Reptiles as Pets

Did you know that at least 75% of pet snakes, lizards, tortoises and turtles die within their first year in a home? In the wild many of these animals would live between 8 - 120 years, depending on the species.

 Many pet owners mistakenly believe that reptiles are easy to keep and require little maintenance. But snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises have lots of physical, behavioural and psychological needs. In captivity these pets often do poorly and die much sooner than in the wild.

There are lots of other problems with the exotic pet trade of reptiles too.  Lots of people release unwanted pets into the wild, which causes problems for the native animals. And exotic pets can cause human diseases, like salmonella.

You can learn more about the problems with exotic pets on  Zoocheck's website.

If you love reptiles and want to learn more about them, why not become an Ophiologist? (A scientist who studies snakes!) Check out this new book, Awesome Snake Science! by Cindy Blobaum.

The book has lots of snake facts and figures, but it also has 40 different snake-themed activities, like creating Viper Venom and crafting a Spitting Cobra Fang. You can also create a snake model for dissection, using candies - yum! Best of all, no actual snakes are required for any of these activities.