Author: BackwaterReptiles

Creating an Outdoor Sulcata Tortoise Pen

~ BackwaterReptiles

If you’re looking at creating an outdoor Sulcata tortoise pen, you’ve come the the right place! We have years of experience with these magnificent creatures and have experienced tremendous success keeping them in captivity.

Sulcata tortoises (Geochelone sulcata), aka African Spurred Tortoises, are excellent pets for many reasons. They live incredibly long lives, are very easy to care for, eat a plant-based diet, and enjoy human interaction.

Many people start out with a hatchling sulcata tortoise, but eventually that baby tortoise will mature into a large animal that can weigh anywhere from fifty to 200 pounds! When caring for a reptile that large, it’s important to make sure that it has a space big enough to call home, and for most people, this means keeping the tortoise outdoors in their backyard.

Luckily, sulcatas thrive in outdoor environments, provided that the temperatures don’t fluctuate too high or too low. In fact, if you visit almost any zoo, you’ll see that the sulcata tortoise exhibit houses the animals outdoors in the open because that’s just the best habitat for these docile reptiles.

building a sulcata tortoise pen
Adult sulcata tortoises thrive in outdoor environments.

How to know if your sulcata is ready to live outside

We feel we should specify that not all sulcatas can or should be kept outdoors. Babies need to be kept inside in an area safe from predators like birds, dogs, and cats. It’s also wise to keep young tortoises indoors because they are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations and illnesses. Plus an indoor tortoise’s diet can be very closely monitored so you can be sure that your growing hatchling is receiving the proper nutrients and consuming the proper amount of food.

If your tortoise meets these requirements, then it is more than likely safe to move it outdoors:
-Its shell should be at least a foot long, six to eight inches wide, and four to six inches tall.
-Your tortoise is too large for a 100 gallon tank.
-Your tortoise eats and defecates regularly and burrows normally.
-Your tortoise seems healthy and has no abnormal behaviors that would indicate issues with its well-being.

Building your sulcata’s enclosure

So, you have determined that your sulcata is suited for outdoor living. But keeping a tortoise outdoors is not as simple as releasing it in your backyard. What should you do next?

adult sulcata tortoise
Sulcatas are grazers and will gladly eat the natural vegetation in your yard, so make sure all the plants are edible.

First of all, you’ll need to set up a designated area and make sure that your enclosure is safe. Depending on the size of your backyard and the size of your tortoise, you might need to put up fencing to make sure the tortoise can’t wander too far away.

We highly recommend setting up a pen within your backyard, even if your yard happens to already be fenced in. This is helpful because as your tortoise grows, you can expand its pen to accommodate its need for more space. Once your tortoise is very large, you can allow it to freely roam your backyard.

Just like any reptile habitat, an outdoor pen will need to include the things your tortoise needs to stay healthy. This includes a water dish or soaking facility, plenty of vegetation to graze on (both naturally occurring in your backyard and prepared meals), and any hide spaces and/or decorations you wish to include. Just keep in mind when adding objects to a sulcata enclosure that these tortoises can actually climb. Therefore, you want to avoid incorporating items that are tall enough to allow the tortoise to escape its pen by climbing on them. Tortoises can also fall off these tall items and land on their backs, which is very dangerous if you are not around to put the animal right side up.

If you plan on keeping your sulcata outdoors year round (which we only recommend if you happen to live in a climate with temperatures that don’t drop below the high 60s),  it will be necessary to provide a safe place for the tortoise to retire to if the weather gets too cold, rainy, or hot. Many sulcata owners build custom huts or houses with heat lights on timers so that the tortoise can always find a warm space to hide out if need be.

Geochelone sulcata
Sulcatas are burrowers, so be sure to have a brick, cement, or wood foundation below your fence to prevent them from digging out of their enclosure.

