Keeping reptiles as pets in Brazil: keepers' motivations and husbandry practices.

BACKGROUND: Reptiles are considered one of the most popular pets in the world and are often associated with an incorrect belief that they are simple, highly adaptable, and easy to keep animals when compared with other pets, such as dogs and cats. However, keeping reptiles as pets can pose several challenges in meeting their needs in a domestic setting, requiring specific conditions and effort to maintain their health, well-being, and survival. METHODS: During 2015, using online semi-structured questionnaires applied to 719 Brazilian pet reptile keepers who participated in online groups of reptile breeders on the social network Facebook, this study aimed to identify Brazilian keepers' motivations for maintaining reptiles as pets, investigate their monthly expenses, and the husbandry practices for the maintenance, such as housing and feeding conditions, handling of the animal, health issues, and treatment provided. RESULTS: We found multiple motivations for keeping reptiles as pets (mostly snakes, lizards, and chelonians), the main motivation being emotional reasons, followed by entertainment and convenience reasons. The great majority of keepers (69%) declared to spend less than or up to US$30 per month in maintaining their reptiles. Most reptiles were kept alone in terrarium/aquarium enclosures, with basic environmental complexity in terms of physical elements. Lizards and chelonians were fed with a few insect species, cultivated fruits and vegetables, while snakes were fed mainly with domestic rodents, rabbits, or birds. Keepers declared frequent cleaning of the enclosure, but inappropriately handled their animals directly with their hands, which might result in potential threats to human and reptile health and safety. Several diseases or injuries were mentioned and 55.6% of the keepers declared taking the reptile to the vet for treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings revealed several challenges that reptiles face when kept in domestic environments, including issues related to housing, nutrition, and healthcare. Even though keepers demonstrated positive feelings toward their pets, suggesting a positive relationship and a willingness to provide them with proper care, it seems that without the proper knowledge and awareness, reptiles may unintentionally be kept with poor husbandry. Addressing these challenges on husbandry practices is essential for improving reptiles' welfare and promoting a responsible pet ownership.

A new species of Amerotyphlops from Northeastern Brazil, with comments on distribution of related species.

We describe a new species of Amerotyphlops from an upland forest enclave in the state of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil. The new species is distinguished from the other seven South American species of Amerotyphlops by the combination of the following characters: nasal suture incomplete; rostral scale oval and yellowish cream with some dark brown spots; four supralabial scales; three infralabial scales; rows of scales around the body 18/18/18; middorsal scales from 204 to 225; dorsum with twelve to thirteen rows of scales dark brown and belly with four to five rows of scales immaculate yellowish cream; caudal spine dark brown; subcaudal scales 8-10 in female and 11-13 in males; maximum total length 233 mm. The new species is morphologically similar to A. amoipira and A. paucisquamus, sharing 18/18/18 rows of scales around the body and a small overlap of counts of middorsal scales.

Species richness and evidence of random patterns in assemblages of South American Titanosauria during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian).

The Titanosauria were much diversified during the Late Cretaceous, but paleobiological information concerning these sauropods continues to be scarce and no studies have been conducted utilizing modern methods of community analysis to infer possible structural patterns of extinct assemblages. The present study sought to estimate species richness and to investigate the existence of structures in assemblages of the South American Titanosauria during the Late Cretaceous. Estimates of species richness were made utilizing a nonparametric estimator and null models of species co-occurrences and overlapping body sizes were applied to determine the occurrence of structuring in this assemblages. The high estimate of species richness (n = 57) may have been influenced by ecological processes associated with extinction events of sauropod groups and with the structures of the habitats that provided abundant support to the maintenance of large numbers of species. The pseudocommunity analysis did not differ from that expected by chance, indicating the lack of structure in these assemblages. It is possible that these processes originated from phylogenetic inertia, associated with the occurrence of stabilized selection. Additionally, stochastic extinction events and historical factors may also have influenced the formation of the titanosaurian assemblages, in detriment to ecological factors during the Late Cretaceous. However, diagenetic and biostratinomic processes, influenced by the nature of the sedimentary paleoenvironment, could have rendered a random arrangement that would make assemblage structure undetectable.

