In an ideal world everyone would learn about reptiles a little. We would all grow up knowing a little something about them like we do dogs and cats so that nobody ever purchased a reptile in complete ignorance of some of its basic needs. People would learn enough about reptiles to know they aren't scary or slimy so that nobody ever killed a snake in their path out of simple fear and so that people made as much effort to support conservation efforts for reptiles as much as they do for other creatures.
There are enough herp education sites out there that we do not need to go into great detail here and so instead we offer help in finding knowledge about reptiles. Once you are well versed in reptile keeping please feel free to come back and take our test to earn your knowledgeable herper certificate.
Before we send you on your learning oddessy here are some useful tips:
Some of the important info you need to know about your pet are: What is it? Does it live on the ground or in trees. Is it a desert creature or rainforest dweller. How big will it get. What kind of cage does it need. What does it eat? What temperature does it need? Does it need UVB light?
Some general bits of reptile information you need to know are: the importance of calcium, what are good vegetables food sources and what are not. What are good substrates and what are not.
Never rely on one source or person. Find the general consensus amongst many sources and that is the most likely to be something you can trust. And no matter what never assume that what the pet store told you is true! Research, research, research!
Even trusted sources can be wrong. One prominant reptiles magazine had a bearded dragon care article in a 2002 issue which falsly claims that bearded dragons regrow their tails like iguanas. Vets will change their minds when new information comes to light. Vets are also not always experts on reptile husbandry!
Never stagnate! New research changes the information. Keep on learning. There will always be more to learn.
When it comes to UV lighting always err on the side of caution. If some sources say its necessary and others say it isn't, then its better to be safe than sorry--use the UV.
Always read all the information you can before e-mailing more experienced herpers for advice. Things like temperatures and types of food to feed are usually already listed on the multitudes of basic care sheets available to you with the click of your mouse. Instead of making them type out a basic care sheet for you the more experienced herpers may be able to spend their time giving you a few tips that you don't commonly find on caresheets.
Try to find a herp society near you. Its always better to have personal help from nearby people. Also try to find a good reptile vet near you.
Use your local library's web page to find good books.
Not all search engines are created equal. If you cannot fond your information with one use another and you will often find a completely new batch of search results to choose from!
Resources
A good search engine is Google
A very good resource with its own search engine as well as forums and much more is Kingsnake.com they also have a Canadian site.
An extensive reptile knowledge database can be found at Tricia's Chinese Water Dragon page and Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection
Find out what species you have and other good information at the EMBL Reptile Database
To find Canadian Reptile Resources such as breeders, vets, groups and zoos etc. check out the VaHerpers Canadian Herpetological Resources page or several of the other pages listed here.
Find your local library's online catalogue at National Library of Canada
Find a good book to buy at the Canadian Booksellers Association or Canadian Book Retailers
Find an email group at Yahoo Groups
Find a reptile vet in your area at ARAV
Other good pages are the Reptile Rescue and Reptiles Magazine
With all these and the rest of the web to explore you should be able to find information on keeping your reptiles.