Welcome To Practical Reptile Keeping

Happy New Year! Looking back over 2011, it was remarkable to see that some 84 new reptiles were discovered. It’s almost becoming a rush to track them down in case they go extinct! The intriguing question is as to how many species may have disappeared already, without become known to science?

This is something that is of great interest to PRK contributor Dr. Karl Shuker, who discusses the possibilities of the existence of megaspiders this month. Karl’s new book, The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals includes an entire section devoted to reptiles and amphibians, and makes fascinating reading.

He writes about newly-discovered monitor lizards, the world’s first-known lungless caecilian, the hairy frog, Blomberg’s giant toad, the goliath frog, dwarf amphiuma, the chameleon snake, Venezuelan skunk frog, new anaconda species, the world’s largest species of spitting cobra, taipans, plus the rediscoveries of giant Canary Island lizards and the painted frog of Palestine.

Karl also covers the fascinating history of Delcourt’s giant gecko, new crocodilians and chelonians, India’s purple frog and the Galapagos pink iguana, plus the vampire tadpoles of Vietnam! Signed copies of the book are available from Karl, priced at £49.99 (inc p&p) and can be ordered through his Paypal address, which is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  If this year is exciting as last, who can predict what will be discovered?

David Alderton,
Editor.

David is an acknowledged expert with more than 40 years of experience in this area. He has written and broadcast extensively about the care and biology of these creatures, and also speaks regularly to various herpetological groups..