Reptiles
Possible bio facts included: Burmese python egg, python skull, python hide, snake shed, monitor shed, snapping turtle shell, snapping
turtle skull, turtle model, socks
Theme ideas
1. Snakes have poor table manners.
2. A turtle takes its home with it wherever he goes.
Bio fact details
Python eggs: Public can touch
Pythons are categorized as oviparous meaning they are of the species
of snakes that lay eggs vs. live birth.
Male pythons are ready to breed
when they are approximately 6 feet
long and females aren’t usually ready
until they are closer to 10 feet long.
Following copulation, the eggs remain inside the maternal body anywhere from 60-140 days. The actual
eggs are white and leathery in appearance and feel. The female will
lay anywhere from 25 to 60 eggs and
then form them into a vertical cone
shaped pile and coils herself around
the eggs to keep them safe. She will
pulse her body to keep them warm.
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Python skull: No Touch Item
Notice there are six rows of teeth.
Unable to tear their food into
chunks snakes must swallow everything whole; and in order to manage such a feat when the prospective meal is large, their jaws are
uniquely hinged allowing the
mouth to open to an unusually
wide angle.
Once a victim is in the grip of the
snake’s backward-curving or recurved teeth the snake forces the
food toward its esophagus by moving first one side of its mobile jaws and then the other working rather
like the two arms of a man hauling in a rope. Docent can simulate
this.
Snake hide: Have a couple guests hold skin, stretched out.
Lizards and snakes have evolved a horny epidermal covering that
slows down evaporation. These plates, or scales, may overlap or abut
one another and may be smooth or have a keel (ridge) down the center.
Reptile shed: Public can touch, remind them it is very delicate.
All reptiles shed their skins, referred to as ecdysis, in a manner that
differs from species to species. Snakes shed or "slough" their skins in
one piece, including eye caps, as opposed to lizards who look like
they are recovering from a bad case of sunburn during a shed.
In general, snakes will slough at least once a month. The frequency of
shedding depends on many factors: species, age, nutritional and reproductive status, the presence of skin parasites or bacteria, temperature
and humidity. Generally speaking, younger snakes will shed more
frequently than adults and shedding often precedes mating and giving
birth. The most common causes of improper or incomplete shedding
are related to husbandry and nutrition
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Why is this shed colorless? The pigment cells, which give the snake its
color, are deep within the growing part of the skin and give a vivid hue
to the newly exposed skin of the snake. The shed that is crème color
came form our Albino Python, Roni. You can see that her coloration is
different than the other. She lacks the pigment cells responsible for
color.
Did you know? Young snakes shed more often than older ones, the
warmer a snake’s environment the more often it sheds, humidity plays
a big part of a successful shed.
 A reticulated python under observation for 18 yrs shed on the average of once every 55 days, or almost seven times a year, prompting one
naturalist to calculate that if all the sheds were laid end to end they
would stretch for a third of a mile.
The snake will bask in the sun; this aids in drying out the skin and prepares the snake for shedding.
Sock: Use sock with described activity
Shedding is triggered by a hormonal secretion. The outermost layer of
skin (the epidermal layer) begins to loosen and peel at the mouth. After the molting has begun, the snake will rub up against a rock or any
available rough surface to help rub off its skin. While rubbing the skin
it becomes caught and the snake is able to slither away leaving behind
an exact inside-out replica of its body as old skin.
Activity: Have kids pull the sock over their hand and arm.
Tell them to try to remove a sock from their hand/arm without
using their other hand or their mouth. They must find something to rub their hand/arm against to remove the sock. The
sock will roll as they are rubbing it or they may catch it on
something and pull out of it just like a snake!
Common Snapping Turtle Shell: Public can touch.
Broad and flat carapace, rear is coarsely serrated. The shells of young
turtles are very rough, becoming smooth with maturity. Very thin
shell.
Compare this shell to one of our tortoise shells The bottom (plastron)
shell is much smaller because snappers are an aquatic turtle and do
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not need the extra protection from predators that land tortoises do.
Shells in general: In the beginning of their evolution turtles were
covered with scaly skin like other reptiles, but the scales
eventually grew larger and into horny plates, and in the process the plates fused together into the upper shell or carapace
and the plastron, which protects the underbelly. These two
shells were eventually joined at the turtle’s sides, enclosing
the animal in a bony amour, with holes for the feet, tail and
head. Adjusting to its portable armor, the turtle’s body was
reorganized to comfortable dimensions and the shell became
fused to the spine and some inner bone structure, leaving only
the shoulder blades and the hip bones as movable joints. The
turtle thus became the only land vertebrate in the world to
wear part of its skeleton on the outside.
