April 2021 Offers

Last chance for Aprils offers. The dog treats in particular are proving very popular this month.

Cheesy Sticks

Good Boy Cheesy Chicken Sticks 80g ONLY £1.49 RRP £2.99

Training Treat Duck
Training Treat Venison

Hollings Training Treats Duck 75g ONLY £1.99 RRP £3.19

Hollings Training Treats Venison 75g ONLY £1.99 RRP £3.19

Burns Original Chicken

Burns Adult & Senior Dog Chicken & Brown Rice 2kg ONLY £6.99 RRP £10.39

Tetra Pond Stick

Tetra Pond Sticks 100g ONLY £2.89 RRP £4.15

Dreamies Cheese
Dreamies Chicken
Dreamies Salmon

Dreamies Chicken 60g ONLY £1 RRP £1.56

Dreamies Cheese 60g ONLY £1 RRP £1.56

Dreamies Salmon 60g ONLY £1 RRP £1.56

Pet Head 2 in 1

Pet Head Quick Fix 2 in 1 Shampoo 300ml ONLY £8.49 RRP £10.99

Mikki Nail Clipper

Mikki Nail Clipper Small ONLY £8.99 RRP £11.99

Buffalo Steaks

Buffalo Natural Dog Treats Steaks 200g ONLY £2.75 RRP £4.99

Buffalo Tails

Buffalo Natural Dog Treats Tails 200g ONLY £2.75 RRP £3.99

Peanut Butter Paw
Gravy Bones

Pointer Gravy Bones 1.5kg ONLY £3.49 RRP £5.69

Pointer Wheat Free Peanut Butter Paws 1.25kg ONLY £3.49 RRP £5.69

Lilys Kitchen Casserole

Lilys Kitchen Adult Dog Chicken & Turkey Casserole 400g ONLY £1.99 RRP £2.69

Burgess Cat Scottish Salmon
Burgess Cat Chicken & Duck

Burgess Cat Adult Scottish Salmon 1.5kg ONLY £3.99 RRP £5.99

Burgess Cat Adult Chicken & Duck 1.5kg ONLY £3.99 RRP £5.99

Purine One Chicken

Purina One Adult Cat Chicken 3kg ONLY £10.99 RRP £15.49

The Angell Pets Team

New Opening Times For Easter And Beyond

As the Government begins easing lockdown we have had another look at our opening times. We have put off the decision until now in case there was a need to re-enter lockdown, we didn’t want to keep extending and then reducing hours all the time. The first easing measure was the return of kids to school. We have monitored the situation and it seems very unlikely that this decision is going to be reversed, which means parents want to be able to call after picking up their kids. In the next couple of weeks, non essential shops will be reopening and as the vaccination program progresses at pace, the number of our own customers still needing local deliveries continues to fall.

With all this in mind, now seems like the best time to extend our opening hours back to pre-COVID levels.We have been working hard, remaining open throughout the pandemic and adding the additional evening delivery service. That’s why we will be taking full advantage of the Easter break to recharge and come back next week with extended opening hours.

Opening hours this weekend and onwards are as folows

Thursday 01/04/21 – 10am to 4pm

Good Friday – CLOSED

Saturday 03/04/21 – 10am – 4pm

Easter Sunday – CLOSED

Bank Holiday Monday – CLOSED

Tuesday 06/04/21 – Back to old hours – 10am – 5:30pm Tuesday to Saturday (1pm – 5:30pm Mondays)

Billie will also be going off for a few weeks on maternity leave at some time in April/May so there may be a need to introduce a lunchtime closing at that time but we’ll wait and see.

The Angell Pets Team

Reptile And Amphibian Lighting And Heating

This subject is so varied and species specific it is usually treated in individual care sheets for each individual species. However there are some common threads that it is useful to discuss in one article to give a better overall understanding. This should help new owners decide on which is the correct equipment to purchase and existing owners to understand why we do the things we do and why some advice has changed over the years. We are lucky at Angell Pets to be able to draw on the expertise of our technical adviser George Angell. George is course leader at Abingdon and Whitney college and regularly lectures on all things herpetological. He has kindly written the following article which explains the mysteries of enhancing the health and wellbeing of our animals through correct heating and lighting and how the two interplay. Plus he is a bit more succinct than I am so this advice, whilst the same as I have been giving in the shop for years is much clearer than my ramblings!

UV to Infra Red Lighting

The subject of reptile lighting can be very confusing. White, red, blue, and green heat bulbs, UV lighting, LED lighting, heat mats and heat cables, heat rocks, ceramic heat emitters, halogen bulbs, mercury vapour, metal halide; the list goes on and on. But what do I need to get for my reptile or amphibian?

Well first we need to understand why we need to provide any of this equipment at all. Nearly all reptiles are ectotherms, meaning they use external sources of energy for heat. In the wild, reptiles will use the sun’s energy for this purpose, but in captivity they do not have access to the sun. We need to use a range of equipment to try and replicate the energy from the sun.

This solar energy hits the atmosphere and we see it as light. However, there are elements of the suns energy which we cannot see with the naked eye and these are in the form of UV (ultra violet) and infra-red. These are all forms of radiation from the sun, but they have different wavelengths. UV light is short wavelength in the range of 200-400nm, visible light is 400-700nm and infra-red radiation is in the range of 700-1 million nm.

UVB lighting

If we are to try and recreate the sun’s energy inside our vivarium, we need to try and produce the full spectrum of light for our reptiles. This includes providing UV light, visible light, and infra-red light.

Let’s focus on the higher energy end of the relative section of the electromagnetic spectrum. UV light can be split into 3 categories. UVA, B and C. In the picture below is shown the UV categories and their relative wavelengths, as well as the other important types of light radiation that we will deal with later.

UVB lighting

UVC, the highest energy form, is harmful to cells as it begins to breakdown the DNA molecules inside the cell. We do not want to be producing this in our reptile enclosures. Most equipment manufacturers will ensure their lamps are not producing any UVC.

