10 cool reptile facts!

It's reptile awareness day so here are our top 10 reptile facts:

1. Reptiles are ectotherms (often known as cold blooded) which means their body temperature is controlled by their environment. When they are cold, they bask in the sun to heat up and when they are warm, they look for shade or water to keep cool.

2. Apart from crocodiles, all reptiles have three chamber hearts with 2 atria (at the top) and 1 ventricle. 

3. Most snakes lay eggs - which makes them oviparous but some vipers, rattlesnakes and anacondas are viviparous which means they give birth to live young. 

4. Reptiles aren't slimy as they don't have any sweat glands so their skin is cool and waterproof.

5. Most reptiles can't chew their food. They either rip or tear it up or just swallow it whole.

6. The gender of some reptiles is determined by the temperature of the surroundings of their eggs.

7. Reptiles are the oldest animals on Earth - many have been around for over 200 million years.

8. AND they can live for ages! Tortoises are the longest living reptiles and some species can live for over 150 years.

9. Snake scales are made of keratin, the same chemical that hair, nails and Rhino horns are made from.

10. Lots of lizards and even some snakes have a brilliant defence mechanism to throw off predators - they can detach and regrow thier tails. This foxes predators because the tails keeps on wiggling which gives the sneaky reptile time to escape.

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