Tortoise skull: Public can touch (Desert tortoise)
No teeth, very strong jaws, thick structure because of the power required for eating. Eyes and nose positioned on top of head for breathing and seeing in the water. At the tip of the mouth are pointed areas
called the beak. The beak is used for grasping.
Our Tortoises:
 Desert- protected by law in California, where it is illegal to “sell,
purchase, needlessly harm, take, or shoot any projectile at a desert
tortoise”. In Arizona the species may not be imported or sold, and
each resident is allowed to keep no more than one specimen.
 Red-footed-Not currently listed as endangered. Although as current degradation of the forests of South America continues, the population will begin to suffer. Their range is so wide spread, that it is
sometimes difficult for an individual to find another to mate with.
 Aldabra- classified as “Vulnerable” to extinction. They are still
considered at risk for extinction because they are found in such a restricted habitat. Wild population is estimated at 33,000.
Our library Reference:
Encyclopedia of reptiles and amphibians (597.6 Hal)
Living snakes of the world in color. (597.96 Meh)
Burmese Pythons (597.96 cob)
Reptiles & Amphibians (597.0 Oul; Time Life Television)
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AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Class: Reptilia; Order: Crocodylia; Family: Alligatoridae
Alligator mississippiensis
Description: The back of the American Alligators is armored with embedded bony
plates called osteoderms or scutes. Alligators are grayish-black to absorb the sunshine. Crocs are grayish-green possibly to reflect sunshine.
Size: Body length: 6.5-19.2 feet.
Weight: Older males may reach weights of 1,000 lbs.
Habitat: Wetland areas
Distribution: Southeastern United States
Diet: Carnivores
Life Span: In the wild they may live to about 50 years. In captivity up to 70.
Status: Although they have made a remarkable recovery from near extinction, American alligators are classified as “Threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
because of their similarity in appearance to the American crocodile, an endangered
species.
Special Characteristics:
 They have 4 short legs, the front with five toes and the back with four toes.
 When on land, the alligator moves either by sprawling or walking, the latter involving the reptile lifting its belly off the ground. In the water, alligators swim like
fish; moving their pelvic regions and tails from side to side
Alligators are specially adapted for hunting in the water.
Their eyes and nose are set high on the head so they can see and breathe
while the rest of their body is hidden beneath the water’s surface.
They have a transparent third eyelid for underwater.
The alligator’s ears and nose close automatically when it submerges.
A special throat valve allows alligators to feed while underwater without
the risk of drowning.
 Alligators have between 74 and 80 teeth at a time. They may lose them when
tackling prey or they can be worn down, but they are quickly replaced. They can go
through 2,000-3,000 teeth in a lifetime.
 Muscles that close the jaws are very powerful, but the muscles that open the jaws
are weak and easily controlled.
 They cannot chew their food.
 Alligators can live up to 2 years without eating because it stores fat in its tail.
 American Alligators may become dormant during the winter. They create caves
called gator holes along waterway banks or they may simply sleep at the bottom of
ponds or rivers during cold nights. They can hold their breathe for up to 24 hours by
slowing their heart rate while underwater.
 During times of drought, alligators dig holes which collect water for other wildlife to use.
 Alligators have a U-shaped snout while crocodiles have a V-shaped snout. Also,
the 4th tooth on the lower jaw of an Alligator is not visible and it is visible on Crocodiles.
To keep from getting too hot, an alligator gapes, or lies with its mouth open.
Alligators have various methods of communicating. During breeding season,
males will court females by slapping their heads against the water and bellowing. Newly hatched alligators “bark” to signal to their mother that it is
time to create an opening in the nest for them to exit. Young alligators have
a distress call to alert parents or other nearby adults.
Males are bulls, females are cows and babies are hatchlings.
Reproduction:
Sexual maturity is primarily dependent on the size of the alligator. Females and
males reach sexual maturity when they are approximately 6 feet long. This
may occur at 8-10 years of age (sometimes earlier in captive alligators).
Wild American alligators typically breed in April and May.
In late June or early July, female alligators use mud and plant material to build
large, mound-shaped nests that are 1.5 - 3 feet high, and 5 - 7 feet wide.
Crocodiles dig holes to bury their eggs.
