Category: Information Guides

Over the last few years here has been a revival of natural planted terraria – I say revival as the keeping of planted terraria has been very popular in the past too. Some people keep the terraria reptile or amphibian free and aim to just create a slice of natural terrain with plants and mosses only. However, that would just go against the grain for us, and of course we would add some nice frogs or light climbing lizards to complete the picture! Once there are animals added it becomes a true eco-system, that of course needs balancing – we need a clean up crew to deal with the mess the animals make. This is where we can take advantage of mother nature as there are already natural feeders of…

Sand boas are a group of boas that are strange in several ways, they are very small, they are fossorial (burrowing species) and are relatively unusual occurring in the “Old World”, most Boa species occur in the “New World” (“Old World” is Europe, Africa and / or Asia and “New World” is the Americas). This sub-species may not be recognised as a separate sub-species anymore, depending on author, as a traditionalist I still recognise it as Gongylophis colubrinus loveridgei, some herpetologists regard it as monotypic with geographic variation. It’s worth mentioning that even the view of Boas in the “New World” and Pythons in the “New World” is also regarded as traditionalist – this author is guilty as charged. Kenyan Sand boas do not grow the large size of their…

The Golden treefrog, Polypedates leucomystax, is a medium to large treefrog species with a large range within tropical and sub-tropical Asia. It is a very common frog in its natural habitat, which in itself is very varied, from tropical forest through to agricultural and urban areas. It’s fair to say this species is very adaptable and will thrive in many terrains. This makes it an ideal species of treefrog to keep in the home terrarium. A glass terrarium is really the only cost-effective method of housing a species that comes from damp, warm, tropical climates. A tall vivarium, of around 60-90cm is ideal, with good ventilation. They will do fine in a simple, minimalistic set-up; with plastic plants etc. However, with the surge in popularity of planted natural terraria this…

The Common boa name covers a wide range of subspecies within the pet trade, and as most Common boas in the trade are now captive bred, it appears genetic lines are often a mixture of several sub-species. The species on a whole has a wide distribution range through Central and South America in mainly sub-tropical and tropical regions. This species is a large snake, females can grow in excess of three metres. For this reason, the topic of keeping this species should not be taken lightly – at the very least thought should be given to the large housing required. There is a movement within the hobby that views housing a snake that cannot fully stretch its own length is no longer acceptable. If you subscribe to this view point…

Also known as Pixie frog, due to its scientific name - Pyxicephalus adspersus. They are widespread throughout Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are found in a wide array of habitats including savannah and shrubland in both high rainfall / humidity and relatively arid. They are found around lakes, marshes, arable land and drainage ditches. A large frog, males being larger at around 25cm (nearly 1.5kg), females much smaller.   They are an easy frog to keep, but the greatest attention to hygiene is critical. They have huge appetites and produce huge amounts of faecal matter for this reason – it’s easy to see why hygiene is so important. Some keepers keep the frogs in shallow water for this reason, easy to…

Banded Water snakes are a stout bodied (unlike most Garter snakes) that occur through several southern States of the USA. They can be found generally in marshy areas, around ponds, lakes and streams and can be described as aquatic to semi-aquatic. They are non-venomous, although the bite of Nerodia species has been documented as an irritant and some people have taken a reaction. In captivity a keeper needs to be mindful that if kept to wet or damp they this species may be prone to skin blister problems. The best way to alleviate this problem is to make sure good hygiene is maintained, and also that the snake has access to somewhere they can spend time to thoroughly dry out. We would suggest a glass terrarium is best suited to…