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Browse care guides for exotic and reptile species. All information is for educational purposes and does not replace professional veterinary advice.

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Arizona Blonde Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Arizona Blonde Tarantula

Aphonopelma chalcodes

A desert tarantula from the south-western USA, mainly Arizona, where it lives in deep burrows dug under stone…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 40–65%
Asian Forest Scorpion
Scorpion Beginner

Asian Forest Scorpion

Heterometrus spinifer

A large black forest scorpion from humid forests of South and South-East Asia, including Malaysia, Thailand, …

🌡 21–29°C · 💧 70–85%
Bearded Dragon
Lizard Beginner

Bearded Dragon

Pogona vitticeps

Native to the semi-arid woodland, scrub and rocky desert of inland eastern and central Australia. A heavy-bod…

🌡 18–35°C · 💧 30–50%
Blue Forest Scorpion
Scorpion Beginner

Blue Forest Scorpion

Javanimetrus cyaneus

A big forest scorpion from tropical rainforest and wetland forest in Borneo, the Philippines and Indonesia, w…

🌡 21–29°C · 💧 70–85%
Blue-tongued Skink
Lizard Beginner

Blue-tongued Skink

Tiliqua scincoides

Native to northern, eastern and south-eastern Australia, with one subspecies on the Tanimbar Islands of Indon…

🌡 18–32°C · 💧 40–60%
Bold Jumping Spider
Spider Beginner

Bold Jumping Spider

Phidippus audax

Widespread across the USA, southern Canada and northern Mexico in grassland, open woodland, gardens and build…

🌡 18–27°C · 💧 45–70%
Brazilian Black Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Brazilian Black Tarantula

Grammostola pulchra

Native to southern Brazil near the Uruguayan border, where it lives in open grassland and forest edges and us…

🌡 18–27°C · 💧 50–70%
Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater
Spider Beginner

Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater

Lasiodora parahybana

One of the largest tarantulas in the world, endemic to the Atlantic forest region of north-eastern Brazil, wh…

🌡 20–28°C · 💧 55–75%
California Kingsnake
Snake Beginner

California Kingsnake

Lampropeltis californiae

Native to the western United States and north-western Mexico, in habitats from desert and grassland to chapar…

🌡 20–30°C · 💧 40–60%
Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula

Grammostola pulchripes

A large, heavy-bodied terrestrial tarantula from the grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina in the Gran Chaco r…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 45–70%
Children's Python
Snake Beginner

Children's Python

Antaresia childreni

Native to northern Australia, from the Kimberley across the Top End to northern Queensland, in rocky country,…

🌡 20–32°C · 💧 20–80%
Chilean Rose Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Chilean Rose Tarantula

Grammostola rosea

Native to the dry scrub and high desert of northern Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, where it lives in burrows f…

🌡 16–27°C · 💧 40–65%
Common Garter Snake
Snake Beginner

Common Garter Snake

Thamnophis sirtalis

The most widespread snake in North America, found from Canada to Florida in meadows, woodland, marshes and al…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 35–60%
Corn Snake
Snake Beginner

Corn Snake

Pantherophis guttatus

Native to the south-eastern and central United States, where it lives in overgrown fields, woodland edges, pi…

🌡 20–30°C · 💧 40–70%
Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula

Aphonopelma seemanni

A burrowing terrestrial tarantula from semi-arid scrubland in western Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, whe…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 55–75%
Crested Gecko
Lizard Beginner

Crested Gecko

Correlophus ciliatus

Endemic to the South Province of New Caledonia (southern Grande Terre and the Isle of Pines), where it lives …

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 40–80%
Cupboard Spider (False Widow)
Spider Beginner

Cupboard Spider (False Widow)

Steatoda grossa

Native to Europe and temperate Asia and now found worldwide, it is established in houses across England, Wale…

🌡 15–26°C · 💧 40–70%
Curly Hair Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Curly Hair Tarantula

Tliltocatl albopilosus

Formally recorded from northern Costa Rica, with hobby stock also traced to Nicaragua and Honduras, it lives …

🌡 18–27°C · 💧 50–70%
🪲
Other Inverts Beginner

Dairy Cow Isopod

Porcellio laevis

A woodlouse probably native to North Africa that is now found worldwide, including Britain, where it has been…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 50–80%
🦂
Scorpion Beginner

Dwarf Wood Scorpion

Liocheles australasiae

A tiny, flattened scorpion that lives in rotting wood and under bark and stones across tropical Asia, Austral…

🌡 21–30°C · 💧 60–85%
Emperor Scorpion
Scorpion Beginner

Emperor Scorpion

Pandinus imperator

A large, glossy black scorpion from the rainforest and humid savannah of West Africa, where it burrows under …

🌡 21–30°C · 💧 70–85%
Ghost Mantis
Other Inverts Beginner

Ghost Mantis

Phyllocrania paradoxa

Widespread in dry bush and open woodland across sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. A small mantis of 4.5-5 cm…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 50–80%
Giant African Land Snail
Other Inverts Beginner

Giant African Land Snail

Lissachatina fulica

Native to East Africa and now an invasive pest across much of the tropics, it lives in damp vegetation and le…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 70–90%
Giant African Millipede
Other Inverts Beginner

