Reptiles - Geckos, Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles!

[Violently Violet]

Hey, so recently my garter snake died of unknown reasons, and I'm looking to maybe get another in spring.

I would feed them a combination of fish (minnows and guppies, stay away from goldfish) and worms (store-bought nightcrawlers and maybe some hand caught ones).

I have a few questions:
-I read I need to supplement an all-fish-and-worm diet because they aren't eating mice. What can I buy to supplement it?
-Will store-bought nightcrawlers (the kind used for fishing) carry parasites? Is that why my other garter died? He didn't display any symptoms..
-Would a captive bred garter be able to eat wild-caught worms? I'd think their immune system might not handle it, and then there's the risk of parasites..
-How can I avoid parasites in my worms?

Thank you!

[crucifying.]

i got a snake three months ago from a petsmart (aaa, i usually don't like getting pets from petsmart considering the way the are treated sometimes, but he was so small and crammed in a little tank there and i just fell in love with him and he's such a sweetheart and i needed to take him home :'''''') )) but he's very small. he's a ball python, presumed to be male (could be wrong but y'know). i just feel like he should be slightly larger? even at 5 months the snakes look double his size. if someone could perhaps help me place an age on him that would be amazing.

here's two pictures of him on a 9 inch x 12 inch artist pad for reference:
one and two

also side note, but i just bought him some vines for his tank, and he now spends all day on his vines climbing or hiding up in them.
the tank is super secure, so i'm not too concerned about him getting out at all, plus i think it's good for him.
what a cutie
he's never bitten anyone, and he loves coming up to my face to touch my nose to his, and he likes hiding in the hood of my hoodies if i hold him while wearing one. he also likes laying on my cats side while she sleeps, and he just curls up and lays there, it's so sweet.
he's truthfully a great snake, and he eats well and everything.

i have a 100 watt (i do believe) heat bulb that has uva and uvb for him and leave it on during the day. i also just bought a 100 watt night lamp (it's dark blue lighting), so i'm hoping that i'm properly taking care of him. the last thing i want is to be improperly caring for him because i really do love him a lot and i want to make sure he's healthy. if there's anything i should do just in case, please let me know. i don't want to be treating him badly without realizing it.
also in addition, i hold him nearly every day, even if for just 10 minutes, so he's very socialized with people.

[~V E N U S~]

Hello, I got a leopard gecko a few months ago and he is adorable. I got him from petsmart and I named him Aries. I was considering about getting another gecko breed (maybe a crested gecko but I'm not sure). I was wondering if they both can get along with each other good? Thanks to whoever responds to my question.

[kivr & fireflii]

i got a snake three months ago from a petsmart (aaa, i usually don't like getting pets from petsmart considering the way the are treated sometimes, but he was so small and crammed in a little tank there and i just fell in love with him and he's such a sweetheart and i needed to take him home :'''''') )) but he's very small. he's a ball python, presumed to be male (could be wrong but y'know). i just feel like he should be slightly larger? even at 5 months the snakes look double his size. if someone could perhaps help me place an age on him that would be amazing.

here's two pictures of him on a 9 inch x 12 inch artist pad for reference:
one and two

also side note, but i just bought him some vines for his tank, and he now spends all day on his vines climbing or hiding up in them.
the tank is super secure, so i'm not too concerned about him getting out at all, plus i think it's good for him.
what a cutie
he's never bitten anyone, and he loves coming up to my face to touch my nose to his, and he likes hiding in the hood of my hoodies if i hold him while wearing one. he also likes laying on my cats side while she sleeps, and he just curls up and lays there, it's so sweet.
he's truthfully a great snake, and he eats well and everything.

i have a 100 watt (i do believe) heat bulb that has uva and uvb for him and leave it on during the day. i also just bought a 100 watt night lamp (it's dark blue lighting), so i'm hoping that i'm properly taking care of him. the last thing i want is to be improperly caring for him because i really do love him a lot and i want to make sure he's healthy. if there's anything i should do just in case, please let me know. i don't want to be treating him badly without realizing it.
also in addition, i hold him nearly every day, even if for just 10 minutes, so he's very socialized with people.

Congrats on your new snake! He does look pretty small, but that's normal for snakes coming from petsmart/petco. They often don't keep their husbandry correct, and it can be very stressful on the snakes which makes them go off feed. Some places intentionally don't feed them properly because it keeps them small so they "look cuter." Some places even just lie and say they're older when they're not. It would be impossible to tell his age based on his weight due to that (and the fact that snakes grow at different weight). However, I can say that your snake is about 1ft 8in (I just used this site). Both of my snakes were about that length when they was one month old. I'm not sure how accurate weight-to-age is, though. Despite his size, he's not overly thin. How much does he weigh (in grams), and what are you feeding him?

