Thread: Reptile Terms and Abbreviations - A Quick Guide

Be sure to read the Ultimate Boa Constrictor Care Guide. Either read Parts 1, 2 and 3 or download the complete guide.

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Most of the terms listed here are covered in the guide, and many have pictures.

Litter Descriptions: What does 1.1.8 mean? This lists the litter by sex in this order. Males.Females.Unsexed So when you see 1.1.8 this means 1 male, 1 female & 8 unsexed.

Probing & Popping is a term used for the technique used when sexing snakes and reptiles. Probing refers to using small medal probes to insert into the cloaca of the reptile. Small penetration identifies a female. Deeper penetration identifies a male. Probing should only be done by experienced herpers. Popping refers to a method of manually everting the hemipene by rolling a thumb along the tail which will “pop” the hemipene out in a male.

Here are some common snake abbreviations.
-BCI=Boa Constrictor Imperator
-BCC=Boa Constrictor Constrictor
-BRB=Brazilian Rainbow Boa
-ETB=Emerald Tree Boa
-GTP=Green Tree Python
-KSB=Kenyan Sand Boa
-ATB=Amazon Tree Boa
-BP=Ball Python
-IJCP=Irian Jaya Carpet Python
-JCP=Jungle Carpet Python
-EBV RG=East Bay vivarium red group
-F/T-Frozen thawed referring to feeding thawed out prey items instead of live prey
-P/K=Pre Killed referring to killing or stunning prey immediately before feeding
-WC=Wild Caught
-CB-Captive Bred
-CBB=Captive bred & Captive Born
-P/K=Pre Killed referring to killing or stunning prey immediately before feeding
-UTH=Under Tank Heater
-CHE=Ceramic heat emitter
-POS=Pre-Ovulation shed
-PAM=Provent-a-Mite. A treatment for killing and preventing mites.