UVC lamps are used in the animal industry however but mainly as a disinfectant bulb, particularly in fish filters so it is always worth buying your lamps from a reputable pet shop and be wary of buying cheaper bulbs from the internet.

UVB is essential for reptile health and wellbeing. UVB is critical in the process of metabolising calcium obtained in the diet. UVB (290-315nm) enables the reptile to convert cholesterol in the skin into pre-vitamin d3. This undergoes a temperature dependent reaction to convert to vitamin d3. This is metabolised in the liver and the kidney to produce the hormone calcitriol which, in turn controls calcium metabolism. UVB has also been shown to increase the skin’s barrier functions, increase the pigments in the skin and to act as a mild disinfectant for bacterial and fungal infections.

The diagram below shows why both ends of the light spectrum are important to this function

UVB lighting

UVA light, whilst not visible to the human eye, can be seen by reptiles and amphibians and is used in communication, recognition of food items and recognition of conspecifics

UVA lighting

We now know we need to provide UV light in the forms of UVA and UVB but how much? This is very dependent on where our reptile/amphibian comes from in the wild. How much sunlight, and as a result, UV light, is it exposed to in its natural habitat and can we mimic that in captivity?

Bearded dragons come from the deserts of Australia. They naturally have large amounts of sunlight and UV light every day. A nocturnal, forest dwelling gecko species, such as a crested gecko, will only see glimpses of sunlight through the canopy of the trees as it is hiding under a leaf during the day.

Many UV equipment manufacturers have marketed their lamps to be easier to understand and have tried to aim them toward certain habitats. For example, there are “desert” style lamps that emit higher levels of UV compared to  “jungle” or “natural sunlight”. These used to be marketed as 10%, 5% and 2% UVB lamps. This indicated how much of the lamp output was in the UVB range of wavelengths. This has now largely changed, and lamps are marketed differently for different brands. For example  Exo Terra now use 100, 150, and 200 (the amount of UVB recorded 10cm away from the lamp) and arcadia use desert, forest and shade dweller.

The most important thing to find out before committing to purchasing a UV setup is the natural range of UV for our reptile. Lots of research has gone into this in recent years and many of the commonly kept species have been categorised into 4 groups. These categories are called Ferguson zones and they differentiate the group depending on their natural UV levels in their natural range. This is measured as a UV index using a UVI meter. For example, nocturnal gecko species are Ferguson zone 1. They do not encounter large amounts of UV light in nature so need a UV index of 0-1.0. The bearded dragon however is in Ferguson zone 3, needing a UV index of 2.9-7.4. This is because they openly bask in the hot sun of the Australian desert.

Once we know what Ferguson zone suits our reptile or amphibian species, we can begin to plan our basking area. The Ferguson zone will also indicate how our reptile gains its energy. If it is in Ferguson zone 1-2, it is very unlikely to get direct sunlight in its natural range. This could be because it is nocturnal and doesn’t openly bask in the sunlight, or it could be a jungle species that lives under the canopy, so sunlight is filtered and reflected by the leaves above. If your reptile is in Ferguson zone 3 it is likely to be basking in direct sunlight and actively coming out during the day to bask. Fergusson zone 4 animals spend almost the entire day exposed to strong sunlight. We can provide the UV accordingly.

For a reptile that is in Ferguson zone 1 or 2, we can provide UV by the “shade” method. This is where we provide low levels of UV, over most of the enclosure and the animal can get away from the UV in hides or in the shade from plants/enrichment. For animals in Ferguson zones 3 and 4 we provide UV by the “sunbeam” method. As we discussed, these animals bask in direct sunlight. Natural sunlight contains UV, visible light and infrared (heat) light which we will discuss in more detail later. So, for us to provide high levels of UV, in the UV index range of 2.9-7.4, we provide it in the basking area at the hot end of the enclosure. We then provide a shaded end at the other end of the enclosure where the animal can regulate its UV exposure.

Now we have decided what Ferguson zone our reptile/amphibian belongs in and we have decided how we will provide the correct UV index in the enclosure according to the animal’s behaviour, we can choose the type of lamp. There are many methods to provide UV to our animals, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, there are many conflicting opinions on the internet about which method is best and it can get very confusing. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what type of UV lamp we are using, if we are providing the correct UV index for our species.

The usual way to provide UV in reptile enclosures currently are to use compact UV lamps (swirly bulbs), T8 tubes, T5 tubes, mercury vapour or metal halide. All have their advantages and disadvantages and we will discuss them in a bit more detail later but before we start it is important to note that levels of UV deteriorate over distance and time. The UV levels your reptile receives 30cm away from your lamp will be different to what they receive 10cm away. Also, what the animal receives 6 months later will be less at any distance. It is worth checking your lamp output regularly.

UV compact lamps are what they say on the tin. They are small, compact lamps that have been designed to fit inside a canopy which can sit on top of an enclosure. They are great for using in small enclosures or for additional UV at the basking site. However, they don’t project their UV very far so the basking area needs to be relatively close to the bulb.

T8 tubes are the thicker tubes, approximately 1 inch in diameter. These are used by a large proportion of the hobby. They are often the cheaper options of UV available and they can provide reasonable levels of UV for most enclosures. Again, UV deteriorates over distance and these lamps don’t project the UV as far as some others but can provide adequate UV for shade dwelling enclosures and if used correctly, for the sunbeam method.

T5 lamps are the higher end type of fluorescent tube and are more powerful than the compact lamps and T8 bulbs. They can project their UV further so the animal doesn’t need to be as close to get the same level of UV. They are slightly more expensive, though recent developments and a push from the reptile trade for better equipment in the hobby is making these more available to every keeper. These can be used for both shade dweller and sunbeam methods providing the correct intensity bulbs are chosen.  Both T8 and T5 lamps need a separate controller that is mounted outside of the vivarium. Some of these controllers can be used in any type of habitat but some can only be used in arid environments (i.e. cannot be sprayed with water as the fittings are not sealed) so do check first which one to use.

