Porter County 4-H Herpetology MANUAL EO-016 2007 WEB Purdue Cooperative Extension Service Porter County Office Porter County Administration Center, 155 Indiana Ave., Ste. 301, Valparaiso, IN 46383-5555 Phone (219) 465-3555 Fax (219) 464-8976 Purdue University, Indiana Counties and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution
USEFUL FACTS ABOUT TURTLES AND TORTOISES Tortoises Most tortoises live in more or less dry areas, never in predominantly wet environments. The most simple, least expensive, and practical choice for a pen for your pet tortoise is a flat box that should not be too small. The inner surface has to be smooth and must not have any cracks or gaps. It will help if the box has a plastic lining that can be replaced; this makes cleaning much easier and cleanliness is one of the basic rules for keeping tortoises and turtles as pets. Use a mesh wire lid to prevent your tortoise from climbing out. An aquarium is also an excellent cage for your pet. Make sure you provide proper ventilation, avoid drafts, stuffy air and too much heat. For the bottom of the cage use wood shavings and smooth gravel into which the tortoise can burrow without the risk of hurting itself. A bowl of drinking water should always be in the container since tortoises like to have a little sip of water once in a while in addition to their watery diet. Try to feed the pet in one spot. Do not feed adult animals on a daily basis. Two fasting days weekly are recommended. Diet varies with each species of tortoise. Most like lettuce, spinach, cut up grapes, strawberries, cut up tomatoes and other soft fruit and greens. Be sure to add calcium and vitamins to your tortoise s diet. Turtles Most familiar turtles lead an amphibious life - they live in the water and also on land.
Aquariums make excellent housing for turtles. Most turtles are pretty lively and should have room for extensive swimming. The problem of hygiene is a major obstacle in keeping aquatic turtles. Any suitable aquarium filter can be used if the water is kept deep. Or a deep pan located at one end of the tank, that can be cleaned frequently can be used. Provide waterlogged wood for your pet to rest on. Rocks can also be used provided that they are smooth as not to injure the lower shell (plastron). Diet for turtles varies with each species. Flake food from a local pet store, and greens, are some of the foods they will eat but check with your local pet shop keeper or veterinarian for the proper dietary needs for your certain type of turtle. Be sure to add calcium and vitamins to your turtle s diet. All turtles and tortoises are reptiles. All are toothless. All have tails and eyelids but no external ears or even ear openings, and most have no voice to speak of. All have shells - some have hard shells, some have hinged shells, and some have soft shells. Turtles and tortoises are all relatively quiet, some are easy to feed, most are odorless, many are long-lived, pet turtles and tortoises don't attack people - and no species is venomous. They are resistant to parasites and disease. Taxonomy of Turtles Kingdom - Animalia - the animals. Phylum - Chordata - the chordates have a central nervous system which is situated dorsally. Subphylum - Vertebrata - the vertabrate animals have a cartilage or bony spinal column which encloses at least part of the central nervous system. Class - Reptilia - here are the reptiles. They differ from all other vertebrates with respect to the occipital bone. In reptiles there is a single occipital condyle (or bony process). There are about 221 species of turtles and tortoises living on the earth today. Order - Testudinata or Chelonia - These names mean the same creatures. There are 2 suborders and 12 living families. These 12 families are broken down into 66 genera and the genera into 221 (more or less) species. Turtles and tortoises are sensitive to odors. They find their food mostly by its odor. They also have sharp vision. Turtles and tortoises are not very bright. When the days grow shorter and the evenings are cooler they will hibernate and live off stored up food. Heartbeat and respiration will slow and energy requirements will drop off tremendously. All turtles and tortoises are cold-blooded. Today many species of turtles and tortoises are protected by legislation and to possess a protected animal may subject you to such a penalty as the law may impose. As of October 23, 2004, the collection of eastern box turtles and their subspecies (Terrapene Carolina) from the wild is now illegal in Indiana. Individuals already possessing box turtles or their parts will need to obtain a possession permit from the Division of Fish & Wildlife. Specific information about the administrative rule and permit is available online at: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/endangered/
USEFUL FACTS ABOUT LIZARDS Lizards are a fascinating group of animals that have made endless adaptations to their environment. A lizard is a cold-blooded animal with a moderately long body, usually ending with a tapering tail, covered with scaly skin. Lizards have four limbs with five toes on each foot. Its size can range from a little more than 2" in length such as the gecko to that of the Komodo Dragon a larger monitor lizard, measuring more than 10 feet in length. Lizards belong to the class of animals called Reptilla. Turtles, crocodiles, alligators and snakes are also in this class. To keep lizards successfully in captivity, it is necessary to imitate their natural surroundings as closely as possible. The size and kind of cage is largely determined by the species to be confined in it. Aquariums make good housing quarters for lizards. DESERT LIZARDS: The cage should contain a layer of clean sand several inches deep into which the lizard can burrow, also some rocks, a small log, or pieces of bark beneath which they can retire. WOODLAND LIZARDS: The cage should contain 1 to 2 inches of sand or gravel with a layer of woods loam or good soil on top to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches. You can also add a few small plantings of mosses and ferns. Bark, a small hollow log or rocks can also be arranged to form a cave like retreat. The ideal temperature for lizards is from 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Check with a local pet shop for the kind of light and heat units you might need for your lizard. Spray water on bark, rocks and plants for the lizards to lap up. Most lizards will not drink from a dish of water and may die of thirst. Most lizards are insectivorous, which means they live essentially on a variety of insects. Some are herbivorous (they eat plants). And there are some species that are both insectivorous and herbivorous. A list of some types of lizards that are kept as pets: Carolina Anole or American Chameleon, Banded Gecko, Texas Horned Lizard, Common Five-Lined Skink, Iguanas, and Tegues. Brief Rules About Keeping Lizards Never - pick up a lizard by its tail, let anyone annoy your lizards by tapping on their cage, and never try to hasten moulting by pulling off loose skin from your lizards - they will do it themselves. Remember that - lizards drink by lapping up drops of water from plants or other substrata, and will not take water from a dish; horned lizards are very fond of ants; collared lizards should not be caged with other lizards; and that you must start ahead of time if you are to have an adequate food supply for winter. Only a proper cage and attention will keep your lizards healthy. Desert lizards must have a dry cage. Make it a habit to keep an eye on the thermometer in the cage of the terrarium. Maintain proper amount of heat and light in the cage or terrarium. If an aquarium tank is used as a terrarium, keep the top tightly covered with wire sreening. Be sure that the lizards, especially the desert forms are not exposed to drafts.
