Practical Reptile Keeping

Practical Reptile Keeping is the only monthly herp care magazine published in English. Launched in 2009, it attracts an international readership and is packed with advice on how to look after and breed snakes, lizards, tortoises, turtles, amphibians and bugs. As well as stunning photography, each issue features technical help, product information and health care advice to keep your animals in tip-top condition, plus breeding details and the latest news relating to this group of creatures from around the world.

Welcome

Researchers identify two new crocodile species

What do you fancy drinking?

Antivenom neutralizes the neurotoxins of the world’s deadliest snakes

First tegu fossil found in the U.S.

Bats eavesdrop on possible amphibian prey

Unexpected reptilian predators roamed in the Caribbean

Understanding rear-fanged snakes • This group includes some of the most popular snakes in the hobby, as well as a few of the most deadly, with the impacts of their venom being very variable, as Timothy Zedi explains.

Reptile obstetrics

Using springtails

REPTILE FOCUS • Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Grow your own food for tortoises • From now onwards for several months, many tortoises will be out roaming in gardens. So what plants can you grow for your pet to browse on, in order to add variety to its diet? Dr James Brereton has some suggestions, along with advice on cultivating these plants successfully. Here, in the first of a two part series, he concentrates on ornamental plants.

An off-colour bearded dragon

DEFENCE MECHANISMS in reptiles • Effective communication can play a vital role in staying alive, as far as animals generally are concerned. Here Paul Donovan considers the different ways in which snakes and lizards in particular communicate and protect themselves from predators.

CHOOSING snakes or lizards? • Starting out with a new species is always exciting, but it is important to focus on their individual requirements at the outset, in terms of narrowing your choice, as Don Harper explains in this article, which concentrates on those that are most popular in the hobby today.

Adventures in Madagascar • Joshua Ralph fulfills a long-time ambition, and heads to the Mitsinjo Amphibian Breeding Facility in Andasibe, Madagascar, from where he sends this report.

Practical Reptile Keeping