I am really sickend right now. I never looked in here befor I and I wish I never had, but maybe I can help. Their are a ton of post in here about animals people have gotten from the wild. STOP IT! Wild animals are NOT pets, yes they are cool/cute but you can not steel them like this. For starters, you are probubly breaking the law. Licences are needed to collect the FEW spiecies aloud to be captured. Some of these animals have jail time and gigantic fines placed with their capture in an attempt to keep people from ketching all the wild ones. For some examples, Box turtles almost went extinct in the wild from people finding them cute and taking them from the wild. Now days their very strict rules in regards to them and you can NOT keep them from the wild. Killing them also counts. If you want a Snapping turtle however, a fishing licence is all you need. Why? Not many people care for Snappers and these guys reproduce fast.
Okay, so you don't want to give up your critter. To bad, it's better you put it back where you found it. Try going to some high quality pet shops, get some books and fined an animal that was bred, born and raised in captivity.
Above everything else, my #1 consern is the bad advice people keep giving. If you know little of animal care to begin with, please don't share your misconceptions with others. Here is a does of truth for you all
to help clear things up.
1 All captive herps require suplements in their diet. Never forget this fact!
2 Hotrocks can kill a herp, don't use them, get hot matts insted.
3 Reptiles NEED a reptile light.
4 Snakes MUST have a tank at least 1.5x their length to keep them from having back problems.
5 Always provide a shaded cool end and a sunny warm end to a tank
6 Always give a hiding place in bother the warm and cool ends of the tank.
7. Newspaper without colored ink is a good medium for reptiles. But you must change it EVERY DAY. Other mediums like coconut bark are good, but you MUST remove soiled areas EVERY DAY
8. Reptiles need to soak in iodine water periotically to help them shed and to remove bacteria from their skin
9. Coconut bark should be used with amphibians, NOT DIRT
10. Many animals need a sleeping time for the winter or summer
11 They will bite and they are not likely to let go for a few minutes, DON'T freak just wait.
12 Pulling a snake that has bit you off of your finger will probubly peal off your skin, wait for it to let go.
13 Veggitarian lizards need a huge viriety of food and NO camercial food can give them what they need.
14 REASEARCH your chosen critter BEFOR you buy it
I hope no one thought I was yelling, I'm just stressing some importent points and if anyone says keeping box turtles is okay after I post this, well then I'll yell LOL!
Okay, so you don't want to give up your critter. To bad, it's better you put it back where you found it. Try going to some high quality pet shops, get some books and fined an animal that was bred, born and raised in captivity.
Above everything else, my #1 consern is the bad advice people keep giving. If you know little of animal care to begin with, please don't share your misconceptions with others. Here is a does of truth for you all
1 All captive herps require suplements in their diet. Never forget this fact!
2 Hotrocks can kill a herp, don't use them, get hot matts insted.
3 Reptiles NEED a reptile light.
4 Snakes MUST have a tank at least 1.5x their length to keep them from having back problems.
5 Always provide a shaded cool end and a sunny warm end to a tank
6 Always give a hiding place in bother the warm and cool ends of the tank.
7. Newspaper without colored ink is a good medium for reptiles. But you must change it EVERY DAY. Other mediums like coconut bark are good, but you MUST remove soiled areas EVERY DAY
8. Reptiles need to soak in iodine water periotically to help them shed and to remove bacteria from their skin
9. Coconut bark should be used with amphibians, NOT DIRT
10. Many animals need a sleeping time for the winter or summer
11 They will bite and they are not likely to let go for a few minutes, DON'T freak just wait.
12 Pulling a snake that has bit you off of your finger will probubly peal off your skin, wait for it to let go.
13 Veggitarian lizards need a huge viriety of food and NO camercial food can give them what they need.
14 REASEARCH your chosen critter BEFOR you buy it
I hope no one thought I was yelling, I'm just stressing some importent points and if anyone says keeping box turtles is okay after I post this, well then I'll yell LOL!