Educational Links
Welcome to our Educational Links page. When we first got our bearded dragons, we struggled to learn about their care requirements due to the contradictory and conflicting statements from pet owners and hobbyists found on the internet and FaceBook. We prefer to learn from reptile experts such as veterinarians, herpetologists, educators, and longtime breeders. Below are some links to informational websites, YouTube channels, and blogs that we feel provide research-based insight and advice about caring for your reptiles. We hope these sources provide you with the same benefits. We would love to add to our list. If you know of additional resources you feel would be beneficial to our readers please send them to us so we can review and possibly add to our list: support@zenhabitats.com.
Websites - YouTube Channels - Blogs
Reptile Magazine is a great source of information about reptiles in general, news that impacts reptiles, species-specific articles, care sheets, breeding, and more. This is where to go to learn more about reptiles in the wild, as well as pets. They offer care sheets on frogs & amphibians, lizards, snakes, and turtles & tortoises. There is great information for pet owners of ball pythons, corn snakes, blue tongue skinks, box turtles, and so many more. Their care sheets provide great insight on the set-up of your enclosures, heating & lighting, terrarium substrate, feeding requirements, and handling & temperament of the reptiles.
Reptifiles provides great insight specifically on reptile pet care. This page is run by Mariah Healey, who is a reptile educator and focuses on husbandry of common reptile pets. ReptiFiles dives into factual, evidence-based research to provide you the care instructions you need on the following reptiles: ball pythons, bearded dragons, blue tongue skinks, corn snakes, crested geckos, Dumeril’s boas, gargoyle geckos, hognose snakes, Jackson’s chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, leopard geckos, mourning geckos, and tegus.
BeardedDragon.org is a great resource for bearded dragon specific information. BeardedDragon.org likes to call themselves, “Your Ultimate Bearded Dragon Resource” and we couldn’t agree more. When we first purchased our bearded dragons, we were having issues with them glass surfing and attempted biting. We turned to BearedDragon.org and learned a few things- The pet store sold us a “bearded dragon kit” which was too small. Glass aquariums induce a territorial response in bearded dragons due to their reflections. Approaching bearded dragons from the top screen causes stress, as our hands mimic birds of prey. Additionally, we learned bearded dragons should not cohabitate. It was from BeardedDragon.org that we realized suitable habitats were not commercially available for reptile owners and that was when we created Zen Habitats.
Clint’s Reptiles has a YouTube channel that talks about various reptile species and how they rate as pets. Clint is a professional biologist and educator who provides great insight into reptile pets. He does a great job explaining each species of reptiles and how easy or difficult they are to care for. He has a 1 to 5 rating on each species that includes considerations such as availability, affordability, ease of housing, ease of feeding, and fun. He has reptile-specific videos where he dives deep into a specific species like the bearded dragon, ball python, corn snake, uromastyx, ackie monitors, and so many more. He also has Top 5 videos that are great for people who are not sure which species they are most interested in.
Brian Barczyk’s YouTube channel is a family friendly vlog. Brian is the creator and star of shows such as SnakeBytesTV, AnimalBytesTV, and Discovery Channel’s Venom Hunters. Brian also owns and operates the Reptile Zoo in Michigan, which we honestly can’t wait to visit. Brian is a reptile breeder and has bred corn snakes, milk snakes, king snakes, rat snakes, ball pythons, sand boas, woma pythons, spotted pythons, Children's pythons, and carpet pythons. His videos are entertaining and insightful and are great for anyone looking to learn more about wild reptiles and how to care for their pets.
Beardie Vet is an Australian veterinarian who conducts research of pogona vitticeps, aka bearded dragons. Dr. Jonathon Howard's mission is "to provide scientifically accurate information on bearded dragons (Pogona species) to help better understand and appreciate them in a wild and captive setting." He has a series of great educational videos on his FaceBook page that we find fascinating and helpful in understanding bearded dragons.
Articles
Environmental enrichment has been something we have been fascinated with for a while and this article does a great job in discussing the importance of creating an enriching environment for your reptiles. Read this article about environmental enrichment.
Winter becomes a lonely time for many reptile owners as their beloved pets tend to start brumating. We found this great article on healthy tips for brumation you should check out.