Glossary of Common Terms

• Amelanistic: without melanin or black pigment
• Anerythristic: without the red pigment
• Arboreal: tree-dwelling; living off the ground.
• Bask: to lie in the sun. Reptiles use this to self regulate their internal temperature.
• Boid: snakes that belong to the class Boidae. This includes all boas and pythons.
• Braining: the act of exposing a mouse’s brain. Helps to stimulate a snakes appetite.
• Burrow: to dig under the substrate to either search for food or create a place to conceal themselves.
• Carapace: a tortoise or turtle’s upper shell
• Carnivore: eats meat solely to survive.
• Clutch: a group of eggs that have been laid by a reptile
• Colubrid: snakes belonging to the class Colubridae. Some examples are King Snakes and Garter Snakes.
• Crepuscular: active at dusk or dawn
• Dimorphism: having two different forms. Example: sexual dimorphism in snakes where the females are larger than the males.
• Diurnal: active during the day.
• Dorsal: referring to the top or back.
• Dry Bite: a bite from a venomous snake that contains no venom.
• Dusting: applying a layer of calcium or vitamin powder to prey items to boost nutritional value.
• Ectoparasite: a parasite that is on the outside of the body. Examples are ticks or mites.
• Elapid: venomous snakes such as Cobras, Kraits, and Taipans. Have fixed front fangs and are normally neurotoxic.
• Endemic Species: species that are native to a specific region
• Endoparasite: a parasite that occurs inside the body. Examples are tapeworms or flukes.
• Envemonation: to process of delivering the venom from the fangs to the intended target.
• Force Feed: to forcefully feed an animal its intended food. Usually only down in extreme cases where animal is sick and is in desperate need of sustenance to survive.
• Furniture: when used in reference to a reptiles’ enclosure, it means the branches, plants, hide box, etc, used in the cage.
• Fuzzy: a young mouse 7-12 days old who has started to grow fur but has not opened its eyes yet.
• Glottis: a stiff tube located at the bottom of a snake’s mouth used to breath while a snake is swallowing a prey item.
• Gravid: a term used to describe a female reptile that is either carrying eggs or young.
• Hemipenes: organs used in reptiles to deposit sperm inside the female’s body during mating.
• Herp: a term used to refer to all reptiles and amphibians.
• Herper: a person who is a keeper, breeder, or collector of reptiles or amphibians.
• Herpetologist: a person who studies reptiles or amphibians. Usually has a degree in Biology with a emphasis or reptiles and amphibians.
• Herbivore: an animal whose diet is strictly plants.
• Hook: a tool used to handle snakes, particularly venomous ones.
• Hopper: a mouse between 12-19 days old. Their eyes are open but are still weaning.
• Hot: a term given to venomous snakes and lizards.
• Husbandry: the different aspect of caring for a reptile.
• Hygrometer: a device used to measure the amount of humidity in a cage.
• Impaction: a problem where a reptile or amphibians’ intestines are blocked by some foreign material. If the blockage is not removed, this can result in the death of the animal.
• Insectivore: feeding strictly on insects.
• Juvenile: a young animal that is not yet sexually mature.
• Lateral: on the side.
• Litter: a group of babies a live bearing snake gave birth to.
• Locale: the area that a captive bred animal originated from.
• Melanistic: having an unordinary amount of melanin or black pigment.
• Metabolic Bone Disease: a disease that causes malformed bones. Usually results from insufficient calcium and incorrect lighting.
• Morph: a reference to the different color patterns found in a majority of snake species.
• Musk: a foul smelling substance produced in the scent glad at the base of the tail. May be used as a way of defense from an attacker.
• Neonate: a newly hatched or born animal.
• Nocturnal: active at night
• Omnivore: eating both plant and animal matter.
• Opportunistic: taking advantage of the situation. Example: Most snakes are opportunistic eaters and eat whenever they find prey.
• Photoperiod: the cycle of light and dark established in a cage. Changing the photoperiod helps in stimulating breeding.
• Pinkie: a baby rat or mouse age 1-7 days old.
• Pinhead: newborn crickets roughly the side of a pinhead.
• Plastron: the bottom plate of a turtle or tortoise’s shell.
• Pop: a method of sexing a snake by everting the hemipenes.
• Prehensile: holding or wrapping around an object.
• Prey: animal to be eaten as food.
• Probe: a tool that is used to sex snakes.
• Range: a region where a species of animal is known to occur.
• Regurgitate: to spit back up a food item. Snakes may to this if they are handles after feeding or are stressed.
• Retained eye scale: the condition where a snake fails to shed the scale that covers the eye.
• Sub adult: a juvenile animal that has almost reached sexual maturity.
• Substrate: the bedding used to cover the floor of a reptile’s cage. Example: sand or bark.
• Terrestrial: living on the ground.
• Thermal Gradient: the gradual change in temperature from one side of the cage to another.
• Thermoregulation: the process of regulating ones internal temperature by moving to an area that has the correct temperature.
• Tongs: a feeding device used with snake mainly. Used to hold a prey item in front of an animal until it strikes and summarily eats it.
• Venom: a toxic compound that reptiles and amphibians use as a defense or in obtaining prey.
• Venom Gland: a gland, somewhat like a salivary glad, that holds venom and is connected to the fangs through a venom duct.
• Venemoid: a venomous snake that has been surgically altered to make it non-venomous.
• Zoology: a branch of biology that deals with the study of animals.