Ellie Hills Ellie Hills

Stereotypical Behaviours In Reptiles

Stereotypical behaviours in reptiles are unchanging and repetitive behaviours that have no apparent or discernible motivation and outcome. These abnormal behaviours are seen to be an indicator for..

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Ellie Hills Ellie Hills

Reptile Folklore Husbandry, Welfare Concerns

Folklore husbandry within reptile keeping is a term that was first brought about by Kevin Arbuckle. It describes methods or supposed ‘best practices’ which are unevidenced, pseudoscientific, convenience and ease led, opinion given and passed from one keeper to another…

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Ellie Hills Ellie Hills

Enrichment VS Enriched: What’s the Difference?

Enrichment is often novel and temporary, cycled out in enrichment plans to stimulate a targeted species typical behaviour. An enriched environment is made up of the permanent features such as branches, cork tubes, humid hides…

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Ellie Hills Ellie Hills

Cane Toads, Toadzillas of the Outback

Recently a giant cane toad was found In Australia weighing a massive 2.7 kilos and measured 255mm. The Guiness world record of a pet cane toad from Sweden was 2.65kg in 1991. Here’s a back story on how this invasive giant came to be and the arms race the native wildlife are facing…

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Liam Sinclair Liam Sinclair

The Comprehensive Guide To Reptile Thermostats

Thermostats in simple terms, safely regulate heating equipment and maintain your desired temperature by regulating energy sent to the heating equipment. Thermostats have a sensory probe, which we place in the vivarium…

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Liam Sinclair Liam Sinclair

Do Snakes “NEED” UVB?

Snakes are animals that have previously been kept and bred successfully without UVB lighting. However, in recent years more research has been published on the effect UVB lighting has upon snakes. So lets do a dive into if snakes should have UVB…

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Liam Sinclair Liam Sinclair

Reptile Keeping: A Brief Introduction to Animal Welfare

Even if an animal has a safe enclosure, a proper diet and is free from disease it could still not be in the positive range on the animal welfare continuum. If for example, it is lacking opportunities for species appropriate behaviour or is experiencing fear or distress…

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Ellie Hills Ellie Hills

Taming Reptiles, Why Bother With Consent?

Often new keepers search online for how to tame my pet snake or lizard, there are however issues with the practice in the sense that this involves an aspect called flooding…

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