Some Interesting facts about Reptile species

There are many people who often love the idea of keeping exotic pets, like reptiles in their homes. Lizards snakes and alligators are always in demand at the pet stores.

It is very important to have proper reptile tanks, reptile caves and other reptile accessories to put these reptiles into a set up that they deserve to be kept as a pet.

The problem is that often when people get tired of the up-keep of such pets they allow them to escape into the wild. Once the get away, sometimes they do not come back and if you have a male and female or a pregnant reptile which gets away, you can cause some real problems for the local eco-system. Thus it very essential to go through the various reptile books andunderstand theexact type of reptile foods and reptile products available in the marketto keep your reptile friends in the most suited environments.

I read an article from Brandon R Cornett and found out these interesting facts about reptiles that he had stated in his writing. I have republished few of the facts for the people who are interested in reading and knowing more about reptile species before making a decision to keep them as their pets.

1. Reptiles are among the longest-lived species on the planet. For example, large tortoises such as the Aldabra tortoise can live for more than 150 years. Alligators can live nearly 70 years. Ball pythons, a popular type of pet snake, can live up to 40 years (consider that before getting one as a pet).

2. Snakes and lizards flick their tongues in the air to capture scent particles. They don't smell through their noses like you and I. Instead, the use their tongues to collect scent particles and then pass the particles over something called a Jacobson's organ to decipher the air around them. This is partly how reptiles hunt for food.

3. Certain types of snakes can go months without eating. This is especially true of the big constrictors, such as the Anaconda and the reticulated python. Snakes eat large meals (relative to their body size), and they have much slower metabolisms than we humans have. This partly explains how they can go so long between meals.

4. Most of the world's snakes (nearly two-thirds) are non-venomous. Only about 500 snake species are venomous, and of those only 30 - 40 are considered harmful to humans. In other words, less than 2 percent of all snakes are considered harmful to humans.

5. "Cold-blooded" is not the best way to describe reptiles. Their blood is not necessarily cold by itself. But they are ectothermic, which means they get their body heat from external sources. Reptiles cannot regulate their body temperature internally as humans do.

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