It’s also very important to be aware that sulcatas are burrowers. This means your fence must be tall and extend under the ground as well. Many sulcata owners will lay a foundation of cement bricks or wooden barriers under their fence to prevent the tortoise from burrowing out of the intended border of the enclosure.

Because sulcata tortoises are grazers by nature, be aware that an outdoor tortoise can and probably will eat any plants it can find in its area. We highly recommend checking that the plants in your yard are acceptable fare for a tortoise as you don’t want your tortoise to accidentally ingest anything toxic.

Conclusion – Sulcata tortoise pens

Outdoor sulcata tortoises can be great pets. They’re extremely docile animals that enjoy human interaction, so backyard life is perfect for them.

If you are ready to raise your own sulcata tortoise, Backwater Reptiles has them for sale, and we’re always here to offer advice if you’re building an outdoor pen for your’s.

 

Most Popular Pet Turtles

~ BackwaterReptiles

Turtles are very popular house pets. Not only are they cute, but they’re easy to care for, very robust, gentle around children, and can also be very interactive lifelong companions. We highly recommend turtles for people who are new to keeping reptiles.

So, if you’re in the market for a simple pet, read on to find out our top picks for the best pet turtles.

Red Eared Slider (Trachemys s. elegans)

If you want a pet turtle with an aquatic habitat, our first recommendation would be a red eared slider. These turtles are very common pets and tend to thrive in captivity. They’re also almost always captive bred nationwide, which limits the risk of parasites.

most popular pet turtles
Red Eared sliders (Trachemys elegans) are some of the most popular pet turtles worldwide, and for good reason.

Red eared sliders get their common name from the red marking on the sides of their head. Aside from having red “ears,” sliders also tend to scoot themselves right into the water when they sense any kind of danger in the wild, hence the “slider” portion of their name.

We feed our hatchlings commercially prepared turtle pellets, although we do supplement with live insects from time to time. Red eared sliders are omnivores and eat decaying animal and plant matter in the wild, so they are very accepting of many types of food in captivity.

Adult red eared sliders will grow to be approximately twelve inches long and can live for around twenty years if cared for properly. Due to their size, we do recommend at least a ten gallon tank for hatchlings.

As they grow, the turtles will require about ten gallons of water for every inch of shell. So, for instance, a turtle that is five inches long should be housed in a tank that is at least fifty gallons in size.

If you’re ready to get a red eared slider of your own, Backwater Reptiles sells captive bred Red ears, as well as their awesome cousins, the Yellow-bellied sliders (Trachemys scripta).

Painted Turtles (Chrysemys sp.)

Painted turtles are another fantastic species of aquatic turtle, however they only reach approximately six to eight inches long at maturity, which makes them very manageable in size.

Painted turtles are a bit harder to come by in captivity, although they are by no means rare. You just won’t tend to find them available in most large-scale, chain pet stores. Many people like the colorful red or yellow borders around the seams of the turtle’s inner carapace.

eastern painted turtle
This shy Eastern Painted Turtle might be able to hide his face from the camera, but he can’t hide the beautiful red coloration on his shell.

There are three main species of Painted turtle, including Eastern, Western, and Southern. All three look quite similar, with minor physical differences.

Painted turtles have very similar care requirements to the red eared slider, however they are slightly more carnivorous. Commercial turtle pellets can serve as a staple food, but painted turtles will thoroughly enjoy feeder fish, aquatic worms, aquatic shrimp, and traditional crickets when on land.

The key to keeping a painted turtle happy and healthy is offering a variety of foods in the form of both animal protein and vegetation.

Unlike the red eared slider, Painted turtles are less skittish and not as inclined to bolt into the water around people. This means they are more interactive pet turtles, although we still can’t guarantee that your turtle will enjoy being picked up, handled, and/or coddled.

Want a Painted Turtle of your own? Backwater Reptiles has got you covered!

