Exotics Keeper Magazine December 2023

NEWS • GAMBIAN POUCHED RAT • KEEPER BASICS • PRISTIMANTIS • CINNAMON TREE FROG www.exoticskeeper.com • december 2023 • £3.99

THE LAST OF THE GUATEMALAN BEADED LIZARDS Conservationists must act quickly to save these Endangered lizards.

BIG BOX, LITTLE BOX

Dylan Whitehill discusses his experience breeding the endangered West Malaysian box turtle (Cuora amboiensis couro).

PASSION FOR PUFFING SNAKES

Trials and tribulations with spilotes sulphureus, one of the largest species of neotropical snake, and among the largest colubrid species in the world.

YOU LITTLE RIPPER!

Find out how reptile breeder and host of the Captive Raptor Podcast, Paul Burrows breeds his pygmy mulga monitors.

CONTACT US EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

hello@exoticskeeper.com SYNDICATION & PERMISSIONS

thomas@exoticskeeper.com ADVERTISING

advertising@exoticskeeper.com .........................

About us MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY Peregrine Livefoods Ltd Rolls Farm Barns Hastingwood Road Essex CM5 0EN Print ISSN: 2634-4708 Digital ISSN: 2634-4689

EDITORIAL: Thomas Marriott DESIGN: Scott Giarnese Amy Mather .........................

Subscriptions

.........................

F

irstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported Exotics Keeper Magazine throughout 2023. As the festive period begins and the new year draws ever closer, I would like to wish everyone that has participated in our survey, written an article, bought a subscription, shared a post or even dropped us a nice message on Facebook, a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This month’s issue of Exotics Keeper Magazine welcomes some extra diversity in its content. For a long time EK covered all kinds of stories, from aviculture and aquatics to zookeeping and exotic mammals.

Now, with even more pages to play with, we can begin to introduce a broader range of topics whilst still focusing on the specialist herpetological knowledge EK is known for. Our Flashback Feature in this issue looks at bomb disposal rats, our keeper basics focuses on aquatics and we’ve got some splendid herpetoculture pieces.

Roy Blodgett has produced another beautifully written exploration of his experience in herpetoculture, this time focusing on puffing snakes. I have also created a piece

with Rowland Griffin off the back of a visit to Guatemala to look at the conservation of Heloderma charlesbogerti. We also caught up with Paul Burrows of Pauls Monitors to hear his thoughts on the BEST pet monitor lizard.

Exotics Keeper Magazine is continuing to grow and we are working hard to keep this outreach up. If you love the content you read each month, please do tell your friends about us, share our content online, or get a subscription for a loved one this Christmas.

Thank you.

Thomas Marriott Editor

.........................

Follow us

.........................

Every effort is made to ensure the material published in EK Magazine is reliable and accurate. However, the publisher can accept no responsibility for the claims made by advertisers, manufacturers or contributors.

Readers are advised to check any claims themselves before acting on this advice. Copyright belongs to the publishers and no part of the magazine can be reproduced without written permission.

Front cover: Guatemalan beaded lizard (Heloderma charlesbogerti) Right: Gambian pouch rat (Cricetomys gambianus)

02 06 22 32 42 49 02

EXOTICS NEWS

The latest from the world of exotic pet keeping.

06

BIG BOX, LITTLE BOX:

12

Breeding West Malaysian box turtles.

14

FLASHBACK FEATURE: A HERO OF GIANT PROPORTIONS

How many other exotic pets have saved tens of thousands of lives?

Conservationists must act quickly

to save these Endangered lizards.

PASSION FOR PUFFING SNAKES:

49

YOU LITTLE RIPPER!

58

22

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

Focus on the wonderful world of exotic pets. This month it’s the New Caledonia Cinnamon tree frog (Nyctixalus pictus).

42

THE LAST OF THE GUATEMALAN BEADED LIZARDS

32

T rials and tribulations with spilotes sulphureus.

Pygmy mulga monitors in captivity.

KEEPER BASICS:

Fish health and water quality.

FASCINATING FACT Did you know...?

Exotics News

EXOTICS NEWS The latest from the world of exotic animals

Around fifty percent of the females mounted by males used calls to avoid them, while almost a third of the females played dead for around two minutes after being mounted.

Overall, nearly half of the females mounted managed to successfully avoid the approaches of the males using these strategies, with smaller females exhibiting the recorded behaviours more often than larger females.

Female frogs faking death New research has found that a significant portion of female common frogs (rana temporaria) would resort to faking their death to avoid unwanted advances from males.

Researchers hope to use the findings from the study to better understand mating behaviours across amphibian species and enhance conservation efforts.

Fifty-four females were grasped by males throughout the study, with eighty per cent of them rolling onto their backs to avoid mating. By rolling onto their backs, the females submerge the males under the water, causing them to release their hold.

In footage shared by Robert on social media, he celebrated the milestone, stating: “This is one of the highlights of my entire life, one of the most special moments ever for Australia Zoo. “This species is a turtle that Dad originally discovered out in the wild and for the first time we have got a little baby.”

The native Australian species has come under threat following the construction of the Burdekin Dam. The project has significantly challenged the species by causing a marked decline in the water quality of the river, making it difficult for the turtles to reproduce and thrive.

With the first ever captive-breeding project successfully completed, it is a huge step forward in the protection and conservation of the species.

Nearly a third of the females studied displayed the avoidant behaviour, lying motionless on their backs when approached by a male for mating.

The study was based on the European common frog and found that, as well as faking their death, females would also use methods including special calls, rolling and grunting to repel males.

The mating habits of the species are notoriously perilous for females, with several males known to cling onto a single female, resulting in high numbers of deaths every mating season. Large numbers of the frogs gather in ponds for a short mating season, and the research is a new exploration into how females negatively respond to males.

his two children’s continuation of his conservation legacy.

©Arthur Tiutenko

Rare turtle discovered

by Steve Irwin bred at Australia Zoo

New legless skink species discovered

Robert Irwin, son of the late Steve Irwin, has celebrated the successful breeding of the Irwin’s turtle (Elseya irwini) in a world-first.

A new species of legless skink, the Serra da Neve lance-skink (Acontias mukwando) has been discovered in south-western Angola, joining three other species of the Acontias genus found in the African country.

Steve Irwin and his father, Bob Irwin, discovered the rare species while on a crocodile catching trip on the Burdekin River in 1990. The successful breeding of the turtle is the latest success in

The newly-described species has been named in honour of the local Mukwando tribe. Marina Marques, a co-author of the study that described the species, attributed the name to

What do angry mice send at Christmas?

2

DECEMBER 2023

Exotics News

“the hospitality, friendship and local knowledge exchange” during the team’s fieldwork. Its common name refers to the Serra da Neve inselberg, an isolated area at the base of the country’s second highest mountain, where the species was first identified.

The holotype was dark brown with a cream ‘collar’ and 172cm in length. The skinks have movable eyelids and no ear opening. The first individual was found underneath a granite rock. Others were found in the leaf litter of miombo forests, a sparse habitat found primarily in Central Africa.

Molecular and morphological data was used to verify that the species was previously undescribed and is closely related to Percival’s legless lizard (A. percivali), also found in Angola, as well as in other countries across southern Africa, and also to the A. occidentalis species.

Early signs suggest that the conservation project has been a success, with the team finding two horned lizards during the most recent release believed to have been from a previous captive-bred batch. The discovery of a sub-adult near the release site also suggests the released population are not only thriving, but also breeding successfully in the wild.

In a further encouraging development, an adult individual was found on a property near the release site, across a road, indicating that the lizards are dispersing. This gives another reason for the team to be optimistic about their efforts to expand the habitat of the lizards and further safeguard their future in the wild.

Tiny South Pacific island making waves in ocean conservation

A collaboration between the small South Pacific islandnation Niue and the Blue Nature Alliance (BNA) has given rise to new hopes for the protection of its waters.

Niue is unique in that its ocean territory is 1200 times larger than its land mass, making concerted marine conservation efforts essential to the protection of the island’s ecosystems.

The island had made a number of ambitious conservation commitments before being approached by BNA, a global coalition founded by Conservation International. With the aim of helping Niue to take the next step in protecting its oceans, the partnership has now launched the island’s Ocean Conservation Commitments.

San Antonio Zoo releases Texas horned lizards from captive population San Antonio Zoo has announced that it has released 34 Texas horned lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) from its captive-bred population into the wild.

The species is among 15 types of horned lizard in the United States, and is the most widely distributed. It has been listed at ‘Threatened’ due to habitat loss, the addition of non-native grasses to its habitat and the presence of an invasive fire ant that feeds on the native species of ant that horned lizards prey on.

The lizards were bred at the zoo’s Centre for Conservation and Research (CCR) and released during the summer.

The number of the species released by the CCR currently stands at 200, with plans in place to release more in the immediate future.

Cross-mouse cards!

DECEMBER 2023

The scheme allows participants to sponsor a square kilometre of Niue’s surrounding ocean, protecting the many incredible but at-risk species that live there, including sea snakes, humpback whales and grey reef sharks, for 20 years.

Maël Imirizaldu, regional lead for the BNA, said: “The same way people would sponsor an elephant, a turtle or a whale, now you can sponsor a piece of ocean.”

Following the initiation of the 30x30 campaign, it is hoped that other Pacific Island nations will follow Niue’s lead and introduce similar conservation projects to their own shores and oceans. The campaign aims to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030, and it is hoped that the Niue project will contribute to the realisation of this goal.

M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, said: “This announcement out of Niue brings us one step closer to a new era of large-scale ocean protection. The introduction of an Ocean Conservation Commitment is yet more evidence that out 30x30 ambitions are entirely attainable when we unite governments and private funders around creative financing mechanisms.”

Prefer to get a quote than a joke?

Visit exoticdirect.co.uk

3

Exotics News

©Nathanaël Maury

New species of camouflaged lizard found in Laos

A lizard spotted by a scientist on a bird watching expedition in Laos has now been identified as a species new to science; the Khammouane karst dragon (Laodracon carsticola).

The reptile was first seen at the top of a rocky peak in Khammouane Province, blending almost seamlessly into the karst rocks, and again by a tour guide. The second individual was captured by researchers and later identified as an undescribed species.

The medium-sized lizard measures around one foot in length and is described in the study as having a “triangular head”, and a rough texture. It is dark coloured

with white markings.

On the species’ camouflage abilities, the researchers said it can “become almost invisible in the mosaic of sharp shadows and light spots and are difficult to spot unless they start moving.”