Offer your lizards only live food, except in certain rare instances. When feeding horned lizards or desert species, place them in the sun. Keep in mind that collared lizards are fond of small blossoms such as those of red clover and dandelion. Handle your lizards as little as possible. Don't give chameleons a sugar and water diet, as some might suggest; don't let your lizards get too cold or too hot; don't make quick or sudden movements near your lizards; don't keep the cage or terrarium too near a window in winter; and don't neglect to sprinkle water on the plants or pieces of bark or other objects daily. Provide a layer of sand in the cage for desert species and for those that burrow; provide twigs or other supports for climbing lizards; and provide your lizards with some sort of shelter beneath which they can retire. USEFUL FACTS ABOUT SNAKES Snakes are limbless reptiles and most have long slender bodies, almost cylindrical in shape. They have fused transparent eyelids and ears that are without drums or external cavities. They have a retractile forked tongue. Their dorsal surface and sides are covered with many rows of overlapping scales, and the ventral or belly surface is covered by a single row of broad scales called belly scales, ventral plates, or scutes. Little is known about the origin of snakes. Fossils of the oldest known snake date from Lower Cretaceous times, about 125 million years ago. Like all reptiles, snakes are cold-blooded creatures. This simply means that the snakes blood is usually not much higher in temperature than the surrounding air. This explains why snakes are generally more active on warm sunny days and sluggish during cold weather. There are more than 2,000 distinct species of snakes living today. Snakes vary in size and general appearance as much as any other group of animal. All snakes shed their outer layer of skin during the warm months. Despite the fact that snakes are without eardrums and external ear cavities, they make up for this deficiency by being remarkably sensitive to odors and certain vibrations. The forked tongue that is incessantly flicked in and out of the snakes mouth is an organ to aid the snakes ability to smell. All snakes are carnivorous, and in the wild most prefer living prey. Captive snakes will often take dead mice, fish, even strips of raw meat. The jaws of the snake are different from those of all other living vertebrates. The snake's jaws do not form rigid units but are separated at the extreme front by an elastic ligament so that the snake has four separate and more or less independently moveable jaws. Grasping the prey for swallowing, the snake secures a firm grip on the animals nose. One side of the lower jaw is then pushed forward while the other side of the lower jaw remains fixed. The elastic ligament makes this possible. After the recurved teeth on the forward side of the jaw have been imbedded in the head of the prey, the other side of the lower jaw slides up even with the forward side. At this time the upper jaws creep forward one at a time. The entire operation continues, first the two lower jaw sides and then the two upper jaw sides, time and time again until the prey is completely engulfed, at which time the throat muscles contract to complete the swallowing process.
Many snakes reproduce by laying eggs and are said to be oviparous. Other snakes produce living young and are termed ovovuiparous. Some of these snakes merely retain the eggs in their body until they hatch. Snake eggs are generally elongate, white or grayish white in color, and are covered with a tough leather-like shell. The egg of a snake becomes larger and darker in color as the baby snake develops. The diet for snakes varies with each species. It is not necessary to feed a snake very often, one meal a week is good. Aquariums with a tight fitting mesh screen cloth lid makes a good cage for your snake. The snake must have good ventilation. The size of the cage will depend on what kind and size of snake you want to keep. A cage for a garter snake or other species of snake that is about 2' long should measure about 15" high x 24" long x 20" wide, for a larger snake a cage about 20" high x 36" long x 20" wide is ample. Supply a water dish large enough for the snake to crawl into - many kinds of snakes like to soak themselves for hours at a time. Keep the water dish cleaned and filled at all times. Provide a flat stone propped up by some pebbles or a rough slab of bark to crawl under, a short section of hollow log is good also. You may want to provide a heavy branch so your snake can have something to crawl on. The cage should be cleaned regularly. Temperature control is very important to snakes. The cage temperature should be kept at 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature is much below 75 degrees provide heat by using an electric heat rock or an electric light bulb in or near the cage. Do not tease your snakes or allow anyone else to tease them. Do not tap or knock on the glass of your snake s cage. Handle your snake by holding it just in back of the jaws so that it cannot turn and bite. At all times approach a snake from above never from the reptiles own level and always with slow, deliberate movements, never quick and jerky.