A zoological catalogue of hunted reptiles in the semiarid region of Brazil.

The variety of interactions between human cultures and herpetofauna is the subject matter of Ethnoherpetology, a subdivision of Ethnozoology. In the semi-arid region of Brazil, many reptiles interact with human communities because of their utility or because of the risks they represent. These interactions have obvious implications for the conservation of reptiles from this region. In this context, ethnoherpetology studies are crucial because they serve as subsidies for guiding strategies for the handling and conservation of reptiles. This paper presents ethnozoological and taxonomic informations of hunted reptiles in the semiarid region of Brazil and analyse the implications on conservation that are related to the interactions between people and reptiles in this region. Taxonomic keys to identifying recorded reptiles are provided. Records of humans interacting with 38 reptile species that belong to 31 genuses and 16 families have been found. The groups with the largest numbers of recorded species were snakes (18 species), and this group was followed in number by lizards (13), chelonians (4), and crocodilians (3). The reptiles that were recorded may be used for the following purposes: medicinal purposes (24 species), food (13 species), ornamental or decorative purposes (11 species), in magical/religious practices (10 species), and as pets (10 species). Some species (n = 16) may have multiple uses. Furthermore, more than half of the species (n = 19) are commonly killed because they are considered potentially dangerous. Strategies for conserving the reptiles of the Brazilian semi-arid region must reconcile and integrate human and conservation needs.

Check list of snakes from the Brejos de Altitude of Paraíba and Pernambuco, Brazil

The Atlantic Forest is one of the priority areas for conservation in the world, since exhibits an overwhelming biodiversity of species. Among this biome stands the biogeographic unit located north of San Francisco River, which extends from the state of Alagoas to Rio Grande do Norte. On this portion of Atlantic Forest some isolated fragments of humid forests can be found, inserted in the arid Caatinga, known as Brejos de Altitude or Brejos Nordestinos. There is a total of 43 Brejos distributed in the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba and Pernambuco and with the exception of some humid enclaves in the state of Ceará, the snake fauna of these areas are poorly known. Thus, our aim is to evaluate the current status of the snakes that inhabited these areas present on Paraíba and Pernambuco states, furnishing a preliminary list of the species housed on two representative collections concerning this region, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) and Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). As a result, we recorded 27 species of snakes showing that this composition includes species primarily distributed in forest and open areas and also species widely distributed in different kind of biomes. We also stated that due to the present deforestation and the use of these areas for agricultural purposes the knowledge of its biodiversity is imperative, especially to generate information that will enable future management and conservation plans for these areas.

A Floresta Atlântica é uma das principais prioridades para conservação no mundo apresentando uma alta riqueza e biodiversidade de espécies. Dentre as diversas feições deste bioma destaca-se a unidade biogeográfica localizada ao norte do Rio São Francisco, que se estende do Estado de Alagoas até Rio Grande do Norte. Nessa porção de Floresta Atlântica são encontrados fragmentos isolados de matas úmidas, inseridos meio a região árida da Caatinga, conhecidos como Brejos de Altitude ou Brejos Nordestinos. São 43 enclaves distribuídos nos estados do Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba e Pernambuco. Com exceção de alguns brejos situados no Ceará, a fauna de serpentes destes enclaves é pobremente conhecida, especialmente nos estados da Paraíba e Pernambuco. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por propósito avaliar o status atual do conhecimento das serpentes que habitam estas áreas de brejos nos estados da Paraíba e Pernambuco, fornecendo uma lista baseada em dados de duas coleções herpetológicas, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB) e Museu de Zoologia de Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP). Como resultado, registramos 27 espécies de serpentes em 4 brejos da Paraíba e 4 de Pernambuco. A composição da fauna de alguns destes brejos consiste de espécies tanto de áreas florestais quanto de áreas abertas, assim como de espécies amplamente distribuídas em diversos tipos de ambientes. Constatamos também que devido à forte pressão antrópica que estes enclaves vêm sofrendo, estudos sobre biodiversidade destas áreas são imprescindíveis, visando gerar informações que viabilizem futuros planos de manejo e conservação dessas áreas.