So far, the lizard’s habitat appears to be restricted to the steep pinnacles of the limestone karst rocks of the Khammouane Province. They have been found between 160 to 230 feet high, a possible explanation for how the Khammouane karst dragon has remained previously undescribed. A walkway and zip line have recently been constructed in the area, giving people the chance to observe the species.

Written by Isabelle Thom

ON THE WEB

Websites | Social media | Published research

Each month we highlight a favourite website or social media page THIS MONTH IT’S: PROJECT HERPETOCULTURE Project : Herpetoculture is a podcast that seeks to explore the art, practice, and discipline of herpetoculture.

Hosted by Phillip Lietz and Roy Arthur Blodgett, P:H offers long form discussions with some of herpetoculture's brightest practitioners. www.youtube.com/@projectherpetoculture

4

DECEMBER 2023

Title

DECEMBER 2023

5

Cuora amboinensis

6

BIG BOX, Title

LITTLE BOX:

Breeding West Malaysian box turtles.

By Dylan Whitehill

DECEMBER 2023

7

Big Box, Little Box

C

uora amboinensis couro, commonly known as the “West” or “Cuoro” Malaysian box turtle, is one of several subspecies of Cuora amboinensis. They are very underappreciated and misunderstood turtles. Like the North American box turtles found in my home country, the West Malaysian box turtle can completely close its head and limbs inside its shell. They do this by pulling parts of their shell in, using hinges like a door. Besides this defensive adaptation and their opportunistic appetite, they are quite different animals.

This Asian species has much more tropical requirements than its distant North American cousins. The “West” or “Couro” Malaysian box turtle is an island species that is native to Java, Sunda, Sumatra, Bali and other small nearby islands. These freshwater turtles are highly aquatic and are found in low-lying vegetation areas near lakes, warm streams, and swampy regions. It is fairly warm year-round in their range, reaching average highs of 35 °С and an average low of 22.7 °С. As for diet, C. amboinensis are omnivorous. They will feed on bugs, worms, crustaceans

8

and mollusks, as well as plant material. The percentage of their diet that is comprised of plants grows as the animals mature. "Couro" are one of the biggest types of Malaysian Box Turtles. However, they are still not as comparatively large as other freshwater turtle species. Adult shell length has been recorded at 18 - 24 cm (7-9.5 inches) long with a considerably domed carapace. The shell varies from dark brown to almost black, while the skin is greyish yellow. One of the defining characteristics of this species is the three yellow lines on the side of the animal's head and neck.

DECEMBER 2023

Big Box, Little Box

About the author: Dylan Whitehill is a private hobbyist and breeder from the United States. He has been keeping turtles for almost four years, with a particular interest in Asian box turtles of the genus Cuora. In this article, Dylan discusses his experience breeding an Endangered species, the West Malaysian box turtle (Cuora amboiensis couro).

An adult West Malaysian box turtle ©Dylan Whitehill

Box turtles in the trade

This species is somewhat common in the US pet trade but is vulnerable in the wild. Most captive Couro seen in the US are established, imported adults. Not many keepers care to put the time and resources into getting offspring from their groups. Turtles are a lot of work! But, determined that I wanted to work with the more difficult rare species of Cuora, I knew I needed to produce this more popular species.

My first Malaysian Box was an adult female, a long-term captive, legally imported, very friendly and fun to watch. I was hooked and quickly started looking for a male to pair her with. Eventually, I located a small adult male who looked similar to my female. After confirming he was healthy and checking with a Cuora expert, to ensure the two were certainly the same subspecies, I introduced the pair.

DECEMBER 2023

They instantly began interacting with each other. I quietly watched, to not disturb the interesting head bobbing and neck movement. The male tried hard to impress his new companion but no breeding was observed.

I built an outdoor enclosure with a small pond amended with ramps and logs for a variety of Asian species of turtles. They were kept together for the summer and then moved back indoors as the weather started to cool down. Our far-from-tropical Pennsylvania winters get much colder than these turtles can handle. So, after a warm season out in the pond and no eggs or breeding witnessed, the pair was brought in and cooled for the winter months. During the cooldown period, I discovered that she had laid a clutch of two eggs. I quickly incubated as soon as I saw she was finished laying. Unfortunately, the eggs were infertile and never developed.

9

©Dylan Whitehill Hatchling West Malaysian box turtles ©Dylan Whitehill

Breeding in captivity

In early spring, I was offered a group of mature Malaysian box turtles that were the same “Couro” subspecies as my pair. So, I gladly accepted in hopes of increasing the chances of propagating the turtles.

I noticed with Cuora and Mauremys, that the females will avoid the main water source if it’s deep and a group of males are congregating in it. Cuora prefer to breed in shallow water but are capable of breeding on land, while Mauremys usually need water to copulate so females of both genera will hide from a chance male encounter.

Like previous years, in spring the turtles transition to the outdoor enclosure. The Couro females would hide all season to avoid the males and not breed. They would be close to water, near shallow pools or upstream by the waterfall. But I hadn’t seen any breeding activity. This made me think I may never get fertile eggs.

I tried to learn as much as I could through different social media platforms and various online resources. I would see many keepers in Asian countries having success.

10

They were getting their different Asian box turtles to breed in simple tubs. Malaysian box turtle housing is fairly undemanding. They require fresh shallow water and easily accessible land. They are highly aquatic but do enjoy exploring solid ground and basking. This makes it easy for the female, who may not be interested in breeding, to wedge herself up in a nook or cranny. Hence, avoiding the male's advances.

From what I could gather from pictures online, the success I was witnessing from the keepers overseas came from pairing the animals individually by introducing them in small containers for brief encounters. This leaves the adult female no place to escape the male's advances.

Determined to ensure fertile eggs I searched the enclosure for one of the pairs. I located the largest male and a mature female from their outdoor enclosure. I filled a clear tote with a few inches of water (just enough so the male could mount her underwater) and placed them together.

Within minutes of them settling into the tub, he was ready.

He quickly realized a female was in the water with him and he mounted and copulated with her. Finally, a visually DECEMBER 2023

The intricate patterns of a Cuora amboiensis plastron ©Dylan Whitehill confirmed breeding! I wish I would have had this turtle epiphany much sooner!

The animals moved back inside for their winter rest where they were much more easily monitored. When I started hearing banging and scratching from the enclosure, I knew someone was nesting. After digging and constructing a nest for hours, she deposited one egg. Again, I quickly shuffled to the incubator.

They were incubated and candled but were either infertile or got too cold and the germ died. Either way, this was a great first step!

After a day of incubation, that night I had to peek. I saw a little white dot! The following day I checked the egg again. As I suspected, it was fully banded and I was sure it would be fertile. This was my second species to produce fertile eggs. During incubation I didn’t count days, I simply checked on it by candling a couple of times. I thought it had died but let it continue incubating.

This year with the single Couro hatchling, we hatched every Reeves turtle egg successfully. The result was 16 Reeves hatchlings at 100% hatch rate. I’d like my work with Cuora to be this productive! It is a goal to contribute as many captive-born C. a. couro as I possibly can. There is something so special about bringing life into the world, especially from animals that were vacuumed from the wild and continue to be to this day. Furthermore, we are preserving pure subspecies of a fairly confusing lineage that all look very similar. This group now starts to produce F1 captive born animals that will start breeding groups of their own. Preserving purity is a heavy focus in my collection.

This Couro success came directly after the hatching of my very first species, the Reeves turtle, Mauremys reevesii.

This Cuora amboinensis egg was incubated along with the Reeves at +28.8 °C (hoping for females) and it hatched. I used sphagnum moss as a medium, in a small Tupperware container. I just made sure the moss was slightly moist at all times, never dry to the touch. Sadly, while moving, I did find two more eggs that were too dry to be viable.

The small successes I’ve experienced so far push me further on my journey with what I consider the most precious gems of the turtle world, the Asian turtles. I hope next year brings much more success for myself. I also hope other keepers of any kind can read this account of my experience and it pushes them to continue to improve on their husbandry. Ultimately, bringing the most rewarding and fulfilling gift, happiness.

DECEMBER 2023

11

Title Species Spotlight

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT The wonderful world of exotic animals

Cinnamon tree frog (Nyctixalus pictus) The cinnamon tree frog is a widespread and locally abundant species of tree frog from Southeast Asia. They are small, orange-brown frogs with striking white spots.

Found in lowland regions of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra, close to permanent water, these frogs are best suited to a semi-aquatic paludarium.

Once the enclosure has been established and correct environmental parameters are reached, these frogs breed readily in captivity.

This makes them perfectly suited to home temperatures. A UVB T5 should provide enough additional heat to ensure daytime temperatures are reached. This will also help these nocturnal frogs to regulate their circadian rhythm.

Cinnamon tree frogs are also very small, rarely exceeding a few cm in length. A 45x45x45cm glass terrarium could easily house a trio. However, a larger fully-planted paludarium would make the ideal home.

Cinnamon tree frogs require a warm home (around 26°C) but can tolerate nightly temperature drops of up to 10°C.

12

DECEMBER 2023

Title

www.pro-rep.co.uk

DECEMBER 2023 SEPTEMBER 2023

13

A HERO OF Title

GIANT PROPORTIONS

How many other exotic pets have saved tens of thousands of lives?

14

DECEMBER 2023

FLASHBACK FEATURE Title

Gambian pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus)

DECEMBER 2023

15

A Hero of Giant Proportions

T

he Gambian or Giant pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus) is one of the largest species of rat on the planet. Whilst that may send shivers down the spines of some people, these rats are not your average rodent. Not only are they the focal point of an entire society of dedicated keepers, but across the world, they have been used to detect mines, missing people, and tuberculosis. This species has helped diagnose 18,000 people, destroyed 13,000 landmines in Mozambique (declaring it a mine-free country) and reduced poaching of pangolins (Phataginus sp. & Smutsia sp.) across Africa. One rat even received the PDSA Gold Medal for bravery.

Man or a mouse?

The giant pouched rat gets its name from the cheek pouches it uses to store food, in a similar way to a hamster.

Although visually it looks much like the common brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), there are some substantial differences.

Firstly, the giant pouched rat can grow up to 3 feet in length from nose to tail. Despite being a very muscular animal, its nimble movements and comparatively light weight mean that it can navigate minefields efficiently and without detonating dangerous explosives. Secondly, this species lives up to 6 to 8 years which is double the lifespan of most other rats, making it ideal to train and contributes to its popularity as an exotic pet. They are almost blind and rely very heavily on their sense of smell, which is accentuated by their enormous whiskers.

these puzzles become more complex, and trainers begin using a method of ‘discrimination’. This is when a rat that has learnt to identify TNT is then exposed to various other elements, teaching the animal to only identify landmines.