Mercury vapour lamps are large bulbs. They provide UVA, UVB, visible light and infrared light (heat). They are self-ballasted, meaning they can be put into a standard reptile light large eddsion screw fitting; however, they cannot be controlled on a thermostat. This is because the ballast requires constant voltage to be able to start the bulb and keep it running, and the thermostat will cut that power. This will cause the lamp to cut out and restart which will shorten the lifespan of the bulb. As they are such large bulbs, generally 80-160W, they provide lots of heat too (the glass surface gets very hot). This fact combined with not being able to be combined with a thermostat means they are often unsuitable for use inside a vivarium. They are however, very useful for large enclosures such as a room, or for open topped enclosures like tortoise tables or terrapin enclosures.

Finally, metal halide lamps are similar to mercury vapour in that they produce UVA, UVB, visible light and infrared, except that they require the use of an external ballast. This ballast effectively amplifies the electricity from your supply in order to start the bulb. This means the bulbs themselves can be lower wattage which helps to reduce the electricity bill. However, they still produce large amounts of infra-red radiation and cannot be used on a thermostat due to their ballast. Therefore, they are best used in open top enclosures or larger enclosures like mercury vapour. Trials have shown that they project UV light and visible light much further into the enclosure than other methods.

We know our Ferguson zone, we know how we will setup our UV lamp, either shade method or sunbeam method and we have decided on our UV lamp, now we need to set up the equipment and ensure the measured UV index is correct. For our bearded dragon we know it is Ferguson zone 3, needing a UV index of 2.9-7.4. It is best to use the sunbeam method, and as a result we will use a “desert” T8 or T5 bulb in our vivarium at the basking area in the hot end. Once we have this setup, we will turn it on and allow the lamp to “burn in”. Often UV lamps require a time to stabilise the output of UV. This is often around 100 hours of being on. After this period the amount of UV the lamp produces will be more stable and will then start to decline slowly over the lifecycle of the lamp. We will then check our UV index in the basking area, where the animal will sit, and it is hopefully reading within the range of 2.9-7.4.

Now for visible light. This is a developing area in reptile keeping as, for many years we have been happy being able to see our reptiles with the visible light that is also produced by our fluorescent UV tubes. However, more and more research is being done into the benefits of providing well-lit vivariums. A bright enclosure not only allows us to see the enclosure better but also stimulates more natural behaviours from our animals, even if they are a nocturnal species. Nocturnal species have been shown to react to light levels and carry out a behaviour known as cryptic basking. This can be, for example, where they are hiding under a leaf but have a foot sticking out. The reptile is therefore able to utilise light and infrared radiation, just as if it was basking in the open.

As we discussed the sun has UV, visible and infrared light all in one. But we need to provide multiple bulbs to produce the full spectrum effectively. Visible light is often added to an enclosure using LED lamps. These are high output, efficient lamps that provide a bright light. Many basking lamps also give out light in the UVA range.

We measure light levels in lumens and also the colours of light in degrees kelvin. As shown in the illustration at the start of the blog, visible light at different wavelengths appears to us as different colours, i.e.the colours of the rainbow. Reddish light (often seen at sunrise and sunset), shows when blue light is filtered out, which is around 3000K. Bluish light shows when the red light is filtered out which is often when it’s cloudy (10,000K). Bright sunlight is around 6500K and this is generally what LED manufacturers aim for. Bright, well-lit enclosures also have benefits for naturalistic or bioactive enclosures that contain live plants. Live plants require light in the visible light range of wavelengths in order to photosynthesis. By producing bright, full spectrum lighting, we can improve the health of our plants. The pros and cons of naturalistic and bioactive enclosures is another whole article in itself! To complete our lighting setup, we need an infra-red heat source. Like UV, infrared can be split into 3 categories. Near infra-red, middle infra-red and far infra-red.

UVA lighting

These 3 categories all provide warmth to the reptile/amphibian; however they provide it in different ways. The near/short infra-red is the wavelength that is closest to visible light. We cannot see it, but some reptiles can, and they will use this when choosing where to bask. This wavelength of infrared also penetrates the tissue of the reptile and has a deeper warming effect on the tissue than the other types of infrared. Mid-infrared penetrates the skin less than near infra-red but still has a moderate warming effect and far infra-red penetrates very little but has a surface warming effect for the items in the enclosure.

The different types of heating/lighting equipment we use produce different types of infra-red radiation. Again, the sun produces the whole range of this energy, along with UV light and visible light so we want to try and replicate that in our enclosures and provide a full spectrum of infra-red radiation too.

To provide near infra-red we can use incandescent bulbs such as halogen bulbs, or basking bulbs. These produce visible light that we can see, but the filaments inside them are very slowly burning and also producing near infra-red energy. As we discussed, this type of infra-red radiation penetrates the skin deeply and provides positive influences on the animal’s blood vessels and sub-cutaneous functions. For pre-vitamin d3 to convert to vitamin d3, the process requires warmth as shown in the illustration below.

UVB lighting

To produce mid infra-red, we can use “deep heat projectors”. These do not produce visible light but do produce near and mid infra-red. This helps to provide heat deep into the tissue of the animal without disturbing the day-night cycle and also without producing extra visible light. This can be an advantage if you already have a very bright basking area by using multiple UV bulbs, LED bulbs and incandescent bulbs, but you still need to increase the basking temperature.

 Finally, to produce far infra-red we can use equipment like heat mats, ceramic heat emitters or heating cable. This type of infra-red radiation is the type of infra-red that is reflected back into the environment once the sun has gone down. For example, a rock that has been under the sun all day and has been warmed by the sun’s energy. Once the sun goes down and external air temperatures start to decrease, the rock releases its energy back into the environment and cools down. This energy is in the form of far-infrared radiation. In our enclosures we can provide this by using the equipment listed above and this can help maintain temperatures overnight and provide a warm area for the animals to hide or move around in whilst still allowing a day/night cycle of visible and UVB light.

