Check Heat, Light and Water Before Anything Else
Life-support comes first when you open a reptile's enclosure after a holiday. Check timers for lights and any basking lamp, because a failed timer can leave a reptile in constant light or constant darkness for days without anything looking obviously broken.
Water is the second check. A reptile returning to your attention should have clean water available now, whatever the carer's routine was, so empty, wash, and refill the bowl before moving on. Look at water level and cleanliness for clues: a dry bowl suggests missed refills, while slimy sides suggest the bowl was topped up rather than washed. Note what you find calmly; it informs how you brief the next carer, not a confrontation at the door.
Look at the Reptile Before You Clean Around It
Observe your reptile before handling or deep cleaning changes its behaviour. In its enclosure, a settled reptile should breathe without effort, respond to movement nearby, and hold its body normally for its species. Look for wheezing, bubbles at the nostrils, open-mouth breathing, sunken or swollen eyes, stuck shed around toes, tail tips, or spectacles, and patches of discoloured or lifted scales.
Check underneath hides and inside the favourite shelter, because a reptile that stayed hidden for the whole carer period may not have been seen closely by anyone. Weigh your reptile if you normally track weight, and compare it with the figure from before the holiday rather than judging by eye. A small change after a week of refused meals reads differently from a large drop alongside lethargy, which deserves a prompt call to your reptile veterinarian for advice.
Scan for Food, Waste, Pests and Damage
Leftover food tells a story about the stay. Remove anything found, and check whether waste has built up in the usual toilet corner or been scattered by a carer cleaning differently from you.
Look closely for mites, especially around heat sources, water bowls, and the edges of hides, where tiny moving specks gather. Check for mould on damp substrate, condensation patterns that suggest ventilation changed, and damage: a lid that no longer sits flush, chewed or heat-discoloured cables, a cracked water bowl, or a thermostat probe hanging loose in mid-air instead of resting where it measures the surface your reptile uses.
Ask the Carer Targeted Questions While Details Are Fresh
Ask what was actually eaten, on which days, and what was refused, rather than accepting a general assurance that everything went well. For a reptile that missed meals, the detail matters: a single refusal during shed is common, while repeated refusals plus a temperature failure point somewhere else entirely. Ask whether lights or heat alarmed, failed, or were adjusted, whether the enclosure was fully cleaned or spot-cleaned, and whether the carer noticed anything they decided not to mention unprompted.
Ask also about behaviour only a visitor would have seen: unusual soaking, glass-surfing, hiding without emerging, or activity at odd hours. Write the answers down the same day, while the carer's memory is fresh and before your own routine overwrites the evidence of the stay.
Reset the Enclosure to Your Normal Standard
Restore your reptile's enclosure in a deliberate order: temperatures stable, water clean, waste and leftovers removed, hides and enrichment back in their familiar positions. Avoid changing everything at once beyond that reset, because a reptile that has just had a week of different smells, sounds, and handling needs its home to feel predictable again. Offer food on your normal schedule rather than immediately, unless your species and the missed-meal history suggest otherwise.
Recording the post-holiday temperatures, weight, and carer notes in KinsLe next to the Care Pass handover turns one trip's lessons into a clearer brief for whoever cares for your reptile next.