The rats are given a series of tests and only animals that score 100% can move onto the next stage. Some of these animals are used across the world to save human lives.

The landmine monitoring report suggests that over 60 million people worldwide are threatened by undetected landmines. In 2021 there was a 20% rise in causalities which spanned 54 countries and of the 4,437 civilian victims, over half were children.

APOPO (translates to Anti-Personnel Landmine Removal Product Development in English) is the largest charity training the rats to detect mines and disease across West Africa and Southeast Asia. A mix of socialisation, clicker training and indication is used to train the rats. Like many animals, they are highly food-motivated and will quickly learn commands and puzzle-solving activities. Eventually,

As well as their lifesaving abilities, giant pouched rats are a niche, yet much loved pet in the UK and Europe.

Across their home range of Central Africa, public opinions towards the rodents vary. In some places they are treated as pests, in others they are eaten as bushmeat and in others, they are very popular pets. The term ‘pouched rat’ refers to four different species, with the Gambian pouched

16

Clever critters

DECEMBER 2023

A Hero of Giant Proportions

rat (R. gambianus) most kept. Only one other species, the Emin’s pouched rat (R. emini) has previously been bred in the UK, but it is now rarely seen within the hobby.

Shannon Ann Bolton, Pouched Rat Keeper and Committee Member at the National Pouched Rat Society told Exotics Keeper Magazine: “They have such big characters. For me, I wanted a pet, and I don’t have any outdoor space, so I started looking at my options and stumbled across them through APOPO. I joined the group, followed for many months, then eventually filled out an application form and now I keep two rats, Edna and Bernard.”

Despite a large society of over 4000 members, very few people keep Gambian pouched rats. The animals DECEMBER 2023

which are affectionately referred to as ‘pouchies’ are often mistakenly likened to the more common ‘fancy rat’.

Shannon continued: “Even when I’ve booked Edna into the vets before and say, ‘it’s a giant pouched rat’, I’ll have receptionists say ‘oh, that’s okay they deal with rats all the time’. In reality, they’re genetically closer to hamsters.”

“These animals are not technically domesticated yet as they’ve not been kept as pets for a long time. Good genetics helps, good breeders help, but realistically you still might end up living with a little wild animal. Mine are amazing, but one of their siblings just isn’t a people rat. So, her keeper is having to always use gloves and I think that’s a complicated situation to explain. You’ve just got to accept it and

provide a happy and healthy life with as much enrichment as possible.”

Just like many exotic mammals, enrichment plays a huge part in the welfare of the animal. Such highly cognitive species may be capable of forming extremely close relationships with their keeper but also demand lots of socialisation and play time.

“Commitment and structure are really important” explained Shannon. “If you have one that isn’t as friendly, it’s all about patience and things like; appearing at the cage at the same time each day, so they know when to expect you. Even though it sounds strange, they’re animals that work to a schedule.

Now Edna is an older animal, after having a routine of coming out for an hour each day, when the hour is up, she will signal to go back into her enclosure.”

17

Title

“I have to actually leave bits of rubbish around my room for Edna to run around and tidy up, so she’s very switched on. They absolutely love nest building. Sharing nest materials is a good bonding activity. Having lots of little bits of paper ripped up is great, if I give her one little piece of paper at a time, she gets so excited. She’ll grab it, make sure it’s the right paper (she’s really fussy) then she’ll take it to the bin, then come back for the next piece of paper. I’ve had it before where I’ve been ill, she’s known I’m ill, she’s had a sniff around and started building a nest next to me.”

Undeniably, the pouched rat’s incredible smell supports its intelligent behaviour. Pouched rats can identify different people and will tend to bond with just one keeper.

While this may be very appealing for the keeper, it adds further pressure on the commitment required to keep one. Boarding services and finding a babysitter can be extremely difficult without the correct network. Changes in lifestyle can cause issues that, in some cases, the rat knows about well before the keeper.

Shannon continued: “We’ve actually had a couple of members now who have owned pouchies and bonded with their animal and then all of a sudden their pouchies behaviour has just changed. When they’ve taken them to the vets they’ve found there’s nothing wrong with them.

Then, it turns out it’s because the owner is pregnant.

They’re very sensitive to changes!”

18

Husbandry, care and keeping

Pouched rats are generally kept in large sturdy cages for much of the day. Although there are a handful of specialist cages that can be utilised for pouched rats, parrot cages and modified ferret enclosures are the only commercially available products. Cages should be robust, provide multiple levels of solid flooring, not made from galvanised steel and provide a deep layer of substrate.

“They can be really destructive” explained Shannon. “They are really strong, and they can be really powerful. They’re very lean and very muscular. Edna is 1.8kg and Bernard is 2.2kg. They’ll chew things, they have a lot of strength, and they will rip things apart. I’ve been lucky with mine, but they’re not for the faint hearted.”

Pouchies should be provided with a deep, absorbent substrate layer. A large cat litter style substrate that cannot be pushed outside of the cage through the bars is generally recommended. Extra heating is not necessary, provided they are kept indoors and at a comfortable room temperature. Without extensive research into the relationship between UVB and pouched rats, providing additional light fixtures is also not currently recommended.

As for diet, there is still a lot of debate in the community regarding the ideal diet for these animals. There are currently no complete diets available and as opportunistic DECEMBER 2023

A Hero of Giant Proportions

feeders in the wild, the ‘perfect’ composition is difficult to achieve.

Most keepers will provide a spectrum of seeds, complimented with the occasional fruit and veg (being careful not to overfeed highly sugary foods) as well as mealworms and other live foods for enrichment.

Shannon added: “Pouched rats don’t tend to drink water. They have learnt to retain as much water as possible, so they get most of their water from the food they eat. They also hoard lots of their food, so you do need to keep on top of any mess.”

Breeding ‘pouchies’ with Clare and Louis Varley Clare and Louis Varley have been breeding Gambian pouched rats for four years, since their visit to the Apopo Headquarters in Tanzania in 2018. As one of only a handful of breeders in

DECEMBER 2023

Europe, their insight into the species here in the UK is not only creating a new subculture of exotics keeping but improving the welfare of captive animals across Europe.

Clare explained: “Little is known about this species. Previous studies suggest that they have a breeding season in summer, and do not mate in the winter months. This could mean their cycles relate to light or temperature in the wild or that the animals may self-select and “choose” when to breed. The experience we have had is that the females do, indeed, choose. Even when living with a companion, they will not breed to demand. They do not appear to come into “heat” at cyclical intervals, it appears to be by choice, at the female’s discretion.”

“Females have a wide pelvic girdle and after an average of 28 days gestation, deliver with relatively few problems, and the litters are generally healthy. In the wild, females will have between 1 and 6 in a litter

(most commonly 3 or 4). This is true in their captive setting too. The young are born blind, deaf and hairless, relying on their mother for everything. Fathers are normally persuaded to leave the nest just before the birth. However, we have had a pair that raised young together, with the father washing and guarding the babies too. The babies will open their eyes after 3 weeks and begin tasting their mother’s food. By 4 weeks they will still feed from the mother but can and will eat a wide range of foods too.”

As more people begin to breed the species, public knowledge appears to be growing at a steady rate. However, the species has already encountered issues overseas, as a limited gene pool is demanding very strict monitoring of bloodlines and may require imported animals from Europe. Part of the reason the hobby is condensed is that pouched rats have been banned in the United States for many years following a court ruling in Florida that they were ‘invasive’.

Therefore, maintaining genetic diversity is crucial to the developing hobby.

19

DID YOU Title

KNOW

A bomb-sniffing rat can search the size of a tennis court in ten minutes, whereas a human will take closer to 10 days.

The Gambian giant pouched rat can reach up to three feet in length.

The term ‘pouched’ refers to the rats cheek pouches which they use to store food in a similar manner to hamsters.

The National Pouched Rat Society The National Pouched Rat Society is a group of around 4000 members, established

by Claire and Louis Varley in 2018 with the goal of spreading current information and husbandry advice for the ‘pouchy’. Although the group is comprised of several thousand members, very few members actually keep animals and even fewer breed, meaning care advice for the Gambian pouched rat is extremely limited and thus, very valuable. The NPRS is now creating regular video content via their YouTube channel to help improve the welfare of all captive animals and Shingleback give new keepers a skink head(Tiliqua start in the hobby.

More rugosa) information can be found at www.nprs.org.uk.

20

Clare explained: “Unlike fancy rats, Gambian pouched rats must be completely unrelated for a breeding programme to maintain health and hybrid vigour. There have been significant issues in the past with breeding for sale, as the gene pool is so narrow. These include muscular and skeletal problems, neurological issues, skin disorders. APOPO resolve the issues by capturing wild males to mate to their stock females, and the males are released when mating is successful. Here in the UK, we do not have that access. The NPRS have invested in breeding animals from Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and recently the Czech Republic, as well as from likeminded ethical breeders in the UK who work with us. Our links with the Czech Republic will be further bonded when, at the end of January 2022, a litter of 3 will be exported to expand their breeding programme.”

“We asked APOPO if they selected breeding rats for temperament, as their willingness to be trained is vital. APOPO didn’t believe that temperament was a heritable characteristic, and this has been borne out many times over. Our main and most successful breeding female, frankly, does not like humans and

20

is happy to remind us if she’s not respectfully handled. The offspring have been kept here and gone on to other owners and have grown into bright, intelligent, and friendly pets throughout the UK. We keep stringent breeding records and encourage owners to keep in touch via social media. We have over 2 thousand contributors worldwide and aim to preserve and advance this amazing species in the UK, and beyond.

Exotic mammals as pets

To many, the appeal of exotic mammals comes largely from their highly charismatic personalities and intelligent behaviours. Whilst this can prove challenging in some species that are frankly unsuitable for most private keepers, the dedication of certain individuals and organisations to bring more suitable pet species into the conversation is improving the hobby overall. It appears that Gambian pouched rats are generally thriving in captivity and with a vast support network to improve the hobby, change the perception of rodents and in some cases, save hundreds of thousands of lives, exotics keeping can have a myriad of benefits.

DECEMBER 2023

Title

NutriRep™ is a complete calcium, vitamin & mineral balancing supplement with D3.

It can be dusted onto all food sources including insects, meats & vegetables.

No other supplement is required.

Disease in your captive tadpoles?

Have you seen any disease, noticed unusual symptoms, or had unexpected deaths in your tadpoles?

Are your tadpoles bloated – maybe with pink or yellow discolouration around the abdomen?

the Tadpole Doctor Disease in your captive tadpoles?

Have you seen any disease, noticed unusual symptoms, or had unexpected deaths in your tadpoles?