Females lay 25-60 hard-shelled eggs. The eggs are about the size of a goose egg.
Eggs are incubated 9-10 weeks. Nest temperatures affect the sex of the hatchlings: warmer temperatures (90-93° F) produce males, cooler (82-86° F) produce females.
Females remain near the nest to ward off predators and to be close at hand to hear
the call of the hatchlings.
Hatchlings are 6-10 inches long.
Young alligators live in groups called “pods”. They generally stay with their protective mother for at least one year, and may remain near the nest for two or
three years.
BURMESE PYTHON
Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Squamata, Family: Pythonidae,
Python molurus bivittatus
Status: Populations of Burmese pythons have declined in the wild. The Burmese is
a subspecies of the Indian Python. They are now listed as threatened by CITES in
Appendix II. CITES is a United Nations treaty with over 100 member states and
provides a means for regulating international trade in wild animals and plants.
Habitat: From open woodlands to dense rainforests, never far from water.
Range: Burma (nation of Myanmar), Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
Diet in the wild: Completely carnivorous, from smaller mammals to birds. The
python kills its prey by wrapping itself around the victim and constricts until the
prey is crushed to death. Consuming the prey is a slow process. The teeth aren’t
adapted for chewing, so the snake has to swallow the food whole.
Special Features:
The python has 350 bones in its spine compared to only 35 in humans.
Burmese python males are generally shorter (about 10 ft) and more slender than
females, which can grow to 20 ft.
Like most ectotherms, pythons have a very low metabolic rate. Because of their
low metabolic rate, they do not have to eat every day.
Can and often does submerge itself in water (except for nostrils) during hot
weather.
Pythons are solitary animals. They do not form bonds with each other even
during the mating season. Pythons move from place to place with a couple
of motions called “snaking” and “rectilinear crawling”. “When snaking,
they advance by making a series of lateral curving motions, using objects
for leverage with the rear part of the curves. With rectilinear crawling, the
snake uses its broad belly scales which are in contact with the substrate;
with the use of muscle contractions the snake “walks” on its pointed ribs,
pushing itself with the ventral scales”
Reproduction
Males are ready to breed at 2-3 years of age or when they are 6 feet long. Females are ready when they are around 10 feet long.
Mating occurs in December or January.
A female can deposit and incubate up to 100 eggs at a time (Mehrtens 60).
Eggs develop in 60-140 days. Egg laying begins at beginning of warmer, wetter
season (Coborn 50).
Burmese pythons are one of a very few snakes that incubate the eggs after they
are laid. They coil around the eggs to regulate the temperature until they
hatch.
The temperature of incubation has a determination on what sex the offspring will
be. A higher temperature usually produces more males, while a medium to
lower temp. produces more females.
Snakes have poor eyesight. They usually can only see animals if they are moving. Instead, they rely on their sense of taste and “smell” to tell them about
their environment. Snakes stick out their tongues to collect particles of information that are “interpreted” by a special detector inside their mouth called a
Jacobson’s organ.
GREEN TREE PYTHON
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Family: Boidae
Morellia viridis
Size: 64 – 88 inches
Habitat: Rainforests
Distribution: Northeast Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Aru Islands
Diet: Tree lizards, birds, small mammals, and other small arboreal vertebrates
Life Span: Can exceed 20 years
Status: Endangered in native countries due to habitat destruction, skin trade, and
hunting for food
Special Characteristics:
 This relatively aggressive snake has various shades of green with a broken stripe
of white or yellow running down its back. Some say that the vibrant green color and
the coiled shape resemble bananas hanging in the tree.
 They are non venomous
 It has a prehensile (grasping) tail to aid its movement among the branches.
 These pythons lure their food by sitting very still on a branch and dangling their
tail. Curious about the wiggling tail, the prey gets close enough for a strike.
 Evidence show that they ground forage at night and sleep during the day.
Reproduction:
 Sexually mature at 3 years.
 Eggs are laid in a hole in a tree or among tree roots on the ground
 Clutch size is 6 – 30 eggs; python species are oviparous and boas bear live young.
 Incubation is 45 – 52 days
 Newborn green tree pythons are bright yellow orange, or brick red and do not
develop green coloring for 6-8 months.
The difference between:
Boa’s:
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Are found in both the New (N. America, C. America, & S. America) & Old (Africa, Asia, & Australia)
Worlds.
Live in woodlands or rocky, semi-desert scrublands
Remain hidden until prey comes close during hunting
Sense prey using temperature-sensitive scales
around the mouth which contain a lot of nerve endings to sense heat. (Tree boa’s have pits, instead of
scales, like pythons)
There are 41 species of Boas.
