Glossary
Below are some terms you may encounter on this site, and in books etc when researching your gecko (or any reptile) 

Aestivation - When an animal is in a dormant state during the summer and/or dry season.
 
Ambient -  Temperature- the overall temperature of the surrounding area, ie: vivarium

Albino - A lack of pigment in the skin of some animals, including reptiles.

Araucaria -  An evergreen coniferous tree which grows on New Caledonia.

Arboreal - An animal which spends most if not all of its life in trees.

Arid - Dry conditions.

Autotomy - The ability of some geckos to throw off their tails as a defence mechanism.

Bask/Basking - This is term used when an reptile is using the suns heat to warm itself before it can hunt its prey.Being cold blooded reptiles need to warm up their bodies after the cool of the night.

Calcified - This term usually refers to an egg, this can be over calcified (to much calcium on shell) or undercalcified (not enough calcium) neither of these are ideal and are ususally unsucessful in hatching.

Candling - This is a term used to describe the shining of a small light onto an egg to determine whether it is fertile or not.

Canthus - In Rhacodactylus refers to the upper sides of the snout , that border the top of the snout.

Caninform - Referring to teeth similar to canines (the R. Auriculatus gecko exhibits these)

Carnivorous - Any animal which feeds on other animals.

Caudal - Refering to the tail area.

C B - Is an abbreviation of the words Captive Bred, which means the animal was bred in captivity. This abbreviation can also mean Captive Born - meaning a female has been wild caught while she was gravid, she would then have laid her eggs or given birth in captivity.

Certophagy - The eating of the shed skin, usually their own (though no always)

C F - Is an abbreviation of the words Captive Farmed, which means the animal was caught in the wild and kept 'captive' until the eggs were laid, or live young were born. The female would then usually be released back into the wild, and any eggs incubated, the resulting young would then be sold  as captive farmed..

CITES - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.This is the governing body who regulates the trade in wildlife.

Cloaca - The anus of reptiles (also birds,amphibians and fish) in the Rhac sp this is located above the base of the tail.

Cloacal Spurs -  In geckos these refer to clusters of  enlarged scales found at the sides of the underside of the tail base. In general these spurs are more pronounced in males.

Clutch - Refers to the eggs, in geckos usually 2 eggs are produced in a clutch.

Cold Blooded - Reptiles are referred to by this name, (see - ecothermic)

Cooling down - This is a term used by reptile breeders when at the end of the breeding season, the males and females are seperated. The animals will have a break from each other, and the temps in the vivs are generally made cooler to simulate their winter cooling. Hence the tem cooling down.

Co-ossification - The fusion of the dermis and the bones beneath.

Copulation - Refering to the act of mating between a male and female animal.

Crepuscula - An animal which is active at dusk or before dawn.

Cryptosporidium - A very serious disease, caused by an internal parasite, which if not dealt will can quickly spread and cause fatality. Symptoms include weight loss, regurgitation, lethargy and diarrhoea. A veterinary visit is a must if you suspect 'crypto'.

Dewlap - A flap of skin on the throat of some lizards ie: iguanas and anoles.

Diurnal - Any animal which is active during daylight hours.

Dorsal - Refering to the back area.

Dorsolateral - Located on the back and flanks (sides)

Dorsoventral - Located on both the body and the belly

Dystocia - The medical term used for a female unable to pass her eggs (egg bound)

Ecdysis - The correct term given when a reptile is shedding its skin

Ecothermic - An animal that cannot regulate its own body temperature, instead the body is regulated by the enviroment, basking in the sun, and hiding or burrowing when it gets to hot for them.

Ectoparasite - A parasite ie: ticks fleas etc which live on but not inside the body of an animal (the host)

Endemic - An animal restricted to certain areas and found nowhere else.

Endoparasite - One which lives inside the animal ie: pinworms, tapeworms, roundworms, entamoeba. The presented symptoms can be confused with 'crypto' so you should always get your animal checked by a vet if in doubt.

Epidermis - Upper layer of skin.

Fecundity - The capacity for producing large numbers of offspring.

Genus - Taxonomic catergory comprising various species which share one or more features.

Gravid - The name given when a reptile is carrying eggs or embryos.
 
Gular Scales - The scales which cover the throat area of a reptile.

Gutloading - The feeding of livefood before feeding them to your reptile, most types of fruit and veg can be used (you can also buy special gutloding powder) The insects should be left for about 24 hours before being fed to the reptile, this will ensure that whatever the insects have eaten will still be inside them, so that your reptile gets all the goodness that the insects have eaten ( and  are not just eating hollow shells)

Habitat - The locality inhabited by a certain species.

Hemipenal bulge - The swollen bulbous area at the base of the tail of some male lizards, formed by the underlying hemipenes.

