Tabla de contenidos para July 2023 en Practical Reptile Keeping

Researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia have discovered that the venom of a notorious caterpillar has a surprising ancestry and could be key to the development of life-saving drugs for us. A team led by Dr Andrew Walker and Professor Glenn King from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience found toxins in the venom of asp caterpillars punched holes in cell walls in the same way as toxins produced by disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. Bacterial origins “We were surprised to find asp caterpillar venom was completely different to anything we had seen before in insects,” admits Dr Walker. “When we looked at it more closely, we saw proteins that were very similar to some of the bacterial toxins that make you sick.” These types…

Caecilians primarily live underground and they all look rather like a cross between a worm and a snake, in spite of being amphibians. “There's still a remarkable amount of caecilian biology that we just don't know anything about, mostly because they can be hard to find,” explains David Blackburn, the Florida Museum's curator of herpetology. One of the few things that is known about caecilians is their unique method for feeding their young. Mothers produce a special layer of fatty skin tissue, which juvenile caecilians tear off using their baby teeth that evolved specifically for that purpose. Helping their offspring A new study, however, shows that skin-feeding does more than simply provide nutrients for young caecilians. It also helps the mother pass beneficial microbes from her skin and gut to…

DO YOU NEED A HELPING HAND OR ADVICE? Email your queries to practicalreptilekeeping@gmail.com. A selection of submitted questions will appear here every month. Regrettably, replies can only be given through this column, and if you are worried about the health of your animal, seek veterinary advice without delay. Q&A I have been keeping two yellow-bellied slider turtles since February. I clean the tank twice a week and it has an external filter. Both turtles seem to be in good health but this week, I noticed that there were some small thread-like white worms on the glass of the tank. I don't know what they are, or if they are harmful to the turtles. Any advice would be appreciated. There are two likely candidates. Firstly, it could be planaria. These flatworms look…

Successful mating is one of the most important tasks in the lives of all animals, and a lot of energy is expended on it. Evolutional theory has taught that only the strongest and fittest individuals will be successful in promoting the continuing existence of the species, by passing on their genes. Many unique and extraordinary reproductive strategies have developed and shaped the endless diversity of mating systems that exist. Snakes are no different from other creatures in this regard, and despite the limitations imposed on them by the absence of limbs, they have proved to be very adaptable. In the case of boas and pythons that still possess vestigial hind limbs, so males use these projections to caress their partners prior to mating. They may also use these so-called ‘pelvic…

FEATURE | PET TURTLES Q How long have you been keeping turtles, and what attracted you to them? A I have been keeping musk turtles for around five years but I started out owning a terrapin some 30 years ago, which I had for 15 years. My first two musk turtle hatchlings were actually purchased by my wife as an anniversary present for me! We only went into the reptile shop to buy food for a bearded dragon and corn snake that I was looking after. I spotted the musk turtles, and they really appealed to me. After going home and finding out as much as possible about them, I knew that I could keep these turtles without them becoming too big to live indoors. I have always been interested…

Just over 30 years ago, one of the strangest and most bizarre cryptozoological cases ever reported was making headlines nationally and even internationally (especially in the U.S.). I was able to document the events briefly in my book, From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings. Three decades later, this perplexing mystery is all but forgotten, yet it remains unsolved, which is why I have re-examined it and have prepared this much longer, more detailed account about what happened. A water vampire? To describe one of Britain's most bizarre mystery beasts as a water vampire may not be as melodramatic as one would first suppose – especially after considering its unique characteristics. According to media reports, between September and December 1988, this unknown creature's home was seemingly a lengthy river in…

Aspectacular new crocodile newt from the Central Highlands of Vietnam has excited scientists. “It is an exceptional discovery as it is one of the most colourful species in the genus Tylototriton. This is also the first time that a crocodile newt species has been recorded from the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Occurring at an altitude from 1,800-2,300m (6,0007.500ft) above sea level, this find also sets an elevational record for the genus in the country, with former distribution ranges between confined to between 250-1,740m (800-5,700ft),” explains its discoverer Trung My Phung. An isolated range Furthermore, the discovery by the Vietnamese-German research team, which was supported by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Cologne Zoo (Germany), represents the southernmost distribution range of the genus known to date. The habitat…

The annulated sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus), found in ocean waters around Australia and Asia, appears once again to have evolved so it can see an extended palette of colours, after its ancestors lost that ability in response to changing environments. Colour vision in animals is primarily determined by genes called visual opsins. While there have been multiple losses of opsin genes during the evolution of tetrapods (the group including amphibians, reptiles and mammals), the emergence of new opsin genes on the other hand is extremely rare. Before this study, the only evolution of new opsin genes within reptiles appeared to have occurred in species of Helicops, a genus of snake from South America. Why changes in vision occurred This study used published reference genomes to examine visual opsin genes across…

The Colombian Pacific area, nestled within the heart of the Chocó Biogeographic Region, has unveiled some more of its remarkable biological wonders. Recognised as one of the world's most significant biodiversity hotspots, this area has remained largely unexplored, particularly when it comes to the range of spiders that can be found there. A groundbreaking biological expedition, conducted at the Jardín Botánico del Pacífico (JBP) in Bahía Solano, has revealed some new arachnid discoveries that are set to redefine our understanding of this incredible ecosystem. This particular location not only serves as a tourist attraction but also plays a pivotal role in the conservation of the region's tropical rainforests and mangroves. Considerable diversity Led by a team of dedicated researchers, the study focused on Mygalomorphae spiders, aiming to shed more light…

