Price: $19.99 - $18.80
(as of Oct 01, 2024 15:18:21 UTC – Details)
Packed with tips to care for your special critter
Choose the right lizard, turtle, or snake – and give your pet the best care
Fanatical about frogs? Gaga over geckos? This essential guide tells you what you must know before you own a reptile or amphibian, with authoritative advice on everything from proper caging and feeding to health care, socializing, transporting, and more. You’ll find out about the different species, normal and abnormal behavior, the basics of breeding, and complying with laws.
The Dummies Way
* Explanations in plain English
* “Get in, get out” information
* Icons and other navigational aids
* Tear-out cheat sheet
* Top ten lists
* A dash of humor and fun
Publisher : For Dummies; 1st edition (June 20, 2003)
Language : English
Paperback : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 0764525697
ISBN-13 : 978-0764525698
Item Weight : 1.22 pounds
Dimensions : 7.75 x 1 x 9.25 inches
4
Reviewer: ultrascope
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: great, informative book
Review: great, informative book
Reviewer: Paula L. Craig
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Solid information to get you started
Review: We have a California kingsnake and two leopard geckos. We’ve gotten some other books on these reptiles, but for basic advice the “Dummies” book is the best so far. Very good at explaining what each species is like so you can get an idea of how the animal would work out for you.
Reviewer: D. H. Westcott
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: this is great
Review: this book really filled in the blanks for me in understanding the necessity’s of these animals as pets. i am now moving forward to putting together an 80 gallon terrarium and feel very confident i can pull it off by applying the data in this book.
Reviewer: Anyechka
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good general guide for pet herps
Review: This book does quite a good job at covering a lot of great information about herps (turtles, tortoises, snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, caecilians, and even the non-pet herps crocodilians, amphisbaenians, and Rhynchocephalia) and things that ever herper needs to know to have a happy healthy pet. Topics include keeping your herps in an outdoor cage, tank, or pool, what kinds of plants to put inside of an indoor terrarium, who eats what (or, more likely, who eats whom), breeding, how to determine a herp’s sex, zoos with great herp collections, how to get involved in one’s local community, common health problems, how to transport one’s herps, and what to do if you need to get rid of your herp. In the middle of the book is a section of nice color photos of some of the more popular varieties of pet herps, such as the painted turtle, corn snake, water dragon, veiled chameleon, horned frog, and fire-bellied newt. It finishes with an appendix running down the basics (diet, behavior, origins, etc.) of some of the more popular herps, such as the kingsnake, Greek tortoise, fire salamander, leopard gecko, bumblebee poison dart frog, and aquatic caecilian. The only shortcomings I noticed in the book were that there isn’t a huge amount of species-specific information (though this book is only meant as a general guide, not something covering every single thing about all of the herps in the pet market; that’s what species-specific books are for!) and that it recommended the pet store as the place to get frozen/thawed prekilled rodents for one’s snake. It would have been better had they talked about some of the businesses who breed rodents and then euthanise them before freezing them and selling them in bulk, such as RodentPro, Mice on Ice, and Mice Direct. Unless I knew that a pet store had gotten their prekilled prey from such a reputable company, I wouldn’t exactly trust their prekilled rodents, given how a lot of pet stores aren’t known for top-notch treatment of their animals! It also would’ve been nice had they mentioned some of the companies that breed and sell insects for lizards and amphibians, like Cricket Ranch and Timberline Live Pet Foods. But overall, this is a really good guide to get the first-time herper started, and as one reads more literature on the subject and interacts with fellow herpers, one will learn about the things that this book overlooked or didn’t go into a lot of detail about.
Reviewer: Ron Valverde
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not Really what I was looking for
Review: I understand this book says for Dummies but seriously… it is… and I think this book is way to small to cover such a broad range of Reptiles and Amphibians …. Alot of the information is not correct…… Dont buy.. look for books like “Brazilian Rainbow Boa’s for dummies…” specific breeds…. too broad
Reviewer: Kathy Marsh
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Greatest Handbook on Reptiles etc..
Review: I call this my bible for going to reptile expos or for making a reptile purchase. I got this book over 5 years ago when I started in the reptile/herping world and this purchase was my second buying. Horrible mistake loaning my first one out but I cant live without this book. No matter how many times I have used it I still refer to it for quick updates, anything I am unsure about. Its the easiest read and the greatest help for making decissions for reptiles, invertabrates and Amphibianns. A must have.
Reviewer: Danielle
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good if you can filter out the good from the bad information
Review: Some of this book I feel like is just the author guessing at what might be true, it seems disorganized because it covers so many species. If you plan on getting a reptile or amphibian, get a more specific book that is correct 100% of the time, and if you are unsure of the type you want then get a hold of some Reptiles Magazine copies or something that can help you chose. I would not recommend this book for beginners or more experienced keepers.
Reviewer: George B.
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This Book is a Joke.
Review: The person who wrote this book doesn’t have the faintest idea what she is talking. about. It jumps from one subject to another without finishing what they began talking about.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book
Reviewer: Anita Harasymiw
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Was exactly what I wanted, working in a pet store I am always looking to increase my knowledge! Would recommend!
Reviewer: Frederick R. McCloy
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have kept and bred various herp’s for quite a few years, now, with a birthday coming up I would say more years than I care to say, and I found this book to be a very good purchase, informative and entertaining for any level of experience in the hobby. The author provides accurate information, and does so clearly, with a light touch and deft wit. I would recommend it highly. rick mccloy
Reviewer: Paul H
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is quite a thick book … that somehow manages to say very little.I first read this book from start to finish and then went back to dip into it looking for the info that I wanted. Sadly, too often, the most basic info was missing.This is NOT a beginners guide to reptiles etc as the reader will be left none the wiser. If you are looking at getting a first exotic pet then I would suggest looking at a few caresheets on the Internet (I say ‘a few’ as opinions do vary widely in relation to reptile keeping).And get a book specific to the animal that you intend to keep (I have several).If you are an experienced keeper, it is unlikely you will be looking at a book with ‘dummies’ in the title. However, if you are, dont buy this book as it contains very little in the way of useful info IMHO.
Reviewer: Clinton Major
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is a very basic book that didn’t seem to provide any real info on any of the specific topic so it wouldn’t really be helpful, even for beginners. I get that its a general guide but there are a lot of other Dummies books out there worth buying (even reptiles ones like the Iguana one by Melissa Kaplan). This one is just a compilation of vague little bits of nothing, it would serve no purpose as a reference book on your shelf.
