It brings relief to a minor reptile that's swallowed abandoned wiper (5,5)

'it brings relief to a minor reptile' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'swallowed abandoned wiper' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'swallowed' could be 'ate' (swallow can mean to eat) and 'ate' is present in the answer.
an anagram of 'wiper' is 'ripew' which is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'that's' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?