KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES

The Great Outdoors with Rob Pilley

Despite being an Emmy award winning BBC documentary producer, holding an MSc in Biodiversity and being one of Europe’s most highly regarded Lacerta breeders, Rob Pilley still describes himself as a “big kid” when it comes to reptiles.

The early days of outdoor keeping

Although we rarely see outdoor vivaria in conventional pet shops or popular online platforms, reptiles and amphibians have been kept outdoors for decades. A seemingly risky manoeuvre for novice keepers, the keeping and breeding of reptiles in outdoor enclosures demands a certain level of confidence in the natural world. Rob Pilley has held this confidence since he was a teenager and continues to successfully breed a number of European species from bloodlines he obtained back in the 90s.

In the early days, European species were extremely popular but often wild caught. This would mean that successful husbandry, especially indoors, was extremely rare. Rob Pilley told Exotics Keeper Magazine: “One of the key figures in the 70s who pioneered outdoor breeding was a guy called Bert Langerwerf. At this time the most UV you could get indoors was from the True Light. Bert said no, this isn’t good enough. We want to start breeding outside. So, he set up Agama International which was essentially the world’s largest breeder of lizards at the time. He then moved that over to Alabama and became the first breeder to introduce things like Black and White Tegus and Australian Water Dragons by breeding them outside.”

Knowing that reptiles from all over the world could be kept and bred outdoors opened an entirely new realm of herpetoculture. One which, although demanding a good level of knowledge about the species’ natural history, was extremely successful and did not rely entirely on products to meet specialised requirements.

Rob continued: “I got into reptiles when I was about 11 or 12 when I would go on holiday and see these beautiful green lizards scurrying around the sand dunes or heathland and it was that image that I loved. Of course, I loved the animals, but it was the animal within the wild context that I really fell in love with. At the time, you couldn’t get a lot of these lizards in the UK. There was one breeder called Terry Thatcher who was keeping his Eyed Lizards outside and I knew I wanted to create these wild environments so that was my first inspiration really. I started breeding Balkan green lizards in 1992 and it just went from there.”

Rob started his production career as a young guest presenter on The Really Wild Show, where he would introduce his pet animals. From there he studied Zoology before completing a masters in Biodiversity. After graduating, Rob joined the BBC and moved permanently to Bristol. Since joining the BBC Rob has been awarded “BBC Best Factual Moment” as well as multiple Emmy Awards for his documentaries. His most recent success was on BBC wildlife documentary, Spy in the Wild. The innovative series was critically acclaimed for using animatronic animals to get an insight into the natural world.

Kids In Glass Houses

Robs Animals

Rob currently keeps 25 species of reptiles at his home near Bristol. Over the years, many different animals have come into Rob’s care, which he has facilitated over three separate enclosure biomes: entirely outdoors, greenhouse/partly outdoors and entirely indoors. Perhaps surprisingly, Rob has managed to keep reptiles from all over the world within his UV acrylic greenhouse successfully. By using a solarmeter and infrared thermometer Rob can accurately compare readings to wild locations, opening up a greater understanding of which animals will thrive. These species include black and white tegus (Tupinambis merianae), Jacksons chameleons (Trioceros jacksonii), abronia lizards (Abronia graminea) and much more. Now, Rob has turned his attention to keeping mostly European species with a plan for all the animals within his care. He explained: “I have a five-year plan with all of my animals. I buy them as babies or as young as possible and then raise them in situ, whether its outside, in the greenhouse, or in the garage. So, after five years they should be settled in, grown on and hopefully breeding by then. If we get to the five-year mark and they haven’t done that, I then have to assume that I’ve done something wrong or that my captivity isn’t right for them. The conditions aren’t right, whether it’s artificial lighting or the diet or the climate. So, at that point, I might consider selling them on.”

Outdoors

Rob keeps a number of species entirely outdoors, year-round. These include Russian sand lizards (Lacerta agilis exigua), Eyed lizards (Timon lepidus), Balkan green lizards (Lacerta trilineata), fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra fastuosa and S. salamandra terrestris) and green toads (Bufo viridis). These animals will exhibit natural behaviours, burrowing below the surface when the cooler months arrive, before emerging in spring for breeding season.

Keeping reptiles outdoors can be a daunting concept for anyone in the hobby. Whilst the British climate may be unpredictable at best, there are lots of species which can be kept in greenhouse vivaria very easily. Having a resilient and brave approach to husbandry is the key to establishing healthy outdoor breeding animals.

Rob Pilley, BBC Documentary Filmmaker, Zoologist and outdoor reptile breeding enthusiast claims: “The key to raising European lizards outside is raising in situ from an early age.” By acclimatising reptiles as early as possible, this allows most species to exhibit their natural behaviours which protects them from harsh temperatures.

