Tumaren

Category: Reptiles | Date: May 04 2008 | By: tumaren

Sorry, I couldn’t resist such a tempting headline. It does not look like much but what you have below is a tortoise orgy. Two males (smaller and darker) following and attempting to mate with the much larger female.

Many male turtles and tortoises can be identified by the concavity of their plastron (the underside). You can see a bit of this concavity in this image of one of the males:

And aging tortoises and turtles can also be done by an examination of the plastron. Just like in trees years are denoted in lines which can be counted out from the corner of each scute (square segments that make up the plastron). My counting on the below image is a rough estimate. Some years when a tortoise did not grow much are hard to count so give or take some years this little male chasing the big female is just a bit younger than me (i was born in 1970). The female’s plastron was so worn that i couldn’t read it. I think we can just say that she is definitely not a flower child,, maybe more like a baby boomer.

7 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Jan 17 2008 | By: tumaren

Found this fellow while digging up an old dam that we want to use to attract Buffalo and Lesser Kudu. The eles will likely dominate it though…

7 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Dec 21 2007 | By: tumaren

Finally found a pancake tortoise north of tumaren during a walking safari. what an interesting species.
These guys occupy the cracks between rocks and have soft shells that enable them to wedge deep in crevices for protection.

3 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Oct 03 2007 | By: tumaren

I have noticed more and more carapaces of dead tortoises in our area in Laikipia. They range in size from medium to large and show no signs of physical trauma. I’m wondering if there could be a fungus that could be spreading between them that may have originated from captive animals. I understand that tortoises in the states have had problems like this.???

4 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Apr 24 2007 | By: tumaren

We found this nice Brook’s Gecko during some construction on a water tank the other day.

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Category: Reptiles | Date: Mar 08 2007 | By: tumaren

Last week on safari we saw a Blue Headed Tree Agama. This is the first time that we have noticed this spectacular lizard here in Laikipia. We saw a male in full breeding colours. He was bright turquoise under his chin and bright blue all over his body. When we tried to get closer he became duller and almost blended in the with tree becoming a mottled green/brown. Has anyone else seen this lizard in this part of Laikipia? Of course we did not have a camera with us but I will try and photograph him this week.

3 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Nov 04 2006 | By: tumaren

We have been encountering the following Agama lizard on many of our walks around Tumaren. His colour is not right for a Red-Headed Agama and yet there is no other Agama for the area in the book that fills his description. The Mwanza Flat Headed Agama from the Mara and south is the only Agama that resembles it. Ideas???

2 responses so far

Category: Reptiles | Date: Oct 26 2006 | By: tumaren

Here is the closer look at that snake which now i think must have just been a White Lip Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia). I realize its still a small image, sorry:

Here is what I also Identified as a Big-eyed Snake (Telescopus dhara) a couple months ago:

Other Species of snake recorded on Tumaren include:

• Puffader (Bitis arietans)
• Black Necked Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis)
• Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida)
• Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)
• Rufous Beaked Snake (Rhamphiophis rostratus)

No responses yet

Category: Reptiles | Date: Oct 24 2006 | By: admin

Found this young snake under one of our flys the other day as we were taking down camp. Not such a great picture but if anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated.

I suppose this image may appear too small on the blog for IDing. Please write should a snake person out there want a larger image.

3 responses so far