| Term |
Meaning |
| Ambient |
Surrounding
temperature; room air temperature |
| Basking
Light |
A light or overhead
heating element that produces an area of higher heat in an enclosure required by the
reptile for digestion |
| Brumation |
“cooling” a herp by lowering its temperature for usually 2 to 4
months to approximate conditions during the winter period. This is not the true
hibernation of mammals. Brumation triggers the physical changes that stimulate egg
production in females, sperm production in males and the breeding response necessary for
successful captive propagation. |
| Cloaca |
A passage used for
eliminating fecal, urinary and reproductive discharges. From the Latin word meaning
"sewer". |
| clutch |
The number of eggs laid;
egg production and laying. (1. The females of some species clutch several times a
year. 2. The average clutch size of bearded dragons is 20-40 eggs.) |
| cycle;
cycling |
The recurring
reproductive phase, triggered by hormonal changes triggered by environmental cues. May
occur on an annual basis, or a more or less frequent basis |
| Dehydration |
Reduction of water in
body tissues and blood; can be fatal. Dehydration can be due to insufficient water intake,
a too-arid an environment, or as a result of thermal burns. |
| Gravid |
Pregnant |
| Heliotherm(c) |
Basks in the heat of the
sun (or other overhead bright heat source) |
| Impaction |
a condition where a
looped intestine or a plug of some foreign matter makes the animal unable to pass waste
material through the intestine to the outside. Often a fatal condition. It is especially
common in smaller animals that are kept on a substrate of sand or other small particulate
matter, and caused by accidental ingestion of the substrate. |
| Melanistic |
having an excess of
melanin or black pigment. |
| Morph |
A color or pattern (e.g.,
albino is a morph of the standard form). |
| Omnivorous |
Eat both plant and animal
matter. |
| Photoperiod |
A day/night cycle of
light/dark. Depending on the context in which this term is used, it may refers to just the
daylight period |
| Temperature Gradient |
A range of temperature
needed to enable a reptile to regulate its internal (core) body temperature. |
| Thermoregulate |
In reptiles, their
ability to change their body temperature by moving from warm to cool places. |
| Ultraviolet
light (UV) |
Radiant energy in the
range of about 100-380 nanometers (nm). For practical applications, the UV band is broken
down further as follows: Ozone Producing 180 - 220nm
Bactericidal (germicidal) 220 - 300 nm
Erythemal (skin reddening) 280 - 320 nm
"Black" light 320 - 400 nm
The international Commission on Illumination (CIE) defines the UV bands as UV-A
(315-400nm); UV-B (280 - 315 nm) and UV-C (100-280 |
| Vent |
The exterior opening of
the cloaca; anus |