The reptile trade is developing equipment all the time. Recently, there has been a big push in the trade to try and move away from the old style of heating an enclosure using a heat mat at one end and that’s it. Now we understand more about the wavelengths of infra-red and how the provision of near infra-red wavelengths has so many benefits for reptiles and amphibians, we are trying to give a good full spectrum of lighting. However, to do this it is important that the heating elements of our spectrum should be on a thermostat. This ensures that the temperature doesn’t get too hot, and that the equipment is able to turn off when the enclosure gets above the required temperature for the species. In the wild, the animal would move itself into shade and escape the heat, or burrow into the substrate. However, without a thermostat turning our heating off in our enclosure, it can become like an oven with nowhere to escape to. Reptiles and amphibians can tolerate low temperatures for some time but over temperature can kill in minutes if extreme.

Near infra-red sources like incandescent light bulbs are best used on a dimming thermostat. This is because they also produce visible light (even the red lamps produce red light that we can see as well as infra red that we can’t). The light can be dimmed down by reducing the voltage applied and as a result the amount of infrared radiation is also dimmed down. If we were to use the other types of thermostats (pulse proportional or on/off) then the light will be flickering and it is likely to blow the bulb, meaning it needs replacing. This type of thermostat also gives the finest level of control as it keeps the highs and lows of temperature change closer and thus a more stable temperature overall. As the lamp spends a lot of time with the voltage applied to it lower than the maximum it is rated for the life of the bulb is also extended, sometimes quite significantly.

Heating elements like ceramic heat emitters are best used on a pulse proportional thermostat. This is where the electricity supply is on and off in short pulses. For example, when the temperature is too cold, the “on” pulse is longer than the “off” pulse. Then when the temperature is approaching the correct temperature, the pulses are about the same, 50/50. When it is too hot the “off” pulse is longer than the “on” pulse. This is why we use this type of thermostat with a far infra-red heating element as with an incandescent light bulb, this is likely to significantly reduce the life of the bulb.

The on/off thermostat is generally used for heat mats and cables and is the most basic of the thermostats. The heating element is on full power until it reaches temperature, and then it is completely off. This creates large peaks and troughs in temperature and is the least stable level of control. Heat mats can also introduce the chance of a phenomenon called “thermal blocking”. This is where the enclosure is cold, so the reptile moves to the heat mat to warm up. The heat mat is mainly producing far infra-red. It is not warming the air in the enclosure very much and not penetrating the tissue of the reptile. As a result, the reptile still feels cold, so stays on the heat mat. The heat mat stays on at full power as the thermostat probe thinks it is too cold because the reptile is sitting on the heat mat, blocking the heat warming the air temperature in the enclosure. As a result, the reptile can get burnt, even when using a thermostat. Therefore, if heat mats are used, it is often recommended to put them on the side of the enclosure so the animal cannot sit on them. This mainly effects large animals that can significantly cover the mat with their body.

That is an overview of lighting our reptile enclosures. It covers the principles of UV lighting, visible lighting and infra-red heating and the need to provide the full spectrum to our captive reptiles and amphibians. For detailed information on individual species the supplier should be asked for further advice. Animals should only be purchased from licensed suppliers who are able to give advice on the animals they are selling. Licences are graded from one to five stars. Always choose a 5 star supplier.

George Angell Bsc (Hons)

Countryside Management Course Leader & Lecturer

Abingdon and Witney College in Partnership with Oxford Brookes University

Spotted Python Care Sheet

The spotted python (Antaresia maculosa) is one of the smallest python species in the world, although it is the largest in its genus (the smallest is the ant hill python). They reach between 90 to 110cm in length and are a relatively slender python. The species ranges from eastern Queensland, Australia down to north eastern New South Wales in the wild but they are readily available as captive bred snakes. Their docile and calm nature, small size and attractive spotted pattern make them fantastic first snakes for someone looking for something a little different to the standard cornsnake/royal python usuallly suggested. Also when enclosure space is an issue the smaller size makes them a great option.

Housing

A spotted python’s natural habitat is dry, open forest. They are often found around rocky outcrops that provide holes and caves for them to hide in. A wooden enclosure around 70 – 90cm is ideal. Glass can be used but be aware that as glass does not keep in the heat the heating bill will be higher and larger wattage heaters are likely to be needed. Done correctly though a bioactive display enclosure will look impressive. Be sure to use appropriate plants that can tolerate lower soil humidity levels.

Heating

The cheapest method of heating a vivarium would be to use a combination of a suitably sized heat mat and on/off thermostat. Due to the smaller size of the spotted python this would suffice (no thermal blocking). However a more steady temperature can be acheived using a ceramic heat emitter and pulse proportional thermostat. If using a ceramic heat emitter and heater guard is essential to prevent the snake touching the very hot surface and burning itself. The temperature should range across the enclosure, with a “high end” and a “low end” so if you have more than one heat source make sure they are at the same end. The hot end wants to be around 29-30 degrees celcius and the cold end 23 – 26 degrees C. This gradient allows the snake to move to different areas to thermoregulate. Most reptiles do not maintain their own body temperature internally and rely on the external temperature of their surroundings so must have areas where they can warm up and cool down.

spotted python thermostats

Lighting

The debate over whether snakes really need UVB goes on. Due to the higher calcium content of their diet many breeders and hobbysists have been keeping snakes without UVB for years with great success. However it can be demonstrated that your spotted python will benefit from low levels of UVB (and UVA) in terms of stimulating natural behaviour and activity as well as improved calcium uptake from the diet. Whatever light source you use needs to be switched on during the day and off at night to give the snake a day/night cycle to stimulate natural behaviour.

