Leopard Tortoises...pg04 Build a Desert Vivarium...pg24 Vol. 13 | No. 05 | September/October 2019 the #1 reptile and exotic pet website Ultimate .co.za Eyelash exotics Vipers Captive Care Beaded Lizard Care (Heloderma exasperatum) Chlorinated Water: For Your Reptiles Children’s Pythons (Antaresia childreni) Handling Tarantulas – Pg. 10 Some Things to Consider Pg. 38 www.ultimateexotics.co.za | september/october 2019 | ultimate exotics 1 Contents Volume 13 | Number 05 | 2019 Sept/Oct 19 South Africa’s only Reptile and Exotic Pet Magazine! features 04 THE LEOPARD TORTOISE Leopard tortoises are strong, with a calm but herculean look. Long, heavily scaled, elephantine legs with impressive claws allow this tortoise to walk tall as it clambers across semi-arid grasslands from Sudan down to the southern cape in its native Africa. 10 CHILDREN’S PYTHONS These small attractive pythons are hardy in captivity and will tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions. In this article we learn all about their care 04 and breeding. 16 THE EYELASH VIPER These are venomous animals and should be treated with respect. Always handle them with a hook. When trying to get them out of their enclosures, sometimes they will hold on to branches with their prehensile tails, so the tails must be gently tapped with another hook. 24 BUILD A DESERT VIVARIUM It is hard to beat a simple but stunning desert vivarium when it comes to attractiveness, interest and economy. Glass reptile tanks are the best for most vivaria. They securely house the animals, provide good viewing, contain debris, such as dust, waste and feeder insects, and in the case of lizards, keep them from climbing out. 38 HANDLING TARANTULAS 10 Seasoned keepers often enjoy handling their calmer animals (and sometimes, the not so calm ones) as a way to feel more bonded to these amazing creatures. ALSO IN THIS EDITION: 30 Beaded Lizard Care and Breeding 34 Water for Reptiles regulars 03 From the Editors 39 Breeders Most Wanted 38 40 Advertisers’ Index 2 ultimate exotics | september/october 2019 | www.ultimateexotics.co.za From the Editor... pring has sprung and the reptile industry has woken up from its winter slump. Feeder foods are starting Sto be ordered again in larger quantities and all our volume 13 | number 05 snakes are showing lots of interested when it comes to September/October 2019 breeding. Managing Editor Allot of females are starting to show signs of egg Rolf Dennison development and some are getting close to their pre-lay Design Layout Rolf Dennison sheds. This is always an exciting time of Johannesburg! This expo used to be held Advertisements the year and also a very busy time as we in Durban over December but it has now Ralphie Riggien have to make sure all our females are well moved to Johannesburg at the popular Accounts looked after and that each snake is given venue of Emperors Palace. This expo Pauline Visser close attention. Our incubators have proved to be very successful last year Orders also been cleaned out and disinfected with an excellent turn out of people. Take Nonto Gwala and we have turned them on to test that a look at page 1 for the Christmas SOS Free Digital Subscriptions expo advert where the dates and address everything is working correctly before Send us your email address of the expo is advertised. Don’t miss out we our eggs start arriving. Sales for Reptiles and Products on these expos and we hope to see you Ralphie Riggien there! This is the time of the year where we hope Disclaimer: The editors and publishers of Ultimate Exotics that the winter cycling and all the hard Don’t forget to take a look at our website do not accept any liability whatsoever with regard to any work pays off as we start to see our eggs statement, fact, advertisement or recommendation made in www.ultimateexotics.co.za where this magazine and do not necessarily agree with the viewpoints being laid and our babies being born. We we have an ever increasing range of expressed by contributors to Ultimate Exotics. would like to wish all our readers that are specialist reptile products, reptiles, breeding reptiles this season a successful scorpions and tarantulas for sale online. © 2019 by Ultimate Exotics. All rights reserved. breeding season! Our website has been updated and we Reproduction of any material from this issue are always trying to improve our online in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Just a quick reminder there are two more service to the best there can be to make www.ultimateexotics.co.za expos left for the year. Some exciting getting your products and supplies for news is that Cape Town is having their your reptiles as easy as possible. You can Physical Address first ever reptile expo which we are very also subscribe to the Ultimate Exotics 83 Niagara Drive glad to hear. Cape Town is quite strict on our website and get the magazine Waterfall with regards to exotic pet reptiles as delivered directly to you for less! Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa there are only certain species that can be To stay up-to-date with everything kept and bred there under permit. With happening at Ultimate Exotics, please Tel: 031 763 4054 that being said they have a very efficient Whatsapp: 083 785 54054 don’t forget to like our Facebook permit system and applying for permits is page, follow us on Instagram and also fairly easy and quick making it possible Editor: [email protected] subscribe to our YouTube channel where Adverts: Rolf Dennison to keep and breed reptiles on permit very we are doing weekly videos! email: [email protected] easy. Please take a look at page 23 for the Cape Town expo advert where the dates We hope you enjoy this issue and we Bank Details and address of the expo is advertised. hope to see you soon! Happy herping and The Standard Bank of S.A. Ltd Hillcrest Branch 045726 happy reading! Ultimate Exotics The next expo is another big one and Acc no. 062 557 971 that is the Christmas SOS Expo in The Editor Subscribe now! Subscribe now to receive the free ultimate exotics digital magazine! Receive professional articles on the care and breeding of reptiles and exotic pets! Stay up-to-date with the latest information from reptile and DEADLINES exotic pet breeders. Up-to-date articles on health, hygiene and disease in reptiles! Send us your email Issue Colour Adverts address and we will add you to our free subscribers November/December 2019 20 October 2019 mailing list or visit www.ultimateexotics.co.za! January/February 2020 20 December 2019 March/April 2020 20 February 2020 Cover Photo: Eyelash Viper July/August 2020 20 April 2020 Bothriechis schlegelii www.ultimateexotics.co.za | september/october 2019 | ultimate exotics 3 Tortoises* “Leopard tortoises are strong, with a calm but herculean look. Long, heavily scaled, elephantine legs with impressive claws allow this tortoise to walk tall as it clambers across semi-arid grasslands from Sudan down to the southern cape in its native Africa.” The Leopard By Chris Leone Tortoise Stigmochelys pardalis Please note the Leopard Tortoise is a protected species in South Africa and a permit is required to keep this species. t isn’t a cunning killing machine stalking its prey across 40cm (12 to 16 inches) and 6 to 9kgs (14 to 20 pounds.) sub-Saharan Africa, and it doesn’t possess powerful Icanines that can take down animals with one swift bite to Today, the leopard tortoises are grouped into one valid the neck. In fact, it moves rather slowly, grazing across the species with no recognized subspecies—a taxonomic update land and taking an occasional soak in a mud hole. It isn’t agile that is frequently debated. Several locales exist in nature, as or stealthy, though it is deliberate in its motions as a more is the case with other tortoise species, each with their own peaceful depiction of this continent’s great wildlife. In fact, it phenotypic traits. Those found in Ethiopia, for example, are isn’t a big cat at all, though it does have a majesty all its own, referred to as giants, exceeding 60cm (25 inches) in length. due in part to an appearance that features a majestic pattern of beautiful, black rosettes on a light-colored background. The classic, unmistakable, leopard-like pattern covers the leopard tortoise’s highly domed shell. The ground colour Stigmochelys pardalis: A Herculean Beauty is horn to yellowish, with some specimens being almost The leopard tortoise’s Latin name is Stigmochelys (meaning black and others nearly patternless (usually the case in older “marked or pointed tortoise”) pardalis (meaning “leopard”). animals). Considered one of the planet’s most beautiful It is the world’s fourth-largest tortoise species, with adults chelonians, S. pardalis exhibits an extreme degree of sometimes surpassing 18 kgs (40 pounds) and 45cm (18 inches) contrast, especially in young, captive-raised animals. The in length. The once-valid subspecies known as the South black spotting on a bone-white carapace is eye-catching to African leopard tortoise (S. p. pardalis) typically reaches these just about anyone, and this is one reason why the leopard dimensions, while the more common East African leopard tortoise remains a favorite in the reptile community tortoise (S. p. babcockii) remains smaller at around 30cm to worldwide. 4 ultimate exotics | september/october 2019 | www.ultimateexotics.co.za Widespread in nature, the leopard tortoise is currently listed as a Widely distributed across the arid and savanna regions of eastern and species of least concern on the IUCN’s Red List.