Written by Charles Bonnett, Transforming Lives Trainee
Summer is Coming!
Summer is arriving! As June has the greatest number of daylight hours during the year and is often one of the warmer months, this can be an enticing time for reptiles.
Reptiles are ectothermic (cold-blooded), and so they rely primarily on external sources of heat to regulate and maintain their body temperatures. Rocks and stones absorb heat from the sun, on which reptiles can bask to control their body temperature. Rotting vegetation is also an attractive proposition, as the associated decomposition process produces much-desired heat as a by-product. Prolific vegetation growth accompanying early summer attracts a wealth of insects and small mammals, and hence prospective prey. June, therefore, represents a potentially fruitful period for our reptiles.
Some reptiles have also begun laying their eggs or incubating their young internally during this period,
supported by the summer’s warmth. Reptiles employ one of three primary modes of reproduction: Oviparity, viviparity, and ovoviviparity. Oviparous reptiles, such as grass snakes and sand lizards, lay eggs containing all the necessary nutrients for embryo development. Viviparous reptiles, represented in the UK by common lizards, incubate embryos internally within their bodies; these embryos derive nutrients and oxygen from the parent. Ovoviviparity combines characteristics of both, where embryos develop in eggs that are incubated within the body of the parent until they hatch internally, after which a live juvenile is born. Slow worms, adders and smooth snakes are all ovoviviparous.
As you bask in the summer sun, you may also catch a glimpse of a reptile! Don’t forget to record any sightings on our free Dragon Finder App!
Potentially as early as January in the South East of England, and up to April in other areas of the UK, the common frog will emerge from their winter hideouts and head back to a pond. Male frogs will ‘piggy back’ on their chosen female using their nuptial pads to hold on tightly. This is a process known as ‘amplexus’. He will then fertilise her spawn as she lays it. Common frog eggs are laid in clumps, with up to 2,000 eggs laid in one single clump. Female frogs can lay up to 4,000 eggs over one breeding season.
Common toads will ritually return to the same pond for breeding each year where possible. They take advantage of warmer, damp spring evenings to leave their overwintering sites and return to their specific pond. This behaviour makes them notorious for crossing roads over night and putting themselves at risk of being run over. Our 
Once the warmer weather of spring hits, newts too will venture back to a suitable pond to breed and lay eggs. Males of each newt species will perform elaborate ‘dances’ to attract the attention of females, who will choose which male gets to fertilise their eggs. Newt eggs are laid in a very different way to toads and frogs. A female newt will lay each egg individually, she will lay the egg on the leaf of an aquatic plant and carefully fold the leaf around the egg to protect it, giving the leaf a very straight edge where it has been folded over. Newts lay less eggs than their toad and frog counterparts, but females will still lay hundreds over the season.
It’s a new year, the weather is cold, and 
Drowsy December