Practical Reptile Keeping Magazine No.72 Scorpion Geckos Back Issue

Did you watch the BBC 1 adaption of Roald Dahl’s story, Esio Trot,
on New Year’s Day, starring Dustin Hoff man and Judy Dench?
It’s about a man who falls in love with his neighbour, but she only has eyes for her tortoise, and how he
tries to win her round. The title of the story is, of course, ‘tortoise’ spelt backwards!
What was particularly great about this film was that it showed just how strong the bond can be between a
pet reptile and its owner, being every bit as meaningful as that existing between a cat or dog and a person.
Better still, this was a central theme that would have resonated with millions of pet-owners who watched the
fi lm.
Although things have improved signifi cantly, there is still an “us and them” attitude in the way that the
media generally divide up stories about pets. There are those that are cute and others that are treated as, well,
frankly bizarre. I’ll leave it up to you to guess in which group those involving reptiles are usually featured….
But this is increasingly appearing to be simply ignorance on our part. There is absolutely no doubt now
that reptiles can recognise their owners. In fact, it’s possible to train snakes to know when they are going to be
fed rather than having their quarters cleaned, and encourage crocodilians to assist with their veterinary
treatment.
Tortoises have displayed a remarkable ability to distinguish between people, and chose how they respond.
In a US zoo some years ago, the zookeepers observed how a giant tortoise in the collection formed a close
bond with one of the regular visitors - an elderly lady who always brought an umbrella with her, presumably
just in case it rained, so it was thought.
However, unbeknown to the staff , it ultimately became evident that this had another purpose.