Fire-bellied toads are fascinating amphibians, and if you're not able to observe them in the wild, you can enjoy keeping and studying them in vivarium surroundings. The Oriental or Chinese fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis) is a particularly popular choice, as it is both very attractively coloured on the one hand, and also quite easy to keep on the other. There are other species that present more of a challenge, such as the small-webbed bell fire-bellied toad (Bombina microdeladigitora). It has only become known in the hobby relatively recently, and much still remains to be discovered about this amphibian, certainly in terms of its breeding requirements. Their way of life Fire-bellied toads usually inhabit temporary bodies of water. These include puddles or ruts in fields or on roads that are filled…

Q&A I have kept many reptiles over the years, including those such as chameleons where humidity is very significant, and I have recently acquired a green iguana after doing months of research. However, I am finding it hard to maintain an adequate level of humidity within the vivarium. My local reptile stores say the set-up that I have is perfect, and yet unless I spray the tank 6-7 times a day, the humidity just will not remain at the required level. I'm wondering what you would advise regarding the best way to deal with this problem please? The first thing that springs to mind is what are you using to measure the humidity? There are many products on the market, with some being surprisingly unreliable. I would say that the digital…

Classification There are over 18,000 known species of cricket and grasshopper (Order Saltatoria), the majority of which occur in the tropics. Out of 650 or so European species, just 34 inhabit the British Isles, with the majority being found in southern England. There are eight in Scotland and 10 in Ireland. They belong to a group known as the Hemimetabola (insects with incomplete metamorphosis), as they develop from the egg through a number of nymphal stages to the adult, bypassing the pupal phase characteristic of the metamorphosis of many other insects such as butterflies. The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) belongs to a family known as the Gryllidae (‘true crickets’). They are partially related to grasshoppers but more closely aligned with the katydids or bush crickets which form the family Tettigoniidae.…

FEATURE | TIMOR PYTHON Ever since I was a young child, animals have always featured consistently in my life, and this is a passion that has never left me. However, reptiles – and more specifically snakes – are where my particular interest lies. Pythons, especially Australasian ones, have always fascinated me and I currently keep and breed most species. My favourite without a doubt is the Timor or Lesser Sunda python (often described as Python timoriensis). I have been fortunate not only to keep these snakes, but also to persuade them to breed as well. In fact as I write this article, I have a male of mine that is now three years old and housed in a display enclosure here in my office. Very few people have even ever…

For approximately 3,000 years, generations of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) have returned to the same Mediterranean seagrass meadows to feed. This discovery has recently been made by Dr Willemien de Kock, a historical ecologist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, by combining modern data with archaeological findings. Sea turtles migrate between specific breeding sites and feeding places throughout their lives – this much was already known. But the fact that this stretches down across multiple generations highlights the vital importance of protecting these seagrass meadows along the coasts of North Africa. Lifecycle When young green sea turtles hatch, their parents have already left the area where nesting occurred. The little turtles clumsily make their way off the beach into the ocean and, not yet able to undertaken…

An international team of researchers has uncovered “unprecedented” snake venom resistance in an unexpected group – the legless amphibians known as caecilians, which today total over 200 species. The University of Queensland's Associate Professor Bryan Fry led the study, which he says provides a solid model for the fundamental evolutionary concept of predator-prey interactions. “Our research provides a textbook example of how a single predatory pressure can trigger an evolutionary cascade where the same way of fighting back arises independently multiple times in different yet related lineages,” Dr Fry explains. A new hunting strategy In this case, the key driving predatory pressure was the rise of the elapid snakes, such as cobras and coral snakes. This group was characterised by the evolution of a new way of delivering venom via…

By way of background, Namibia is a long, narrow country bordered on its western side by the Atlantic ocean, and shares land borders with Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. It is the driest country in the sub-Saharan region, and sparsely populated with just 2.5 million people. Originally part of the German empire, European rule came to an end in 1915 when the Germans were defeated by the South African army. Namibia was then ruled by its neighbour South Africa up until 1990, when the country gained independence. The indigenous people of Namibia are the Himba. They live in the Kunene region in the north of the country, as well as southern Angola. Their population numbers some 50,000, and they are semi-nomadic. The women (and some men) are famed for…

This is a young example of the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus), so-called because of the eye-spots on its body, which may help to confuse and deter would-be predators. It is also known as the jewelled lizard, and can grow to quite a large size, potentially reaching at least 0.6m (2ft) overall when adult, with some individuals being even larger. Originating from southwestern parts of Europe, the species is most common in parts of Portugal and Spain at lower altitudes, being less commonly encountered in areas of France and Italy. These lizards are essentially terrestrial by nature, although they can climb well. Sometimes, they may retreat underground and occupy an abandoned rabbit burrow. Mating takes place from late spring onwards, with males becoming very territorial at this stage. Females then lay…

Should you source your lizards from a knowledgeable breeder or store, you may be able to buy young stock with a high degree of certainty over the gender of the lizards in many cases, even though they may not be sexually mature. This is based on knowing that the eggs have been incubated at the appropriate temperature for temperature-dependent sexual determination, also known as TSD. It provides a means to pre-determine the gender of the offspring before they hatch. There are a large number of specialist reptile stores, as well as breeders. If you are seeking specific colour morphs, with a view to breeding, than a breeder may be the best source, but generally, a local reptile shop should be able to supply you not just with stock, but also…