Cerato Talks

New to the herping world? See a lot of Acronyms being tossed around and have no idea what people are talking about? I get it! It can be a little overwhelming to learn all the Lingo at first, and I admit I use it too and don't think about how that can alienate newcomers. So here's a guide to some of the more commonly used Lingo in the reptile world! These aren't all the words you'll see, but these are likely the ones you're most likely to see commonly used in reptile spaces in general: WC - Wild caught, can be local or Imported CB - Captive Born, can be born from a pregnant WC Female or less commonly, egg harvested. CBB - Captive Bred Born, Animal was born in Captivity from a Captive pairing. CHE - Ceramic heat emitter, good for raising ambient temps, doesn't make a good basking lamp. Hologen - A type of heating bulb, considered the more ideal bulb used for basking. DHP - Deep Heat Projector, you'll see this term thrown around when people are discussing Wavelengths of bulbs usually. UVB - Ultraviolet (b), a type of ray emitted from the sun. A lot of lizards, such as bearded dragons for example, *require* UVB lights. Certain animals need UVB to remain healthy, and a lack of UVB can cause a large variation of irreversible health issues. MBD - Metabolic Bone Disease. Most common in animals like Bearded Dragons and Leopard geckos, also extremely prominent in many other lizard species. Usually caused by a lack of or improper UVB. BCI - Boa Constrictor Imperator. Most common species of Boa on the market, can be commonly found with a variation of different morphs. BCC - Boa Constrictor Constrictor, Absolute beasts of a Boa. It is extremely common to see BCIs called BCCs, these animals are not the same. BCL - Boa Constrictor Longicauda BCO - Argentine Boa. Argentine Boas look nothing like the other BCs on this list, you won't really see these guys being mixed up with the other listed Boas. GTP - Green Tree Python ETB - Emerald Tree Boa F/T - Frozen/Thawed Prey Freshkill - Different from F/T. Freshkill is usually purchased as live prey and killed or incapacitated directly before feeding. AWM - Asian Water Monitor SP - Usually a stand-in acronym for the word "Species". Local - In reference to the locality of an animal. For example, Leachianus Geckos(Often just called Leachies), have a few different Localities that grow to different sizes and can even have different color variations depending on said localities. QT- Quarantine. You'll see this usually in reference to people obtaining new animals, regardless if theyre CB/CBB/WC. But especially will see this word with Imports. A lot of Reptiles- Especially Snakes, can carry hidden diseases that can wipe out entire collections and breeding facilities, it is always advised to QT your animal for at minimum 2 weeks-1 month before introducing them into a collection. Some breeders or importers with Established animals may choose to QT for a longer period of time, this is normal. Established - WC Animal who's been in captivity for an extended period of time, usually upwards of a year. Established animals aren't exhibiting signs of crashing or failure to thrive, may actively be breeding, and are eating well. The majority of Established animals have been seen by a vet, or have been treated for parasites- always ask about treatment regardless if you're asking about an established animal.

As per usual, I'll throw in your fun fact! Snakes can be sensitive to the infrared Cameras emit. While Apollo shows little interest in my phone camera anymore, all my snakes, even my boas, share an intense interest and curiosity about my computer's camera when it's on. Usually they loose interest once they realize it's not food or warm(or big) enough for them to bask on.

