Reptiles and Amphibians for Sale
Browse geckos, snakes, tortoises, frogs and other reptiles and amphibians from breeders across the United States.
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Buying reptiles & amphibians: what to look at
A reptile can hide being unwell for months, so most of what you can learn on the day comes from its body shape, its skin, its mouth, and above all the setup it is living in. The seller's enclosure tells you more than the animal does.
Captive bred, with a hatch date, and a feeding record
Wild-caught animals arrive with parasites and settle badly, and the difference is not visible in a photo. Ask for the hatch date and whether the seller bred it or bought it in. Then ask for the feeding record: for a snake that means several meals taken unassisted, with dates and prey sizes, not “eating well”. A hatchling that has not fed yet, or is being assist fed, is a project you are taking over, and the price should say so.
Look at the body, not the colour
A healthy snake is rounded, and its spine does not stand out as a ridge along the back. A leopard gecko stores fat in its tail, so a thin tail is an animal that has not been eating. Sunken eyes on any of them mean dehydration, and on a bearded dragon the fat pads behind the eyes should be full rather than hollow. Morph and pattern are what the listing sells. Condition is what you are buying.
Skin, mouth and mites
Old shed left on the toes or the tail tip tightens as it dries and can cost the animal the digit, and it also says the humidity has been wrong. Look in the mouth if the species allows it: a mouth held slightly open, or with pale cheesy material along the gums, is mouth rot. Then look for mites. On a snake they are tiny dark dots around the eyes and under the chin scales, and they float in the water bowl. Run a hand along the animal and check your palm for black specks. One mite means a collection with mites.
Ask to see where it lives, and ask for the numbers
Ask the basking temperature and how it is measured. The right answer is a thermostat on the heat source and a digital probe thermometer at the basking spot, not a stick-on dial on the glass. For bearded dragons, tortoises and most day-active lizards ask about UVB and how old the tube is, because UVB output fades long before the light does and most bulbs are spent inside a year. A seller who cannot tell you the basking temperature is not measuring it.
Tortoises: read the shell
Scutes that rise into little pyramids mean the animal grew up too dry or on the wrong food. It is permanent, and while it is not fatal it tells you how it was kept. A shell that gives under gentle thumb pressure on a young tortoise is metabolic bone disease, which is calcium and UVB gone wrong, and that one is urgent. Some tortoise species also need paperwork to be sold legally, so ask what comes with it before you pay, not after.
More on choosing a seller and reading a listing on the PetListings blog.