After all, there is space for reptile habitat. Small drawers can’t solve the temperature and humidity gradient, and you can’t see them every day. Without observing nature, you can’t see the individual needs of animals.
But for animals, they don't have the opportunity to go outside. Therefore, an environment that is really enough for them to live a healthy life must contain the necessary activity space for them, that is, the total area = sleeping + eating + going to the toilet + simple exploration.
How much space does it need?
The size of the reptile habitat has been a subject of intense debate. The "Minimum requirements for keeping reptiles" published by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (BMEL) in 1997 can be considered as minimum reference values. It provides the authorities (the German Veterinary Office) with a clear reference for implementing animal welfare laws, drawing a fine line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" breeding environments. However, the question of what reptile habitat to use for some particular species remains, as reptile responses to rearing conditions are species-specific and individual (KREGER et al., 1998).
However, the original document lists hundreds of species information, and because it is a German document that is not easy to understand, you can calculate it according to the "general calculation" method summarized by Holly, which is divided into two steps:
1. First of all, it is necessary to understand the body length calculation method of different species
Frog, lizard body length = anal snout length (excluding tail)
Salamander, snake body length = whole body length (including tail)
turtle body length = carapace length
Crocodiles don't look at their body shape, they directly calculate the area
2. Calculate according to the formula
The [number] in the following formula refers to the [multiple of body length]
The order is [length X width X height]:
[Safari frog] 10x5 times or more (including water) 5-10 times higher
[Ambush frog] 5x3 times or more (including water) more than 2 times higher
(Because only the two types of frogs have huge differences in space requirements, they are calculated separately; in fact, all safari-type two-climbers should use a larger environment)
[Salamander] 2x1 times or more (including water) more than 1 times higher
【Lizard】 4x4x2.5 times up
(Arboreal from 4x2.5x4 times)
【Snake】From 0.75x0.5x0.5 times
(The height of the arboreal is 0.75; the upper limit of the total height is 2 meters, which means that no matter how big the snake is, the maximum height of 2 meters is enough. Of course, you can also want to be higher)
[Turtle] is special. Because most of them have social needs, it is calculated according to the feeding space of a group (1 male and 2 females): the length is 5-8 times the length of the nail
｜The width is half the length (the tortoises are safer from 8 times)
｜Water level height of terrapins is usually at least 2 times the length of the carapace
｜The tortoise does not have a given height, but the straight-line distance from the turtle back to the lamp head should be at least 20cm
【Crocodile】From 5-15 square meters on land｜From 1-3 times the area of land in water
｜From 0.5-1m in water depth
(The situation of crocodiles is very extreme: if you have the conditions, you don’t need to calculate, just start half a room; if you don’t have the conditions, it’s useless, and you can’t keep it until you reach adulthood, so it’s better not to raise it)
Adults need at least a rearing environment with a length, width and height of 40x24x16cm
Here are some practical examples:
A horned frog with an anal snout of 8cm (ambush type)
A man frog (safari type) with an anal snout of 3cm
Adults need at least a rearing environment with a length, width and height of 30x15x15cm (the formula is the formula. If you have raised it, you can see that this is too short, so it is more suitable to adjust the height to 10 times the body length - 30cm. Raw toads are also very mobile, and it is also recommended to calculate according to this standard)
A 100cm corn snake
Adults need a rearing environment of at least 75x50x50cm in length, width and height (since there is no 75cm tank on the market, you can choose 80/90cm long, and the width and height can also be adjusted accordingly. In short, the bigger the better)
If it is a snake that is highly active in a certain period of time, such as brocade snake, forest snake, cobra, chain snake, etc., the length of the breeding space should preferably be calculated by multiplying the body length.
A leopard-print gecko with an anal snout of 10cm (*lizards do not count tail length)
At least reptile tank of 40x40x25cm is required (raising a pair of leopard-print geckos in a half-meter/one-meter-long environment is very common in countries with sound welfare laws. Those 15-25-year-old long-lived individuals are basically raised in this way. is never the only solution)
Looking at turtles, if you calculate it like this, the minimum water depth of a small razor turtle with a carapace of 5cm is only 10cm.
The turtle industry is relatively mature in my country, and many people know that it is too short at first glance. Therefore, the above are only the calculation formulas of the [minimum standard] applicable to common categories, which should be enough to solve the urgent needs of most enthusiasts; the above reptile habitat is applicable to 1 pair of adults by default (1 pair is also counted as 1 pair), each additional 1 pair , it is necessary to increase the reptile habitat by 15%, and because the above formula can only calculate the [minimum standard], [the actual environment is greater than the calculated data] is more appropriate.
Learn more about reptile habitat at https://reptizoo.store/