Peninsula Cooter (Pseudemys peninsularis)

Like the Painted Turtle and Red Eared Slider, the Peninsula Cooter is an aquatic turtle that will require an aquatic enclosure. They thrive in both indoor or outdoor setups and many people even enjoy having them in turtle ponds in their backyard. However, we do recommend that smaller cooters be kept indoors until they reach a reasonable size.

There are many species of cooter turtles and identifying and classifying them into subspecies and categories can be confusing. However, the Peninsula Cooter is a subspecies of pond slider and they tend to live in areas with slower moving currents of water.

pet peninsula cooter
Peninsula cooters aren’t as shy or flighty as red eared sliders but do have very similar care requirements.

Peninsula cooters can grow quite large for an aquatic turtle. Females will be considerably larger than full-grown males and can be up to thirteen inches long at maturity.

Feeding your cooter shouldn’t be hard. They are not known for being picky eaters and their omnivorous diet means they’ll pretty much enjoy anything you give them. At Backwater Reptiles, we give turtle pellets for simplicity and supplement with protein every few days such as crickets, night crawlers, or roaches. We also make sure that a small amount of leafy greens are available, even if the turtles don’t always eat it.

Backwater Reptiles has healthy Peninsula Cooter Turtles for sale.

Hybrid Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene sp.)

We highly recommend Eastern box turtles for reptile enthusiasts of all ages and levels of experience. These are very low maintenance turtles with long life spans and very docile dispositions.

Box turtles don’t require an aquatic habitat like all the other turtles on this list. They can even be kept outdoors in small contained areas provided that the temperatures in your area are not too extreme.

Here at Backwater Reptiles, we keep our Box turtles in a lush outdoor pen where they eat, sleep, and breed!

hybrid eastern box turtle
Box turtles are great outdoor pets.

Juvenile Eastern box turtles tend to be more carnivorous than adults, but no matter what the age of the turtle, a varied diet of both plant and protein should be offered. For adults, we tend to give leafy green veggies and some insect such as night crawlers and crickets.

Eastern Box turtles are easily hybridized in captivity which results in some really interesting shell colorations and markings.

Backwater Reptiles has hybrid Eastern box turtles for sale.

Conclusion – Best pet turtles

Whether you desire an aquatic turtle or a land-based turtle, we think that any of the turtles on this list would make a great addition to your family.

They are all relatively low maintenance reptiles and the only real care concern with these popular pet turtle species is making sure you have enough room for the larger adult species.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our article on the best pet turtles and if you have any follow-up questions, please send us an e-mail.

 

Couch’s Spadefoot Toad Care (Scaphiopus couchii)

~ BackwaterReptiles

At Backwater Reptiles, we think toads are quite underrated as far as exotic pets are concerned. Most have relatively simplistic care requirements, are fun to feed, and don’t need a lot of human interaction or attention to thrive. Not to mention they can be pretty cute too!

One species of toad that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the Couch’s Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii). These fun little toads might be shy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make rewarding pets.

Read on to find out how the Backwater Reptiles team cares for our Couch’s Spadefoot Toads.

Physical Description

Couch’s spadefoot toads will grow to be about three inches long on average when fully mature.

Their skin is actually fairly smooth with relatively few bumps or ridges. They are green, yellow, or olive-colored with dark green, black, or brown blotches or spots on their backs. Their bellies are a creamy color and lack markings.

couchs spadefoot toad care
Notice the striking vertical pupils on this Couch’s spadefoot toad.

The common name for this toad comes from the dark spur located on its hind legs. This spur is used much like a spade and helps the toad burrow down into the ground where it spends most of its time.

These toads are also known for their arresting eyes. They have striking vertical pupils and irises flecked with crackles of color. We think their eyes resemble those of a cat.

Enclosure Requirements

In the wild, Couch’s spadefoot toads are found in the southwestern United States (areas of California, Arizona, and Texas). They are also found along the eastern and western coasts of Mexico. This means that they are used to dry, arid habitats with sandy soils and desert vegetation.

