Reptiles is a large group generally including the following: 

LIZARDS

Lizards are a widespread group of reptiles with over 7,000 species including iguanas, chameleons, geckos, Gila monsters, monitors, and skinks. Unlike snakes, most lizards have moveable eyelids. 

 

Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion.  Lizards typically have rounded torsos, elevated heads on short necks, four limbs and long tails. However some lineages (known as “legless lizards”), have secondarily lost their legs and have long snake-like bodies. Some, such as the forest dwelling Draco lizards, are even able to glide. 

 

The tongue can be extended outside the mouth and is often long. In the beaded lizards, whiptails and monitor lizards, the tongue is forked and used mainly to sense the environment; continually flicking out to sample the environment and back. 

 

The majority of lizard species are active during the day, although some are active at night notably geckos. Lizards have a limited ability to regulate their body temperature and must seek out and bask in sunlight to gain enough heat to become fully active.

 

Many lizards can change colour. The most notable groups in this regard are the chameleons and the anoles. Some species can change from bright green to deep, chocolate brown and patterns such as lines and bars may appear and disappear along their bodies.

 

Reptiles have become a part of pop culture appearing in everything from music videos to television commercials.  The Geico Gecko used in a commercial is that little green day gecko who tries to persuade you to purchase car insurance in a very sensible manner!  Making his first appearance in 1999, the Geico Gecko has evolved and has now changed into an anthropomorphic, computer animated cartoon, but they should have come to us for the real thing.  We love the day gecko species here! Rango the chameleon is the lead character from the animated feature film of the same name. Rango is voiced by Johnny Depp and his tale is that of a misplaced pet who ends up in the wild west trying to help the locals recover their water supply. 

 

The lizard’s adult length can range from a few centimetres for some chameleons and geckos, to nearly 3m in the case of the largest living lizard, the Komodo dragon. However most lizards are fairly small animals.

SNAKES

Snakes include any member of about nineteen reptile families that has no limbs, voice, external ears or eyelids. They only have one functional lung and a long, slender body. About 2,900 snake species are known to exist, most living in the tropics. Their skin is covered with scales and they also have a forked tongue. Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica. 

 

Most species are non-venomous; some are mildly venomous and others produce a deadly venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self defence. Here at The Animal Talent, we supply all snakes, even the venomous ones for film, TV and creative media.  They can also be hired for events and theatre productions.

 

Like lizards, snakes are ectotherms which means that they can’t regulate their body temperature from within, as humans do. Instead they use their environment, basking in the sun to keep warm or slipping underground to cool off.

 

Snakes can depict glamour and provide quite the wow factor. Famously Britney Spears performed with a Burmese python at the 2001 MTV Video Music Video Awards. About halfway through “I’m a Slave 4 U”, Britney was joined by a python named Banana. Some 16 years after the iconic VMAs performance, Banana is reportedly alive, a lot bigger now and living with a friend of the snake trainer. Taylor Swift announced her album, Reputation, by way of three snake videos and the thriller-style movie “Snakes on a Plane” became an Internet sensation.

 

In fiction, Kaa is perhaps the most famous snake. He makes his debut in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, a tale many of us have come to know through countless adaptations on the big screen. Probably the most famous incarnation of Kipling’s Kaa is in the 1967 Disney animated feature film The Jungle Book. Not only is this movie filled with memorable songs, but Kaa is portrayed as less of a menacing character and more of a bumbling failure. Each time he tries to eat Mowgli, he is unsuccessful and flounders comically when his attempts are thwarted by Bagheera the panther

 

Snakes range in size from the tiny 10.4cm long, like theBarbados threadsnake, to the reticulated python of 6.95m in length.

SNAILS

A snail is a small mollusk with a spiral-shaped shell. Snails are famous for moving very slowly and for leaving a trail of slime behind them.  They’re often used as characters in corny jokes, and more recently, the revival of the snail slime beauty product trend has really taken off.  Did you know that snails are strong enough to take down a starfish?  You see, you should never judge a book by its cover!  There are lots of fascinating aspects about our shelled friends, and we think they’re cute to boot!

 

Snails have been present in various aspects of human culture including legends, myths, films, books and graphic works. In literature, one of the best known is the snail that appears in “The Adventures of Pinocchio”; a snail that works for the Blue Fairy. Two recent’ish films to use snails are Turbo – which is an animated film that features a gastropod who is obsessed with speed and throws himself into an adventure in his dream to be the fastest – and Grub which features a snail who serves as the caretaker of Queen Tara. In advertising, Bet on Black was a campaign run in 2000 by Diageo to promote Guinness-brand stout featuring a snail race. 

 

Snails length ranges from a few centimetres to 30 centimetres and some of the larger snails are often kept as pets in the UK.  Notably, the Giant African Land Snail (or GALS) is a cute and interesting species to keep.

TURTLES

 

A turtle is any reptile with a body encased in a bony shell, including tortoises. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the side necked turtles and hidden neck turtles, which differ in the way the head retracts. There are 360 living and recently extinct species of turtles, including land-dwelling tortoises and freshwater terrapins. 

 

Although numerous animals from invertebrates to mammals have evolved shells, none has an architecture like that of turtles. The turtle shell has a top and a bottom and is a true exoskeleton.

