Are You Making First-timer Mistakes With Your Lizard?

It can be hard to guess your lizard's specific dietary needs. Even if you get just the right combination of lettuce leaves and crickets, they may need vitamin and mineral supplements, antibiotics and fiber, medicine, and other health supplies. Beginners also tend to feed their lizards too much or not quite enough. Speak with your vet about how much of what types of food your lizard will need, and watch for signs of trouble.

Unless you've brought home a Komodo dragon, your lizard's space requirements probably aren't too much for an apartment. They do need some room, however, and tight quarters can cause stress and a lot of health issues. This is especially true if they share their enclosure with other lizards. Find out the space requirements for each lizard you plan to keep, then add 10% for safety. Don't go too big, or you're wasting space.

Lizards come from lots of different wild environments, and they have a wide range of temperature and humidity requirements as a result. Desert lizards are obviously more tolerant of dry air (during the day, at least) than others, but jungle lizards typically need some moisture in the air to stay healthy. Find out your lizard's needs and set up the enclosure accordingly.

Lizards are cool, but they honestly aren't cuddly like puppies. In nature, anything touching a lizard is probably trying to eat it, so they tend not to like being handled. Most species will tolerate some handling from humans, but try not to overdo this. Small reptiles are easily stressed; they don't have the kind of brain that understands you're being nice. You don't have to totally avoid handling them but do it sparingly.

Reptiles need ultraviolet energy to keep healthy bones, but beginners often get confused about how to set this up. UV coils can save energy but have a much lower output than UV bulbs. If you go with a bulb, remember that it wears out and has to be replaced every 6-12 months. Set a schedule according to your vet's advice and what the literature for your species of lizard calls for.

People keep a lot of different lizard species, and they don't all have the same needs. Bigger lizards, for instance, are less sensitive to heating and cooling issues than smaller ones, while the feeding needs of all species vary by a lot. Read up on the specific needs of the lizard you're thinking about getting before you take them home, and keep up with the latest products and care supplies for them.

It's a myth that reptiles take on the temperature of their surroundings, but they do have a really wide range of body temperatures that react to the environment. Beginners are prone to mistakes here. Put out a rock that's close enough to the warming bulb for artificial sun, but make sure there's also shade for cooling. Your lizard will move between these spots as comfort demands.

Trips to the vet are part of responsible pet ownership, whether you're caring for a cat or a dog, a parakeet, or a bearded dragon. Check in with a vet who treats reptiles at least once a year when everything is going well and as needed if you think Lizzie's getting sick. Consult with the vet before making changes to diet, adding a friend, or changing anything else about their care.

Lizards are not messy animals, but their enclosures do need to be cleaned. Owners who don't keep up with this put their lizards at risk of bacterial and fungal infection from droppings. Fresh water is a must. Don't clean too often, though. Enclosure cleaning can be stressful for lizards, so doing it every one or two days puts a strain on them. As a rule, once a week is fine for most lizard species.

Lizards need something to walk on that isn't bare plastic, and substrate is usually it. You have to be careful with this, however. Lizards will sometimes eat substrate if it's too loose. This may be an accident while they're trying to eat normal food, or they may do it out of boredom if their enclosure isn't stimulating enough. Avoid the problem by using reptile carpet, tile, or newspaper as a substrate.