“The Balkan green lizards hibernate as adults, breed in the spring or summer and then the babies will hatch out in August. So, if they hatch on time, they will be okay but if they hatch late, they won’t have enough fat reserves to get through the winter. What I’ll do with those is raise them for 6-8 weeks inside, if they’re sufficiently big enough and we’re having a mild winter they will still go outside. If not, they will hibernate in the garage that is still very cold, maybe 7-8°C and then released outside in the Spring.”

By promoting natural behaviours in naturalistic environments, Rob has managed to keep and breed generations of European green lizards successfully for decades. He continues: “I think people are nervous about losing their animals in outdoor enclosures. That does happen, but by holding onto the animal, raising it entirely indoors and not letting it acclimatise to the outdoor temperature, putting them out when they’re fully grown is a death sentence.”

Rob does agree that there are pros and cons with raising reptiles outdoors. For example, pet owners looking for an animal that will always be there on display will be hugely disappointed by having outdoor, planted enclosures. Rob told us that he has a collection of fire salamanders in outdoor enclosures which he only sees a few times a year, on damp nights. Whilst these salamanders breed every year, they’re clearly not animals to keep as ‘pets’. Therefore, the keeping of reptiles and amphibians outside fills a niche in the hobby that, whilst rewarding most of the time, is unlikely to appeal to everyone.

Greenhouse

The Greenhouse allows less hardier animals to be kept in a semi-natural environment. Built entirely from UV acrylic, this greenhouse mitigates any harsh temperature and weather conditions whilst also raising the average temperature overall. A whole myriad of species can be kept in these conditions which might be surprising to some. Rob told us about his black and white tegus (Tupinambis merianae) which were raised very successfully in the greenhouse from a young age, until they reached a size which allowed them to crack the acrylic with their destructive behaviours. Rob also raised Eastern bearded dragons (Pogona barbata) in the greenhouse, understanding that this species is used to much more temperate climates than their central cousins. Unfortunately, their behaviour indicated that despite thriving in the cooler conditions in winter, the British summer failed to consistently reach the temperatures that these animals would be exposed to in the wild.

As a BBC documentary film maker, Rob has travelled the world filming countless species in their wild conditions. Because of this, his understanding of natural extremities is vast. Novices absolutely should not approach experimental outdoor keeping without a genuine thorough understanding of the habitats and locales of the animals in their care. Rob also uses a solarmeter to take various readings of different locations within the enclosures, giving him accurate data which he can compare to the wild locations he has visited and assess the captive conditions for the species. Understanding these readings and requirements all year round is crucial to replicating wild conditions.

Indoors

Rob also keeps several species indoors in custom terrariums. These are designed to be as naturalistic as possible utilising natural substrates and UV lighting, with many of the enclosures also bioactive. Understanding the limitations of keeping reptiles in outdoor conditions is just as important as pushing the boundaries of natural husbandry.

Rob continued: “Even though it’s much more tropical in here and it’s around 26°C at the moment and reached 31°C yesterday, it was only 14°C last night. So, I try to let the temperatures drop as low as I can because it cycles the animals quite well. For example, the ackies have recently come out of hibernation so they’re instantly into breeding mode. In the winter it’ll go down to 12°C or so, but because most of these are tropical species, replacing the roof with polycarbonate wouldn’t retain enough heat to keep all the animals healthy.”

By keeping his reptiles in a garage, Rob allows temperatures to drop much more drastically than typical indoor enclosures in the house. Although Rob uses some heating for some of the indoor enclosures, the ambient temperature is consistently warmer than outside, whilst still mimicking the temperature patterns outside. Although this might make many keepers slightly nervy, even the hardiest desert species that thrive at +30°C will encounter drastic night time drops. Providing these animals have deep substrate to escape the extremities, wider temperature variants are much more natural than the consistency we aim to provide in captivity. Further research in this field is likely to uncover some interesting revelations over the next few years.

Carotenoids

Herpetoculturists tend to have a fascination for stunningly bright animals. Furthermore, brightly coloured reptiles can often be an indicator of good health. Rob has one very simple technique to ensure his reptiles are as vibrant as possible, a natural diet full of carotenoids.

Rob explained: “the eyed lizard is a common captive bred lizard across the world really. The problem with raising them indoors is that they never reach their full colour potential. Outside they’re bright green, with blues and yellows, they’re really gorgeous. When raised indoors they’re actually quite drab. I tell people that if you want that colour, they need to be raised outside under decent UV and fed carotenoids. These pigments are found in wildflowers, carrots, beetroots, peppers. Of course, the eyed lizards would feed on the odd dandelion but really, it’s coming from the insects. Feeding crickets on these plants will stock them full of carotenoids which is passed onto the lizard.”