 

Depending on the species, sea turtles’ colour range can be olive-green, yellow, greenish-brown, reddish-brown or black. Some green turtles and hawksbills have shells patterned with streaks and blotches of brown or black.

 

In nature, green turtles (Chelonia mydas) can exhibit nocturnal activity in addition to their typically diurnal activity cycle. Tortoises and terrapins usually sleep with their eyes closed. 

 

Turtles have appeared in myths and folktales around the world. In modern culture, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an enormously successful entertainment franchise.  It stars four anthropomorphic turtle brothers trained in ninjutsu who are shown eating pizza and fighting evil in New York City. It began as an animated cartoon TV series that aired in the 1980s until 1996 and lasted a full ten seasons, before it was adapted to big budget feature films. Merchandising for these was ubiquitous. Their legacy has recently been resurrected within the last few years, giving Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael new life thanks to the magic of SFX and digital animation. The Ninja Turtles have become super heroes in their own right and now star in a series of video games. 

 

The size of a turtle is dependent on what type of species the turtle is. Most pet turtle species reach a size of 4-12inches.

 

TORTOISES 

 

Tortoises are terrestrial reptiles that are part of the turtle family.  Unlike the other members of this turtle family, tortoises can’t swim. These land dwelling creatures have tough claws for digging and short, thick feet like those of an elephant’s, instead of the webbed feet of other turtles. A tortoise’s shell is heavier and more rounded while a turtle’s shell is lighter and flat. They retract their necks and heads directly backward into the shell to protect themselves. 

 

Tortoises are often loners and are usually diurnal animals, with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are the longest living land animals in the world and have other incredible skills too; they are experts at getting all the water and nutrients they need from what they eat

 

Tortoises can vary in size with some species, such as the Galápagos giant tortoise growing to more than 1.2m in length. Others like the Speckled cape tortoise have shells that measure only 6.8cm long.  Several lineages of tortoises have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100kg, including the Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise.  They’re still a popular pet in the UK with Hermann’s, Horsfield and Spur-thighed being the most popular species.

 

And it’s not just the ninjas that the public love; tortoises and turtles have frequented our screens over the years.  A recent advertising campaign from Avanti shows a rollerskating tortoise speeding down the street.  Despite the reptile’s reputation for being slow, we know from Aesop that the tortoise always wins the race.

 

Whether you want to work with one of these wonderful creatures for filming, photography or even reference points for animated projects, animals in the class reptilia are one of the most varied and interesting.  From charming and glamorous to ugly cute and goofy, each character type can be seen in reptiles.  

 

Reptiles are still very much seen as exotic species and for that reason they can really spice up a photoshoot.  From the very small to the very big, from the shelled to the legless, the scaly and spiky to the smooth, we can very much bring the colourful wild and wonderful to your screen

We supply professional animal location handlers around the world to ensure you get all the shots you require and, as overseers to ensure the wild is not disturbed, the crew will always be safe and no welfare regulations are ever breached.

 

It isn’t just the animals that are well trained, our team including our handlers are also highly experienced and fully qualified experts in the field. 

 

Your handler will take full control of any animals on set and ensure the entire shoot runs properly. They will also fully manage the welfare of all the animals both on and off set; the safety and welfare of the animals is their prime concern.  All of our handling is strictly force-free and only positive, reward based practices are deployed. This way you can have total confidence that by booking With The Animal Talent everything is taken care of legally, professionally and ethically.

 

The Performing Animals Licence is no longer relevant (it was scrapped in 2019) and has been replaced with the Animal Activity Licence, which we hold.

Our reptiles and species specific handlers are covered by a £10 million Public Liability Insurance policy. 

 

Some reptile species are venomous and require expert handling, accompanied by appropriate licensing and transportation planning.  This also goes for animals on the Dangerous Wild Animal list.  

 

For any of the aquatic species, details for transportation, and relevant licensing requirements, should also be discussed in advance.

 

Some of the larger snakes and lizards will require more than one handler; for example a reticulated python will require a minimum of two handlers on location.

 

Reptiles will nearly always require additional heat and lighting sources on site; please take this into consideration when planning electrical points.

 

If any species of animal listed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act are required, special measures will need to be put into place for the shoot. Precisely what is appropriate will vary species to species, but may include sectioned off areas where only trained handlers are allowed. In the event of large and dangerous carnivores, a specifically built green screen studio can also be supplied.

Andrei Western Hognose Conda Phase
Mugwort the leopard gecko is yello and white. He is pictured in his enclosure
Voodoo, a banana pied royal python is handled by a tattooed model and wrapped around the hand
Ronnie Headshot
Rocket the royal python is coiled in a circle against a grey backdrop
Porridge, the crested gecko is pictured climbing up some apparatus. He attempts to hide behind some leaves
Parsnip
Georgie the bearded dragon poses for the camera on a purple hydrangea flower.
Eric - Moroccan Uromastyx. A lizard of red and green colour.
Krampus, a royal python snake model is held and wrapped around the handler's arm
Freddie, the royal python is coiled and resting on a rock
Arthur the corn snake is pictured coiled on a white background. He has red, orange, yellow and black markings
Jeff the Hermann's tortoise has his headshot. He looks directly at the camera as he sits on his soil substrate

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