reptiles

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 80

It’s Reptilian Tuesday and we’re going to Southern Africa to meet one cool tortoise! Let’s put on our best safari gear and head out on today’s adventure!

MEET THE ANGULATE TORTOISE!

   Range/Habitat: Southern Africa/ grasslands

   Diet: Herbivore: succulents, grasses

   Length: 6-8”

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

•          Angulate Tortoises are also known as the Bowsprit Tortoise.
•          Male angulate tortoises are larger than females.
•          Angulate tortoises have high domed carapaces.  
•          They hibernate during the winter.
•          Angulate tortoises have black triangle patterns on their shells.

These tortoises are so beautiful with their patterned shells. We love all of our tortoise and turtle pals! They are shelltastic!

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 79

It’s Reptilian Tuesday and we’re off to South Africa to meet one cool lizard! Grab your backpack and safari gear and let’s load up on the Ellie and Edmond safari vehicle!

MEET THE SUNGAZER!

   Range/Habitat: South Africa/grasslands

   Diet: Carnivore: insects, small vertebrates

   Length:  11-15 ½”

   Conservation Status: vulnerable

Fun Facts:

•          Sungazers are also called the Giant Girdled Lizard.
•          They bask at the entrance of their burrows.
•          Sungazers live in burrows. Those burrows usually face north or northwest.
•          Sungazers have armored tails with pointed scales.
•          They hibernate in the winter!

These Sungazer lizards are so amazing with their armored tails. When they feel threatened they go in their burrow and leave that pointy tail blocking the entrance to their home! Neat!

REPTILE DAY!

Instead of our regular Reptilian Tuesday, we’re taking you on an adventure to our local natural history museum, Fernbank in Atlanta, GA. A few weekends ago, we went to their annual reptile day and had a blast! Come check out this amazing day!

Here we are looking on the great hall of Fernbank!

Fernbank had groups from the Georgia Herpetology Society, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Zoo Atlanta and others at the museum. There were reptiles, amphibians and dinos of all kinds! We started this party off right, by meeting our pal, Giggy Dinosaur, the museum’s mascot!

Our pal Giggy Dinosaur! He is one cool dude!

Red Tail Rat Snake!

Red Tail Rat Snake! Check out that forked tongue!

Tortoise with banana on his face! Get him a napkin :)!

Boa on his handler! Check out those eyes!

Corn snake! Corn snakes don’t eat corn, they eat the rodents that live in corn fields though!

Wow! This guy is moving!

Gecko! He sure has some lovely “eyelashes”!

Egyptian Uromastyx! What a cool lizard!

Wow! We sure are glad this is just a skull of a black caiman!

Chameleon!

Who wouldn’t want to hold hands with a chameleon?

Dinos!!!

Mata Mata!

Sleeeeepy iguana!

African bullfrog! He’s bigger than us!

Snake in the sand!

Snake on a stick!

African bullfrog! He’s bigger than us!

We had the most fun meeting all the reptiles and amphibians! Everyone there was eager to answer questions and talk about the animals they had brought with them. You were even able to touch most of the animals! A snake feels like a basketball if you want to know! Reptiles often get a bad rep, but without them our ecosystems would be out of whack! These wondrous creatures are vital to the health of our planet and we applaud Fernbank Natural History Museum for celebrating them! If you’re in Atlanta, put Fernbank on your To Do List! You can learn more about this amazing place on their website!

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 77

Woohoo, we’re excited that it’s Reptilian Tuesday! We’re going to southern Africa to meet an adorable little tortoise! Grab your sunscreen and gear and let’s go on an adventure!

MEET THE SPECKLED PADLOPER TORTOISE!

   Range/Habitat: West Southern Africa/ desert-scrub

   Diet: Herbivore: succulent plants

   Length:  2 ¼- 3 ¼”

   Conservation Status: near threatened

Fun Facts:

•          Speckled Padloper tortoises are the smallest tortoise in the world.
•          They are also known as the Speckled Cape Tortoise.
•          The males are smaller than the females.
•          Speckled padloper tortoises hide under rocks for protection.
•          Their shells are covered in tiny black spots.

These little tortoises are so cute! Tortoises come in such different sizes; from these tiny ones to the giant Galapagos tortoise! Which one is your favorite?

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 75

We’re going to Asia to meet today’s reptile! We’ll be going in the woods, so step carefully because these guys know how to camouflage in with the leaves!

MEET THE ASIAN LEAF TURTLE!

   Range/Habitat: Southeast Asia/ wetlands

   Diet: Omnivore: invertebrates, tadpoles, plants

   Length:  6-9 1/2”

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

•          Asian leaf turtles have an oval shape carapace (top shell).
•          Their plastron (bottom shell) is hinged.
•          Asian leaf turtles hide in the mud in creeks and rivers when threatened.
•          Male Asian leaf turtles are smaller than the females.
•          Asian leaf turtles have serrated shells that help them blend in.

Asian leaf turtles are cute! There are so many kinds of turtles out there! We love each and every one of them!

REPTILIAN TUESDAY # 74

So we’re taking a boat from Madagascar to the continent of Africa to meet a very menacing snake. Get your safari gear on and your binoculars because we’ll be looking for this reptile from the safety of the E & E safari vehicle.

MEET THE PUFF ADDER!

   Range/Habitat: Africa (south of the Sahara)/ grasslands

   Diet: Carnivore: small mammals, birds

   Length:  3 ¼ ft

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

•          Puff Adders are thick bodied and wide snakes.
•          They are yellow-brown in color with white chevrons.
•          Puff Adders are highly venomous.
•          Male puff adders are smaller than the females.
•          Puff Adders are ambush predators.

Puff adders are very scary looking snakes. None the less they deserve our respect! All snakes are essential parts of their ecosystems whether they are cute or not.