How To Become A Reptile Keeper: What It Is and Career Path

What is a reptile keeper and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a reptile keeper. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.64 an hour? That's $34,615 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 28% and produce 101,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreReptile KeeperUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,615

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.45%

Asian 2.39%

Black or African American 3.48%

Hispanic or Latino 12.78%

Unknown 6.33%

White 74.57%

Gender

female 51.22%

male 48.78%

Age - 29

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 29

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a reptile keeper

Explore reptile keeper education requirements

Most common reptile keeper degrees

Bachelor's

64.3 %

Associate

14.3 %

High School Diploma

10.7 %

Start to develop specific reptile keeper skills

Skills	Percentages
Husbandry	100.00%

Complete relevant reptile keeper training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New reptile keepers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a reptile keeper based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real reptile keeper resumes.

Research reptile keeper duties and responsibilities

Monitor the cleanliness of kitchens, enclosures and nursery to ensure that all locations have no USDA health code violations.
Maintain multiple LSS rooms including protein skimmers, UV sterilizers, pumps, backwashing sand and carbon filters.

Prepare your reptile keeper resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your reptile keeper resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a reptile keeper resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable reptile keeper resume templates

Build a professional reptile keeper resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your reptile keeper resume.