Your Guide to Purchasing Your first Reptile

4 simple Steps to help you buy your first reptile trouble free.

 

1. Always buy captive bred animals. Wild Caught animals are best left to experienced keepers.

 

2. Take time to get to know the person(s) you may be buying from. Ask lots of questions. Once you feel you are happy with the seller you can proceed with the purchase knowing any future problems you may have will be dealt with by the seller as good after sales practice.

 

3. Always start with a reptile species that is considered to be a 'beginners species' eg. An animal that does not require too much specialist equipment and lots of knowledge. although it may be tempting to buy a more desirable species I would strongly recommend to start simple and progress in stages, until you become a competent reptile keeper.

 

 

4. Never buy a reptile that has been or is being kept with other species. This unfortunately more often than not results in death of your animal due to parasitic problems. When two species are housed together they will cross contaminate parasites when they defecate in the vivarium. eg. all reptiles carry good and bad parasites, when an animal is forced to live with another its body has to deal with new parasites. This puts undue stress on the animal often causing its immune system to crash and the worst case scenario death. Although this should not be problematic when buying from a retailer. The licence agreement forbids mixing of species to prevent the above. If this is witnessed in any retail premises please please please inform your local council.

 

We hope you have found this a useful tool to aid you in your first reptile purchase.

Reptile Crazy