Simple Steps to Taming (almost) any reptile

Let’s be clear: I love every reptile that has crawled or slithered through this house, whether they’ve been sanctuaried or have gone to a new family. But most of the ones that have come into my care have come with a bit of an attitude problem. And when I say most, I mean roughly 90% of them. 

But despite all of that hissing and anger, I’ve been bit three times, and admittedly, every single one of those times was my fault. 

So how did I manage to tame all of these reptiles? How did I teach them to trust? Today, we’ll be covering what I’ve learned handling aggressive reptiles, and tips you can use to tame your reptile, whether it is a fresh little baby or an adult that may need to learn some human trust.

View Reptiles for What They Are

When you get a Reptile, it’s easy to feel inclined to look at it the way you would a dog or a cat or even a person. This is one of the biggest mistakes that I see being made in pet ownership daily. By treating your reptile as you would another species or even humanizing it, not only does it set you up for disappointment when it comes to your own pet, it also makes it hard for you to recognize what your pet is trying to communicate. 

All animals communicate their needs and ways unique to their specific species, reptiles included. 

So before you dive into taming or handling a reptile, let’s make sure we’re on the same page: you’re not handling a dog or a cat, and you’re not interacting with another human being. We need to stop seeing reptiles as something they’re not in order to build the best bond with them and effectively communicate.

Taming = building a bond. 

The two concepts go hand-in-hand.

I have several reptiles that only allow me to handle them as opposed to others simply based on the fact that we’ve built up our own personal connection. And you can have that same bond! By taking the time and putting in the effort, you can learn how to effectively communicate with your reptile. The first step is to put yourself into the mindset of realizing that your reptile is special, and its species is special. It cannot be approached the same way as you would other pets or even people.

See from Your Reptile’s Perspective 

You know as well as I do that we mean no harm to our reptiles. But they don’t. What they see is this big, hulking creature that is bending and reaching these long fleshy things (fingers, ahem) to pluck them from their homes and—actually, that alone sounds terrifying to me.

Once you learn to see yourself from your pet reptile's perspective, you can learn how to make yourself appear less intimidating. 

Reaching from Eye Level

Something I’ve learned over the years is, reaching from above makes you appear like a predator that’s come to scoop them up and eat them. Obviously, that idea is simply not the case, but our lizards don’t know that. They have no idea what our intentions are. So instead of reaching from above, try reaching from eye level.

This is why I always recommend having front-opening enclosures *2. Regardless of the species you have, having an enclosure that opens from the front makes it less intimidating to the reptile when you reach in. You don’t seem as big or scary as you would if reaching from above.

Take Things Slow

Now that you’re able to comfortably interact with your reptile, you want to make sure to take things slooooooow.

Baby. Step. This. Process.

It’s easy to get excited and want to jump in headfirst with your new pet—or maybe even a seasoned pet that you’ve owned for a while that you’re just starting to make some progress with—when they begin to show even the slightest flicker of trust, whether that’s allowing you to pet their head or they’re no longer scrambling to hide at the mere sight of you.

You do not need to reach in immediately and pick up your scared reptile to teach it to trust you. That is not going to help. I am a firm believer in animal-led bonding. That means letting the reptile learn to trust you, and choosing when to come to you versus when not to.

A good example of this is my very large boa, Lou. Lou arrived absolutely terrified. Even walking past the enclosure would cause him to strike at the doors. That’s a daunting thing given the fact that he is about 7-8 feet long. But now I can reach inside of the enclosure to clean things up, rearrange his little snake furniture, pet, and even take him out. That happened because we took things slow. I started by sitting by his cage and talking with him to allow him to grow familiar with the sound of my voice. There are people who say snakes can’t hear and while they don’t hear the way we do, science has proven that they do hear in some way.

Regardless, he got familiar with my presence. He saw that when I showed up, no harm came to him. I became less of a threat every single time. This applies to all reptiles: whether you have a baby leopard gecko or a very angry snake, if you start slowly, that’s going to be how you build trust.

Don’t Have a Deadline

This is a quick note, but a vital one.

Don’t put yourself through the unnecessary stress of having a deadline set where you feel you have to have all of this figured out. Every animal is different. Some animals learn to tolerate handling quickly while some take longer. 

That’s 100% OK.

Approach with Confidence 

I think it’s important that I am honest with you: taming reptiles can be spooky. There’s nothing wrong with reptiles; frankly, I wouldn’t want to jump into a pit of feral cats, either. Any untamed animal can feel a little daunting. If you’re working with an untamed snake or lizard, you might feel nervous about getting bit, and that’s totally normal! I don’t want you to think any less of yourself if you feel jumpy about the possibility of getting bit or hurt. I admit that sometimes, I get a little iffy when doing feedings or if I think something is going to bite me. 

But when handling a reptile and teaching it trust, be sure to approach it confidently. And calmly. Both are equally important.

The last thing you want to do is jump around, freaking out. This creates a stressful environment and experience for the reptile, and then it’s going to take even longer to tame. If you’ve already been there and made that mistake like I have, that’s okay. You can keep moving forward. But you want to make sure that you’re approaching and handling and bonding with confidence, even if you don’t feel so confident inside.

Create Positive Experiences

Depending on the reptile, it could take a bit longer for them to tolerate handling or they could adapt quickly—it’s all up to your specific pet. 

My beardie, Bumble, adjusted rather quickly because she saw that I provided good care. She saw that pleasurable things happened in my presence. You want to make sure that every experience you have interacting with your reptile is as positive as possible. 

Because Bumble is a bearded dragon and eats every single day, I was able to give her some high-value food and some treats that she really enjoyed. For her, this meant Horn Worms or even Dubia roaches. She’s pretty easy to please. And by giving her treats that she really enjoys straight from my hand, she was able to learn that positive things happen with interaction.

This is something you’ll be able to easily practice with lizards, but you’re not going to be able to do that with a snake. 

Snakes are entirely different in their approach. I’ll be covering in the future how to create positive experiences with snakes. If you’re interested in learning how to create positive experiences with snakes, leave me a comment below and let me know!

Regular Interaction

Once your reptile is more comfortable with handling, and once you’ve learned to be patient and how to make each time a positive experience, how do you take it to the next level? How do you make that bond that you may see on social media (or maybe even here at Moonlit Jungle!)?

Here’s the thing: this is going to take regular interaction. The biggest tip I can give you for building a bond is patient, regular interaction. The same way you would with any other animal, you have to regularly interact with them in order for them to trust and want to be with you.

But I want to be 100% clear: there will be times where you do all the right things and that reptile still doesn’t have a lot of interest in being handled. That’s not your fault. That just happens sometimes. 

Every reptile has their own personality and their own level of tolerance, and they may not be a snuggly, cuddly little guy. You can build a positive relationship with him/her in different ways that don't force them into being something they’re not—in this case, a pet that enjoys being handled constantly. The important part is that you recognize that your pet has its own unique personality, and you can and should continue to provide it with the best possible care. Trust me, even if they don’t show it, they appreciate all of the work you put in.

Reptiles are one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them. Even with the reptiles that didn’t necessarily bond with me, I’ve enjoyed having the experience of working with them. So if you’re trying to build a relationship with a reptile, I urge you to be patient, go slow, pay attention, and most of all, have fun!