While thinking about amphibian learning capacities recently, I was reminded of an experiment recounted in the book Animal Behavior (Time, Inc., 1965), written by Niko Tinbergen, one of the giants in the study of ethology (animal behavior). The experiment was conducted at the famous Archbold Research Station in Florida, in the 1960’s.
The robber fly, which [...]

The inland bearded dragon (aka bearded dragon), Pogona vitticeps, is an extremely popular pet, both here and abroad. However, wide availability does not signify that this lizard should in any way be “taken for granted” – it is a fascinating animal, and recent research has uncovered startling facts about it. As is true for even [...]

Although often passed by in favor of more brightly colored lizards, the sheltopusik, or Eurasian glass lizard, Ophisaurus (Pseudopus) apodus, makes an interesting, hardy and responsive pet. One formerly under my care at NYC’s Staten Island Zoo is approaching 30 years of age, and still in vigorous good health. The captive record is 54 years [...]

The black ratsnake, Elaphe alleganiensis, found throughout much of the eastern half of North America (even in NYC, on occasion, and its suburbs), is a pet trade staple. Hobbyists have developed a number of unique color morphs, including albino individuals, and frequently hybridize this snake with related species. Since so much is known of its [...]

The diets that you provide your reptile and amphibian pets are of critical importance in maintaining their good health and longevity. Providing a balanced diet can be a quite simple matter for some species and, unfortunately, nearly impossible to achieve with others. Proper nutrition plays an important role in every aspect of your pet’s life, [...]

Those who keep or observe frogs soon learn of their prodigious appetites. Surely the champion Anuran eater must be the African bullfrog, Pyxicephalus adspersus. Native to southern Africa, this brute is a popular pet, and with good reason – captive longevity is said to approach 50 years. Two animals that I know of, kept in [...]

Keeping different species of reptiles and amphibians together is an exciting prospect that offers special rewards. However, there are many potential pitfalls. Today I’d like to mention one of the more serious of these concerns – the transmission of parasites.
Particularly troublesome are organisms that are harmless to one animal but deadly to another. The most [...]

Indonesia’s Kalimantan jungle toad (aka Bornean flat-headed frog), Barboula kalimantenensis, has been declared the only frog known to lack lungs. The frog itself was not collected and described until 1978. The fact that it is lung-less was released on April 10, 2008, by Dr. David Bickford of the National University of Singapore. The picture listed [...]

A general principle of reptile-keeping holds that “several small meals are better than one”, but there is no denying the fascination aroused by the swallowing abilities of the giant constricting snakes. I myself, even after decades of working with large snakes in zoos, was stunned when a 17 foot long anaconda I helped to capture [...]

Some of our most familiar and desirable of reptile pets, such as the leopard gecko and the brilliantly-colored day geckos, are members of a fascinating family of lizards that I would like to introduce today.
The 1,050 or more species of geckos comprise the second largest of lizard families, the Gekkonidae (the largest is the Scincidae, [...]