In order to replicate this environment in captivity, we recommend a substrate that can retain moisture but doesn’t necessarily stay overly wet. Try organic potting soil with no added chemicals or even shredded paper towels if you want to go really simple. We do recommend the soil if you want to witness your toad perform burrowing behavior though as this medium is more accommodating than paper towels.

If you are keeping a single Couch’s spadefoot, then a ten gallon tank will suffice. If you want a breeding pair, we would recommend a twenty gallon so that they have enough space to comfortably cohabitate.

Your Couch’s spadefoot toad will spend most of its time burrowed underground or hiding during the day, so be sure to provide places for it to take cover. Don’t include any cage accessories that are overly heavy (i.e. large rocks or large ceramics) because the toad could accidentally disturb these items and unintentionally injure itself.

couchs spadefoot toad
This photo shows the black spur or “spade” on the hind legs of the toad that enables it to burrow efficiently.

Although they are used to dry, arid, land, we do recommend keeping a relatively moist environment as this will encourage your toad to be more active. Couch’s spadefoot toads are adapted to emerge only when it rains, so keeping the tank humid will help them to stay alert.

We also always keep a shallow water dish in the toad’s enclosure, even if they don’t actually drink the water. It helps maintain humidity and allows the toad to soak if it desires.

Maintain temperatures of mid to high 80s during the day time via lights and don’t let the temperature drop below 70 at night.  

Feeding Habits

Couch’s spadefoot toads are carnivores and enjoy eating lots of different types of insects and invertebrates.

The spadefoot toads at Backwater Reptiles are fed a staple diet of gut loaded crickets. We supplement with meal worms, reptiworms, roaches, and night crawlers. Pretty much any invertebrate that is the proper size to fit into the animal’s mouth will do just fine.

Temperament

We haven’t heard of anyone being bitten by a Couch’s spadefoot toad. They are for the most part shy, secretive animals that prefer to hide and run away from you rather than try to bite or behave aggressively.

Couch’s spadefoot toads are also not big on being handled. While you can pick up and hold your toad, we don’t recommend doing it on a regular basis as the toads just don’t really like it.

scaphiopus couchii
Couch’s spadefoot toads make good pets for people who want a low key animal with minimal care requirements.

If you own a Couch’s spadefoot toad, you might actually not even see much of it unless you are a night owl. The toads tend to come out at night and remain burrowed underground in the day.

The bottom line is – Couch’s spadefoot toads keep to themselves and hide a lot. If you want an interactive pet toad, we’d recommend another species.

Conclusion

Although secretive by nature, Couch’s spadefoot toads can make fulfilling pets for people who want a very low-key, low-maintenance animal.

If you wish to obtain a pet Couch’s spadefoot toad of your own, Backwater Reptiles has them for sale.

Best Pet Vegetarian Reptiles

~ BackwaterReptiles

If you like reptiles but get squeamish feeding your pet anything living such as crickets, mice, or worms, why not choose a pet reptile that is herbivorous?

Backwater Reptiles sells many herbivores, but this blog article will list our top three favorites that we think make the best overall pets.

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Possibly the most well-known lizard on this list, the green iguana is an ideal vegetarian pet, so long as you are committed to caring for an animal that will grow quite large. In fact, a mature green iguana can reach up to seven feet long and can weigh around twenty pounds! They grow into quite hefty lizards.

herbivorous pet reptiles
This is a hatchling green iguana. With proper husbandry, it can grow to be between six and seven feet long!

Many people are attracted to green iguanas because of their prehistoric appearance. The spines along their backs and tail coupled with their large throat dewlaps make them resemble dinosaurs.

Young green iguanas and adult green iguanas will have essentially the same diet of fresh veggies and fruit, however the young iguanas will need vitamin supplements more frequently and will need to be fed more often.

Green iguanas should have a diet rich in green, leafy veggies and fruit can be supplemented as well. We don’t recommend a diet that consists of more than ten percent fruit as this can give your iguana diarrhea. Offering fruit once per week is usually just about the proper amount.

