November 23, 2007
I used to think that having a reptile as a pet was somewhat strange. Reptiles are interesting looking and exotic, but how much interaction do you really have with a lizard? And Fluffy the boa constrictor isn’t exactly going to play fetch with you.
They seemed more like high-maintenance decorations than pets.
Then I met Alexis the iguana. She had come to my exotics rotation at CSU because her abdomen was so full of egg follicles that she looked like a sack full of shooter marbles. We spayed her, one of my first and most memorable surgeries, and she was quickly on the road to recovery.
During her stay with us, Alexis was surly. Any time we came to pick her up, she would lash her whiplike tail and turn and glare over her shoulder. Then her owner came to pick her up. The moment the door opened and she saw him, she sprinted across the room to leap into his arms, just like a movie reunion of long-lost lovers in a soft-focus, wildflower-covered field. At that moment, I realized that this iguana had a personality, with very specific likes and dislikes. And as clear as it was that she did not like us, it was equally clear that she adored her owner.
That episode really underscored the notion that when we take a living being into our homes and make that tacit promise to properly provide for it for the rest of its life, we are making a serious commitment. With reptiles, that commitment often involves more effort that it does for our more common mammalian pets.
Unfortunately, many reptiles fall victim to the attitude that if they die because of neglect, it is not a big deal since it was only a turtle or a snake or a lizard. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In Colorado, we have more of a challenge providing appropriate conditions for many of the common reptiles that are available as pets.
Many lizards and snakes come from tropical regions that have high humidity, constant warm temperatures and fairly unchanging levels of daylight and darkness throughout the year — essentially a place that could be called the anti-Colorado. Reptiles are often much less flexible about their environmental conditions and do not possess much ability to thrive in anything less than an exact replication of their natural habitat. For tropical species, it means that pains must be taken to provide appropriate humidity, heat, daylight exposure and diet at all times, without fail. Spending 30 minutes with a body temperature below 70 degrees is enough time for a python’s immune system to break down to the point that it can develop fatal pneumonia.
Reptiles that come from temperate areas like ours are sometimes hardier in Colorado, but they still require more care than your average cat or dog. Red-eared slider water turtles are often presented as easy, low-maintenance, (and sometimes disposable) pets, but in reality they are one of the highest-maintenance kinds of reptiles because they require so much cleaning and water-quality control. And temperate reptiles often hibernate in the winter, so their owners need to understand that process and prepare to either facilitate or prevent hibernation.
If you want a reptile as a pet, not only do you need to completely understand its requirements, you need to understand your risk of contracting salmonella from the animal. This means doing more than spending 15 minutes talking to the guy at the pet store when you decide to pick up a Uromastyx lizard because it looks cool.
You can do research on the Internet, but be aware that there is a wealth of both good and bad information. Breeders are often good sources for information, and Reptile Magazine consistently provides good information for the general public for a variety of reptile species. Veterinarians can be helpful as well, but you need to find one who has reptile-specific education and experience. You owe it to the life you are pledging to care for that you take the time to do it right.
Anne Pierce is a Colorado Springs veterinarian and co-owner of High Plains Veterinary Hospital. Contact her at petdocs@highplainsvet.com.
I used to think that having a reptile as a pet was somewhat strange. Reptiles are interesting looking and exotic, but how much interaction do you really have with a lizard? And Fluffy the boa constrictor isn’t exactly going to play fetch with you.
They seemed more like high-maintenance decorations than pets.
Then I met Alexis the iguana. She had come to my exotics rotation at CSU because her abdomen was so full of egg follicles that she looked like a sack full of shooter marbles. We spayed her, one of my first and most memorable surgeries, and she was quickly on the road to recovery.
During her stay with us, Alexis was surly. Any time we came to pick her up, she would lash her whiplike tail and turn and glare over her shoulder. Then her owner came to pick her up. The moment the door opened and she saw him, she sprinted across the room to leap into his arms, just like a movie reunion of long-lost lovers in a soft-focus, wildflower-covered field. At that moment, I realized that this iguana had a personality, with very specific likes and dislikes. And as clear as it was that she did not like us, it was equally clear that she adored her owner.
That episode really underscored the notion that when we take a living being into our homes and make that tacit promise to properly provide for it for the rest of its life, we are making a serious commitment. With reptiles, that commitment often involves more effort that it does for our more common mammalian pets.
Unfortunately, many reptiles fall victim to the attitude that if they die because of neglect, it is not a big deal since it was only a turtle or a snake or a lizard. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In Colorado, we have more of a challenge providing appropriate conditions for many of the common reptiles that are available as pets.
Many lizards and snakes come from tropical regions that have high humidity, constant warm temperatures and fairly unchanging levels of daylight and darkness throughout the year — essentially a place that could be called the anti-Colorado. Reptiles are often much less flexible about their environmental conditions and do not possess much ability to thrive in anything less than an exact replication of their natural habitat. For tropical species, it means that pains must be taken to provide appropriate humidity, heat, daylight exposure and diet at all times, without fail. Spending 30 minutes with a body temperature below 70 degrees is enough time for a python’s immune system to break down to the point that it can develop fatal pneumonia.
Reptiles that come from temperate areas like ours are sometimes hardier in Colorado, but they still require more care than your average cat or dog. Red-eared slider water turtles are often presented as easy, low-maintenance, (and sometimes disposable) pets, but in reality they are one of the highest-maintenance kinds of reptiles because they require so much cleaning and water-quality control. And temperate reptiles often hibernate in the winter, so their owners need to understand that process and prepare to either facilitate or prevent hibernation.
If you want a reptile as a pet, not only do you need to completely understand its requirements, you need to understand your risk of contracting salmonella from the animal. This means doing more than spending 15 minutes talking to the guy at the pet store when you decide to pick up a Uromastyx lizard because it looks cool.
You can do research on the Internet, but be aware that there is a wealth of both good and bad information. Breeders are often good sources for information, and Reptile Magazine consistently provides good information for the general public for a variety of reptile species. Veterinarians can be helpful as well, but you need to find one who has reptile-specific education and experience. You owe it to the life you are pledging to care for that you take the time to do it right.
Anne Pierce is a Colorado Springs veterinarian and co-owner of High Plains Veterinary Hospital. Contact her at petdocs@highplainsvet.com.