Feeding and Watering

We feed our snakes once a week on suitably sized defrosted mice and rats. Being a smaller snake the spotted python will not need to be moved onto rats, as soon as possible as with some larger species. It is never going to need anything larger than a mouse. However it is a good idea to vary the diet, rather than just feed one species of rodent. We feed mice, rats up to small weaner, multimammate mice (actually a type of rat). Hamsters, gerbils, chicks etc. are also available for fussy feeders but spotted puthons are generally good feeders so this wouldn’t normally be necessary. As with all snakes, defrost the food naturally and if necessary warm to blood heat gently (in a plastic bag under your arm if you only have one or two specimens to feed, on top of the viv. above the heater if you have a few). Never defrost or heat the food in a microwave or on a radiator. Snakes can get food poisoning too, although most will simply decline the spoilt rodent. Ensure a water bowl, large enough for the snake to emmerce itself if required, is placed at the cool end of the viv. Don’t place it at the hot end, it will evaporate too quickly and make the viv. too humid. Keep the bowl clean and replace the water daily. It is surprising how quickly bacteriea will grow in the hot, enclosed environment of a vivarium.

spotted python

Substrate and Decor

I like natural looking enclosures so tend to use natural looking substates. For a dry forest snake like a spotted python we are using a combination of coir, bark chips mixed with a sandy soil. It looks great but it is not what you “have to use”. Any suitable snake substrate such as lignocel, aspen, straight bark chips etc will do. I just prefer trying to create a natural look and feel, you don’t have to. It is easier to spot the poop with the lighter colloured substrates so there is always that to take into account. Spotted pythons are quite shy snakes so really do appreciate their hides. Any non toxic material will do, plastic, resin caves etc. I prefer cork bark (more natural looking and safer than rock stacks) but it’s up to you. A branch will be appreciated and some greenery in the form of silk plants will finish the look off.

Spotted pythons make excellent beginner snakes due to their docile nature and small adult size. But Make sure when purchasing you use a reputable, 5 star licenced supplier with a good returns policy to ensure you can buy with confidence.

Madagascan Giant Day Gecko Care Sheet

The largest of the 70 or so species/sub species of the Phelsuma genus. This fascinating bright green, usually red spotted, arboreal gecko comes originally from the north area of Madagascar. As the name suggests this is a diurnal (active by day) lizard. It feeds mainly on insects, smaller vertebrates and some nectar. The Madagascan Giant Day Gecko hunts through the branches and leaves and has the lamellar pads on their toes that make geckos (some) famous for being able to climb vertical surfaces and even hang up side down from leaves and ceilings. In captivity they have no problem running round the glass sides of a suitable vivarium. Anyone considering a bioactive set up would do well to consider the day geckos. I had this set up myself with a breeding pair of Giant Day Geckos (Phelsuma grandis) and it looked the business.

Madagascan giant day gecko

Housing

The Madagascan Gian Day Gecko is arboreal so height is as important as floor space. The larger the enclosure the better but as a minimum 60cm long by 60cm high. They can grow up to 30cm (male) although not always. Females are usually a couple of inches smaller. As already stated, they are very agile. They can also be very fast and will shoot out through an open vivarium door if you’re not careful. If they do then you are left chasing a very quick lizard around your walls and ceiling, at my age not that easy. They are known for being escape artists, you have been warned.

madagascan giant day gecko

If using a wooden vivarium you will need to ensure it is well sealed. These are tropical/sub tropical lizards and the humidity will blow the panels if not properly sealed. I prefer glass for these and similar animals because they are better suited to to the humidity and for spraying the plants and gecko with water. Also, unless you are using some sort of tray liner, wood or more properly melamine) is not suitable for a bio active setups. There are at least four readily available brands of glass vivarium/terrarium currently in the UK (and we have accounts with all of them) and a host of custom builders.

Heating

Madagascan Day Geckos are tropical/sub tropical lizards so some form of heating is essential to the continued health of the lizard. Which ever form of heating is used, a temperature gradient across the vivarium will allow the gecko to thermoregulate. Nearly all reptiles are poikilothermic. That is their internal body temperature varies with the temperature of their surroundings (unlike us homeotherms who maintain a stable internal body temperature). They need a hot end (30-32C in the basking area) and a cold end (24-25C) with a gradient in between so they can position themselves to warm up and cool down as required. There are a variety of heating products on the market that can achieve this but I will just outline one method here (with variation depending on budget) as it is the one I tend to use.

A heat mat, mounted to the side of the vivarium to give background heat. This can be left on day and night and connected to a thermostat to switch it off if temperatures get too high (more likely in the day time – why will be clear in a second). A second heat (and light) source, at the same end as the heat mat, mounted above the mesh of the vivarium lid, in the form of a basking lamp. This gives a “hot spot” for the gecko to bask in when it wants to warm up and if a UVA lamp is used it also helps stimulate natural behaviour and colour in the lizard. This lamp is only on during the day giving a day/night difference in temperatures.

Alternatively you could put the basking lamp on a dimmer stat. (dims it down if it gets to hot by reducing the voltage applied to the lamp, which has the added benefit of prolonging lamp life) and have a smaller mat on all the time for background heat. The second method gives finer control but a dimmer stat. is twice the cost of a mat stat. so… As long as the Madagascan Day Gecko is protected from over temperature, either will work fine. If using a wooden vivarium, all heat sources would need to be on a thermostat of some description as wood is a good insulator and will keep the heat in. Glass vivariums usually have mesh lids. Heat rises and escapes so the chances of dangerously high temperatures is much reduced.

Only house one male in an enclosure as males will fight. If housing a male and female together ensure you have a large enclosure with plenty of furniture to ensure the female can avoid the male when she wants. Constant attention form the male will at best cause distress and at worst physical injury.