Vegetables that are healthy and nutritious for a green iguana include kale, collard greens, spinach, green beans, dandelions, and squash. However, this list is by no means all inclusive.

There are also many pre-prepared iguana foods and supplements that can be purchased from breeders or pet stores. As with any reptile, the key to health is a varied diet. No one, including our pet reptiles, enjoys eating the same food every day.

Backwater Reptiles sells green iguanas of various sizes.

Blue Tongue Skink (Tiliqua sp.)

It’s not necessarily 100 percent accurate to label blue tongue skinks as vegetarians or herbivores because they do actually need meat protein in their diet. However, because this need can be met by purchasing human meat products from the store and feeding your blue tongue skink live invertebrates is not necessary, we have included it on our list.

Blue tongue skinks are known by reptile enthusiasts as “blueys” due to their thick, flat, blue tongues. They are also visually appealing as pets because they are stocky with very small limbs. They resemble lizard sausages and we find this to be a very endearing trait.

hatchling blue tongue skinks
Blueys do require some meat protein in their diet, but the majority of the food they consume should be vegetable matter.

At Backwater Reptiles, we feed our blue tongue skinks vegetables chopped into pieces small enough to comfortably fit inside the bluey’s mouth. Obviously, this size will vary from animal to animal, but just use your best judgment when cutting up leafy greens and other crisper veggies.

You can also give your bluey fruit and meat in moderation, but moderation is the key word. Like green iguanas, blue tongue skinks will get upset tummies if they eat too much fruit. Too much protein will also cause renal failure, so give canned meats and boiled meats occasionally.

If you are ready to invest in a pet blue tongue skink of your own, Backwater Reptiles has got you covered!

Sulcata Tortoise (Geochelone sulcata)

Sulcatas are very long-lived and friendly animals. They make excellent backyard pets and great classroom pets too when they are small enough to live in an indoor enclosure. Many people enjoy purchasing a hatchling and watching it mature into a tortoise that can eventually weigh approximately a hundred pounds.

Because their staple food is grasses and leaves in the wild, it is acceptable to allow your sulcata to graze on the vegetation that grows naturally in your backyard, so long as you are sure you don’t propogate poisonous plants in your yard.

hatchling sulcata tortoise
Hatchling sulcatas can fit in the palm of your hand, but they grow into behemoths over time.

Indoor sulcatas enjoy eating and will usually eagerly consume whatever vegetation you throw their way. We feed ours spring salad mixes purchased from the grocery store. These pre-mixed packages tend to have a good variety of leafy greens that sulcatas enjoy.

Many people have found that sulcata tortoises thoroughly enjoy munching on cactus pads. Commercially made tortoise chow also works well to supplement their diet, although we don’t recommend sticking strictly to the pre-made food as freshly prepared meals are always better for your reptile’s health.

Captive bred sulcata tortoise hatchlings are available from Backwater Reptiles.

Conclusion – Vegetarian Reptiles

Many people don’t realize that not all reptiles eat bugs and other traditionally “yucky” food items. We hope our list has helped you see that vegetarian pet reptiles are certainly an option and make equally rewarding companion animals as their carnivorous friends.

How do I get my snake to eat

~ BackwaterReptiles

Although snakes are very common pet reptiles, it’s not uncommon for them to refuse food from time to time. In fact, at Backwater Reptiles, one of the most commonly asked questions we get when it comes to reptile care is – how do I get my pet snake to eat?

So, if you’ve ever struggled with a picky eater or are currently trying to get your snake to eat, continue reading to learn what tips and tricks we use at Backwater Reptiles to get our own snakes to eat regularly and healthily.

Live Prey vs. Frozen Prey

The biggest problem many snake owners seem to encounter is getting their snake to eat dead prey. In the wild, obviously snakes kill and eat live animals, so some snakes need to be taught that when you present them with a dead mouse, the mouse is meant to be eaten.

