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Reptiles: Expert Guides and Resources
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Articles & Books From Reptiles
Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-07-2023
Reptiles and amphibians make unique pets. They have few emotional demands, but they do have precise physical needs. And because pet reptiles and amphibians are in cages and can't seek food on their own, they depend on you for the right nourishment. Some reptiles and amphibians have considerably long lives, so be prepared for that.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-26-2022
Before you bring home your new pet iguana, purchase all the necessary supplies and equipment, and make sure the enclosure is roomy enough for your iguana’s size. Daily baths are part of iguana care, so be sure you know how to bathe your iguana correctly, and be on the lookout for certain conditions that require a trip to the veterinarian.
Your fun guide to selecting, caring, and loving your turtle or tortoise!Coexisting with a turtle or tortoise may not be a warm and fuzzy experience, but it definitely has its rewards. And with more than 250 species to choose from, you’re bound to find one that’s right for you. Looks-wise, they can range from very plain and unadorned to a brightly colored and embellished with every manner of crest, crown, spike, and dewlap.
Article / Updated 08-22-2018
You can house your terrestrial turtle or tortoise in a number of ways: glass aquariums, commercially designed reptile cages, home-built wooden enclosures, and plastic swimming pools. However, before you decide which type of cage to use, you need to figure out how large it should be. In addition, you need to make the cage escape-proof.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016
Your shelled pet may not have the warm fuzzies of more ordinary choices, but turtles and tortoises definitely have a cool factor that mammals can’t touch. As the owner of a turtle or tortoise, you enter a world with a whole new vocabulary and a different set of records to keep.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Iguana communication is physical. Their words are formed by the arrangement of their body and body parts (posture), movements (stylized walking, strutting, bobbing), and use of three-dimensional space (where they're in vertical space, seeking height or flattening out). Iguanas, then, have developed a limited (in human terms) vocabulary, one that — like some spoken languages — has some very subtle nuances in pronunciation.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
An iguana can be injured several ways. Sometimes the injury is obvious; sometimes it's not. When the injuries are minor, you can often treat the injury yourself, but knowing whether an injury is minor — or knowing when it goes from being a minor problem to a major one — is the tricky part. If you're new to iguanas, or you've never encountered and dealt properly with the condition before, don't fiddle around with it.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The first thing to know when considering an iguana for a pet is that several different types of related lizards have the word iguana in their name, including the helmeted and casque-headed iguanas (Corytophanes and Laemanctus), the desert iguana (Dipsosaurus), the Madagascar iguanas (Chalarodon and Oplurus), the spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura), the rock and rhinoceros iguanas (Cyclura), and the green iguana (Iguana).
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Unlike mammals and birds, iguanas don't clean or groom themselves. Iguanas in the wild seem to rely on brushing against rough bark and plunging into bodies of water to remove the grime and parasites that they pick up over the course of living their lives. Given that a captive iguana probably doesn't have much rough bark to rub against or pools to dive into at will, the task of keeping him clean falls to you.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Sometimes, being a herp owner seems to require more knowledge upfront than you might have. You can discover a lot, however, about what to expect from your herp by watching him as he feeds, sleeps, moves about his cage, and interacts with you. Becoming familiar with herp behavior is a learning curve, but it's not a steep one.