The natural habitats of these animals, and how you can use this to build an ideal enclosure. Its important to note that these animals are infact, fairly arboreal!! While looking at some of these pictures Ive shared with you, you'll see a number of scattered trees in their environment. These animals love to climb and be up off the ground! But theres also a lot of heavily covered grassland here. So how do we incorporate this into a enclosure? Well, you need to provide them with a lot of vertical and horizontal space. This is probably the biggest turnoff I get when I talk about these lizards vs say, a Bearded dragon or smaller sp. of Uromastryx. While a 4x2x2(Though again, as a side note, theres been a big push for 5x2x2 being the minimum for a Bearded Dragon instead and I do subscribe to the idea that it's more ideal.) will work for a Beardy or a Uro, this will NOT work for a Frilled Dragon. Being a niche species theres not really a universal 'minimum' for these animals. Some sources will claim a 5x2x4 is the bare minimum, but I personally would never go smaller than a 8x3x4. Why all that space? These animals can get up to three feet long. That's right, they can actually grow to be deceptively big. While some individuals will be smaller and some larger, around three-ish feet is likely what you'll get from an adult. Ontop of that, these animals are incredibly active! They love to move around, dig, forage, and climb, and you'll likely see all these behaviors from your animal if you just give them the opportunity to thrive! For me personally, I like to provide a large, heavily covered 'terrain', sometimes if I feel creative I'll slope it to one side or another. Loose substrate is definitely better in this case with these animals, I personally like to use a playsand/topsoil mix or a topsoil/red sand mix. But you can get especially funky by using reptile-safe clay! Yes, red sand is a clay mixture, but theres nothing wrong with using more. Mixing this with a moderate amount of gravel can actually help get a more naturalistic feel, too! And better mimics the habitats these animals come from. Rocks, branches, and natural forming hides and hides your animal can dig out themselves are my usual go-to, and to use that 4ft of arboreal space is absolutely key and can be a done a number of ways! My most recent favorite way is 'swinging branches' secured to the top of an enclosure. I love the idea, I love the way people have been executing this, and I cant wait to show off my 'swinging branches' once they're done! You can do this yourself in a number of ways. Another favorite little 'hack' of mine is using bird perches. Yep, that's right! You've seen Apollo, my BP, on his perch, well the same(but bigger) can be used for frilleds! They're cheaper to make them yourself, but you can by a 3-4 ft perch to install into an enclosure and give them a natural wooden 'tree' to climb and support their body weight! Just double check it was sanded down properly! I'll end my ramblings and general ideas for advice here for yall now. If your wondering why I didn't get into heating and UVB- which, as a side note, these animals do require decently high basking temps that need to be regulated and linear UVB, its because Im working on a post that actually goes in-depth about heating for medium-large animals, the mistakes I often see, frequently asked questions, and how to maintain ambient temps in large enclosures for large animals! If you have any more direct questions about Frilled Dragons, either in captivity or their natural habitat, feel free to ask me and I'd be more than happy to answer.

Next two posts are qued up. One talking about frilled Dragons and their natural habitats and care guides. and one dispelling the whole "Dragon snakes are impossible to keep" Debacle, because its not true. Infact, theyve been captive bred in the UK. But I wanted to do a deep dive into why so many people fail to keep them and why so many people fail to breed them. And why some CB animals, like Peters banded skinks, Dragon snakes, and a handful of others, are not and probably will never be on public market. I want to cover and use the opportunity to talk about gatekeeping for an animals welfare within the exotic community, why it's necessary, and the overall experience of owning animals that are considered incredibly Niche or 'impossible' to own, and why people do get successful with them. If that sounds interesting, stick around. You'll get some cool photos and potentially even some cool videos about it. And please ask me about other exotic animals. Ive kept a lot of different species of snakes, rear-fang venoms included(Excluding boiga. And while Im working on my hot license currently, Its to work with animals that, really aren't dangerous anyway.), Iguanas, common lizards, Uncommon Lizards(Uros my beloved<3) and some specialized monitors like Mangroves. I don't really know what kind of facts and information really interest people these days. But If its something I do know, I'll share it.

Apollos also been doing well! we pretend he can still fit in my hand. Its mostly his grip strength doing like, 99% of the work here. Speaking of grip strength, here's your funfact, we'll do a common one this time. Ball pythons can actually hold their breath for a surprisingly long time. Im talking upwards of 10 minutes! That's right! Contrary to belief(weirdly enough) your animal isn't stupid enough to drown itself. There's lots of reasons your BP might fully submerge itself in water: Your humidity isn't high enough. Its close to shedding. Its getting ready to poop. Mites. Temps are too high. Or simply because if wants to. No, really! Sometimes your animal, if its given the opportunity, may simply find itself under water fully submerged because it feels like it. There are other potential reasons your animal may submerge itself, but I tend to see these as the most common reasons. For Apollo, Hes a close-to-shedding Soaker and a poop soaker primarily.