How to get my pet snake to eat
This green water snake (Nerodia floridana) could prove to be a tricky eater as they are primarily known to eat small amphibians in the wild.

Many small animals that snakes eat in the wild (i.e. mice, gophers, rabbits, etc.) are mammals that create their own body heat. The key word here is heat. If your thawed frozen mouse is not warm enough, your snake might not recognize it as a food source.

In order to thaw and warm up a frozen mouse of any size, do NOT place it in the microwave. Ever. You will wind up having to clean mouse innards out of your microwave. Instead, thaw the mouse the same way you might a chicken breast. Place the mouse in warm water or run it under warm water until it is warm to the touch.

In addition to feeling warm, the mouse should also not be hard in the center. If the feeder mouse is hard or tough in the center when you squeeze it gently, it’s still frozen inside. This might not only deter your snake from eating it, but it can also create digestive issues down the line.

Throughout the years, we’ve also learned that some snakes just don’t like to eat thawed food. Maybe they fancy themselves food critics – who knows? But the only real way to feed a snake that refuses to eat thawed food is to feed it living food.

red tail green rat snake
A small, slender snake like this red tail green rat snake (Gonysoma oxycephala) should be eating small mice.

Feeding your snake living mice, rats, or in some cases, even rabbits, can be distressing to both you, the owner, and the snake. Even though it’s part of life and the food chain, it can be tough to have to administer a living animal to another living animal. And as far as distress to the snake is concerned, if your snake doesn’t capture and eat the prey immediately, the prey can actually injure the snake! It’s not unheard of for unattended live mice left in a snake’s cage to actually gnaw on the snake and create wounds.

Ultimately, we highly recommend frozen food if your snake will eat it for both safety and convenience’s sake, but live prey is always an option should you have a very picky eater on your hands.

Color of Food

It has also been suggested that the color of the prey item makes a difference in the snake’s appetite.

Many mice obtained from pet stores for snake food are white, which is not a naturally occurring mouse color in the wild. Most wild mice are grey, brown, or some combination thereof.

This might not hold true for all snakes, but some owners swear that snakes will refuse white mice but eat naturally-colored ones with no problem.

Feeding Schedule & Feeding Tanks

If you can, we do recommend sticking to a schedule. Regularity will help the snake to know when it’s feeding time.

Most mature snakes should eat once every one or two weeks. Growing hatchlings should eat no less than once per week. Some will have large appetites and even consume multiple mice in one sitting.

Along with the schedule, you should create regularity in how the snake is fed. We highly recommend utilizing a feeding tank so that your snake will come to understand that being placed in the feeding tank means food will arrive shortly. This will not only encourage eating, but will also encourage your snake to strike less when you take it out to handle it because it won’t associate your hand with food every time the cage is opened.

Shedding Time

The only time that a snake will normally refuse food is when it is preparing to shed. Your snake will become dull and its eyes will become cloudy or opaque and this indicates that it will shed shortly.

ball python
Ball Pythons are notorious for refusing food from time to time, although they usually overcome this habit.

Most snakes do not feed in the wild when they are preparing to shed because their eyesight is compromised. This behavior also holds true in captivity and is to be expected.

The bottom line is that you should withhold food until your snake has completed its shed because the snake will probably refuse the food anyway.

Snake Constipation

As silly as it seems, sometimes a snake can get constipated and will therefore decline food due to an upset stomach.

A good remedy for this is to give the snake a good soak. Prepare a lukewarm water bath and allow your snake to sit for anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes.

The moisture can sometimes help stimulate the snake to defecate, not to mention that nearly all reptiles enjoy a good soak.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why snakes sometimes won’t eat. Some are picky eaters and some might even be in pain without your knowledge.

We recommend trying out our tips and tricks and if your snake still won’t eat after three weeks of trying, it’s time to see the vet.