Hemipenis - The penis of any male reptile.

Herpetology/ist - The scientific name given to the study of reptiles and amphibians. The people who keep/study reptiles

Herptile - Any reptile or amphibian.

Heterogenous -  Having a number of structural variations.

Hibernate - When an animal passes the cold seasons in deep sleep.

Holotype - The first specimen found that was used to describe a new species, or subspecies.

Hoppers - The name given to young locusts or crickets.
 
Humidity - The moisture content of the air.

Hybrid - A crossbred animal, the offspring of two different species.

Impaction - When an animals digestive tract is blocked, by either hardened faeces, undigested food or sometimes ingested substrate. This can be fatal, a vet visit is needed.

Incubation - The artificial hatching of eggs, during which eggs develop.

Insectivorous - An animal which feeds on insects.

Invertebrate - Any animal without a backbone.

Jacobson's organ - An organ for detecting odour, this organ is located in the roof of the mouth.

Keratinized  -  To produce keratin or become as keratin an insoluble protein that makes up the the outer rigid epidermal componant of  scales, spines and claws.

Lamellae - The name given to the 'sticky' pads which some geckos have. However these are not really sticky pads at all, but made up of long hair like structures called setae. These setae enable the gecko to walk up glass. Although the glass may look and feel smooth to you and I there will be microscopic flaws which the gecko uses to great advantage.
  
Lateral - Refering to the flanks (sides) of the body.

Melanism - An increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation of skin etc.

Mental scale - A scale covering the chin (tip of the lower jaw in reptiles)

Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) - See Health Page under Calcium Deficiency.

Morph -  One of several distinct forms of a species.

Morphological - the outward appearance of an animal.

Necrosis - The death of tissue on the animals body, can be caused from unshed skin restricting the blood flow the the extemities ie; toes, tail etc.

Neonate - The name given to newly hatched reptiles, or new born mammals.

Nocturnal - An animal which is active at night.

Omnivorous - Feeding on animals and plants.

Osteological - Referring to the bones/skeleton.

Oviparous - Producing eggs which hatch outside of the females body.

Ovoviviparous - This is when the eggs of a reptile hatch inside the female, and the embryo gets all it needs from the yolk.(as opposed to a placenta)

Parietal bone - The bone which forms the top of the skull.

Perlite - A heat expandable volcanic glass commonly used as light -weight aggregate in potting soil mixes. Used as a substrate in incubating reptile eggs.

Photoperiod -  The duration of an animals daily exposure to light.

Pinkies - Newly born dead mice.

Postmental scales - The scales arranged behind the chin.

Polymorphic - Refers (in this instance) to the crested geckos which come in a variety of colours and patterns (morphs)

Pre-anal pores - A row of scale  preceding the cloaca, particularly well developed in males.

Preano-femoral pores - Scales resembling the pre-anal pores, but extending onto the thighs.

Predator - A potential enemy of a species.

Prehensile - Referring to a tail which is used for grasping, rather ilke a fifth limb.

Primary Forest - Refers to old growth forest.

Rostral scale - A scale which covers the tip of the snout.

Setae - See Lamellae.

Sexual  dismorphism -  Referring to the difference in colour, size, pattern etc between males and females.

Sloughing - When a reptile sheds its skin, the skin is renewed throughout the reptiles life.

Subcaudal - Referring to the ventral face of the tail.

Subcaudal scale - Scales found in the above area.

Subdigital lamellae - Adhesive lamallae covering the bottoms of the toes in many gecko species.

Subocular scales - Scales covering the area between the eyes and the upper lip.

Supraciliar scales - Scales lining the the upper edge of the eye ('eyebrow scales')

Supralabial scales - The scales covering the upper lip.

Supraocular scales - Scales covering the area above the eye.

SNL - Snout-vent length: the distance between the snout tip and the cloaca.

Terrestrial - An animal which lives predominately on land.

Territoriality - The tendancy of some animals to defend a specific area where they live.

TL - Tail length.

TSD - (Temperature sex dependant) This is when the sex of the developing embryo inside the egg is determined by the temperature at which they are incubated at. This allows breeders to hatch which ever sex they want, it has been proven with leopard geckos, and crocodilian species. Unfortunately it has not been proven to work with the Rhac species to date.

Type locality - The place where the holo-type of species was originally found.

Vent - The external opening of the urinary and genital systems.

Ventral - Referring to the belly (or bottom of the body and limbs)

Ventral scales - The scales that cover the above areas.

Vermiculite - A heat expanded mica commonly used to germinate seedlings. But is widely used as a substrate for incubating reptile eggs. 

Vivarium - An enclosure for housing reptiles.

Xanthic - With a predominance of yellow or red pigment cells. Usually limited to unusually yellow animals when applied to reptiles.