How to write your own

care guides

There’s a lot of information out there on the internet, but how can you tell which reptile care guides are good and which aren’t? Charles Thompson (or Chaz, as he’s better known) explains how to gather the information you’ll need to write your own care guide for any species of reptile.

A good reptile care guide can be really useful for new and novice keepers, but how do the people who write the care guides decide what is the right advice to include? Where do they get their information from? And how about if you could find that information for yourself and write your own amazing care guide? If you know what to look for and where to source the necessary information, writing your own care guide will give you a much deeper understanding of your reptile’s needs.

First, know this…

The first thing you need to know is there’s a lot of research to be done. Reptiles are poikilothermic (cold blooded) which means their environment has to provide a suitable range of temperatures. It is important that keepers understand where the animal lives in the wild and what the animal’s natural environment is like. Not only will this inform the temperatures we provide, but also the strength of UV light they need and the kinds of decor and enrichment required for that particular species.

Historically keepers could sometimes find this information in books, but nowadays many of the best books are out of print and those that are available are often expensive. Sadly, some of the older introductory level books were painfully basic, giving only ‘do this and do that’ type of instructions. This didn’t help keepers to understand biomes and habitats, nor how these affected the reptile being kept.

Fast forward to today and there’s almost too much information out there on the internet, and new keepers can become overwhelmed in online forums and owner groups on social media.

Thankfully, there is plenty of useful data you can access yourself to help you understand how your animal may prefer to be kept, and this information can be used alongside care guides and good-old common sense to help indicate the best strategy.

Step 1: understanding the changing seasons

The type of weather and temperatures we can expect in any given habitat will change throughout the year. Near the equator the difference between summertime and winter time will be minimal, but the further away from the equator we go the more difference we will find. Temperatures in the UK or New York, for example, will be colder in December than they are in July. In Ghana or Jakarta near the equator, the difference will be hardly noticeable at all. We can determine the right temperature for our animals throughout the year depending on where in the world they come from.

The changing seasons a reptile will experience throughout the year will affect not only their health, but also their reproductive cycle and their weight. Mimicking these changing seasons in captivity and eliminating feeding during the winter period also helps to combat reptile obesity because a period of not feeding gives animals the ability to use up fat stores they built up throughout the previous year.

One of Chaz’s high red western hognose snakes

Step 2: habitat choices

The wide variety of reptile species we keep in captivity come from a huge range of locations, habitats and biomes. It’s impossible to cover all of these adequately in this article but we can look at some basics.

From north to south the most basic regions are referred to as

temperate – north or south of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
subtropical – within the tropics
tropical – the equatorial region.

However, these classifications are too simple to be of much use to reptile keepers. Deserts will occur within the tropics, as do mountain ranges, and these can greatly affect the type of temperatures, ultraviolet (UV) light exposure from the sun, and humidity parameters you will find there. So it isn’t enough to look at location based on a simple north to south assessment, but this information will still provide useful information about the day-length during the different seasons. But to understand the needs of our reptile properly we also need to look at other factors such as cloud cover, foliage cover, and access to water, as well as the elevation of the location above sea level. This is what is known as the animal’s ‘habitat’.

Step 3: habitat details

Next we get even more specific and study exactly where these animals occur within the deserts, forests and mountains, and from this we can learn about the way our reptiles may prefer to be kept. Not all of this information will affect our temperature provision choices, but it will invariably affect how we provide UV lighting, décor and enrichment. If we do this process properly we can create ‘microhabitats’ that are perfect for our reptiles’ needs. Let’s look at a few examples.

Step 4: which temperatures?

The climate data available to us online invariably comes from the various airbases scattered around the globe. Data stored by these weather stations should be considered as ‘macro’ climate data, because airfields are open spaces and will therefore record broad trends rather than detailed microclimate data. But coupled with an understanding of where you animal comes from and the habitat in which is resides, this macro-climate data will inform your decisions about daytime and night-time temperatures through the year. It is important to use a thermostat that can provide both a day and night setting if you aspire to high levels of husbandry. Day and night temperatures can then be manipulated throughout the year to replicate the changing seasons where this is necessary.

When studying climate data it is important to understand that we should not make our reptile experience the full harshness of nature. Replicating the extremes they might experience in their wild habitat isn’t good for their captive care – we have no need for floods, hurricanes, wildfires, famines or droughts, even though these would be something these animals would face in nature. The same goes for the extremes of temperature that will invariably be present at times.

You’ll also need to consider your animal’s requirements for exposure to UV light. Depending on cloud and foliage cover and how exposed the animal may be to the sun you can make judgements on what strength UVB lighting to provide for your animal. Lizards particularly require UV to synthesise vitamin D3 to encourage strong bone growth. Providing too little UV means you run the risk of your animal developing metabolic bone disease.

It’s important to remember that UVB is only absorbed with heat, so temperature and UV balancing is essential and this will affect your reptile care. A truly tropical rainforest lizard will live in a habitat that has lots of cloud and foliage cover, so will not require the high-levels of UV exposure a desert species would. Equally, to absorb UV the rainforest lizard does not require the high basking temperatures of a desert lizard.

