Health check
Checking your animals’ health
Anyone who purchases terrarium animals presumably want to look at them every day. If you look out for a couple of few things during the daily check and when feeding, you’ll learn to recognize problems early on and then be able to treat them in good time. The later you react to problems, the lower the chances of recovery.
The following points should be kept in mind:
Mouths should be closed and free of foam or slimy films.
Moulting should have taken place evenly, check the eyes aren’t too deep in their sockets.
Check for wounds, boils and other irregularities.
Check lizards’ toes and feet for unshed skin which can cause constrictions.
Only very young turtles or tortoises should have soft shells.
The skin should not have too many folds and the ribs or vertebrae should not be too prominent.
It should have all 8 legs. Whitish, fungus-like areas on the body are suspicious, whereas a “bald patch” on the abdomen presents no problem.