Adopting Reptiles: Where to Look

Let’s talk adoption. You hear it all the time with cats and dogs, but how often do you hear it with herps? Probably not often. 

Depending on where you live, part of this could be due to the fact that you just never see snakes or lizards in shelters.

Many of you know that both my leopard gecko and green iguana were adopted/rescued. After they got me started along this path, I vowed that I would try to keep most if not all reptiles that I get adoptions and rescues.

Fun fact: I recently decided that I want a snake, so I’m currently in the process of looking for one in need of a home.

So, how do you go about finding a reptile outside of a pet store or a breeder?

My top two answers are Facebook and Craigslist.

* I will always recommend checking petfinder and your local shelters first! Unfortunately, where I live this doesn’t work for me, but you might have better luck! Also, check with you local pet stores. Sometimes people will surrender their pets to them. This is how I got Zephyr - you can find out more about that adoption story from my first blog post! My First Reptile: The Adoption that Started a Lifestyle  *

Ok so let’s get into it!

FACEBOOK

Ever since I rescued my iguana, Facebook groups have become my favorite thing! There is a group out there for everything you can imagine! I am part of so many reptile groups, it’s amazing to truly get involved and feel like you are actually a part of the reptile community.

A lot of areas have groups dedicated to rehoming animals. You’ll find a lot of dogs and cats here, but sometimes there are reptiles! 

The other nice part about these groups are if you are looking for something, you can just post what it is you are looking for. This way people know and can get in touch with you, or tag people they may know that have the animal you are looking for. I’ve done this in a couple animal groups in my area looking for a snake.

CRAIGSLIST

I'm going to be honest, I am ever so slightly obsessed with Craigslist….

Many people don’t realize they actually have a section dedicated to pets. I am 100% guilty of scrolling through this section during my free time just for fun. I always see a ton of reptiles posted on Craigslist!

A word of caution though - some of the animals you will find on here aren’t coming from good homes and may have been neglected. Always keep this into consideration when looking at animals on this site. If you are willing to potentially financially support and put time into the animals health problems then go for it! Otherwise, make sure you ask the owners lots of questions about the animals current set up and diet, and always ask to see the animal before agreeing to take it home with you.

Just like facebook, the best way to find a particular animal is to create a post! Just title the post “ISO” and then whatever it is you are looking for. “ISO” stands for “In search of”.

I’ve done this a couple times now in my search for a snake. I got lots of a respondents when I did “ISO snake”. This trick has also helped me find great deals on tanks!

I am 100% behind trying to find an animal that needs a new home before going and purchasing one from a store or breeder. Of course if there is a specific morph you are looking for or a specific type of reptile, it may be unavoidable, but it wouldn’t hurt to try looking around to see if you can find one that needs a new home first!

Comment or reach out to me and share your rescue/adoption stories! 😄