Scarletts also doing well. Recently shed and has been eating like a champ. :) I don't have a funfact yet, but I am currently running an experiment with my DRMBs involving a water feature to test just how much these animals enjoy spending time in the water. Both of mine have been super keen on the occasional wholeprey fish.

Heya! Just a check in w my Dumeril's ground Boa. They're doing very well and are growing nicely <3. Your obligatory fun fact: Did you know the Dumeril's ground Boa is a terrestrial snake? That's right, these guys don't actually climb that well! He's squeezing my hand pretty tight here, but these animals can be rather clumsy. Though they have been spotted in trees, they're not the most adapted at navigating branches or holding on, and their fat shorter tails don't offer nearly as much as support as other arboreal boas do. Because of this, they can be prone to falling! That being said, they make a very fun animal to handle. They're like blood pythons in a sense, if your animal decides to start exploring while you're holding them as this one often does, its your job to stay under your animal.

I always show pics of my snakes, and I show some of the wild herps I've encountered, but I don't think I've shown yall my frogs. This is my iiiittty bitty Cuban tree frog! I got him for free when he snuck into one of my bioactives via a tropical plant order. This is why you should always check your plants! Its not the first time I've gotten a free frog with my plant imports lol. They're invasive here in the U.S and their chirps have been known to mess with native frog species mating- ontop of that, these frogs are some of the largest tree frogs in the U.S and will often eat Native tree frogs or out-preform them. I've gotten native frogs on my plants too- those Natives I typically release during the night. But this little fella? I consider invasive species who are actively hurting the ecological balance free game. He has a nice 4ftx2ftx2ft enclosure to roam around, plenty of isopods, springtails, and the occasional dump of flightless fruit flies with supplements I give him. He's nearly tripled in size since he's appeared. He's still just a lil fella, but he's doing pretty great!

Bizzare, right? Looks like an entirely different animal! But I can confirm when I unboxed her, she really was that brown. And also tiny. Probably some of the tiniest baby boas Ive handled for the size the adults get, its hard to imagine this tiny squiggle being 8ft+~ In size.

You can tell I mist often, water marks are my enemy </3 Been a while since I posted Scarlett, my Dominican Red Mountain Boa. She's been doing well! I remember when I got her she was just an itty bitty little thing, she used to look teeny in that enclosure, and so brown! As of this weekend she will be moved into her larger enclosure, a 4ftx2ftx2ft- which will not be her permanent home. Something to keep in mind about Dominicans is there's very little *good* information about this species out there. I feed mine a large variation of prey, but stick to her more natural diet of lizards. One of the things thats often up for debate is how big on average these animals get. From my experience keeping and speaking with other breeders, females can reach up to 8ft. The biggest female Ive seen was a 10ft DRMB, and she was a sight to behold. Ive also seen DRMBS around 5ft in size. Some males breaching 6ft. The only 8ft Male I know of is the sire to the one in this image. Because of this Im kind of just spitballing with enclosures. I have them, it isn't a big deal. I happen to know the sizes of the animals that produced this specific DRMB- as well as the sizes her siblings have reached. Her finale enclosure will likely be a 8ftx3ftx4ft, and if she ends up outgrowing that? She ends up outgrowing that, I'll just have to upgrade her again and repurpose that enclosure likely for one of her partners. The unrelated Male comes from a much smaller pairing anyway. For now though, I still have plenty of years with my reasonably sized noodled and she will have lots of space in that 4ft enclosure. Im excited about her coloration getting bolder every single day, and am ultimately looking forward to seeing how red she turns out by the time she outgrows the 4fter. She comes from a high red pairing, so heres to hoping!