Some Terms used in the hobby.
-Homozygous - Visual. Means the animal carries the gene and displays the trait. i.e Albino
-Het / Heterozygous- Recessive. Means carries the gene but does not display the gene.
-66% Possible Het- Breeding a Heterozygous to a Heterozygous produces 25% Homozygous, 25% Normal, and 50% Heterozygous. Since the normal and heterozygous all look the same. The math says that 66% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 2 out of 3 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 66% possible heterozygous
-50% Possible Het- Breeding a Heterozygous to a Normal produces 50% heterozygous and 50% Normal offspring. All of the offspring will appear as Normals. Since the normal and heterozygous all look the same. The math says that 50% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 1 out of 2 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 50% possible
Oviparous-The term used for egg laying snakes such as Pythons.
Ovoviviparous =Reproduces by eggs which remain in the mother's body until they are ready to hatch. When the young emerge, they are born live, with only a membrane to break out of.
Viviparous =Reproducing by giving birth to live young.
Substrate=The surface on which a reptile lives and moves on. Most commonly used substrates are Newspaper, Paper towel, Aspen shavings, Repti-bark, exo-terra substrates, moss, CareFresh, yesterdays new, etc.
Herpetology=The study of the biology & evolution of amphibians & reptiles.
Colubrid=A snake from the family Colubridae.
Arboreal=Tree dwelling reptile. Terrestrial=Land dwelling reptile.
Amniote=An animal that produces an embryo within a sac that contains amniotic fluid. Amniotes include turtles, lizards, snakes, tuataras, crocodilians, birds, and mammals.
Carapace= The shell covering the back (top) of a turtle, crab, or other animal.
Carnivorous= Said of an animal which primarily eats other animals.
Caudal =Referring to the tail.
Cloaca =A body opening that serves both for excretion and for the reproductive organs.
Constrictor =A snake that kills its prey by constriction. The force of constriction (squeezing) prevents the prey from breathing, and it usually dies within seconds. The snake can then relax its grip and swallow the animal whole, usually head-first.
Crepuscular =Active during the evening and early morning hours.
Diurnal =Active during the day.
Dorsal =Referring to features on the back or along the spine of the animal.
Ectotherm =An animal whose body temperature varies with the temperature of its surroundings (also called cold-blooded).
Endotherm =An animal that maintains its body temperature at a relatively constant level by physiological means regardless of the temperature of the environment (also called warm-blooded)
Gestation =The period of time between mating and the birth of the young.
Gravid =Said of females when they are carrying fertilized eggs.
Habitat =The kind of place where a plant or animal naturally lives.
Herbivorous =Said of an animal which eats only plants.
Insectivorous =Said of an animal which mostly eats insects
Keel =A ridge down the center of a scale. Very sharp keeling may make an animal appear quite rough. In general, an animal with keeled scales will appear less shiny and lustrous than one with unkeeled scales, as the keeling causes the reflected light to scatter.
Larval =As early stage in life, usually before sexual maturity is reached. In amphibians, larval stages are for feeding. The animal will metamorphose into the adult stage.
Lateral =Referring to the sides of the body. "Laterally compressed" means flattened in such a way that the thing is high but not very wide.
Live Birth=In reptiles, this is when the eggs hatch while still inside the female, and the young soon emerge alive. The young do not obtain nutrients from their mother while in the reproductive tract, as is the case with most mammals. Also
known as Ovoviviparous.
Nocturnal =Active at night.
Plastron =The shell covering the underside (bottom) of a turtle or other animal
Sexual Dimorphism =Refers to a species where the males and females are different in appearance. This can be a difference in size, or in other visual features.
Tail Separation =A defensive feature found in many lizard species, where the tail vertebrae are easily broken, so that the tail will break off if it is grabbed by a predator. Same as "caudal autonomy."
Vent =The cloaca of an animal; in reptiles this opening may also serve the reproductive organs. It is seen as a marker of where the body ends and the tail begins, which is hard to determine in some animals, such as snakes.
Ventral =Referring to the underside of an animal, the "tummy" side.
Vestigial =Remaining in a species only in a much reduced or useless state. Vestigial body parts or organs are evidence of parts that the ancestors of an animal had, but that the modern animal no longer needs or uses. For example, the Boa Constrictor bears vestigial traces of the hind legs of its lizard ancestors that we call spurs today.
Villi =Tiny bumps on the skin surface. In geckos, villi on the toes allow them to cling to walls and ceilings.

Reptile reproduction terms

Parturition=The act or process of giving birth. In boas this is the process where the female delivers the live babies.
Clutch=The eggs laid by a female at one nesting.
Litter=Typically referred to the live birth offspring.
Clutch-mate=Individuals who hatched from the same clutch of eggs.
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.
Fertilization =When a sperm from a male penetrates the ova of a female. In oviparous species, fertilization occurs when the sperm meet the ova as they pass through the oviduct, a passage which also layers the outside of the egg with calcium to form a shell.
Follicle =1. A small bodily cavity or sac; any small spherical group of cells containing a cavity. pl. follicles. 2. small egg-containing sacks found in the female ovary. In fertile human females, one follicle will become dominant and release a mature egg (ovulate) during every cycle. In oviparous reptile species, several mature eggs will be produced, depending on the species and the individual.
Follicular Vitellogenesis =The development of the yolk in the eggs.
Nest =The burrow or pallet dug by the female in which to deposit her eggs.
Oviparous-The term used for egg laying snakes such as Pythons.
Ovoviviparous =Reproduces by eggs which remain in the mother's body until they are ready to hatch. When the young emerge, they are born live, with only a membrane to break out of
Viviparous =Reproducing by giving birth to live young.
Oviposition =The laying of eggs.
Reabsorption =Some female animals can resorb fully developed eggs. What causes Reabsorption in female reptiles is not known, so there is no known way to trigger nor prevent it. Reabsorption
Slug = An infertile egg. Identified during parturition as a “sweet potato” looking undeveloped egg.

