Welcome to the World of Exotics!
Here you can find information on reptiles, including snakes, lizards, turtles, terrapins and tortoises, as well as amphibians, whether you're looking for frogs and toads or newts and salamanders. This is also the section of the site where you can discover more about invertebrates, such as stick insects (also known as walking sticks), tarantulas plus land hermit crabs, although if you want details on aquatic members of this group, such as sea anemones, then they're included in the fish section.

Meet the UK's most expensive snake!



This soul sucker royal python is the most exclusive of the current colour morphs - or varieties - which have been created over recent years in this very popular African species. It is also known as the ball python because of the way it can roll up.

Crystal Palace Reptiles, based in south London, specialise in these snakes and have handled many of the rarer morphs, typically having up to 60 different varieties in stock at any time, some of which they breed themselves.

This particular individual is on offer for almost £14,000. It is no wonder that in this field, there are champagne, pinstripe and platinum morphs too!

It has been estimated that the value of royal python morphs being sold worldwide currently adds up to over a hundred million of pounds annually, with North America and Germany also being major centres where these snakes are being bred.

Photo © Crystal Palace Reptiles/Dean Carguillo