How can I better improve my reptile’s well-being? A very common question that many keepers ask themselves. Making sure our scaly friends are living their best life is important to us and, more so, to them. Providing more than the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter is core to improving your reptiles health. Stimulation and enrichment provided by accessories, woods, and décor are extremely important for their physical and mental welfare.
Enrichment refers to increasing the animal’s welfare. This can include any steps taken to replicate their natural environment or implementing ways to reduce their stress. Unlike dogs and cats, captive reptiles spend the majority of their life in an enclosed space. Duplicating their natural habitat will help reduce stress and anxiety, thereby, leading to a happy and healthy life.
Stimulation is products or activities that promote physical and/or mental exercise. The ultimate goal is to keep your pet happy and busy. Like any animal, reptiles get bored and need an outlet. Without an outlet reptiles can harm themselves in an attempt to escape that boredom or become unhealthy in other ways. By providing different accessories, your reptile will get to experience new textures, smells, and sites that they can explore and relieve boredom.
Stimulation and enrichment will vary from species to species and even between individuals of the same species. The best way to see what works for your reptile is to research its natural environment. Learn the climate, substrate, and living conditions to gain a better understanding of what will promote their natural instincts. Make sure to furnish your reptiles enclosure with pet safe substrate and accessories when building their enclosure. Although researching may seem a bit daunting, there are many resources and experienced keepers out there that can help you in your search to improve your reptile’s habitat.
After you have finished your research, it is back to the drawing board to recreate their habitat. By providing an ideal environment you will help promote natural behaviors in your reptile such as: burrowing, climbing, and foraging. This will relieve boredom and stress by allowing your pet to do what it would do in the wild. Furthermore, this is a win-win scenario. Your scaly friend gets what they need in return you have a gorgeous naturalistic terrarium that is beautiful and eye-catching.
