Library
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The Colubridae comprises the largest family of snakes, with over one thousand species. The vast majority are harmless, although they may bite. Some colubrids are small insectivorous snakes…
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Common conditions of pet snakes include stomatitis (mouth rot), parasites, respiratory disease, difficulty shedding, and septicaemia. Stomatitis (mouth rot) is seen as pinpoint haemorrhages on…
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Unlike most pets, snakes eat whole prey items including mice, rats, gerbils, and hamsters. Larger snakes will also eat whole rabbits. Since snakes eat entire prey items, this simplifies things…
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Smaller juvenile pets often do well in a 10 or 20-gallon aquarium, or even large plastic "lunch" boxes (cut small air holes!). As your snake grows, he must be moved to a more…
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Red-eared sliders (or terrapins), Trachemys scripta are commonly kept. They reach a large size and can be hard to keep with the result that they are often released (although this is illegal).…
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The vast majority of tortoises kept in captivity (Testudo genus, Leopard tortoises, Sulcata) are herbivorous. While they may, opportunistically, in the wild eat some animal protein, this does…
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Probably the most common medical cause of anorexia in female Mediterranean tortoises is follicular stasis.This describes the situation where egg follicles are formed on the ovaries but are…
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Not all tortoises hibernate. The advice on this sheet pertains only to those of the Testudo genus that will hibernate in the wild. This includes Hermann's Tortoise (T. hermanni), Horsfield's…
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We are finally realising that tortoises are reptiles and need a controlled environment. The UK climate is not suitable and so they can only be kept outside for limited parts of the year. An…
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The vast majority of tortoises in the UK are members of the genus Testudo and it is the identification of the species in this group which is covered here. However, other species are being…
