Bruce with Loki 🙃🙂

🗓⏰️😴 My leopard geckos are kept in the basement every winter from December to February. There I can ensure the optimal temperatures so that the geckos follow their internal clock. Many animals and plants take a break in the winter. This is called dormancy.

🌡📉😴 Dormancy, from the Latin dormire (to sleep), refers to periods during which the development of organisms or biological processes slows down or temporarily halts. These periods can be triggered by external factors but are also influenced by genetic and hormonal mechanisms. Dormancy plays a vital role in helping animals and plants survive harsh environmental conditions.

☃️🦎 For ectothermic animals like lizards, the cold-induced state of inactivity differs from the hibernation seen in endothermic species. To describe this distinct phenomenon, the term brumation was introduced in the 1920s.

🍁❄️ Reptiles typically enter brumation in late autumn, though the exact timing varies by species. During this state, they may periodically wake to drink water but refrain from eating and return to their dormant state. Prior to brumation, reptiles often consume larger amounts of food, but as temperatures drop, their appetite diminishes, and they may stop eating altogether. However, they must continue to hydrate. Brumation can last anywhere from one to eight months, depending on factors such as ambient temperature, the reptile's size, age, and overall health. In their first year, many young reptiles do not fully enter brumation; instead, they exhibit reduced activity and eat less frequently. Like hibernation, brumation is triggered by cooler temperatures and shorter daylight hours in winter.

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Bruce checks the situation 👀 There are a lot of crickets running around... Maybe one will jump into his mouth. 🛎🦗

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We are cuddle buddies 🥰

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Should I stay at home or go to a rave? We all know the feeling when a certain position feels just right. Bruce, in keeping with the natural nature of leopard geckos, probably just happened to get into this exact position and stayed like that for a few minutes. If you see your animals doing things like this frequently, you should be careful. It could indicate weakness, for example due to illness. But Bruce is in great shape and probably just appreciated the relaxed moment. The photo is a few months old and shows him shortly after moving into the newly furnished terrarium.

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When two have found each other 💕

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Loki is exploring the unknown. I refurbished the terrarium this year, using the old terrarium background. It's a new world! ✨️

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While people argue...✨💛🖤✨

Sun beetle (Pachnoda marginata peregrina) and Zophobas (Zophobas morio).

When I see them like this, I wonder what's going on in their heads.

How do others perceive the world? You never know. This applies to other people as well as to animals. The more egocentric you are, the more inclined you are to draw conclusions about others. But consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries. The fact that you cannot immerse yourself in the world of experiences of others is called qualia.

Qualia refer to the subjective, individual experiences of sensory perceptions and consciousness.

Qualia are inherently personal and cannot be fully communicated or understood by others.

This means there is no way of knowing what exactly is going on inside these cuties.

I suspect these beetles are trying to understand each other. At least their intentions. That's why they touch each other with their feelers.

But maybe it feels especially good when they do that. Similar to when people touch each other tenderly.

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A Dubia cockroach (Blaptica dubia) that extrudes and retracts the ootheca. But what is it and why does it do that? The egg packets of cockroaches and mantises are called ootheca. The Dubia cockroach is ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs remain in the body until the young are ready to hatch. The extruding of the ootheca occurs because it's the only way to move them from the ovary chamber to the brood chamber.

I keep a small group of cockroaches because they are good food for my animals. The terrarium is set up with an 11 to 15 centimeter high layer of coconut soil, which is piled up like a slope towards the back wall of the terrarium. In the lower area there are branches, leaves and pieces of bark, where the animals stay the most. The upper area stays free, only the feeding bowl is there. I only keep the soil slightly moist in places. These areas are visited by the animals from time to time and also cover their drinking needs. Springtails and microorganisms also live in the soil, which help to keep the terrarium clean. It smells very good like forest floor.

Many startle when they hear the word cockroach. Only about 30 species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. In a normal living situation, there is no need to worry about an infestation by these animals.

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Sun beetles and their cocoons 🌞
Pachnoda marginata peregrina

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Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)

I used to keep this species as a pet for many years.

They reach a size of about 5 to 8 cm and live up to 5 years. They don't have wings, but they can easily scale smooth glass.

The offspring looks cute. They are so-called nymphs, so they already look very similar to the adults. Only in tiny.

The tiny ones were always great escape artists. Again and again I collected the little adventurers and freed them from fluff.

The adults live in groups and communicate by hissing noises.
There are three different hissing sounds. Both sexes can do the disturbance hiss "F*ck off!".

Only males can make two more sounds: the female-attracting hiss and the aggressive fighting hiss. The males can be recognized by their horns and bushy antennae. There is one in the middle of the second picture.

The females have humps instead of horns.

Females carry their eggs (ootheca) internally, and release the young nymphs only after her offspring have emerged within her. After that, they usually stay close together for some time.

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