Reptile care guides that say what to actually do

Sixty-five guides for ball pythons, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, crested geckos, corn snakes, tortoises, skinks and less common species. Enclosure setup, feeding, heat, humidity and the problems that follow when those are wrong, researched from veterinary and herpetological sources rather than repeated from other blogs.

Bioactive reptile enclosure with live plants, cork bark and natural substrate
A planted bioactive setup. The guide to building one is here.

Start with the three questions keepers ask most

Substrate, supplements and a snake that will not eat. Get these right and most other problems never show up.

Care guides by species

Each species has its own set of guides covering setup, diet, temperatures and the problems specific to it.

Something wrong? Start with the symptom

Most reptile problems trace back to heat, humidity or diet. These guides work backwards from what you are seeing to what to fix.

Not eating

Shedding problems

Heat and humidity

Odd behaviour

Health and weight

Every guide on the site

All sixty-five, grouped by species. New guides are added here as they publish.

Ball Pythons

Bearded Dragons

Can bearded dragons eat…

Leopard Geckos

Crested Geckos

Corn Snakes

Tortoises and Turtles

Blue Tongue Skinks

Less Common Species

Husbandry Basics

Exotic Reptile Care app icon

There is an app for the records these guides keep telling you to keep

Exotic Reptile Care is a free app for logging feedings, sheds and weight, with reminders for misting, cleaning and supplement days, and a profile for every animal you keep. iPhone and Android, no account needed, works offline.

See what the app does Why tracking feedings matters

Who writes this

Exotic Reptile Care is written and researched by Imad El Khafi. The guides are built from veterinary literature, herpetological references and established husbandry sources, cross-checked against each other rather than copied from whichever blog ranks first.

Reptile care advice online contradicts itself constantly, often on things as basic as temperature ranges and supplement schedules. Where sources genuinely disagree, that is said plainly instead of smoothed over into a single confident number.

Corrections are welcome and get acted on. If something here is wrong, tell me and I will check it against the sources and fix it. There is more about the site on the about page.

How every guide is put together

  • Numbers are sourced. Temperature, humidity and supplement figures come from veterinary and herpetological references, not from whichever forum post ranks highest.
  • Disagreements are flagged. When credible sources give different ranges, the guide says so and explains which to follow and why.
  • Recommendations are specific. Where a guide recommends a substrate, supplement or heat source, it says which one and why, not just the category.
  • Guides get revised. When better information turns up or a reader flags an error, it is checked against the sources and the guide is updated.
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