Part of the fun of Halloween involves dressing up all family members, pets included. But is it safe to dress up your herp for this holiday?

While it’s highly appealing to dress your reptile, amphibian or even tarantula in a cute costume for Halloween, it might not be the best idea to do so. Whether or not your pet is suited for playing dress up depends upon your pet’s species, individual personality, and consistent level of human interaction. It’s ultimately a matter of personal discretion and judgement.

What species are good to dress up for Halloween?

There are some species that will tolerate wearing a Halloween costume better than others. These are typically lizards and snakes that are used to being taken out of their cage and have been captive bred.

Bearded dragons, leopard geckos, Savannah monitors and iguanas that have been socialized are all usually agreeable when it comes to getting dressed up.

Ball pythons, corn snakes and boa constrictors are usually bred in captivity and therefore tend to be used to human care and handling. This means that they are good pet reptiles to wear simple costumes for Halloween.

What species are not good to dress up for Halloween?

Backwater Reptiles sells many varieties of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. We sell them because we think the they make great pets for different types of people who are looking for different things in their exotic pet. However, that does not mean that all of the animals we sell are good fits for Halloween costumes.

Because frogs, salamanders, newts and other amphibian species have very sensitive skin, we would not recommend dressing them up. A costume with sleeves or a lot of coverage on their body could unintentionally throw off their skin’s balance by removing moisture and causing respiratory distress. Any type of clothing item on your amphibian’s body or torso area is highly ill-advised.

We would say that the same is true for all of the invertebrate species we sell. It’s simply not practical to try to dress up an arachnid with eight fragile limbs, nor does it make much sense to try to clothe a feisty scorpion with a dangerous stinger. We hope that this is common sense to most invertebrate owners.

What types of Halloween costumes are safe for my pet?

Because pet reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are delicate and should not wear full-blown clothing items as costumes, no matter how festive the holiday, we recommend only simple Halloween costumes.

For example, tiny hats are safe for most animals, provided it does not cause the animal undue stress to have something as unnatural as a hat on its head. There are plenty of adorable images on the Internet of snakes, lizards, frogs and even spiders wearing lightweight, simple and very easily removable hats with no adverse effects.

Lizards can also wear cute little cloaks or “dresses” that are worn essentially like a blanket would be. Because these types of costumes basically only sit on top of the animal and do not impede its movement or functioning in any way, these are acceptable. Again, we highly advise that you take into consideration your pet’s individual temperament and attitude towards interaction with people when playing dress up for Halloween.

If you are concerned about a costume or your pet’s ability to wear a costume, we recommend that you purchase some themed props instead. It might not be safe to clothe your pet, but you can set up a backdrop and some items for it to interact with and encounter little to no issues.

Conclusion

In the end, there is no hard and fast rule for safety when it comes to dressing up your herp for Halloween. We recommend that you utilize common sense and monitor the emotional state of your pet as you try on any type of simple costume.

We strongly advise that you never dress up your pet in a costume that causes it clear distress, impedes its movement or function or could cause physical injury. It’s simply not worth risking your pet’s health and wellbeing for a cute Halloween photo.