Are your tadpoles bloated – maybe with pink or yellow discolouration around the abdomen?

Have you observed any change in their behaviour, such as: sudden

Have you observed any change in their behaviour, such as: sudden and erratic movements, swimming in circles, loss of equilibrium, erratic movements,and swimming in circles, loss of equilibrium, sluggishness, floating at the surface or death? sluggishness, floating at the surface or death?

Researchers Researchers at the University of Oxford at the University of Oxford need your help. They are trying to track the spread need your help. They are trying to track of a newly identified disease of tadpoles. the spread of a newly identified disease you suspect that your tadpoles are of tadpoles. If you suspect thatIf your showing signs of the disease symptoms tadpoles are showing signs of the disease mentioned above, please make contact at http://tadpole-doctor.co.uk symptoms mentioned above, please make contact at http://tadpole-doctor.co.uk.

tadpole-doctor.co.uk

http://tadpole-doctor.co.uk The Royal Society and the University of Oxford bear no

responsibility 21 and the2023 The Royal DECEMBER Society University of Oxford bear no responsibility for this project. for this project.

21

Title

22

DECEMBER 2023

PASSION FOR Title

PUFFING SNAKES: Trials and tribulations with spilotes sulphureus.

By Roy Arthur Blodgett

DECEMBER 2023

23

Passion for Puffing Snakes

I

was first introduced to the Amazon puffing snake (Spilotes sulphureus) in 2006, when I stumbled across a photograph of the species posted on an online forum. At that time, the center of gravity in American herpetoculture was the website kingsnake.com, and the Indigo Forum was the place where keepers of large, uncommon colubrids tended to congregate. As a teenager obsessed with impressive neotropical colubrids, that photograph stopped me dead in my tracks, and immediately I began searching in earnest for any information I could find on the species.

Not long after, I seized the opportunity to purchase a 1.1 pair of wild-caught sulphureus which had been imported from Suriname. The day the snakes arrived was an unforgettable one. I unpacked the box to uncover a beautiful 7’ (213cm) long, green, yellow and black female, and moments later, a stunning 9’ (274cm) long, yellow and green male, which promptly put on the puffing display for which the species is named - and made every attempt he could to bite me square in the face! I had never before encountered such an unusual and exciting species. Not only were they massive in proportions for a colubrid, but also highly variable in color and pattern, with an impressive

24

threat display as well. To have the opportunity to work with the species in a captive setting was a dream come true.

Within days of receiving that pair of sulphureus, I became aware that the female was gravid. Having never hatched snakes of any kind before, I was filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety at the prospect of successfully incubating the eggs, and even more, considering that, to my knowledge, the species had only been hatched once before in the USA. I busily set about calibrating a styrofoam chicken incubator to maintain temperatures between 78 and 82 degrees F (25.5 - 27.8 C), and within DECEMBER 2023

Passion for Puffing Snakes

A neonate puffing snake

Adult female with eggs days, the female laid a perfect clutch of eight fertile eggs and two slugs. 97 days later, all eight eggs hatched, revealing perfect neonates clad in patterns of black and gray transverse bands. As a teenager who had never hatched a snake of any kind before, I was overcome with wonder at watching those hatchlings emerge from the eggs, and keenly aware that very few people had borne witness to such a sight. To this day, nearly fifteen years later, the memory is clear in my mind.

Soon thereafter, in early 2008, I was forced into making some major life changes, and subsequently dismantled my reptile collection. All of the neonate sulphureus DECEMBER 2023

were sent away, apart from one, which had mysteriously died a few weeks after hatching. It would not be until November of 2018 that I would return to herpetoculture, when I purchased two puffing snakes, including one of the snakes that I had hatched in 2007 - a beautiful, black and yellow adult male, now over 10 feet (300cm) long!

In the following year, I acquired two wild caught young adult females with hopes to eventually breed the species.

As of this writing, April 2022, I am currently keeping 3.2 Spilotes sulphureus, including 1.2 adults and a sub-adult captive born male that I have been raising since he was a hatchling. The third male is a wild caught sub-adult, currently in quarantine.

25

Passion for Puffing Snakes

An adult female puffing snake surveys her domain

Introduction and natural history

Spilotes sulphureus (formerly classified as Pseustes sulphureus) is one of the largest species of neotropical colubrid snake, and among the largest colubrid species in the world, with adults routinely attaining (and sometimes exceeding) 10 feet (~300cm) in length. Common names for the species include the Yellow-bellied or Amazon puffing snake and the Giant bird snake, among a myriad of regional monikers. Close relatives of the species include at least one other species in the Spilotes genus, in addition to the neotropical bird snakes of the genus Phrynonax (also formerly classified as Pseustes).

An incredibly variable species in terms of morphology, adult sulphureus can display a wide range of pattern and coloration, expressing a broad array of yellows, greens, reds, browns, grays, and black, or any mixture of these colors. Despite this polymorphism as adults, neonates are almost invariably born patterned in black and gray, or varying shades of brown (presumably affording better camouflage from predators) before gradually assuming an ontogenetic shift into their permanent adult coloration. Lean and powerful snakes, their dorsal scales are large and heavily keeled, and their bodies are laterally compressed granting them an aided capacity to thrust over long distances - a physiological trait which suggests their largely arboreal habits. Similarly, their large eyes suggest a keen attention to movement, which they put to good use in pursuing highly mobile prey in the thick vegetation of their native environments.

It is not uncommon for the species to practice liana mimicry, a form of crypsis, as a first line of defense. When threatened, they are wont to rattle their tails and inflate

26

their fore-bodies, especially their throats, exposing the interstitial skin between their scales (which is commonly bright yellow). If these measures fail to dissuade their would-be-antagonist, and retreat is not a viable option, they will not hesitate to defend themselves by bluff striking or biting with tenacity. All of these characteristics and more contribute to making sulphureus an especially charismatic and impressive species.

A wide-ranging snake, the current taxon Spilotes sulphureus is distributed throughout the Amazonian region of South America, from the Guiana Shield, Venezuela, and Colombia in the north, the eastern slope of Ecuador in the west all the way to the Atlantic slope of Brazil in the east, and south to Bolivia, as well as the island of Trinidad. Given this broad distribution and certain regional consistencies in phenotype, it is likely the taxon represents a few different species which have yet to be reviewed and divided. Though primarily associated with lowland primary rainforest, sulphureus is also reported to occur in savannah, dry forest, and disturbed habitats, possessing both terrestrial and arboreal habits, with wild specimens commonly observed both on the forest floor and within trees. As it relates to captivity, the vast majority of sulphureus trace to the Guyana or Suriname regions of the Guiana Shield, where they are collected from the wild and exported to the United States and occasionally Europe. ​ espite their extensive distribution and impressive D appearance, the natural history of sulphureus is poorly documented and the image I can deduce of their habits is largely drawn from anecdotal accounts, and only from DECEMBER 2023

The author’s primary puffing snake vivarium firsthand experience observing them within captivity - which is to admit it is limited at best. That said, there are some clear consistencies to be seen in the scant observations I’ve excavated in published literature and in the experiences of those who have worked with the species in captivity. For one, all accounts confirm that the species is chiefly diurnal and most active during peak daylight hours. They are highly arboreal, alert creatures and display a level of attention that is often characterized as an intelligence or inquisitiveness uncommon to the majority of snakes. As predators, they are opportunistic and have been recorded to consume small mammals, birds (especially nestlings and eggs), and occasionally amphibians and reptiles. An oviparous (egg-laying) species, breeding behavior in sulphureus is thought to commence during the onset of the wet season, timing which assures ideal environmental conditions for incubation and abundant prey for neonates after emerging from their eggs.

Though widely classified as non-venomous, recent studies confirm that sulphureus is opisthoglyphous (rear fanged) with a venom containing two separate toxins: sulmotoxin, lethal to small mammals but not birds or reptiles, and sulditoxin, lethal to birds and reptiles but not mammals. Despite this development, they are not considered dangerous to humans and no known serious envenomations or fatalities have been recorded. This is likely due in part to a relatively unsophisticated venom delivery system and a general reluctance on their part to deliver prolonged bites. Regardless, it is sensible to take care when handling them and avoid being bitten, as with any large opisthoglyphous species.

DECEMBER 2023

Housing

Given their large size and active habits, Amazon puffing snakes benefit from large enclosures for long term well-being in captivity. I recommend minimum enclosure dimensions no smaller than 8’ by 3’ by 4’ feet (240cm by 90cm by 120cm; length by width by height) for a single adult or pair, but a larger habitat, whenever possible, is better. In my experience, puffing snakes kept in small enclosures are generally nervous and defensive. As a species which relies on flight as a primary means of defense, it is reasonable that they would feel particularly anxious in confined spaces that do not allow for escape.

As a consequence, in smaller setups, puffing snakes tend to spend more of their time hiding, and will often strike or flee for cover at a keeper’s approach. With sufficient space, however, I have found that sulphureus make for excellent display snakes, and those in my care are almost always visible, whether basking or exploring the branches of their habitat. This allows for a much more rewarding observational experience as a keeper.

The habitat furnishings should provide abundant opportunities for climbing, in addition to creating complexity and visual barriers to enhance the occupant’s sense of security. I offer a network of branches throughout the display to allow access to every part of the vivarium.

The branches also serve to anchor large rounds of cork bark, which the snakes utilize for hiding and basking.

Foliage, whether in the form of live or artificial plants, provides greater habitat complexity and performs well to create visual barriers. The increased surface area provided by abundant foliage also helps to regulate and maintain humidity in the vivarium with the addition of

27

Passion for Puffing Snakes

An adult male puffing snake drinking from the foliage in the vivarium regular misting. If live plants are utilized, I have found that they also provide mental stimulation to the snakes, which will often investigate newly formed leaves or flowers. Additionally, the axils of live bromeliads provide an excellent supplemental water source, and I regularly observe the snakes in my care drinking from these arboreal vessels.

At the ground level of the vivarium, I utilize a substrate mixture of sand, peat moss, charcoal, sphagnum moss, and orchid bark, with a generous layer of leaf litter on top.

This mixture is appropriate for providing microhabitats readily utilized by microfauna, such as springtails and isopods, which in turn help to maintain a functional vivarium by breaking down the snakes’ waste into readily available nutrients which support plant growth and vigor.

Occasionally, I also observe the snakes foraging in the leaf litter, presumably in search of prey - although admittedly, the vast majority of their time is spent in the branches of their enclosure, consistent with their arboreal habits. Of course, a large water basin is always provided, and kept full of fresh water where the snakes regularly drink and occasionally soak.

