Practical Reptile Keeping Magazine No.67 Know your reptile Vorige editie

Who would have believed that turtles talk to each other?
This must already rank as one of the year’s most amazing discoveries, as far as reptiles
are concerned. You can read about this remarkable fi nding on our news pages this month.
One of the great fascinations about keeping reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates is, of course,
observing the way that they behave. This is a key area. While we now have a much better idea of their
inter-relationships, in terms of species and identifi cation, we still only have relatively few insights into
why they might act in particular ways.
I’m sure there will be times when you see your animals do something and wondered what could be
the reason. So why not investigate this yourself? You don’t need a science degree – or indeed any degree!
It basically just requires time and good observational skills.
If you want to know more, join in our hunt to unravel distinctive behaviours, which you can read
about in James Brereton’s article. Should you have ideas for a study, but are unsure as to how to take it
forward, drop us a line as James suggests, and we’ll see if our team of experts can help you.
Such research has already served to shape the way that not just reptiles, but amphibians and invertebrates are being kept and bred. As an example, there is a great article by Dr Phil Purser this month on New World tarantulas. Phil highlights diff erences in their behaviour that will have far-reaching impacts – to the point of infl uencing people’s choice of species, helping them to make the right choices.
Finally, a reminder! If you entered our Style Tortoise Home competition early this year, discover if you were one of the lucky winners? You can fi nd out on page 66.