I have taken the original thread started by Todd a long time ago, and revamped it so that I could maintain better control over what should be an active document. I have cleaned this up with format, spelling and organization.

Please help me update this guide and I will add to the master document.

This is for hard definitions. Not links to other sites. I want a document that stands on it's own. General terms and descriptions here please.

WOW THANK U SOOoOo much!!!!!! I was about to start a thread asking about all this abbreviations lol.
This helps me A LOT!!!!!!!!!

Thank u Clay :d:d:d

Clay, I think you should add PAM - Provent-a-Mite because people usually think cooking spray. Other than that, the list looks great!

Star

Originally Posted by weird_science04

Clay, I think you should add PAM - Provent-a-Mite because people usually think cooking spray. Other than that, the list looks great!

Star

Done. Thank you

Originally Posted by ClayEnglish

Some Terms used in the hobby.
-Homozygous - Visual. Means the animal carries the gene and displays the trait. i.e Albino
-Het / Heterozygous- Recessive. Means carries the gene but does not display the gene.
-66% Possible Het- Breeding a Heterozygous to a Heterozygous produces 25% Homozygous, 25% Normal, and 50% Heterozygous. Since the normal and heterozygous all look the same. The math says that 66% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 2 out of 3 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 66% possible heterozygous
-50% Possible Het- Breeding a Heterozygous to a Normal produces 50% heterozygous and 50% Normal offspring. All of the offspring will appear as Normals. Since the normal and heterozygous all look the same. The math says that 50% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 1 out of 2 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 50% possible

Here are better definitions:

All gene pairs are either homozygous or heterozygous.
Homozygous - The two genes in a gene pair are the same. Homozygote - a creature with a homozygous gene pair.

Heterozgyous - The two genes in a gene pair are not the same; they are different. (Slang: het.) Heterozygote - a creature with a heterozygous gene pair.


-66% Possible Het- Breeding a heterozygote to a heterozygote produces 25% homozygous mutant, 25% homozygous normal, and 50% heterozygous. When the mutant gene is recessive to the normal gene, the homozygous normal and heterozygous animals all look the same. The math says that 66% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 2 out of 3 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 66% possible heterozygous.

When the mutant gene is dominant to the normal gene, the homozygous mutant and heterozygous animals all look the same. The math says that 66% of the mutant animals actually carry the normal gene. So since there is a 2 out of 3 chance the animal carries the normal gene, they are sold as 66% possible heterozygous.

-50% Possible Het- When the mutant gene is recessive to the normal gene, breeding a Heterozygous to a homozygous normal produces 50% heterozygous and 50% homozygous Normal offspring. All of the offspring will appear as Normals. Since the normal and heterozygous all look the same. The math says that 50% of the “normal” looking animals actually carry the gene. So since there is a 1 out of 2 chance the animal carries the gene, they are sold as 50% possible.

When the mutant gene is dominant to the normal gene, breeding a Heterozygous to a homozygous mutant animal produces 50% heterozygous and 50% homozygous mutant offspring. All of the offspring will look like the homozygous mutants. The math says that 50% of the offspring actually carry the normal gene. So, since there is a 1 out of 2 chance the animal carries the normal gene, they are sold as 50% possible heterozygotes.

I wrote the glossary of genetics terms at The Corn Calculator - Corn snake genetics prediction. Feel free to borrow from it.

I too think the genetics definitions need to be more correct. You can be homozygous recessive. Recessive doesn't have anything to do with being heterozygous. I like Paul's definitions. We might be able to simplify them a bit for our purposes, but I would be confused by the ones in there now if I came here knowing nothing about genetics.

This is awesome. I have needed this info for years. Thanks.

I agree with Joley! I am a beginner, I've read it a couple of times but I don't quite get it yet. I have a lot to learn. My snakes are young so I have plenty of time. Thanks to all of you for the info!!