It's good to have vines in, and while ball pythons are terrestrial, they can sometimes climb so giving them the opportunity is good. However, if he spends all day in the vines or moving around, that's not good. Ball pythons are ambush, nocturnal predators, so they tend to spend their days in hides and nights is when they may come out. Considering you mentioned you have a heat bulb, it sounds like he might be climbing in order to get toward the heat. What's your hot spot temperature, ambient temperatures, and humidity? If you can, measure with a temperature gun (measures the hot spot) and a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The analog/dial ones you buy at places like petsmart are known to be inaccurate.

I would also recommend switching the bulb to a ceramic heat emitter. Ball pythons can still see the light emitted by a night lamp, so with the set up you have, it's like he's getting light 24/7. Since they're nocturnal, that can stress him out. A ceramic heat emitter gives off heat, but no light. The regular light cycle in your room (whether from your house lights or from a window) is fine. But this way you also don't have to give up heat if you take away the night light. Just be sure you screw the bulb in a porcelain socket; CHEs are very, very hot.

OH, also, I would highly recommend not letting your snake interact with your cat. Snakes aren't social creatures like dogs or cats, so the interaction may just stress them out (as cats are seen as predators). Not to mention, cats are also covered with gram negative bacteria (from grooming) which can cause infections in snakes (ex. accidental scratch). Their claws also get contaminated from fecal matter which can contain dangerous strains of microflora which can lead to illness. And then your snake (many herps actually) can carry strains of salmonella naturally which can also infect other animals without proper decontamination (which is why you should always wash your hands after holding your snake).
-fireflii

[crucifying.]

i got a snake three months ago from a petsmart (aaa, i usually don't like getting pets from petsmart considering the way the are treated sometimes, but he was so small and crammed in a little tank there and i just fell in love with him and he's such a sweetheart and i needed to take him home :'''''') )) but he's very small. he's a ball python, presumed to be male (could be wrong but y'know). i just feel like he should be slightly larger? even at 5 months the snakes look double his size. if someone could perhaps help me place an age on him that would be amazing.

here's two pictures of him on a 9 inch x 12 inch artist pad for reference:
one and two

also side note, but i just bought him some vines for his tank, and he now spends all day on his vines climbing or hiding up in them.
the tank is super secure, so i'm not too concerned about him getting out at all, plus i think it's good for him.
what a cutie
he's never bitten anyone, and he loves coming up to my face to touch my nose to his, and he likes hiding in the hood of my hoodies if i hold him while wearing one. he also likes laying on my cats side while she sleeps, and he just curls up and lays there, it's so sweet.
he's truthfully a great snake, and he eats well and everything.

i have a 100 watt (i do believe) heat bulb that has uva and uvb for him and leave it on during the day. i also just bought a 100 watt night lamp (it's dark blue lighting), so i'm hoping that i'm properly taking care of him. the last thing i want is to be improperly caring for him because i really do love him a lot and i want to make sure he's healthy. if there's anything i should do just in case, please let me know. i don't want to be treating him badly without realizing it.
also in addition, i hold him nearly every day, even if for just 10 minutes, so he's very socialized with people.

Congrats on your new snake! He does look pretty small, but that's normal for snakes coming from petsmart/petco. They often don't keep their husbandry correct, and it can be very stressful on the snakes which makes them go off feed. Some places intentionally don't feed them properly because it keeps them small so they "look cuter." Some places even just lie and say they're older when they're not. It would be impossible to tell his age based on his weight due to that (and the fact that snakes grow at different weight). However, I can say that your snake is about 1ft 8in (I just used this site). Both of my snakes were about that length when they was one month old. I'm not sure how accurate weight-to-age is, though. Despite his size, he's not overly thin. How much does he weigh (in grams), and what are you feeding him?

It's good to have vines in, and while ball pythons are terrestrial, they can sometimes climb so giving them the opportunity is good. However, if he spends all day in the vines or moving around, that's not good. Ball pythons are ambush, nocturnal predators, so they tend to spend their days in hides and nights is when they may come out. Considering you mentioned you have a heat bulb, it sounds like he might be climbing in order to get toward the heat. What's your hot spot temperature, ambient temperatures, and humidity? If you can, measure with a temperature gun (measures the hot spot) and a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The analog/dial ones you buy at places like petsmart are known to be inaccurate.

