Vet Visits & Pet Snakes

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Sarah I am coming to you today from Pet Land in Pembroke Pines, Florida and on behalf of expertvillage.com. I am going to speak with you a little bit about choosing a pet snake. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this video it is important to understand that if you get a snake then it will need annual visits to a qualified reptile veterinarian. You can look up a qualified reptile veterinarian at the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians web site at arav.org. It is also important to understand that your snake will need de-wormings twice a year. This is because reptiles are very, very prone to having intestinal parasites. It is almost certain that when you get your snake from the pet store that it will have intestinal parasites this is absolutely positive nothing against the pet store or the snake breeder that you get your snake from it is simply one of the parts of having reptiles in captivity. 100% of reptiles in the wild have parasites but they can cope with this because they are living in an ideal environment. Snakes in captivity should be de-wormed at least once a year however because even if you are doing absolutely everything right as a snake owner you cannot perfectly re-create the ideal environment that they find in the wild. Therefore their immune system will not be as good as it could be while they are living in the wild. With a decreased immune system you can find the parasites of snakes in captivity can over grow therefore causing health problems in your snake. One concern when you have a pet snake is salmonella, it is very important that just like when you handle any pet after you handle your snake you should wash your hands thoroughly. You should also supervise any children or any other people handling your snake to make sure that they also wash their hands and make sure that they practice proper hygiene. If you would like to learn more about the animal hospital that I work at you can check our web site at www.extracareanimalhospital.net. If you would like to learn more about Pet Land in Pembroke Pines, Florida you can check out their web site at www.petland.com. "