Keeping pets like lizards, frogs and snakes can be a rewarding hobby. They can, however, present challenges not typically encountered with their dog, cat and rabbit counterparts. One of those challenges is what to do with your exotics when you go out of town. Many veterinarian practices provide boarding services, but that can be very expensive. So how do you find, prepare for and compensate a “pet sitter” for your reptiles and amphibians?
Finding the right sitter – A great place to start is your veterinarian staff. Many of the administrative staff and technicians who work in your vet’s office are there because they have and love animals. They are accustomed to handling a variety of species and most likely do not get freaked out at the prospect of handling feeder insects or mice. Call you vet’s office and ask if they can recommend a pet sitter for your specific type of pet. Chances are high that they will recommend someone right there in their office. You can’t get a much better recommendation than that. Not only can you be reasonably assured that they are qualified, they have a direct line to professional help should anything go wrong during your absence.
Preparing for your departure – Regardless of how experienced your pet sitter is, you should attempt to make their job as easy as possible. The easier it is, the more likely your pets will be cared for properly. If you feed live food, be sure you have plenty on hand so that your sitter does not have to make a food run to the local pet store while you’re gone. If possible, divide the food by day into separate containers so that there’s no guesswork or counting for your sitter. Anything that can be mechanized, like timers for heat lamps, should be installed. Leave vitamins, conditioned water, and other necessities out and close by so that everything your sitter might need is at arm’s length.
How to compensate – More than likely, your sitter will charge by the visit. Keep in mind when considering their compensation that a good deal of their time will be wrapped up in traveling to and from your house. This travel time needs to be paid for, as well as the cost of gasoline. For this reason, you will want to limit the number of trips to the extent possible. Most reptiles and amphibians can easily go three days in between meals, but having water readily available is an absolute necessity. For this reason, you may want to switch out your water dishes just for the time that you are away, to make them larger so that they can hold enough water for three days. This can be a little tricky, since many species need a shallow water supply. Charges will vary from region to region, but you should expect to pay from $18 to $25 per visit for this type of pet sitting. It may sound like a lot, but if you only have to have one visit every three days, it will still be much cheaper than boarding your pets at an animal hospital or vet’s office.