The Exotic Pet Survival Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Snakes, Lizards, Other Reptiles, Amphibians, Insects, Arachnids, and Other Invertebrates

Rating:
Summary: Colorful and useful - to an extent
Review: The first thing that becomes obvious as you open the book is the brilliance of the fantastic photography throughout. It is also one of the book's shortcomings - this unrealistic beauty allows the reader to set unrealistic expectations. Considering the fact that this is a beginner's guide, this book contains a number of things a beginner isn't likely to need and that should have been relegated to an expert's manual. Among these things are the breeding guidelines that are present in every species' description. Likewise, several very important things have not been covered in sufficient depth. The section on feeding is quite limited. More space should have been alotted to heating and UV lamps. Vivarium construction isn't covered in nearly enough detail. There are no guidelines for picking out healthy animals at the stores, and the two-page "Health" spread isn't nearly sufficient. There are also descriptions of some 140 species of reptiles (including snakes and turtles), amphibians, and arthropods (tarantulas, stick insects, etc.). The sections on non-chordates (insects) are especially scant, given the degree to which the average beginner is unfamiliar with these. Each entry contains handy icons gauging aggressiveness, food preferences, number of offspring, environment, and the average difficulty of keeping the specific animal alive. And, of course, the ever-present, brilliant photographs. Generally, an underwhelming effort that nevertheless opens up several possibilities.