Lighting

Most of the food you are going to feed to your Madagascan Giant Day gecko is going to have a poor calcium/phosphorous ratio, namely live insects. This imbalance can be corrected by supplementing the diet with calcium in one form or another. However unless the correct levels of UVB light are supplied then this dietary calcium remains unavailable to the gecko. Animals (us included) use light in the UVB range of the spectrum to synthesize vitamin D3 in the skin. Vitamin D3 is used to metabolize calcium in the diet (and as we are all aware with the COVID pandemic, by the immune system). No vitamin D3, no calcium absorbed from food. The body then goes on the hunt for calcium as it is required by the nervous system and it will start to rob it from the only source left to it, the bones. This leads to a horrible, debilitating disorder called “metabolic bone disease”. The bones start to go thin and even bendy. Mild cases can be reversed but severe cases, even when conditions are corrected, will leave the gecko with deformed limbs and joints. It is painful, crippling and can be fatal and it is totally avoidable with the right UVB lighting. It is even worse in young, growing geckos as obviously they need more calcium to actively grow bones. A Madagascan Giant Day gecko is diurnal, so it is out in the partial sun all day. It is generally classed as a Ferguson zone 3 reptile which means it needs a UVI (UV index) range of 1.0 – 2.6 (Maximum UVI: 2.9 – 7.4 in basking zone).

Don’t worry too much about the technical details of this but the type of UVB lamp you use will depend on the set up of your vivarium and the positioning of the lamp. Not only are there differing strengths of UVB lamp (5%, 10% etc.) but different types, T8 tubes, T5 tubes, compact, mercury vapour, metal hallide. The important thing is that the gecko gets enough UVB light during the day. Unless you possess an expensive UVI meter to check the levels you can only go on a basic understanding of what you are buying.

If the lamp is going to be very close to the basking spot or area where the gecko spends most of the time then a 5% compact will work. If it is going to be a little further then a 10% would be better. If you wish to use a more spread out source then go for a tube. T5 tubes kick out more UVB than T8 tubes but are more expensive. Mercury vapour and metal hallide are probably too strong for this set up and generate a lot of heat, unless of course they are mounted much further away from the lizard. UVB does not travel far from the lamp and the level decays over distance. The stronger the lamp the further it will reach so Mercury vapour are better for ground dwelling species like tortoises or more specialized set ups (such as very large enclosures or rooms). If in any doubt speak to your local reptile shop. In the UK, as part of the license conditions (and you have to have a license to sell animals commercially here) all shops must have a UVI meter and record readings daily. They will know exactly what lamp you need for your set up. Note that ALL UVB lamps will need to be replaced annually. It may still light up but it will no longer be giving out sufficient UVB.

I mentioned UVA with reference to basking lamps in the heating section. UVA stimulates natural behavior and brings out colour. It does not facilitate vitamin D3 synthesis so a UVA lamp alone is not sufficient. They are different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. It may surprise you how many times, when asked what UV lamp they have, customers just have a basking lamp and when it is pointed out that that is mainly for heat and doesn’t provide UVB they tell me “it says UV on the box”.

What about UVC? Well that is the part of the spectrum responsible for skin damage and cancer. No lamps sold for reptiles as UVA or UVB generate any UVC.

All forms of lighting used should be on for around 12 hours a day and off at night to give a day/night cycle that will encourage natural behaviour and benefit the wellbeing of the Madagascan Day Gecko.

Feeding and Watering

I have already alluded to the diet of the Madagascan Giant Day Gecko. In the wild they eat insects, some vertebrates that are much smaller than themselves and nectar. This diet can be easily recreated in captivity. There is a a much wider range of commercially produced live insects on the market now than when I started keeping reptiles getting on for 50 (cough) years ago. I would recommend varying the diet. Don’t just feed one type of insect. They will take whatever they can get in the wild so swapping the food around a bit is good for them. Not only does it just provide a variety from a behavioral aspect but the insects themselves have different nutritional benefits. I am not going into detail of the different fat, protein, calcium, phosphorous etc. levels of all the available insects here, just vary what is presented and you will be OK. Also gut loading the insect before feeding to the gecko significantly boosts the nutritional content. The lizard eats the whole thing, including whatever the the insect has just eaten (so watch what plants you use that the insects might nibble on!). Just feed some carrot to small to medium small crickets for proof, they almost glow orange! Feeding veg. such as carrot, kale, lettuce, basil etc. will not only boost the vitamins and minerals available to the gecko but will also keep the insects alive. DO NOT let the veg. spoil though. This will wipe out the livefood pretty quickly. They will get sweaty and smelly and you have just wasted a couple of quid. Feed very small amounts frequently (should be all gone in a couple of hours or so) rather than a large chunk for the week.

For the nectar content of the diet there are commercially available powders that you just add water to and present in some sort of small container. Always make these up in small amounts daily and do not allow to spoil. They can also be used to gut load the insects. There also jelly pots available and the geckos seem to like these too.

I never bother with vertebrates. If you want you can try presenting a defrosted pinkie. The diet ours receive is well balanced enough to make this a bit pointless. Remember, in the UK it is illegal to feed live vertebrates to another animal (except under strictly defined circumstances that are not relevant here).

You can present water in a small bowl and the gecko will drink from it. However I prefer to spray the leaves of any fake or real plants at least daily and allow the gecko to drink from that. If you do use a bowl/dish or something flasher like a water fall set, make sure you keep the water fresh. In a warm environment with insects and gecko poop falling in it will get very nasty, very quickly.

Vivarium Decor

People write books about this subject alone so I am only going to cover the basics. I tend to categorize set ups into three types.

Standard or basic. A suitable substrate on the floor, something that helps maintain a bit of humididity like Cresty Life or Coir mixed with bark chips. Your set up, your choice. Some people don’t use any substrate and just wipe the base daily. Fair enough, bit too boring and too much work for me but I guess it works if you spray more frequently. Fake plants both to spray for the Madagascan Day Gecko to drink from and to provide cover (plastic and silk are available, although I prefer silk as I think they look more “real”). A small container for the mixed food and away you go.

Does the job but it will need the substrate cleaning regularly. You can prolong the life by spot cleaning the gecko poop but I challenge any one to find the cricket faeces! After a couple of months it will start to pong a bit and you will start to get fungus growing which will be detrimental to health.

