Reptile Awareness Day

What the day is

Reptile Awareness Day is observed on October 16. It covers snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodilians and the tuatara, and it is concerned with conservation and with responsible keeping in roughly equal measure.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented.

Cold-blooded is the term everyone uses and it is misleading. Reptiles are ectotherms: they regulate temperature behaviorally, by moving between sun and shade, rather than by burning calories internally. That makes them extraordinarily efficient. A snake can live on a fraction of the food a mammal of similar size requires, which is why reptiles thrive in deserts where endotherms struggle.

It also explains most failures in captivity. A reptile that cannot reach the right temperature cannot digest properly or maintain its immune system, and the majority of illness in pet reptiles traces back to enclosures that are too cold, too uniform or without the right ultraviolet light. A tank needs a temperature gradient, not a temperature.

Conservation-wise the picture is poor. A substantial share of assessed reptile species are threatened, driven by habitat loss, road mortality, collection for the pet trade and, for turtles particularly, harvesting. Turtles and tortoises are among the most imperilled vertebrate groups on earth.

The pet trade is genuinely mixed. Captive breeding has reduced pressure on some wild populations, while wild collection continues for others, and impulse purchases of animals that live for decades and grow considerably remain a persistent welfare problem.

How to take part

• Research the adult size and lifespan before acquiring any reptile. Many outlive the interest of the person who bought them.
• Buy captive-bred from a keeper who will answer questions rather than a shop that will not.
• Get the heat and ultraviolet right before the animal arrives, and use a thermostat.
• Never release an unwanted reptile outdoors. Invasive populations start exactly this way.
• Move a turtle crossing a road in the direction it was already heading, if it is safe to do so.
• Leave wild snakes alone; the overwhelming majority are harmless and all of them would rather avoid you.