Life is a journey 😊

A reptile that hugs you is only looking for your warmth or tries to eat you.

Kleptothermy, theft of warmth, is a form of thermoregulation. It occurs in a wide variety of animal species, including human. For example when we cuddle up because it's cold.

Reptiles* cannot create body heat themselves. Their metabolism is dependent on external heat sources.

When your reptile hugs it body against you, it certainly feels safe. But it doesn't do it out of affection, but because you are warm.

It's still a nice feeling.

You should always keep in mind, that it's better for the animal not to take it out of the terrarium.

My leopard geckos are about to winter rest. I initiate a near-natural rest at a temperature of around 12°C.
It's important to get an accurate picture of the animals health beforehand. This includes taking fecal samples, scanning the body for abnormalities and assessing the strength of the animal.

*From a cladistic point of view, which is the scientific standard today, the reptiles as a monophyletic taxon, i.e. as a natural (complete) descent group (Reptilia as clade), should at least also contain the birds, which are warm-blooded.

Desert locusts (Shistocerca gregaria) only do two things 🤷‍♂️

I feed them alive to my animals.
I have also tried freeze-dried grasshoppers myself. Tasted a little like sunflower seeds. Did you ever eat insects and did you like it? 😋

Banana Joe, as fit as twenty years ago. Only better looking. 💪

When I do something with the terrarium, Dakota always has to watch what's going on. He's very headstrong and likes to design himself. No idea where he got this from. 🤷‍♂️

Enjoy life! 🎊🤷‍♂️✨

That's my brand new family member (Heterometrus laoticus) as it kills a dubia roach.

Like this fly, I'll take a little break now. I want to thank you very much. It is nice to be connected with you.😊

Baby brown anole
(Anolis sagrei) 🤎

It's a big big world for a tiny baby lizard, less than two centimeters tall. 🥺

Native to the Bahamas and Cuba, this iguanian species has widely been introduced to other places like the United States, Mexico and Taiwan. Their eggs often travel via the soil of plant pots. Like other anole, it can change color. In this case from brown to black. The coloration depends on their mood and activity. Brown anole are very communicative in visual ways.

To photograph a lizard, you have to think like a lizard, move like a lizard...

Here I sneaked up on a sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) 🦎🌞

He clearly wanted to be seen.💚 Males turn bright green during the spring mating season - from April to June - and brown again in the late summer.🤎

Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis)

These cute day geckos climbed around freely in the Exotarium which I visited in 2017.

You can see that in some places the top layer of skin was missing, but already regenerating. When a day gecko is grabbed or bitten, it can loosen its top layer of skin to escape its threat. These wounds usually heal within a few months.