Giant African Millipede

Archispirostreptus gigas

From lowland forest and coastal woodland of East Africa (Mozambique to Kenya). One of the world's largest mil…

🌡 20–27°C · 💧 70–85%
Giant Asian Mantis
Other Inverts Beginner

Giant Asian Mantis

Hierodula membranacea

From South-East Asia, where it lives on shrubs and trees in hot, humid climates. A large, sturdy praying mant…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 40–70%
Giant Prickly Stick Insect
Other Inverts Beginner

Giant Prickly Stick Insect

Extatosoma tiaratum

From the rainforests of eastern Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Females are heavy, spiny, leaf-lik…

🌡 17–27°C · 💧 55–80%
Green Bottle Blue Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Green Bottle Blue Tarantula

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

Native to the arid Paraguaná Peninsula of northern Venezuela, where it lives in heavily webbed burrows under …

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 40–65%
Guatemalan Tiger Rump
Spider Beginner

Guatemalan Tiger Rump

Davus pentaloris

A small terrestrial tarantula from southern Mexico and Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras).…

🌡 18–27°C · 💧 55–75%
Honduran Milk Snake
Snake Beginner

Honduran Milk Snake

Lampropeltis abnorma

Native to the Caribbean lowlands of Honduras and Nicaragua and north-eastern Costa Rica, in tropical forest a…

🌡 20–30°C · 💧 50–70%
Indian Stick Insect
Other Inverts Beginner

Indian Stick Insect

Carausius morosus

From southern India (culture stock originates in Tamil Nadu), it is the classic laboratory stick insect and a…

🌡 17–25°C · 💧 50–75%
Kenyan Sand Boa
Snake Beginner

Kenyan Sand Boa

Eryx colubrinus

Found in north and east Africa, from Egypt and Niger to Kenya and northern Tanzania, in semi-desert and dry s…

🌡 21–32°C · 💧 30–50%
Leopard Gecko
Lizard Beginner

Leopard Gecko

Eublepharis macularius

Native to dry grassland, scrub and rocky semi-desert in Afghanistan, Pakistan, north-west India, western Nepa…

🌡 18–32°C · 💧 30–50%
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
Other Inverts Beginner

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

Native to Madagascar, where it lives in rotting logs on the forest floor. A large, wingless, glossy brown coc…

🌡 20–30°C · 💧 50–75%
🐍
Snake Beginner

Mexican Black Kingsnake

Lampropeltis nigrita

Native to Sonora and Sinaloa in north-western Mexico and a small part of south-eastern Arizona, in rocky and …

🌡 20–30°C · 💧 40–60%
Mexican Fireleg Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula

Brachypelma boehmei

A terrestrial tarantula from dry scrubland on the Pacific side of Guerrero, Mexico, where it lives in burrows…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 40–65%
Mexican Red Rump Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Mexican Red Rump Tarantula

Tliltocatl vagans

A burrowing terrestrial tarantula from southern Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula, and Central America …

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 50–70%
Mexican Red-knee Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Mexican Red-knee Tarantula

Brachypelma hamorii

Native to the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur in Colima, Jalisco and M…

🌡 18–28°C · 💧 40–70%
Pinktoe Tarantula
Spider Beginner

Pinktoe Tarantula

Avicularia avicularia

A tree-dwelling tarantula from the humid rainforests of northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago, inclu…

🌡 20–28°C · 💧 55–75%
🐍
Snake Beginner

Pueblan Milk Snake

Lampropeltis polyzona

Native to southern Puebla, eastern Morelos and northern Oaxaca in Mexico, in dry, rocky scrub. A slim milk sn…

🌡 19–30°C · 💧 40–60%
Regal Jumping Spider
Spider Beginner

Regal Jumping Spider

Phidippus regius

Native to the south-eastern United States (especially Florida), the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles, where i…

🌡 20–27°C · 💧 50–75%
Rosy Boa
Snake Beginner

Rosy Boa

Lichanura trivirgata

Found in the deserts and rocky scrub of the south-western United States and north-western Mexico, often among…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 20–60%
Royal Python
Snake Beginner

Royal Python

Python regius

Native to West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan and Uganda, where it lives in grassland, savanna and…

🌡 21–32°C · 💧 50–80%
Spotted Python
Snake Beginner

Spotted Python

Antaresia maculosa

Native to eastern Queensland, northern New South Wales and southern Papua New Guinea, favouring rocky hillsid…

🌡 20–32°C · 💧 20–80%
Sun Beetle
Other Inverts Beginner

Sun Beetle

Pachnoda marginata

A flower chafer from west and central Africa, where adults feed on ripe and rotting fruit. Adults are 20-30 m…

🌡 20–28°C · 💧 50–70%
Thai Forest Scorpion
Scorpion Beginner

Thai Forest Scorpion

Heterometrus laoticus

A large, jet-black forest scorpion from humid, peaty forest in Laos and Vietnam. Adults reach about 12 cm, an…

🌡 20–29°C · 💧 60–80%
Western Hognose Snake
Snake Beginner

Western Hognose Snake

Heterodon nasicus

Found from southern Canada through the central United States into northern Mexico, on sandy or gravelly prair…

🌡 18–30°C · 💧 30–50%