What reptile is right for you?

A Beginners guide to selecting the right reptile.

 

This is so personal, it is a bit like trying to work out what sort of art you like or which school subject was the best. There is no ONE correct answer, there is only an answer that fits you. I was worried about this particular question so I went to my local Petbarn on Bagot road in Darwin and spoke with the lovely Karen about all things reptile and what she sees as the animals that are most sought and how they are set up. Karen said that most enquiries she has are about snakes, followed by bluetongues and bearded dragons. I asked her whether people actually knew how to set them up and if they were prepared for the animals before they purchased them? She said that about 80% of the people were fairly well versed on what they were getting and how to set it up. I was heartened to hear this because it meant two things:
1) only 20% of people that purchase a reptile are doing so without any insight into how to do it, and
2) times have changed and this change has most probably come about because keeping reptiles is now viewed as fairly normal. Thirty years ago the idea of keeping a reptile was only undertaken by ‘weirdos’ or those of infirm mind. I’m not quite sure where I fit there and would ask that you please keep your opinion on the answer to yourself! Either way it means there is really not much that needs to be said regarding the set up, but the title question still needs to be answered! I am in the final throws of finishing a book for beginners on keeping reptiles. It is set up in a way to help young people answer this very question and I will paraphrase some of what that book talks about.

It is important to realise that not everyone likes or is comfortable with keeping a reptile and if you contemplate keeping one in the family home it is important that everyone is aware of this fact and agrees that you can have one. This means that as a family discussion, a family must agree to you having a reptile as a pet!!! This is the first hurdle. The second is just as important – which one? I can tell you from experience there is no point in arguing the need/desire to have a pet snake if there is no one in your family that is comfortable (read –scared of the things) with a snake in the family. So it is all well and good that this is the reptile pet for you but it just isn’t going to happen if mum and dad don’t want it to happen. The idea is to have a pet that everyone is comfortable with, and to find this out you need to discuss it openly and in a matter of fact way to come to some consensus. There are many families that start with a turtle as a pet and work their way up through responsible keeping and constant negotiation to keeping a snake. I also think it is important that you as the potential reptile keeper do as much fact finding on all the reptiles you think you want to keep as possible. In the book (title: My First Reptile) I discuss only 6 reptile types and they are very easy to keep animals and what can be considered ‘starter’ reptiles because they are hardy, easy to keep, commonly kept and easy to purchase for a modest cost. The idea behind this is that by getting an animal like this you learn through trial and error the basics needed to keep about 90% of the reptiles in Australia. Without this basic understanding you are setting yourself up for a fall, a bit like getting a house built without foundations – it end in tears! There is a strong desire to buy the latest and greatest new reptile as a first pet. I would strongly suggest against that impulse and start simple with a bluetongue, bearded dragon, spiny tailed goanna, Bynoes gecko, common turtle or if all ok, a Children’s python (Spotted, Stimson’s or Children’s species treated as one here as they are all easy to keep). As to which of these is best for you – only you will know. Remember: do your homework and only get one animal (reptiles do not like each other).

Happy Herping

Gavin Bedford