28

Climate Control

To simulate the equatorial heat and light of the Amazonia region, I provide a combination of PAR 38 halogen, linear LED, and T5 high output fluorescent lighting for the puffing snakes in my care.

There are many ways to achieve optimal temperatures standard household incandescent or halogen bulbs, deep heat projectors, and radiant heat panels are among the commonly available options. To achieve a broad area of radiant heat rich in infrared A + B wavelengths, I prefer to use PAR38 halogen bulbs alongside deep heat projectors, which provide basking temperatures well over 100F (+37 °C). In my vivarium, ambient temperatures rise throughout the day to average in the mid-80sF (+28 °C) in the upper half, leaving the floor of the vivarium at temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s (+23 °C), thereby allowing the snakes to thermoregulate by moving up or down the vertical thermal gradient. Overnight, the temperatures gradually decline into the low 70sF (+22 °C).

I​n addition to the heat-providing halogens, linear LED fixtures on timers provide bright light (~6000K) for DECEMBER 2023

Passion for Puffing Snakes

An adult female puffing snake raiding a faux-nest in the vivarium approximately 12 hours each day. Additionally, my snakes are exposed to fluorescent UVB emitting bulbs for 9 hours each day, during the peak of the light cycle created by the LEDs and halogens. This gradual ramping of light intensity also simulates (to some degree) the gradual increase and decrease of light throughout the day, as would be experienced by the arc of the sun’s path through the sky. If UVB is provided, it is difficult to compete with the performance of T5HO bulbs. Choosing the right bulb and UV output is heavily dependent on the distance of the bulb from the basking area. For the sulphureus in my care, I aim for a UVI between 1.0 and 2.5 at the basking area nearest to the bulb, which corresponds to Ferguson Zone 3.

Achieving appropriate humidity levels of sixty to ninety percent, for keepers in temperate or arid climates, is attainable through automatic misting systems, or misting enclosures by hand. I utilize a misting system on a timer, which ensures adequate humidity levels and sufficient moisture for both the snakes and the plants in the enclosure. Because the system runs on a timer, I can also easily adjust the misting to simulate the wet and dry seasons which the snakes would experience in their native DECEMBER 2023

range. There are likely many benefits to simulating such cycles, not least of which is encouraging natural behaviors such as breeding, which for tropical species is often triggered by fluctuations in precipitation given the more constant year-round temperatures and daylight cycles.

Feeding

Within their native range, Amazon puffing snakes are opportunistic predators, known to consume a wide variety of vertebrates as prey, including birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. The adaptation of two separate toxins - one of which immobilizes mammals but has no effect on birds or reptiles, and the other of which immobilizes birds and reptiles, but has no effect on mammals - may suggest that the species goes through an ontogenetic change in diet, with juvenile snakes feeding primarily on lizards and nestling birds, while adult specimens incorporate mammals, which could represent a greater threat of injury to a young snake. Whatever the reason for this unique adaptation, it is clear that puffing snakes are well adapted for nest raiding behavior, employing a rapid feeding strategy that allows the snake

29

A green phase female puffing snake basking among the vivarium foliage the capacity to quickly devour nestling birds, eggs, or nestling mammals before being attacked by protective parents guarding the nest.

In captivity, most sulphureus feed readily on a diet of rodents and birds. I offer mice, rats, quail, and chicks on a regular basis, and supplemental offer pigeon or dove squabs and eggs. Most specimens will feed from tongs or hemostats, but particularly shy individuals sometimes prefer to eat from a faux-nest positioned in the branches of the habitat. For this method, I use a large seed pod or plastic bowl to simulate a nest. Occasionally wild-caught individuals will refuse food, but almost all will eventually begin feeding on their own once a suitable prey item is discovered. For this, I have found that drop-fed, frozenthawed nestling songbirds or dove squabs work best to get them started. Others have accepted pigeon or dove eggs left in a faux-nest. Once the keeper discovers a prey item that is readily accepted, I have found that one can use strips of collagen casing as a kind of string to attach other prey items, such as chicks or rats, to entice a chain-feeding response. In my experience, this has been an extremely effective tactic, and all of the wild-caught sulphureus I have kept eventually begin accepting all forms of prey I offer when this method is employed.

30

When it comes to feeding frequency, puffing snakes are capable of rapidly metabolizing their prey and can be fed as often as weekly - provided prey items are not too calorically dense. Like any captive snake, specimens that are fed too heavily can become obese, expressed by characteristic scale separation and lethargy in habit, among other symptoms. I prefer to vary the frequency and volume of prey offered to the puffing snakes in my care, as I believe it helps to simulate the rhythms of nature. In wet season periods, I offer a broader variety of small prey on a weekly schedule, whereas in dry season periods, I offer larger, less frequent meals, spaced as far apart as three weeks. This approach has seemingly performed well for the snakes in my care, all of which express healthy body condition and active behaviors.

Lack of Breeding Success

Over the last two years, I have attempted unsuccessfully to encourage breeding behavior in the puffing snakes in my care. Despite my best efforts to replicate natural cycles of precipitation and corresponding fluctuations in food availability, I haven’t yet successfully triggered any signs of courtship among the snakes in my care. This may be due in part to the age of the adult male, who is now more than 14 DECEMBER 2023

An Amazon puffing snake peers from behind foliage years old and certainly past his breeding prime. There is no doubt that he is an aging snake, as evidenced by growing cataracts and less active behavior than he expressed in past years. Still, it is difficult to discern at this stage what is contributing to this lack of success in breeding the species.

In summer of 2021, I did receive a fertile clutch of eggs from one of my adult female sulphureus, which brought an initial wave of excitement. However, after 112 days of incubation without hatching, I cut open the eggs to reveal only partially formed neonates, all of which had died in the egg. Although I am not entirely certain of the reason for this outcome, a lack of witnessing courtship between my adult snakes, coupled with the deformed condition of the neonates, suggests to me that the clutch may have been a result of parthenogenesis. There is no clear explanation as to other reasons that this outcome may have occurred, but of course, the possibilities are myriad.

Whatever the cause for my lack of success encouraging this DECEMBER 2023

species to reproduce, I have not given up and will continue to attempt it in future years, adjusting variables as I go.

Conclusions

All in all, there is no other snake that has rivaled the intrigue of keeping Spilotes sulphureus for me.

The impressive size, variability, active behavior, and inquisitive nature of the species all contribute to a consistently interesting and rewarding experience as a keeper. Although an unsuitable captive for the majority of herpetoculturists, given their size and space requirements, Amazon puffing snakes deserve more recognition among keepers capable of providing for their needs. It is my hope that the coming years will bring a more refined understanding of their husbandry and reveal the secrets to successfully breeding these amazing snakes, so they may be better established in herpetoculture for generations to come. It is a species well deserving of the effort.

31

32

DECEMBER 2023

Title

YOU LITTLE

RIPPER!

Pygmy mulga monitors in captivity.

DECEMBER 2023

33

You Little Ripper!

M

onitor lizards are some of the most cognitive, agile and fascinating reptiles on the planet. There are over 80 different species of Varanid ranging from the enormous Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) to the tiny Dampier Peninsula goanna (Varanus sparnus).

People have been fascinated by these lizards and kept and bred monitors in captivity for over 100 years. Now, the captive breeding of species well-suited to herpetoculture is allowing more and more people the opportunity to work with Varanids at home. We caught up with Paul Burrows of the Captive Raptors Podcast, to talk about one of his favourite species, Varanus gilleni, the pygmy mulga monitor.

Pygmy mulga monitors

Pygmy mulga monitors are a remarkably widespread species. Their range stretches from the subtropical Kimberleys in Western Australia, right down to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia and all through the “red centre” of the Northern Territory. Across this vast area, daytime temperatures can reach more than 50°C and drop below 10°C at different points throughout the year, with nighttime temperatures dropping below freezing.

and foliage of these water-magnets that pygmy mulga monitors are most commonly found.

The name “pygmy mulga monitor” comes from the hardy Acacia trees that these lizards inhabit. Acacia aneura, the “mulga” tree, is a highly variable shrub that has unique adaptations to the Australian desert. Mulga trees have tiny hairs that capture rainfall and channel it directly towards the tree’s roots. It is amongst the thick bark

Paul has kept and bred a wide variety of Varanids. In his opinion, pygmy mulga monitors make much better captives than other, similar species such as Varanus acanthurus, the “Ackie” monitor. “Gilleni are a lot hardier than ackies” claims Paul. “You see a lot of ackies with missing toes because they require a very specific humid

34

Just as the mulga is adapted to life in the desert, the mulga monitor is adapted to life in the mulga. Varanus gilleni is one of only a handful of reptiles with prehensile tails. They use these to stabilise themselves as they hunt for insects amongst the tree’s foliage.

DECEMBER 2023

You Little Ripper!

Close up of a pygmy mulga monitor microclimate whereas gilleni don’t. Ackies have a more northern distribution into the tropics, and they will burrow to escape the heat and find humidity, whereas gilleni are far more active in hotter, drier climates.”

“A good captive is something that does well for itself as well as the keeper. You can keep them quite humid without risking respiratory problems. Also, the biggest problem with monitor lizards is people underheat them, whereas, because these are small, a 55°C basking spot is all you need and they’re ready to go. They’re active and personable.

You can set them up to show natural behaviours or you can interact with them quite easily too. They’re also inquisitive and will stick their heads out of their hiding spots to investigate as soon as you open the viv door.”

DECEMBER 2023

Captive husbandry

Pygmy mulga monitors only grow to around 40cm (including their tail) meaning they are reasonably easy to house. A trio can be housed in a commercially available vivarium. Even the larger glass terrariums by Exo Terra and Zoo Med will make an excellent home for these tiny Varanids.

“In my opinion, gilleni are the best pet monitor,” said Paul.

“The more that any keeper gets into keeping, the more they want to give their animals more space. You give a 4x2x4 vivarium to a lizard that is only 12 inches long and you can effectively provide a palace for that lizard.

Whereas, something like an Ackie, in the same sized enclosure is okay, but just okay. Also, anybody can find space for a 4x2x4.”

35

Terrific Tarantulas and How to Keep Them

Example of pre moult alopecia in Brachypelma hamorii tarantula ©Benjamin Kennedy

36

DECEMBER 2023

Pipped and hatched baby in sim container Paul is a tradesman and no stranger to building large custom exhibits. He has built a 6x4x6 for his Varanus indicus and enjoys creating large custom enclosures, which is generally a necessity for even mediumsized monitor lizards. “If I put a gilleni in my custom enclosures it’d be amazing. I don’t know why we don’t do that more as a hobby, myself included – build as large an enclosure as we can fit in our homes and put the animal inside it.”