Python’s:
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Have 1 more bone in their head than Boas.
Have additional teeth as well.
Are Old World snakes only.
Live in rain forests, grasslands, savannahs, woodlands, swamps, rocky outcrops, desert sand hills, and
shrubs.
Hunt prey using temperature-sensitive pits, or holes,
along their jaw.
Can swim and will hunt prey from the water (they
will wait in the water with only their head at the surface. Once a prey comes to the water’s edge they will
strike).
Lay eggs.
Will use thermogenesis (rhythmic muscle contractions to generate heat) if the temperature drops.
They are also similar:
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Both species “walk” using rectilinear progression. This is where they move forward through stiffening the ribs
to provide support as they lift a set of ventral (belly) scales and push forward.
They are both ambush hunters.
Both abandon young once they are born, regardless of if they gave birth or eggs hatched. However, both protect their young prior to birth.
The difference between:
True Frogs (Ranidae):
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Can be terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic.
Have two bulging eyes.
Have strong, long, webbed, hind feet which they use
for swimming and leaping.
Have smooth or slimy skin.
Lay eggs in clusters, with a jelly-like case around the
eggs
Are found everywhere except Antarctica.
Prefer wetter environments, as they can live in water.
There are over 400 frog species.
Can be poisonous.
True Toads (Bufonidae):
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Are terrestrial.
Have stubby bodies with short hind legs
Walk instead of leap
Have warty and dry skin
Usually prefer dry environments
Have paratoid (poison) glands behind their eyes
Lay eggs in long chains (some give live birth)
Found naturally everywhere except Australia, polar
regions, Madagascar, and Polynesia (they were introduced into Australia)
There are over 300 toad species.
Lay eggs in water on leaves of plants.
They are also similar:
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Both are members of the order Anura.
Both live near ponds, swamps, and marshes
Both have stubby front legs.
They are similar in size.
All toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.
The difference between:
Venomous
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2.
3.
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Poisonous
Venom is delivered (often injected) into prey when
hunting or as a defense mechanism.
Venom is produced by organs specialized for purpose
Venom is a toxic substance that is injected
Venom is protein & enzyme based
There are THREE types of venoms:
Hemotoxic-acts on the heart & cardiovascular system
Neurotoxic-acts on the nervous system & brain
Cytotoxic-acts on the location of the bite
An animal can either use a single form of venom or
use a combination of two
Produced by the animal.
When thinking of venomous animals, think snakes.
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Poison is harmful if consumed or touched
Is distributed over a large part of the body of the
organism producing the poison (plant or animal)
Poison can be absorbed through skin
Poison is typically a type of defense
Both plants and animals can be poisonous.
Poison is created either from eating toxic plants and
storing the toxins in the body (building an immunity
to the toxin) or produced on its own.
When thinking of poisonous animals think frogs.
Crazy Critter
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The slow loris (a primate) is considered to be an animal oddball. It produces toxins under its arms which is
smeared on the young to protect them from predators. However it can also lick the toxin, giving it a venomous
bite!
The difference between:
Turtles:
Terrapins:
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Are found exclusively in brackish
waters of marshes and river inlets
along the coast (in the US).
Also known as diamond backs
Females are larger than males
Have webbed feet
Have yellow plastron’s (lower
shells)
Have light colored necks with
dark markings
Can be found on land but are ALWAYS near water
“terrapin” is the Algonquian word
for “turtle.”
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Are found in fresh water, marines, and on land (in the US).
Are found on every continent except Antarctica and every ocean
except the Artic
More than 2/3 of the species live
in fresh water
Live most of their life in water
Shells differ by habitat (strictly
aquatic or strictly terrestrial).
Burrow in mud if cold and will
go into torpor (an extended sleep;
a form of hibernation) until
warm.
Tortoises:
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Are strictly terrestrial.
Have blunt, club-shaped feet
Most live in hot dry regions in
southern parts of the world.
Dome shaped shell.
Eat low growing shrubs, grasses,
and sometimes cacti
Dig burrows if desert dwelling
Two species in the US: Desert
Tortoise & Gopher Tortoise.
They are also similar:
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All are members of the order Chelonia
All have scales & shells (their shells are part of their body, so they can feel through their shells)
Lay eggs
Are exothermic.
All terrapins are turtles, but not all turtles are terrapins.