Reptiles are known to be reactive to their reflections. Some reptiles (e.g. lizards) are often territorial. So, they probably won’t like to allow others in their region. Since they don’t understand reflections, they consider their own reflection as another animal. Consequently, they react. If you’ve got a reptile tank, you may face this problem. What’s the solution then?
Well, you can simply just wrap the walls of the tank with designed paper or wall stickers, excluding the front side. Then simply put in artificial trees and stones to decorate inside. This will also reduce glare. Try setting the lights inside the tank differently. Test different angles and see what’s working the best.
Next, the most obvious question should be, “Why should reptile tanks not reflect the animals inside?” And many other questions may also arrive. So let’s go deeper into it.
Getting Rid Of Reflections From Glass Tanks
While you can experiment and explore the different ways of doing it yourself, here are two best-recommended ideas that you should try if you want to get rid of reflection in a reptile tank.
Play Around With Lighting
There are numerous variables to consider while designing a habitat for any type of animal. It’s critical that you construct a setting that closely resembles your pet’s natural surroundings, including re-creating a day and night cycle.
Lighting is the one important thing that can make changes in the reflections. Experimenting with different lighting positions or styles can actually help you reduce or even sometimes avoid the reflection of a reptile completely. And, however, lighting is not essential for only avoiding reflection. It is also an important part to consider while decorating your reptile tank.
All animals, like people, rely on their surroundings to tell them when it’s safe to sleep and when it’s safe to be active. Sunlight, or artificial sunlight, has a significant impact on an animal’s daily routine and circadian rhythm.
Circadian rhythms are physical and mental changes that govern behavior over the course of a 24-hour cycle that is heavily influenced by the amount of light and darkness in an organism’s environment. Important body activities, including sleep-wake cycles and hormone production, are influenced by this rhythm, which affects your pet’s mental condition.
Your reptile may grow stressed and dissatisfied if it isn’t resting properly or isn’t in its typical routine. To provide the greatest care for your pet, set up a day and night cycle that corresponds to their biological clock.
Use Decorations And Plants
Decorations are another great way to get rid of reflections. Moreover, your pet may also find it interesting. I mean, after all, which animal on earth won’t like trees? And it also enhances the aesthetics of your tank.
Inside your tank, you can use a range of genuine and fake plants. Any live plants in the terrarium should be checked to see if they are on the safe plant list.
If you’re going to use artificial plants, make sure they have well-attached branches and leaves. Any leaves that come loose from artificial plants should be removed right away since they could harm your iguana if it eats them.
Plants, both real and artificial, placed correctly in the terrarium can provide your iguana with a sense of security, as he may hide behind them if he needs to.
Small toys or other small objects should not be placed inside an iguana terrarium. Toys are unnecessary for reptiles. They can and will eat objects that you may consider to be excessively large. Anything an iguana eats could cause a blockage, which could be lethal.
How To Stop Reptiles From Striking Reflection?
Reptiles, like many other species, are oblivious to their own reflections. They’ll almost certainly misinterpret their own reflection as that of another reptile. Unfortunately, many reptiles are solitary and territorial creatures, which could lead to problems.
To deter your reptile from attacking his reflection, tape 4′′ across the front glass and 8+” around the sides with construction paper. Allow it to sit for a while; it should assist him in unwinding. Alternatively, they may simply employ a stunning backdrop that wraps around the back and sides of their tank.
The Real Reason Behind The Reptile’s Hate of Reflection
Reptiles, like many other species, do not identify themselves in their reflections. They’ll most likely mistake their reflection for another reptile. Unfortunately, because reptiles are solitary and territorial animals, this may pose complications.
This is one of the reasons why most experts advise against keeping reptiles together. Owners of reptiles who have used mirrors in or near their tanks have noticed their critters waving at the reflection.
Most of the time, we misinterpret a reptile wave as a sweet greeting. This is the process of instilling human motivation in an action; in this case, subservient conduct in dragons.
It’s more possible that your beardie is stressed out by seeing itself in the mirror because it believes another beardie is invading its territory and is assuming a submissive stance to avoid any battles or violence from the intruder.
In the worst-case scenario, owners have reported their dragons attacking the tank’s glass to get at the mirrors, launching an attack on the intruding animal.
This reaction has the potential to inflict serious damage. It’s best not to put a mirror inside or outside your pet’s tank to avoid this kind of stress.
Do Reptiles Get Used to Their Reflection?
Reptiles mistake their mirror for a neighboring reptile with whom they can interact or be threatened.
The first step is to give your pet some time; it might only take a few days. To persuade him to calm down, you may have to go to extremes. I can see how a situation like this would be tough, because every time he tries to assert dominance, the “other reptile” would do the same, and if he backs off, the other will do the same, encouraging him to assert dominance again, and so on.
Fortunately, despite their reputation for being stupid, reptiles are exceptional learners who can see patterns and act on them, so there’s a chance he’ll merely calm down with time.
Conclusion
Any concerned pet parent would want to give his or her pet every kind of care. If anything was bothering them, their pet parents would not sit quietly. And that’s why we tried to help everyone out with a common problem.
If you have got a reptile in your house and are facing the same problem, first try to cover all three walls of the tank. Meanwhile, do not forget to decorate the tank to the best of your abilities. Thus, you will surely be able to solve the problem.
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