Herpetology Club: February 2014

 

February’s Herpetology Club met to learn about and compare the feeding behaviors of several of the reptiles housed at Fauna.

The reptiles we focused on were Bearded Dragons, Crested Geckos, and Corn Snakes.

 

 

Our students were taught well-known terminology such ‘omnivorous’, herbivorous,  and ‘carnivorous’, as well as lesser known feeding classifications such as ‘frugivore’, ‘insectivore’, and ‘nectivore’; animals that specialize in eating fruit, insects and nectar respectively.

Our club members were also taught that while these terms are a convenient way to group animals according to what they eat, very few of them strictly adhere to their label. For instance, Crested Geckos are both frugivores and insectivores, accepting both fruit and insects.

 

 

We went on to examine the following:

• The different commercially available food items for reptiles. This included powdered forms of Crested Gecko food, canned invertebrates such as grasshoppers and snails, freeze-dried crickets, and pelleted tortoise food.

• The salad mix that is prepared and fed to the plant eating reptiles at the shop such as the Bearded Dragons.

• The various vitamin and mineral supplements necessary to round out the animals’ diets.

 

 

To finish off our lesson, the children helped prepare food for Crested Geckos and also observed a corn snake feeding. Our club members learned the importance of feeding snakes outside of the enclosures they occupy, as well as the importance of feeding pre-killed food items as opposed to living. A live rodent will not simply let itself become a meal. Feeding pre-killed rodents lessens the likelihood of injury to the animal you are feeding. Mice, rats, gerbils, and other rodents can inflict serious bites as they defend themselves from being consumed.

 

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