Feeding Your Reptile

Feeding Your Reptile

Professional herpetologists and pet owners have long debated the value of feeding live prey to reptiles. With some it¡¯s a good idea, with others it¡¯s not ¨C in fact it can be dangerous.

Snakes. The question is easily answered for snakes: You should avoid feeding live food to even the most powerful snakes. Very few snakes require live food. Snakes living in the wild will often scavenge dead animals and road kill. And even those species considered hard cases that demand living prey can be trained to accept pre-killed animals.

One reason to avoid live foods is the danger of injury to your pet. When a live rodent is suddenly put into a snake¡¯s cage, the snake may at first react defensively, giving the rodent a chance to attack it instead. Alternatively, if the rodent escapes being eaten right away, it could launch an attack on the snake later as the temperature cools overnight and the snake becomes less responsive.

Even such formidable predators as adult anacondas can be at risk if attacked. In the wild, many snakes bear scars and even broken ribs from encounters with would-be prey.

If you absolutely must resort to live rodents, use only ¡°pink¡± (unweaned) animals. These are not yet old enough to bite.

Herps Are Fragile

Despite their surliness, herps are fragile. Frogs should be cupped around the body by one hand and then supported beneath by the other. Turtles should be held securely around the carapace (the back shell), as well as supported by the plastron (the undershell).

Gradually increase the amount of time you handle the reptile care, remembering again that too much handling stresses a herp a great deal. If you want an animal that you can regularly handle, a dog or cat is a much better choice.

Children should be watched carefully when they handle herps. They tend to squeeze too hard and when the animal struggles the child gets scared and releases it. You then either end up chasing and scaring it more, or chasing the herp until it vanishes somewhere in the room. To alleviate this problem always handle the reptile care over its cage at first.

Lizards. Many insect-eating lizards are stimulated to feed by movement. But monitor lizards, which eat rodents, will accept pre-killed animals.

Pet stores sell frozen pre-killed mice in various sizes. Ideally you should offer your pet a mouse that can be eaten whole in one feeding, rather than offering cut-up parts of a larger mouse. This will ensure that your pet consumes the entire animal ¡ª skin, bones, and internal organs ¡ª all of which contain vital nutrients for your pet¡¯s health. If you must cut the animal up, make certain that your pet consumes it all over several feedings.

More info about reptile care, please visit Pet Place.