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Spotted Salamanders are one in a group referred to as Mole salamanders occurring in Eastern USA and Canada. They tend to occur in deciduous forests and wetlands, living in leaf litter, hiding in burrows or under fallen logs. Their breeding is very interesting, they return to water once a year, but only to temporary pools created by heavy rainfall. They only stay there for a few days to spawn, and do not swim strongly. These pools are perfect for salamander spawn and tadpoles to survive as temporary pools tend not to have fish that would eat them. However there are downsides to temporary pools, sometimes they dry up before metamorphosis is complete. It is now known that a symbiotic relationship occurs between a photosynthetic algae and the spawn / embryos…

Mossy frogs are a beautiful species of frog that resemble a clump of moss due to their colouration and lumpy bumpy skin. They occur in the cooler regions of Vietnam and some areas of China occurring in forests, caves and cliff areas, always around water. They are a small to medium sized frog, females are the larger sex growing to around 8-9cm. Many species of frogs are supremely suitable to natural planted terraria or even a paludarium (a natural terrarium with a large water area, often with fish). The balance of nature is relatively easy to achieve with these kinds of housing. The live plants and custodian critters (woodlice etc) sharing the terrarium do a lot of the work for you. Of course a paludarium would also allow you to…

Uromastyx acanthinurus, as a species occurs throughout North Africa, more or less around the Sahara Desert. This sub-species is allocated to occurring in Morocco, but there is much confusion around this species and its several sub-species (and with many of the other Uromastyx species for that matter). It grows to around 45cm long, females perhaps slightly bigger – males are often said to be brighter coloured and have a broader head. They occur in desert areas, favouring softer earth that will clump so they can burrow – but do occur in rocky areas, cliff faces and other areas where they can jam themselves in crevices rather than making burrows. They are primarily herbivorous eating a wide range of desert plants, leaves, succulents etc – but they will eat ants and…

Collared lizards are simply one of the prettiest naturally occurring lizards – adult males are gob-smackingly beautiful. The occur in desert and arid regions through Mexico and several southern states of the USA. Not only known for their bright colours, they are a lizard which is known for running on their back legs. Being an arid and desert species they require a vivarium set up likewise. We would recommend a substrate on the floor of the vivarium of ProRep Bio Life Desert which will allow for natural behaviour. Place a choice of hides throughout the vivarium, in the cool and warm areas to give a choice. We always provide some hides that have a level of moisture underneath so the lizards can choose which they prefer, especially when shedding their…

A large species of Day gecko, dwarfing most of it’s relatives at up to around 25-30cm in total length. They are a most impressive looking gecko species, bright intense green, many having red bars or spots. Its easy to see why this species is so popular, they are truly beautiful. They come from Madagascar, but have found themselves establishing colonies away from their native lands in such places as Florida. As the name suggests they are a daytime active species (diurnal) in contrast to many of the gecko species being nocturnal. They eat a mixture of insects, and also sweet nectar. This is easy to replicate in captivity with the huge variety of suitably sized livefood – crickets, locusts, waxworms etc. To satisfy their ‘sweet tooth’ there are many mixes…

In the wild the Yellow Bellied toad is a widespread semi-aquatic toad distributed through central Western Europe through to the East and into parts of Asia. Unlike many toads this species never strays far from water and is most commonly found floating on the top of the water in shallow pools, ditches and slow moving streams. They are often found in and around human habitation in temporary bodies of water such as ruts made by tractors and the like. Apart from the bright belly colouration its very notable for its call – a series of calls are made, many liken the sound to a laugh or a cackle. Probably one of the easiest species of amphibian to cater for – decent size shallow water area and a smaller portion of…

Horsfield tortoises (note correct spelling, not Horsefields) have a multitude of common names, one being the Russian tortoise. They do occur in Russia, but more correctly they are further widespread - Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, extending into western China and into South Eastern Russia. The occur in mainly dry terrain, but often in areas that will still allow lush vegetation to thrive. Being a widespread tortoise they are a hardy tortoise that can experience high and low extremes of temperature within the range. However it must be remembered that they will dig burrows to escape those extremes, both aestivating and brumating, and in some parts of their range they do both. A very hardy tortoise species indeed. In reality these natural extremes have evolved this species to be a little…