Being an arboreal species that will spend at least 85% of their time off the ground, the gilleni keeper must create a dynamic, naturalistic environment for the lizards to explore.

Paul sources his wood from nature, seeking dried-out dead wood that can be easily attached vertically to a piece of plywood. This replicates upright trees. He also has an oak bark background on the enclosure to create interesting textures and refugia for the lizards.

Pygmy mulga monitors are known to burrow into trees.

“I’m not sure how true this is” admits Paul. “But, a keeper I spoke to claimed that within a year, his gilleni had hollowed out an oak branch that he has in his enclosure.

I’ve seen pictures and I’ve also seen mine go into the enclosure background and dig as if it is wood.”

DECEMBER 2023

“The gaps they fit themselves in are just crazy. They will snake around, find a crack and dig into the background.

I lost one for about two weeks and ended up having to remove the entire background and dismantle it until I found her in a tiny cavern she’d created in the background. They’re excellent diggers!”

Pygmy mulga monitors should be fed an insectivorous diet comprised of as many species as possible. Two large gutloaded locusts per lizard, a few times a week is a suitable amount to keep them well fed. However, crickets, dubia roaches, calci-worms, silkworms and more should also be provided to encourage unique hunting behaviours.

Paul provides fresh water daily but has never seen an adult pygmy mulga monitor drink from the water bowl. Instead, they are far more likely to drink from droplets of water in the enclosure after a morning misting. This is a natural behaviour as the mulga trees likely collect all the water that a wild monitor would drink and all other moisture comes from prey items.

“Poo is dry too because, like all desert species, they are trying to retain as much moisture as possible. Other Varanids, particularly tropical species, can be really messy!”

37

You Little Ripper!

A hatchling pygmy mulga monitor

They twist their body to soak UVB

Creating seasonality

Paul has been keeping the adult group since January. He maintains all of his reptiles in a conservatory setup, which has a huge influence on the ambient temperature and photoperiod of the room. This naturally creates seasonality within the enclosures, which can be a major benefit to breeding efforts.

“I’ve had success breeding the pygmy mulga monitors” added Paul. “I’ve had 7 clutches from three females.

Most Australians will tell you they’ll lay multiple clutches throughout the year but European keepers struggle to multi-clutch. I think my success has come from focusing on seasonality and getting them wet as we enter Spring.”

“I season all my monitors, but with gilleni it’s quite extreme.

In the winter they go completely down, with no heat, only five hours of UVB and they will essentially brumate for two months. In the winter in some parts of their range it drops to -4°C and their little burrows are around 5°C so they just stay dormant. The ambient in the day is 16°C for a few months of the year. My friend from South Australia says there’s rain for a few months, then it’s completely dry for a few months, so I try to simulate that.

“I actually had a problem with my air conditioning that meant my conservatory/reptile room reached 41°C one day. Every species in there was hiding, except the gilleni.

They were so active! The coldest place I could find in the

38

enclosure was 31°C and they were loving it! The basking spot reached 65°C and they were basking under it! I don’t condone it at all and luckily I fixed that problem quickly, but the gilleni are seriously hardy. Nighttime temperatures in winter drop to an ambient of 11°C for two months!”

Because Paul runs his UVB lighting year-round, the T5 bulbs will produce some level of heat. This means that when even without a spot bulb, the lizards could thermoregulate to some degree and access areas of +20°C if needed.

Social dynamics and breeding

Pygmy mulga monitors can be housed communally very successfully, but social dynamics should be considered.

There will be some fighting over food and some level of social hierarchy.

Paul continued: “Unusually for monitors, of the gilleni I have, it’s the females that rule the roost. You can observe some interesting behaviours. The male will scent mark and the females seem to have one dominant female in the area. With the size of my enclosure, I think this works perfectly with a 1.2 group, but I have moved one of my females as I did observe some bullying with a 1.3 group.”

“In the wild, it’s not uncommon to find four or five individuals occupying the same tree. Obviously, a tree can be 12 feet tall, so I think with a larger enclosure it would DECEMBER 2023

Some Issues Are More Than Skin Deep

100% NATURAL PEST CONTROL TAURRUS® is a living organism (predatory mite) that is a natural enemy of the snake mite (Ophionyssus natricis).

TAURRUS® mite predators are very small, measuring less than 1mm as adults. They are able to live for several weeks and reproduce in the areas where they find their prey. Despite its small size, the TAURRUS® predator acts aggressively and is able to attack and kill preys 3 to 4 times larger than itself.

Once released, the microscopic predators will actively seek and consume parasites. Once eliminated, the predators disappear naturally. The mode of action requires several days. After introduction of TAURRUS®, pest populations should be monitored: at first it will stabilize, and then gradually decline. In heavy infestations, several releases may be needed to eradicate all parasites.

DECEMBER 2023

39

An adult Varanus gilleni be possible to house more together, but it’s important not to overcrowd. To my knowledge, males will wrestle in the breeding season but otherwise live quite amicably and females will fight for dominance but once that’s established, it’s okay. The male will still breed all females, but the dominant female will bask when she wants.”

So far, Paul’s 1.3 group has produced 37 eggs. The gestation period from vitellogenesis averages around 24 days.

One female laid a single clutch, the other laid two clutches, 44 days apart and the other laid two clutches 60 days apart. These clutches were laid on the 1st, 3rd and 16th June and all hatched in early October.

Paul decided to use the suspended incubation technique, using a platform to elevate the eggs above a shallow reservoir of water to maintain humidity. The eggs were stored at a constant temperature of 28.5°C and the incubation process took between 112 and 117 days.

“The breeding process is quite simple”, he said.

“December/January it’s lights off. In February/March, I’ll start to turn the lights on gradually. April/May is ‘true’ spring, so I start spraying. I’ll then expect them to breed in June, July, August (and September apparently). I provide plenty of nesting spots made from a sand/soil mixture of around 70% sand. The high nesting spots, above the ground are typically preferred. Eggs are laid, removed, incubated and hatched, then October/November I’ll start

40

to cool the adults down again ready for the following year.”

Lineages and the future of mulga monitors in captivity

Because pygmy mulga monitors are a protected endemic Australian species, their origin in the trade is likely to be problematic. Their subsequent success in captivity relies largely on effective management of lineages as any genetic diversity can only come from smuggled animals.

For species that were smuggled into Europe in large numbers and maintained in breeding collections in the 70s and 80s, such as bearded dragons and carpet pythons, some level of genetic diversity was maintained. For less popular species, such as Pilbara rock monitors (Varanus pilbarensis) and Kings’ monitors (Varanus kingorum) genetic bottlenecking may already be producing defects.

Paul continued: “Sadly, people in the UK don’t generally know their lineages past a few keepers. To my knowledge, I have three unrelated females and one male. Two individuals from a UK keeper and two from separate European breeders.”

“I am selling my animals as unrelated trios from my clutches. This helps with genetics but, I’m also really keen to see people breed them and for there to be more of this species in the hobby. I love them and I know other people will love them too.”

DECEMBER 2023

You Little Ripper!

A trio of Paul’s monitors

The hatchling pygmy mulga monitor enclosure

Paul's Monitors

Paul’s herpetoculture journey has led him from keeping reptiles, to sharing his experience with others in the form of a podcast. Having kept reptiles for 12 years, his attention turned to monitor lizards four years ago, when he adapted his collection to only keep monitor species. He now keeps Varanus indicus, V. prasinus, V. acanthurus, V. jobiensis, V. exanthematicus and V. gilleni.

The Captive Raptors Podcast is available on YouTube but Paul is perhaps most well-known through Instagram, @paulsmonitors where he has amassed over 36,000 followers since launching the podcast in May 2022.

“It started because I was sick of seeing monitors in fish tanks,” says Paul. “Going on Facebook and typing responses was not good for my mental health. I thought if I go online and show people how I keep, they will say ‘Oh, Paul’s keeping with lots of UVB, or using LED’ and DECEMBER 2023

they will be naturally exposed to good keeping rather than highlighting what’s bad.”

“I started social media to try to educate myself as well as everybody else. When I started keeping Varanids people didn’t want me to. I’d hear ‘You can’t keep monitors, they’re too advanced’ so it put me off for a long time. Now, I want to help people get a head start in keeping Varanids.”

Over time, the subject of Paul’s podcast has broadened out from just herpetoculture.

“I talk about mental health and struggles quite openly.

I’m just a tradesman who doesn’t sugarcoat the rubbish things in life and with keeping reptiles. It’s now evolved into more of a ‘my life with lizards’ sort of thing and I just talk to people about lizards in an informal casual way, live, on a Sunday.”

41

THE LAST OF THE

GUATEMALAN BEADED LIZARDS Conservationists must act quickly to save these Endangered lizards.

42

DECEMBER 2023

Title

DECEMBER 2023

43

The Last of the Guatemalan Beaded Lizards

T

here are four species of beaded lizard, all belonging to the Heloderma genus. All species are robust, venomous lizards with powerful limbs and beaded scales that occupy arid habitats. However, one species is particularly unique. Isolated for tens of thousands of years in one arid valley in an otherwise subtropical country, the Guatemalan beaded lizard (Heloderma charlesbogerti) is a miraculous reptile. With less than 600 individuals left on Earth, conservationists must act quickly to save these Endangered lizards.

Heloderma charlesbogerti

The Guatemalan beaded lizard is found only in the Motagua Valley in Guatemala. This region is the driest area in Central America. It receives just 500mm of water each year, which falls in Guatemala’s rainy season between May and September. It is during this time when the beaded lizards are most active and will frequently venture out of their hiding places to hunt for nestling birds, eggs and small mammals.

In the dry season, the Guatemalan beaded lizard lives up to its local name of “Niño Dormido” which means “Sleeping Child” in Spanish, as they enter a dormancy

44

period. They occupy burrows, hollow logs and other refugia for months at a time to avoid the unforgiving heat.

This seasonal behaviour is a characteristic shared by all beaded lizards which adds to their cryptic behaviour and makes them difficult to study.

For a long time, charlesbogerti was thought to be a subspecies of horridum but this changed in 2011 when its status was elevated thanks to studies on captive individuals collected from Zacapa in the 1980s (which are still breeding at Zoo Atlanta today!) The Guatemalan beaded lizard is certainly deserving of its specific status and is unique in many ways.

DECEMBER 2023

The Last of the Guatemalan Beaded Lizards

A Guatemalan beaded lizard at Zoologico La Aurora Morphologically, H. charlesbogerti has more distinct patterns than other species. It usually has five easily identifiable yellow rings down the tail. This species is also more adept at climbing and will frequent trees (sometimes over three meters above the ground) in search of prey.