I would also recommend switching the bulb to a ceramic heat emitter. Ball pythons can still see the light emitted by a night lamp, so with the set up you have, it's like he's getting light 24/7. Since they're nocturnal, that can stress him out. A ceramic heat emitter gives off heat, but no light. The regular light cycle in your room (whether from your house lights or from a window) is fine. But this way you also don't have to give up heat if you take away the night light. Just be sure you screw the bulb in a porcelain socket; CHEs are very, very hot.
-fireflii

i'm not sure what he weighs currently since i don't have a scale yet, but i know he's certainly under a lb or a lb. so 453 g or less? i'm not 100% sure, since as i said i don't have a scale yet, so it's only an estimate. i feed him a hopper mouse every week or week and a half. he never has any troubles with them at all.
he's always in his hide in the morning, but occasionally he does come out in the day and lay in his tank in the heat, or sleep in his vines if the light is on. it's generally from 10 pm - 4/5 am that he's out and moving a lot, which is generally when i'm most awake.
to be completely honest, i'm not sure what the temperature is, because i need to replace the thermometer that i had, because it broke, but i do try to monitor his activity and the heat that i'm feeling from his tank as well.
what's the difference between a heat emitter and a bulb? also, i keep the heat lamp off at night due to monitoring heat. but i have a light lamp system thing that's like a metal shield around the bulb like you'd see in a reptile tank. i'll definitely look into getting a heat emitter rather. i'll use the darker lighting in the morning though, and perhaps the brighter heat lamp at night when he's awake.

[kivr & fireflii]

i'm not sure what he weighs currently since i don't have a scale yet, but i know he's certainly under a lb or a lb. so 453 g or less? i'm not 100% sure, since as i said i don't have a scale yet, so it's only an estimate. i feed him a hopper mouse every week or week and a half. he never has any troubles with them at all.
he's always in his hide in the morning, but occasionally he does come out in the day and lay in his tank in the heat, or sleep in his vines if the light is on. it's generally from 10 pm - 4/5 am that he's out and moving a lot, which is generally when i'm most awake.
to be completely honest, i'm not sure what the temperature is, because i need to replace the thermometer that i had, because it broke, but i do try to monitor his activity and the heat that i'm feeling from his tank as well.
what's the difference between a heat emitter and a bulb? also, i keep the heat lamp off at night due to monitoring heat. but i have a light lamp system thing that's like a metal shield around the bulb like you'd see in a reptile tank. i'll definitely look into getting a heat emitter rather. i'll use the darker lighting in the morning though, and perhaps the brighter heat lamp at night when he's awake.

Gotcha, I just wasn't sure if his body condition was "leftover" from petsmart or if his feeders were a bit small. If he's 450g (mind you this is assuming, so I wouldn't necessarily change until you've weighed him), then he should be on weaned rats. Hatchlings under 600g should generally be eating about 10% of their body weight every 5-7 days. A mouse hopper is about 10g, and at 450g, he'd be eating weaned rats which are about 37g on average. Without a scale, it may help to look at the widest part of his body. A feeder should be just barely bigger than that. Adult snakes, about over 1200g, is when you start feeding about every 10 days.

A heat emitter is basically the same thing as a bulb, it just doesn't give off light. This is the one I have as well as this cage clamp (which has a porcelain socket to prevent overheating accidents). You can just set it on top like you would a regular heat lamp (just not in the cage!).

I'd also swap that. Use the brighter one in the day time (when he's not active), and the darker light at night when he is active (since they're nocturnal). If I can make a recommendation as well, I'd suggest this for a digital thermometer/hygrometer. They're cheap, so they're easy to replace, and if you have Amazon Prime, they ship quickly. They'll measure your ambient temperatures and humidity, but you'll still need a temperature gun to measure the hot spot temperature.

I also edited my last post (before you had posted but I guess it was while you were typing) about the dangers of letting your snake (or any reptile) and cat interact. Just wanted to let you know in case you missed it. :)
-fireflii

P.S. Here's a good feeding guide once you get a scale. Also here's a feeder size chart.

[crucifying.]

i'm not sure what he weighs currently since i don't have a scale yet, but i know he's certainly under a lb or a lb. so 453 g or less? i'm not 100% sure, since as i said i don't have a scale yet, so it's only an estimate. i feed him a hopper mouse every week or week and a half. he never has any troubles with them at all.
he's always in his hide in the morning, but occasionally he does come out in the day and lay in his tank in the heat, or sleep in his vines if the light is on. it's generally from 10 pm - 4/5 am that he's out and moving a lot, which is generally when i'm most awake.
to be completely honest, i'm not sure what the temperature is, because i need to replace the thermometer that i had, because it broke, but i do try to monitor his activity and the heat that i'm feeling from his tank as well.
what's the difference between a heat emitter and a bulb? also, i keep the heat lamp off at night due to monitoring heat. but i have a light lamp system thing that's like a metal shield around the bulb like you'd see in a reptile tank. i'll definitely look into getting a heat emitter rather. i'll use the darker lighting in the morning though, and perhaps the brighter heat lamp at night when he's awake.