Standard set up but with added detrivores.

Detrivores are small invertebrates (at least in this case) that, well eat detritus. There are several species available that devour the faeces and break it down into nutrients available to plants. If you are using a standard set up with fake plants, you will still have to periodically clean out the substrate but much less frequently.

Bio Active Set Up

To do this properly I strongly recommend using a drainage layer. You can do it without but it is much more difficult to maintain the correct soil moisture content. Too dry and your plants will not thrive, too wet and you could lose the lot very quickly. Plus the soil could go anoxic, which apart from being unhealthy for the lizard, absolutely stinks.

On the bottom you place a reasonable layer of drainage material, usually clay balls. Over this you place a porous membrane or fleece layer to keep the substrate out of the drainage media. On top of this you place your substrate. For good plant growth use a quality forest media with added plant nutrients. I often put a watering tube through the substrate and membrane into the drainage media so water can be added directly to the media for the plants to access when they have established roots but you don’t have to. Add in your detrivores. I use different species (and different sized) woodlice, springtails (an even smaller species of isopod) and in the past have also used white worms (tiny, threadlike detrivores). These should thrive in the substrate and breakdown all the waste so bacteria can have a go and produce nutrients for your plants. Add plants suitable for the environment. There are so many available I am not going to this subject at all here but you want a variety of different heights. These can be planted directly into the substrate if it is deep enough. If you really want lush plant growth you may have to invest in a specialist lamp specifically for them. There are a number of brands making LED lamps for plant growth in vivariums and they all seem to work well. Your vivarium set up will dictate the size and power required. Spray a couple of times a day (more than you would in a basic set up, you are watering the plants too) and that’s it. OK, not really. You will become a bit of an indoor gardener but the gecko is going to love it and you don’t have to clean it out, just clean the water marks off the glass occasionally. Using rainwater reduces the amount of water marks generated and makes them easier to clean off – no mineral deposits.

Lifespan

This is often overlooked by new owners. By taking on any animal you are taking on a commitment to being responsible for that animal’s welfare for the entirety of its life. In the case of a Madagascan Giant Day Gecko this is usually around 8-12 years although there are reports of up to 20 years. If you can’t plan for this and budget for replacing equipment as it reaches the end of its life or fails then please don’t buy an animal at all. If you can then you have many years of observing these fascinating animals interacting with the forest you have created in your living rom.

Temporary Opening Hours Change

Due to staff having to self isolate (another member of a household testing positive for COVID) we are having to change our opening hours and temporarily suspend our free local delivery service for a couple of weeks.

We will be closing at 4pm each afternoon until Saturday 23rd of January. Any orders already placed will be delivered by our remaining staff member but we will be unable to free deliver any new orders until week commencing 25th.

Customers who use our FREE local delivery service can still order “click and collect” through our website or over the telephone or visit the store (face masks please). We will be restricting numbers in the store at any one time to two customer groups ( currently 4) and would urge customers to bring as few family members as possible. We will also be closing for lunch during this period from 12:30 to 13:00.

As soon as the self isolation period is over we will review these restrictions. Please note that no Angell Pets staff members have tested positive but we are taking these steps to protect our customers in line with government regulations and guidance.

Thank you for your understanding during this difficult period

Latest Covid Restrictions – We Are OPEN

The government has just announced another almost full lockdown, similar to the one in March. Non essential retail and hospitality businesses must close from Thursday, you must work from home where possible, households must not mix (except for support bubbles) etc. As with the March lockdown we will be remaining OPEN. As we provide food and hygiene products for animals we are classed as an essential business and can stay open under the new rules. We will however have to make some small changes

When restrictions were relaxed, we were able to let more customer groups in at one time (we settled on three as this still allowed some social distancing in our rather small store). However, with the new guidelines and I am afraid the behaviour towards staff of some members of the public, we may have to restrict this further from time to time. In reality this will only have a small effect but it may mean you will have to wait for entry for a couple of minutes. To minimize wait times we would ask customers who know before hand what they want to pre-order their supplies by telephone or alternatively use our click and collect service available through our webstore (telephone is generally better). This just speeds up our checkout and will go along way to keeping queues to a minimum.

Obviously with potentially allowing fewer customer groups in at a time we cannot allow general viewing of the animals. Whilst people are looking at the animals that are on display (because their enclosures cannot be moved) just out of interest, someone else could be waiting out in the cold to be served, which is just not fair. It has been suggested that we should black out the enclosures we cannot move but I would rather treat our customers as adults and rely on them to be sensible. We will put up explanatory notices and ask customers to desist if it does happen, please do not be offended, we are just trying to keep it fair for everyone. If you are genuinely interested in purchasing an animal, please make this known to us when you come in and let us know what animal you are interested in first. We cannot accommodate request such as “I want to buy a pet” – “Which one?” – “I don’t know let me have a look at what you have”. We have a lot, it takes too long, you should know a little about the animal before you try to buy it in any case. All our current livestock is on our website and can be viewed before coming to the store.

We also still have our FREE local delivery service running (not for animals, you must come to the store to purchase an animal). Just telephone us your order and we will bring it to your door on the designated day for your area (generally two alternative evenings a week for each local area). We can also deliver further out for a small charge on Friday evenings (Stroud, the Forest etc.). At the moment we are open until 5:30pm and start our deliveries from then. However if the service grows rapidly in popularity again, as it did during the first lockdown, we may have to adjust our closing time to allow us to complete more deliveries per day. Watch this space!

We thank you in advance for you patience and recognise that our genuine customers have worked hard with us to enable the business to remain open and operating as well as it can with the restrictions placed on us all.

Unfortunately, as we do have livestock in store, we do attract a lot of people who are not customers and just like to have somewhere to bring their children to kill some time or just to treat us as a free zoo. We have had a significant number of incidents of abuse aimed of staff since the first lockdown and it is generally with these groups or with others who refuse to follow the guidelines on social distancing, masks, numbers in the store etc. I don’t like to have to re-iterate it but we will not tolerate any abuse, verbally or physically, you will be ejected from the store and where we deem it appropriate the police will be called (as with the idiot who for some reason threatened to run me over, rape my mother, attack my daughter and burn the shop down!) Yep, that’s what we have to deal with!