The Heloderma Conservation Project

Parque Nacional Zoológico La Aurora, in Guatemala City, plays an important role in the conservation of the Guatemalan beaded lizard (Heloderma charlesbogerti).

The species has been bred in captivity since its elevation from subspecies to species level, but only ever by a handful of US institutions. Now, “La Aurora”, in collaboration with Zoo Atlanta is working to captive breed specimens for reintroduction.

Currently, La Aurora houses eight males and two females.

Zoo Atlanta is set to donate one male and nine females to the collection from an entirely different bloodline that was collected from another locality within Guatemala. As the species is thought to suffer from fecundity issues due DECEMBER 2023

to a limited gene pool, the collaboration between these two zoos may be extremely beneficial to both captive and wild populations.

“It’s quite easy to get eggs produced but keeping them alive and getting them through to hatching is ridiculously difficult” explains Rowland Griffin, Director of Conservation at Parque Nacional Zoológico La Aurora. “The incubation period for Guatemalan beaded lizards is six months, which is way longer than most reptiles. This is because of the conditions in the Motagua Valley where the beaded lizards come from. If the incubation period is any shorter than six months, the eggs hatch in the dry season and there is no food, so they have an extended incubation period to ensure they hatch when there is food available.”

In the wild, Guatemalan beaded lizards use motmot (Momotidae) burrows to lay their eggs. Motmots are neotropical birds that dig their burrows up to three meters deep into the sand. Right at the end, the sand is humid but there is no water running through it. This creates a very stable environment, making it even more difficult for

45

The conservatory in the Heloderma Captive Breeding Project

breeders to achieve the correct environmental parameters in the first place.

Rowland continued: “Because the eggs are laid in the dry season, there’s no precipitation. Optimal conditions are being maintained by the humidity inside the sand, rather than new precipitation in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this means we must incubate the eggs at exactly 26.7°C (plus or minus 0.5°C) for six months. They are also super sensitive to water. They need near 100% humidity, but if a single drop of water touches an egg, it will die.”

Even though captive breeding H. charlesbogerti is exceptionally difficult, some success is already happening.

Zoo Atlanta has incubated over 280 eggs since they began breeding the species and although only 30% of those eggs have hatched, they have now developed a strategy that can be implemented by other collections.

Rowland and the team have already seen some promising signs of breeding and expect that next year, the females will produce viable clutches that can be hatched, raised for a year, and released into the wild as the 2025 rainy season begins. As there are thought to be only 500-600 Guatemalan beaded lizards left in the wild, every clutch is precious and marks new hope for the species.

The Heloderma Building

Spearheading an international recovery programme for a species requires not just a vast amount of expertise and dedication, but also financial investment. Parque

46

Zoológico La Aurora has transformed its former Reptile House into a bespoke building to house their breeding collection of Guatemalan beaded lizards. The off-show building hosts 17 individual enclosures (large vivaria) as well as a breeding patio that is made up of 3m of sand, fallen logs, and plants that have all been sourced from the Motagua Valley. The open area allows keepers to rotate the males and females throughout the season.

“We have had beaded lizards in our collection for almost 20 years now, but it wasn’t until 2019 when CONAP inaugurated an official recovery programme for the species that we turned our head towards breeding them” said Rowland.

“In our first year, we actually had two successful clutches, but a power outage in Guatemala City left our incubator out of action for 24 hours which, sadly killed the eggs.

The following year we received a rescue animal that had suffered a severe machete strike. She could not be released back into the wild and so we kept her here at the zoo. She produced one infertile clutch, then, the following year she was infertile and then she passed away before she had the chance to breed the year after.”

Guatemalan beaded lizards have, so far, never been bred in Guatemala. Only three institutions, all based in the USA, have successfully bred the species.

Rowland continued: “Our current population is made up of eight males and two females. These animals are in the DECEMBER 2023

Title

Niño Dormido middle of a reproductive cycle now (at time of interview). So, we have one female isolated on one side of the breeding room and the males on the other side. We will rotate which males are introduced to her but leave the other males cohabiting on the other side. This way the males know she is in the area, and they will combat with one another, as they would in the wild.

This is beneficial for the production of testosterone and sperm. Combating isn’t dangerous, they sort of wrestle with one another to assert dominance.

We also check the female every week to give her an ultrasound and verify if her eggs are calcified. Once her eggs are calcified we stop pairing her with the males” Herpetologists still have much to learn about the breeding cycles and natural history of Guatemalan beaded lizards. However, Zoo Atlanta has made some startling discoveries since their population was first collected by John Campbell in the 1980s. This population came to the zoo as adults and helped to describe Heloderma horridum charlesbogerti as a subspecies before it was elevated to the species level.

Surprisingly, the original specimens are still breeding today. This means H. charlesbogerti can reproduce at over 50 years old.

“We can assume that Guatemalan beaded lizards probably only reproduce every other year, or every three years in the wild” added Rowland.

DECEMBER 2023

“Because these animals spend six to nine months living off the reserves from the previous year and only have 3 months to feed, that doesn’t give the females much time to build additional reserves to produce eggs.

If a female were to breed the previous year, she would have naturally lost a lot of weight. But, because they are so long-lived and have long reproductive lives, that strategy works quite well if the habitat they are in remains stable.

Unfortunately, as soon as that changes, the population will drop very quickly and it’s very difficult to come back from that. That’s why we must intervene.”

Conservation in Guatemala

Guatemala is an incredibly biodiverse country. To the North, the Yucatan Peninsula hosts vast areas of unique tropical dry forest, while the Caribbean coast provides optimal conditions for rich rainforest. Through the centre of the country are enormous mountain ranges that sport precious cloud forests and montane habitats which are home to a dizzying array of endemic species. Because of its unique geography, Guatemala is the southernmost point of the range of many North American species, but also the northernmost point of the range of a lot of South American species.

Therefore, it is important to protect wildlife on a national level, as well as an international level. This raises many

interesting points associated with the beaded lizards in Guatemala.

Although H. charlesbogerti is classified as Endangered by the IUCN, and found nowhere else in the world, it is not actually the most threatened beaded lizard in Guatemala.

Heloderma alvarezi, the Chiapan beaded lizard - that has a range stretching across Chiapas in Mexico and a handful of records in Guatemala – is, nationally, more threatened and less-researched. All records of this species within Guatemala are from unprotected areas or point towards populations that have now been dissipated from their former range.

“There’s importance in how we change our approach to conservation” Rowland added. “For example, the lowland forests in the North are home to a lot of “common” species found across Mexico, Belize and Honduras. However, this part of Guatemala is home to over 25% of all of the country’s reptile and amphibian diversity. So, even though most species could be lost from Guatemala and still be found in Mexico or the Caribbean, losing the ‘common’ species would have a shocking effect on Guatemalan biodiversity.”

“I am so proud to work with the beaded lizards, but the way I see it is we already have enough work on our hands conserving the rare species, so it is so important that we keep the common species common too!”

47

SERI E

LI

S

48

FE

PR

OREP

DECEMBER 2023

Title

KEEPER BASICS:

FISH HEALTH AND WATER QUALITY

By Dr Dave Pool DECEMBER 2023

49

Fish Health and Water Quality

T

he majority of fish keepers will experience problems with unhealthy fish at some stage. Sometimes the cause of the poor health is obvious and it is relatively easy to treat.

Sometimes it can also be more difficult to get a good diagnosis despite looking at books, magazines and relevant web sites.

However, there are some easy-to-follow clues that can be used to diagnose what is wrong with your fish.

Recognising unhealthy fish

The first stage in treating a fish is to recognize when it is unhealthy. Early recognition of an unhealthy fish is important if that fish is to be successfully treated. The first signs of poor health are often a change of appearance or behaviour, which might include: • Gasping at the water surface • Sulking at the surface, bottom or behind structures in the aquarium • Not feeding • Clamped fins • Rapid gill movements • Change in colour • Emaciation

50

Care has to be taken when interpreting these signs, as they are not always a sign that the fish is not well. A change in colouration, for example, may indicate that the fish is in breeding condition, or has adjusted its colour to match the surroundings. Sulking behind structures may be the natural behaviour of shy or timid fish species. Generally, if the fish are looking or behaving differently to normal it is advisable to have a closer look at the fish concerned.

Diagnosis

These first observations give a clue as to the possible cause of the poor health. The secret here is not to jump to conclusions. Decide firstly why the fish is behaving or appearing as it is, and then what would cause it to do so.

DECEMBER 2023

The list of possibilities can then be examined to determine the actual cause of poor health. Let’s look at two examples to demonstrate this stepwise diagnosis:

Fish gasping

You notice that a fish in your aquarium or pond is gasping at the water surface (opening and closing its mouth right at the surface of the water). It is gasping because it cannot get enough oxygen and there is more oxygen at the water surface. This does not necessarily mean that there is insufficient oxygen in the water. It could be that the fish is unable to get sufficient oxygen from the water.

Possible causes of this include: • A build-up of ammonia, nitrite and chlorine can cause irritation and damage to the gill membranes.

The fish’s response to this is to produce additional mucous in order to protect the skin and gills from DECEMBER 2023

irritation, but with the side effect of making oxygen uptake less efficient.

• Physical damage. This can result from severe poor water conditions, bad handling or parasitic attack.

This will reduce the surface area of gill tissue that can actually absorb oxygen resulting in the fish not getting the quantity they need.

• Gill parasites. Parasites such as gill flukes (Gyrodactylus), protozoans and bacterial infection can cause both physical damage to the gill tissue and irritation of the membranes, resulting in excessive mucous being produced.

• Blood parasites. High levels of blood parasites such as Sanguanicola (a parasite of carp) will absorb oxygen before it reaches the vital organs within the body.

• Low oxygen levels in the water. This could result from too many fish in the aquarium or pond, or insufficient water movement to allow oxygen to enter the water.

High levels of plants or algae can also remove oxygen during the night (when they are not photosynthesizing and actually producing oxygen).

51

Skin disease on Betta fish

Fish rubbing

A second example could be that you have observed your fish rubbing against underwater objects. Taking the diagnosis stepwise we have: Symptom of poor health: Fish Rubbing Caused by: Skin or gill irritation Resulting from: • Poor water quality (eg raised levels of ammonia, nitrite, chlorine or chloramine. Sudden changes in pH or hardness) • Skin parasites • Gill parasites • Abrasive particles in the water It is important that you don’t jump to the wrong conclusions. As an example of this, you may have noticed the fish were rubbing and the actual cause was poor water conditions. If you decided that it was due to gill parasites and treated the water for a parasitic infection you would cause further distress to the fish. As already mentioned, early diagnosis of a problem gives the best chance of controlling it effectively. A wrong diagnosis can be a big issue because it delays taking the right actions

How to decide what is the problem.