While we all understand the importance of gut loading our feeder insects, there are often simple choices we can make to ensure the healthiest live foods we can possibly offer. Providing bug gel to feeding your bearded dragons with feeder insects on a high carotenoid diet will punch that colour sky high. I’ve also found that feeding crickets a natural diet and providing natural vegetation and sunlight means there’s no need for any vitamin supplements. The proof’s in the pudding really, these animals have been breeding for decades now and I’ve never had an animal suffer from burnout, like they do in artificial conditions. Some of my older greens are 15/16 years old and still breeding now.”

British species

It is illegal to keep any British reptiles or amphibians that have been sourced in the UK as part of a private collection. Not only is it illegal to harvest wild animals in the UK but keeping genetically similar species in captivity with a motivation to breed them risks the health and genetic diversity of the wild populations. Rob goes one step further and will not sell any European sand lizards to anyone in the UK (despite being from offshore bloodlines). However, the broader European species he works with which are non-native are sold to enthusiasts across the country. By sharing his methods, the outdoor keeping of herptiles in the UK is becoming more and more viable for hobbyists across the country.

Those that don’t have the time or technical know how to build zoological enclosures in their garden can still attract a wealth of reptiles and amphibians with just a few installations. Rob showed us a ‘re-wilding area’ at the bottom of his garden. “There’s a bit of a NIMBY mentality when it comes to rewilding Britain” he explained. “This basically means ‘not in my back garden.’ People tend to love seeing interesting animals on their doorstep, but then argue that wild areas look messy. Equally, there’s different motivations for different people. We have recently had a good population of otters thriving near us, which most of the community thinks is great, but they have wreaked havoc on the fishery, so the local fishermen are finding them a nuisance. Growing meadows and wildflowers is great for bees and insects, but that also encourages mice. We have all three species of newts in our streams and pond which is amazing! That obviously brings in grass snakes which is wonderful for us, but not so much for the great crested newts.”

One of the best things someone can do to encourage wildlife, particularly reptiles and amphibians into their garden is to build a pond. While a nice sized water feature may look brilliant, even just filling a ceramic planter with water will bring loads of invertebrates and new food sources for local wildlife. Secondly, creating a compost heap in a sunny patch of the garden will also attract nearby slow worms and grass snakes. Rob placed some corrugated metal on top of his compost heap, which inevitably brought two slow worms to the top of the grass cuttings. Understandably, not everyone will live in idyllic countryside settings and some people may not even have their own garden. This does not mean that re-wildling cannot happen. In fact, even just planting some wildflowers on a balcony will support the wider ecosystem.

What can we learn?

Rob Pilley’s career and herp collection is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when we nurture our childhood passions. Not only has Rob been fortunate enough to visit countless exotic locations and build a career from his love for the natural world, but this bleeds into his herpetoculture hobby which ultimately improves the welfare of the animals in his care. As the hobby progresses further and further into mimicking true wild conditions, we must be somewhat open to exploring every aspect of nature. “I used to think that the reptiles which came from the Northern areas in Europe would be much more tolerant to our climates.” Rob explained. “Geographically it made sense that northern species would fare better than

Mediterranean species further south. This just wasn’t the case at all.”

Understanding the animals we keep and how they fit into their wild ecosystems is the foundation of good animal welfare. For example, reptiles from higher altitudes will tend to require cooler temperatures. Desert species will often be tolerant of temperature drops which they are exposed to in the wild. Aggression during the mating season is perfectly normal and natural. Brumation periods will usually only occur if natural conditions are being mimicked effectively. All of these parameters we try so hard to protect our animals from in captivity can actually provide high levels of enrichment when properly observed and managed.

Rob concluded: “Herpetoculture has inspired me not only in my career, but in the skills I’ve developed. By handling them, observing how they work and admiring them in captivity, it’s made me a better zoologist in the field. When I’m out and about whether it be Arizona, Australia, or a rainforest in Madagascar, I’m still the same little boy who’s raised these animals and learnt from them. Without hands on experience from a young age I never would have been able to do the job that I do now.”

To keep up to date with Rob’s personal adventures, readers can follow Rob’s Wild Adventures on YouTube and Facebook. Exotics Keeper Magazine will be bringing another full interview with Rob via our own YouTube channel soon.

Solarmeter ® point-and-click handheld meters ensure the health and safety of your reptile. The Model 6.2R is used to monitor lamp intensity and lamp life. Similarly, the Model 6.5R measures the UV Index related to the Vitamin D action spectrum and Ferguson Zones to identify reptile-safe basking areas.