner will be prepared for the changes and willing to accommodate. Can you recreate the natural environment and maintain it? Think of it as being a person from the country who moves to the city, unwillingly, and never learns to adjust because they just don’t seem to fit into the new surroundings. Except this person has the ability to move back to the country, while the snake is unable to make this choice on his own. The right housing makes a happier pet.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!

Let’s travel to Florida to meet one of the largest of reptiles, the alligator. Alligators live only in the southeastern states of our country, like Louisiana and Florida. Most of the time alligators are pictured in swamps, but many people in Florida have reported seeing alligators in the lakes near their backyards. Having a reptile the size of a lizard in the backyard is normal, but seeing an alligator in a pond is something to get excited about. For such a big reptile, you might be surprised to find that it often isn’t easy to spot an alligator in the water.

Alligators like to float just beneath the surface of the water, with only their eyes and nostrils breaking the surface of the water. The rest of their big body just relaxes underneath the water, legs spread apart and the huge tail hanging partway down. The alligator can float at exactly the right level by using his lungs as a kind of inflatable raft, and keeps just the right amount of air for only his eyes to stay above the water. An alligator stays mostly under water for one of two reasons.

The first reason is to keep his body temperature cool. Like other reptiles, the alligator’s body temperature depends upon the temperature of the air or water around him. The sun can get very hot in Florida, and since the alligator does not sweat, there has to be another way for him to keep cool. He first opens his enormous mouth, and that will cool him down a little bit. If the alligator is still too hot, he will go into the water to lower his body temperature even more.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Reptiles experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Reptiles.

The second reason that an alligator stays in the water is to hide himself and wait for lunch to come by. Alligators can catch an amazing variety of animals to eat, including birds, fish, turtles, and even deer. They are quite at home in the water, swim very quickly, and can dive underwater and stay submerged for an hour, or even more. An alligator usually catches birds sitting on the water, but can raise itself up with a few powerful strokes of its tail to snatch one flying near the surface of the water, or just taking off.

Female alligators use their formidable mouths for another reason, to protect her babies. Baby alligators can already catch their own food and swim, but they stay near their mother for a year or more in order to be safe from predators. Even before they are born, the mother alligator stays by the nest she dug in the dirt to keep others (like turtles) from eating her eggs. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the babies inside the eggs start making noises. Some babies come out of the eggs by themselves, but other eggs are taken into the mother alligator’s mouth, where she gently rolls them around until the baby alligator can come out of the hard shell.

This brief introduction to one of the most ancient and interesting of reptiles can be used as a starting place to assemble your own collection of alligator facts. Make sure to watch the next wildlife show about these big reptiles, and considering visiting one the next time you take a trip to Florida.

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Many people overlook that dinosaurs were reptiles, as are tortoises and turtles. Frogs are often lumped into the same category while they are, in fact, amphibians.

Reptiles evolved from amphibians because of their necessity to learn to adjust to life on land. This brought about the need for legs and lungs to breathe air. Yet snakes are legless, able to crawl along with their magnificent bodies. The scaly reptile skin was necessary to protect the bodies from the rough surface of the ground, much different from the smooth water the amphibians were used to.

Science has described over 7,000 species of reptiles, even going so far as to claim birds as a part of the reptile group because of the inherited characteristics such as their skeletons, internal organs, and DNA. There is a distinction besides feathers, though. Birds are endotherms, meaning they must have food for energy to keep warm. Other reptiles are ecotherms which need an outside heat source to help them retain proper body temperature.

Crocodiles are in the second oldest group of reptiles, perhaps resembling the dinosaur relatives more than any other reptile group. Although, the turtle is the winner of the oldest proven reptile group, even older than the dinosaurs!

There are two groups of turtles, one group fares best on land and the other in water. The one that fares best on land is the terrestrial tortoise.

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

Success in keeping a reptile for a pet depends much on your climate. You can forget sticking your pet snake, turtle, or lizard outside in a cage or pen or aquarium if you live in a cold climate. Keeping the pet in a controlled temperature is essential to its survival. Digestion depends on the right temperature and so does the animal’s ability to move around successfully.

It may seem cute to see that little turtle basking in the sun on a log in a pond. But the reptile needs the heat to stay alive. Too much heat is also as bad as too little.

Maybe the turtle’s ability to live for so many centuries when other animals perished is because of its outstanding life span. A turtle can live to 100 years old if the conditions are right!

Old temples have been discovered in Africa with snakes carved into the walls, giving pythons a sacred quality over the many years of its existence. But the boas have been known to live over forty years at a time in zoos! Anacondas have been feared in South America for a long time. Any snake that can grow to over 35 feet deserves a wide berth!

An interesting reptile that’s been around a long time is a native of Madagascar. The chameleon exists in 120 different known types. Oustalet’s chameleon is about the size of a small cat. It would give a domestic feline a definite scare to walk upon one of those! On the other end of the size spectrum, the Dwarf Brookesia, also a native of Madagascar, is small enough to stand on the tip of a finger.

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Carefully research your options for proper veterinary care before you decide to purchase a reptile. Although the animal may be sold at a low-cost, the care it would take once you own it may be more than you bargain for! A vet must be experienced in reptile care and medicine to make a good provider for your reptile pet. Reptile care and medicine requires special education.

Although your sweet, jokester of an uncle may have thought it a hoot to give little Johnny that darling baby reptile for his first pet, the joke may be on you. There is a list of vets you can access over the internet for the Unites States of America, International, and Canada. Check with your local vets to determine their areas of expertise, experience, and limitations.

You must make sure your vet will be comfortable handling your reptile. If the vet is uncomfortable, the animal will sense it and may become more of a problem. Once you get your animal, take it to the vet for a check-up even if it appears healthy. You may not be able to detect the problems a trained professional can find. Problems are not always readily seen by the eye. Maybe your reptile has parasites that you can’t see just by looking at it.

Your vet should be willing to help you find the proper care for your reptile if he or she is not properly qualified. You will want to know this information before your pet becomes seriously ill or injured. Even if your vet isn’t qualified, he/she may be able to provide temporary care until you can get your pet to the right person for the proper care.

The information about Reptiles presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Reptiles or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

It is a good idea to purchase a reptile that is already well-known as pet material. A pet that is new to the market will not be researched well enough yet.

Not many vet colleges offer the specialized medicine courses necessary for caring for ill reptiles. Test your vet with questions about temperature or food to see if they even have basic knowledge.

If you try to treat the animal yourself with over-the-counter medications, you could be making your pet more ill. The medication sold in pet stores often has ingredients like tetracycline that isn’t good for your reptile; or the shelf medicines just simply aren’t strong enough to do any good and are a waste of your money. A pet store may sell certain items just to draw money, without properly researching the items themselves for their effectiveness. After all, the clerks aren’t pharmacists.

If your vet has had special schooling required for reptile care, has he/she updated their knowledge recently? Are they aware of the latest treatments or medications? Do they have an interest in reptiles, conferences, or belong to any reptile associations?

If you’re unable to contact your vet, or are unsatisfied with the information provided, you can try asking zoos, other reptile owners, or local pet adoption agencies for references to reptile vets. In any case, it will help for you to educate yourself in case of an emergency. At least you could provide basic care until you could reach a qualified professional.

Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about Reptiles into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about Reptiles, and that’s time well spent.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, who just launched this great product..
- Are you looking to get traffic to your website? Introducing… Free Google Traffic System!!