Gotcha, I just wasn't sure if his body condition was "leftover" from petsmart or if his feeders were a bit small. If he's 450g (mind you this is assuming, so I wouldn't necessarily change until you've weighed him), then he should be on weaned rats. Hatchlings under 600g should generally be eating about 10% of their body weight every 5-7 days. A mouse hopper is about 10g, and at 450g, he'd be eating weaned rats which are about 37g on average. Without a scale, it may help to look at the widest part of his body. A feeder should be just barely bigger than that. Adult snakes, about over 1200g, is when you start feeding about every 10 days.

A heat emitter is basically the same thing as a bulb, it just doesn't give off light. This is the one I have as well as this cage clamp (which has a porcelain socket to prevent overheating accidents). You can just set it on top like you would a regular heat lamp (just not in the cage!).

I'd also swap that. Use the brighter one in the day time (when he's not active), and the darker light at night when he is active (since they're nocturnal). If I can make a recommendation as well, I'd suggest this for a digital thermometer/hygrometer. They're cheap, so they're easy to replace, and if you have Amazon Prime, they ship quickly. They'll measure your ambient temperatures and humidity, but you'll still need a temperature gun to measure the hot spot temperature.

I also edited my last post (before you had posted but I guess it was while you were typing) about the dangers of letting your snake (or any reptile) and cat interact. Just wanted to let you know in case you missed it. :)
-fireflii

P.S. Here's a good feeding guide once you get a scale. Also here's a feeder size chart.

thank you for all the help! i'll definitely do that, and look into getting a heat emitter rather, and getting the thermometer. i'll also look into upping the size of his mice.
also wow, i didn't actually know that !! i feel a bit dumb now actually, haha, i'll try to stop him from doing that, since he sometimes just does it without my knowledge as he crawls behind me and my cat is very old and often just lays on the pillow next to me.
thank you again <3

[kivr & fireflii]

thank you for all the help! i'll definitely do that, and look into getting a heat emitter rather, and getting the thermometer. i'll also look into upping the size of his mice.
also wow, i didn't actually know that !! i feel a bit dumb now actually, haha, i'll try to stop him from doing that, since he sometimes just does it without my knowledge as he crawls behind me and my cat is very old and often just lays on the pillow next to me.
thank you again <3

No problem! I see a lot of people do it, and I don't feel like you really hear about infection issues. However, it's definitely possible and a risk (ball pythons don't have great immune systems and those types of infections can be fatal), so I figure better safe than sorry. If you have any other questions later on, I'd be happy to answer. :)
-fireflii

[ryukrem]

Hello, I got a leopard gecko a few months ago and he is adorable. I got him from petsmart and I named him Aries. I was considering about getting another gecko breed (maybe a crested gecko but I'm not sure). I was wondering if they both can get along with each other good? Thanks to whoever responds to my question.

No, leopard geckos are a solitary species. Housing him with another gecko could lead to stress at best and fights resulting in severe injuries at worst.

Adding to this, leopard geckos shouldn't even be with their own species, let alone another breed of gecko.
Plus, Crested Geckos require a very different environment that Leopard geckos. Make sure you do your research before purchasing one.

[vencrypt]

So I recently acquired an African fat tailed gecko about 3 days ago, and he hasn't eaten since I've gotten him? I've only held him twice, once to put him in the tank and the second was to clean his tank. This is him.
I'm a bit worried for him, and I've read on several articles that they don't eat when stressed or going through puberty. I'm going to assume he's about 6-8 months old by how big he is. I don't have a scale yet, so this is just a guess-timate.
I've put about 7 mealworms in his dish and he hasn't eaten any, so I'm worried for him.

I also have a serious question on what type of heat lamp/bulb I should get for him.
So I just purchased this aluminum reflector to put in his tank, since the house right now is about 70 degrees which is good for me but not enough for him. I've been trying to gather information online almost everywhere, but people are saying they can/can't see red light emitted from true red light bulbs at night and I'm not sure what to get! I don't know what kind of light/heat lamp I want to get and I'm so very confused on what to get for him. I do have an 8 watt heating pad in his tank as well, but I don't think that's enough to sustain him.

More: Would a ceramic heat emitter work as well? I'm looking at this one and I'm not sure if black or white would be better.

I'm also wondering if having a night heat lamp is also ok to use during the day. I'm just so confused and want the best for him.

Thank you for any tips!!