After creating a list of possible causes of poor health, it is necessary to decide which one is responsible. One very good guide comes from the time of onset of poor health and its rate of spread. There are three main possibilities: • Affects all the fish, or all the fish of a particular species or size and occurs quickly (say overnight). This suggests a water quality problem.

• A small number of fish are affected initially, but this number gradually increases. This suggests an infectious disease.

• Only one or two fish are affected and the problem

52

does not spread to any other fish. This suggests a noninfectious disease, physical injury or malformation The next stage in our diagnosis is dependent on which of the above groups the fish can be placed in. If the problem is due to water quality, testing, partial water changes and the appropriate use of treatments will help. If due to parasites, some indication of which parasite is responsible is important of the correct remedy is to be selected. In future articles we will look in more detail at water quality issues and some of the more common parasites.

What is wrong with my water?

The importance of good water quality in an aquarium cannot be stressed too greatly. Fish and plants are surrounded by the water, therefore any harmful compounds or sudden changes in the water quality will have an immediate and often drastic effect. Poor or incorrect water conditions are responsible for considerably more of the problems encountered by fish keepers than all the other issues added together. In fact, over 75% of fishkeepers troubles can directly, or indirectly, be related to water quality.

Recognising water quality issues.

It is obviously important to be able to recognize when water quality problems occur and understand how to overcome them. A very good indication of water quality troubles is if all of your fish, or all of a certain age or species, start showing signs of poor health over a short space of time. But how do we go to the next stage and identify which specific aspect of the water quality is causing the problems. The behaviour or appearance of the fish no longer provides any reliable clues. Unfortunately, many water quality problems affect the fish in a similar way – causing gasping, rubbing, rapid gill movements, lethargy, or excessive mucous production. Therefore, we need to rely on testing the water and some knowledge of what has happened in and around the aquarium in the days before the fish became unwell to give us an indication of what is happening.

DECEMBER 2023

DECEMBER 2023

53

Title

Testing the water

Regular water testing is invaluable as it gives an indication of what is happening in the aquarium and may enable you to detect problems before they affect your fish.

It is advisable to conduct regular water tests when you first set up your aquarium and again when you make any significant changes to the water, décor, filter or inhabitants. I would suggest ammonia, nitrite and pH are the essential tests. Water hardness, chlorine, nitrate and specific tests related to the fish you keep are also useful, but possibly used more selectively.

One thing keepers should consider is that testing only gives you a snapshot of the water conditions at the time of testing. New tank syndrome, where ammonia and nitrite levels increase as the filter bacteria develop can result in very short-lived spikes in the concentrations of these dangerous chemicals. If you test the water once a week, the ammonia level may have been at dangerous levels for 5 days but be at acceptable levels when you come to test. pH is also worth mentioning. In many cases it is not the actual pH that is the problem, but a sudden change. Discus, for example, can thrive in a pH of 6.0 or 7.5 if they gradually get used to such water. However, if the pH suddenly changed from 6.0 to 7.5 it could kill them. Testing the water as soon as you notice the fish are behaving unusually

54

or have a changed appearance gives you a good chance of identifying the water problem.

Recent events

Recent events often provide a clue to what may have caused the quality of the water to deteriorate.

If the aquarium is new or anything has been done which could impact the filter or the amount of waste that it must cope with, you should suspect elevated levels of ammonia or nitrite. Adding new fish, over feeding, decomposing fish or plant material can all result in elevated levels of ammonia and nitrate as the filter bacteria try to decompose the additional organic waste material.

Conversely, in a new aquarium or if the filter material is cleaned too vigorously, the numbers of filter bacteria will be insufficient to break down organic waste, and you will again get raised levels of ammonia or nitrite.

Water changes are another source of troubles. Tap water contains harmful chlorine and chloramine, which are severe irritants to the fish’s gills and skin.

Tap water may also be a different pH to the water in the aquarium and, if added in large quantities, can cause a sudden change in the pH resulting in the skin and gills of the fish becoming irritated.

Sometimes everything points to a water quality issue, but the tests show that conditions are ok. Remember here that the water conditions that impacted the

fish may have been short lived, and you are testing when everything has balanced in the aquarium. Equally, the problem could be something that you are not able to test for. Toxins from sprays that have been used around the aquarium, or chemicals that are on your hands could result in the sudden onset of unhealthy fish. If your investigations don’t throw up an obvious answer, consider events that have happened in the few days before you noticed the fish were showing signs of poor health, as this may provide a clue.

What to do?

The course of action will obviously vary depending on what is responsible for the fish looking unwell. There are two things that must be achieved. Firstly, correct the water conditions so that the fish can recover. Secondly, make sure that the problem does not come back.

A good example here would be of high pH levels in an aquarium resulting from alkaline rocks in the decor or the gravel. This would irritate the skin and gills of the fish causing them to rub against underwater objects, jump at the surface and ‘yawn’ as they try to flush water over their gills. In severe cases it would also result in colouration changes and a build-up of mucous on the skin and gills. A partial water change would help to lower the pH (assuming the pH of the tap water is lower). However, the alkaline rocks are still there and would continually cause the pH to rise until it was removed or sealed with a suitable treatment.

DECEMBER 2023

Bioactive Enclosures

DECEMBER 2023

55

Title

Common causes of water quality problems and possible solutions. pH Too high

May be caused by tap water with a high pH, alkaline gravel and décor, limestone rocks in the water or cement.

If the tap water is not the cause of the problem and has a lower pH, undertake partial water changes to gradually reduce the PH. O.1 units every day is ok for most fish, but sensitive species may require a more gradual change.

Remember to remove the offending item that is causing the high pH. If you are unsure, get two clean containers and add tap water. Measure the pH and add a reasonable quantity or gravel or the décor to one of the containers.

Measure the pH in both containers after 3 – 4 days. They should be identical with any difference being due to the items you have added to one container.

If the tap water is the cause of the problem consider using RO water, adding a pH adjuster, or keeping fish that can survive in your local conditions.

pH too low.

Usually caused by tap water or decomposing material. If you live in a soft water area, the tap water may be naturally soft and slightly acidic. Water supply companies may add buffers to the water to temporarily raise the pH (so it doesn’t eat away at old metallic pipework), but these can stop working after a day or so allowing the water to slowly return to its natural, more acidic condition. Using pH adjusters and buffers will help to correct the issue, but make sure that all future tap water is adjusted before it is added to the aquarium. Again keeping soft acid water species may be an alternative solution.

Organic material naturally releases acids as it decomposes (through the nitrogen cycle). If the water is very soft,

56

it can result in the pH lowering. Good aquarium or pond maintenance and the use of buffers will help to overcome the issue.

Ammonia and nitrite

Both should be close to zero in a healthy aquarium. High levels suggest there are not enough bacteria in the filter and aquarium to decompose the fish waste and organic material (leaves, food, dead fish etc) that are present. There are a range of reasons for elevated ammonia and nitrite levels including: • Newly set up aquarium • Newly set up filter • Overstocking with fish • Adding too many fish at one time • Insufficient or faulty filtration • Biological filter medium cleaned excessively or in tap water • Over feeding • Poor tank hygiene • Excess debris in the water.

Control measures include an immediate partial water change and removal of any excess debris followed by daily partial changes until the ammonia and nitrite are back to safe levels. Chemical additives can also be used to reduce ammonia and nitrite levels. In addition, the cause of the problem needs to be identified. Avoid overfeeding and overstocking, ensure the filter is functioning effectively and don’t clean the media with anything that will harm the helpful bacteria.

Nitrate

High levels of nitrate are likely to occur in an aquarium through the tap water in some areas of the country, or naturally as the result of the nitrogen cycle.

If the tap water contains high levels of nitrate, using Reverse Osmosis (RO) water either exclusively or to dilute the tap water will help.

Alternatively commercial products

are available that will remove nitrate.

The natural production of nitrate can be controlled by encouraging healthy plant or algae growth, and by minimizing the production of nitrate by removing organic material before it starts to decompose, avoiding overfeeding and taking care not to overstock your aquarium.

Chlorine and chloramine

Raised levels of chlorine and chloramine may be present in tap water as it is added to control living organisms and ensure the water is ‘safe’ for us to drink. Tap water can be made safe for fish and other aquatic organisms by leaving it to stand for 1-2 days with agitation (aeration or filtration). Alternatively, good quality tap water conditioners can be used to quickly remove both chlorine and chloramine – but do so before the water is added to the aquarium so that the fish do not have contact with it.

Unidentified water quality problems

Sometimes the sudden onset of fish health problem points to a water quality issue. But even after testing and working out what has happened in the few days before it became noticeable, it is still difficult to identify exactly what has caused the problem.

In these situations, I would suggest that you check your tap water, to ensure there is nothing obviously wrong with it, and then conduct a water change, removing any debris from the aquarium or pond. Treat the new tap water with a conditioner that includes colloids as these will coat the skin and gills of the fish providing extra protection from whatever is affecting the fish. Repeat this every 1 – 2 days for a week. Whilst doing this, remain alert and check with anyone who has been in the vicinity of the aquarium to see if they have any ideas of what could have caused the issue.

DECEMBER 2023

Bioactive Enclosures

DECEMBER 2023

57

Fascinating Fact

FASCINATING FACT Frog Diversity

T

he most species-rich genus of amphibians is Pristimantis. There are over 500 species of frogs belonging to the Pristimantis genus, with new ones being described regularly. These small, terrestrial frogs are found across South and Central America. They have colonised a variety of habitats including high Andean regions, partly due to their fascinating breeding strategies.

58

Pristimantis frogs lay eggs amongst leaflitter. The embryos develop entirely within the egg, emerging as young froglets and bypassing the tadpole stage. This means they are adept at establishing new populations in hard-to-reach areas and thus, have speciated exponentially from their common ancestors.

DECEMBER 2023

Title

The more the merrier!

Multi-pet discount available!

We offer exotic, dog, cat and horse insurance, all with a fantastic 10% multi-policy discount!* Get a quote TODAY at britishpetinsurance.co.uk or call us on 01444 708840. *10% discount on two or more pets from any species we cover within our pet insurance product range. British Pet Insurance Services is a trading name of Petcover EU Limited which is registered in England and Wales under number 10001319. Petcover EU Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under reference number 747757.

DECEMBER 2023

59