Depending on how harsh the suns action is on an area, animals have developed strategies to cope with UV exposure. For example the wafer thin skin of a leopard gecko transmits 90+% of the UV from the sun to the gecko, the thick tough skin of a bearded dragon blocks as much as 90% of the UV from the sun. This allows the bearded dragon to remain active in full sun for longer. If you were to expose a leopard gecko to bearded dragon levels of UV this will quickly create serious health issues. Thankfully most reptile UV light manufacturers have developed guides to help you decide the strength of UV needed for your particular animal.

Step 5: how much UV?

UVB is only absorbed with heat, so temperature and UV balancing is essential

Step 6: humidity needs?

You’ll also find datasets available online which give you the levels of rainfall throughout the year for any given area. This climate data will indicate when periods of higher humidity are beneficial so you can replicate the conditions found in nature, helping to inform the amount of fogging, misting or spraying a species may need. Humidity is an important aspect of reptile husbandry, but one that is often considered only as an afterthought. However, in locations where temperatures remain almost constant throughout the year, such as tropical rainforests, adjusting the humidity levels in your reptile’s enclosure can often be the vital key to unlocking breeding activity.

Here is an example rain graph from Ghana, based on five data collection sites. Obviously this information could help us work out wet and dry seasons for species hailing from here such as royal pythons (Python regius), fire skinks (Lepidothyris fernandi) and fat tailed geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus).

Average rainfall in Ghana based on five data sites (mm per month)

Putting it all together

Case studies

The case studies below use macro data collected from www.timeanddate.com. By using multiple sites from within a species’ natural range, an average temperature range for that animal can be produced. These case studies will illustrate how specific regions and habitats effect day time highs and night-time lows when determining the right temperature parameters.

Case study 1

Case study 2

Case study 3

CASE STUDY 1

Bearded dragon – Pogona vitticeps

Origin: Australia

Habitat: desert, semi desert and scrub

Bearded dragons occupy a large natural range that straddles The Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

When looking at the data in these charts it’s important to remember that, in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are opposite to those we have in Europe and the USA – during our Northern-Hemisphere summertime, the Southern Hemisphere experiences winter, and vice-versa. Thankfully, animals assimilate to whatever hemisphere they are in.

That said, one of the most common questions we often hear about bearded dragons is why they still tend to go off their food in the wintertime, even if the temperatures in their enclosure stay the same all year round. The answer is because beardies are naturally hardwired to reduce activity and fast during this part of the year. Looking at the temperature averages from six sites within their natural range it’s easy to see why. Below 10°C all stomach enzymes stop functioning and even water cannot be consumed. That’s why bearded dragons ‘sulk’ and go off their food for three or four months each year.

You might also notice that the daytime high temperatures shown in the graph are sometimes below the commonly quoted 40–45°C daytime basking temperature. This is because beardies will utilise surfaces that absorb the sun’s heat and become considerably hotter than the air. Much of the substrate in their habitat is a rich red-iron-filled sand that can absorb heat better than white or yellow sand, therefore also contributing to higher body temperatures.

Daytime and night-time temperature comparison for a bearded dragon

CASE STUDY 2

Corn snake – Pantherophis guttatus

Origin: North America

Habitat: temperate forest, grassland and farmland

Corn snakes hail from much of the South-eastern United States including Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

This chart takes the averages of eight locations within the corn snake’s natural range and also explains why corn snakes also go off their food in winter – particularly in the case of mature males. Reduced temperatures and shorter days and longer nights will cause the snake to abstain from food and ready themselves for winter.

With chronic obesity of captive corn snakes becoming such a problem this chart indicates how a two- or three-month cooling period will help prevent the excess body fat that threatens the longevity of some snakes.

In the height of summer corn snakes will want to escape from the excessively high-temperatures. Thankfully their habitat features an abundance of foliage cover, grasses and rivers which they can use to stay cool. In winter the ground is relatively soft and burrows from mammals can be used to avoid the colder temperatures. You can see why it’s useful to think about the habitat a reptile comes from when making choices about temperatures, enclosure decor and seasons.

Daytime and night-time temperature comparison for a corn snake

CASE STUDY 3

Imperial or common boa – Boa constrictor imperator

Origin: South America

Habitat: rainforest, subtropical forest, and grassland

Common boas enjoy a large range from North-western Mexico down through Central America to Colombia and Ecuador. We will centre our research on the southern area of their range as most boas in the pet trade originated in Colombia and Nicaragua.

Looking at average climate data for the common boa taken from eight locations in its natural range you can see the insulating properties of its habitat in action, with very little temperature decay occurring at night. The seasonality is also minimal with temperatures remaining pretty stable all year round. Clearly, then, temperature cannot be a major factor to elicit breeding in boas.

So the next logical step when designing an enclosure and to elicit breeding is to look at other factors that may affect the willingness to reproduce. What these temperature tables do not show are the dry and wet seasons within the range. Humidity levels within the enclosure, along with simulated dry and corresponding wet seasons will often trigger breeding activity. It’s all about understanding and replicating the natural habitat, and there’s plenty of information and data out there to help you to achieve this.

Daytime and night-time temperature comparison for a common boa

Conclusion

These climate graphs have shown how region, habitat and biome show us how to maintain our animals. There is no limit to how far you go with this and many keepers find it fascinating to conduct research into the species they keep.

By applying well-reasoned seasonality to an enclosure, coupled with appropriate photo enrichment using visible light and UVB, along with the appropriate kind of environmental enrichment, we can ensure the best welfare for our captive animals. The information you need is freely available online and I would encourage all keepers to look for the data, because it will help you provide the best care for your animals.