Unless you are wishing to make a purchase please follow the government’s advice and “Stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives”. If you are coming to the store to make a purchase or collect an order please “Wash hands, cover face and make space”. We are all in this together and we will do our bit to make your shopping experience as easy and stress free as we can, please do the same for us so we can remain open throughout.

The Angell Pets Team

New Biodegradeable packaging for hay and straw

We now stock Pillow Wad hay and straw in 100% biodegradeable, plastic free, compostable packaging. This in line with our policy of trying our best to replace as much plastic as possible in our products and packaging.

pillow wad

We recently changed our APL Grain Free dog food to brown paper sacks and this has proved very popular with our customers. It has had an added bednefit to us as well as the new paper bags are tougher than the old plastic ones that often split at the seams during transit to us. Other brands, such as Hollings are also moving away from plastic and we are stocking more of their products as they do.

Venison strips

Customers may also have noticed that plastic is gradually disappearing from the packaging of other products as diverse as reptile thermostats and hamster balls as we work with our suppliers to reduce our impact on the environment. Or suppliers are also using less plastic packaging in their deliveries to us, replacing bubble wrap with heavy duty brown paper, polystyrene with cardboard and plastic bags with boxes.

We stopped using plastic carrier bags some time ago, long before the supermarkets etc jumped on the bandwagon so we were ahead of the curve there. Most customers bring their own bags now but for those who don’t have one we provide cardboard boxes, recylcled sacks or the inimitable “bag for life” for 50p.

Our next step is to replace the clear plastic bags we use for our “bagged up” bird, mammal and fish foods with a suitable biodegradable alternative. This is proving more difficult than it should due to finding the correct size and price. We recently found what looked like a contender but it turned out each bag in the size we need would cost us 600 times as much as our current bags (yes 600!). This would have added 59p to each item which made them not viable. We think we have found another alternative that is only 6 times the current cost (only!) which we think we can absorb without having to increase the price of most products. Hopefully as more competition enters the non plastic packaging market the price will come down further.

We are only a small independant retailer. In the grand scheme of things we know we are not making that much difference but our tag line is “promoting repsonsible and ethical pet ownership” so we have to do something and we would rather lead than follow.

The Angell Pets Team

New, Extended Opening Hours

With the continued easing of lock down measures, things are slowly returning to normal. This week schools started to re-open and even more year groups start back next week. Whilst lock down has been on we have been closing early in order to carry out deliveries to local customers who were self isolating or just could not get to us. With kids going back to school, customers will want us to be there after schools close so they can shop or pick up orders on their way home. We are also seeing a drop off in the amount of free home delivery orders in the afternoons as more people are coming to us to shop so we are now in a position to extend the opening hours to pre-covid times (remember them, it seems a lifetime ago).

Our new opening hours are as follows from Monday 07/09/2020

Monday 1pm – 5:30pm

Tuesday 10am – 5:30pm

Wednesday 10am- 5:30pm

Thursday 10am – 5:30pm

Friday 10am – 5:30pm

Saturday10am – 5:30pm

Sunday – CLOSED

Bank Holidays – CLOSED

Customers using the FREE local home delivery service will be pleased to hear we will be keeping this on for the foreseeable future. Obviously deliveries will be later in the day now as we won’t be starting until 5:30pm. We are happy to provide this free service but would ask those customers that are able to visit the store to do so as it really does stretch our limited and rather ageing (me) work force. Of course some of the items we sell are rather bulky and we are happy to continue to deliver these.

The Angel Pets Team

Face Masks Mandatory In Store From 24/07/20

As part of the governments relaxing of lock down measures and attempts to prevent a second spike in corona virus infections, face masks will have to be worn in shops from Friday 24/07/20. In response to this latest change in regulations we have updated our corona virus proceedures.

All customers will have to wear a mask to come in the shop from Friday until further notice. We appreciate that some people are exempt. However we have no way of checking if someone is in one of the exempt categories or not, so this is a very difficult situation for staff to manage. To keep it fair to everyone and to avoid any argument, only customers wearing masks will be able to come inside the shop. Exempt customers will be served at the door or can use our FREE home delivery service as most exempt customers (not all) are more at risk from the virus anyway and staying home would be safer for them. We have posted the following note on the door for anyone who does not receive a message before hand, although it has been widely reported in the media anyway.

The wearing of masks does reduce the risk of spreading the virus so it also allows us to let more customer groups in the store at a time (currently limited to one customer group). However we will still be limiting the total number of customers in at any one time, at our discretion. Due to this we are still not allowing general members of the public in to just look at animals with no intention of making a purchase.

In the last few weeks, as lock down measures have been eased and more people are out and about we have had too many non customers being abusive and aggressive to staff. We have been told to F off by an actual customer when he was asked to wait until the lady at the counter had left before coming in, had abuse hurled at staff when people have come in to kill time and have not been allowed to look at the animals as we have had genuine customers outside waiting, had grown men push past staff and shove their face next to them whilst they were feeding the reptiles, just to get a better look and then storm out when asked to maintain a safe distance. The list is getting longer every day. We have always had a zero tolerance policy to abuse of staff and anyone behaving in this manner will be leaving immediately. The virus has not gone away and in order to stay open we must follow government guidelines no matter what the public thinks of its efficacy or even what we think ourselves. It is a difficult situation for retail staff to find themselves in and we will not be engaging in arguments as to whether or not a mask is necessary. Staff do not have to wear masks under the regulations but to make genuine customers more comfortable and to head off the “why should I when you’re not” comments from the non customers; we will be wearing masks as well when customers are present.

Thank you in advance for your understanding as we all try to come to terms with the change in requirements.

The Angell Pets Team