Calgary Reptile Parties

Reptile Camp 2026 is underway!

Our first week's theme is "What's The Difference" where we are exploring differences between animals. Each day is a different sub-theme. So far we've discovered the differences between venomous and poisonous and learned about invertebrates vs vertebrates.

Space is available for our other 3 camps this summer. Visit http://www.calgaryreptileparties.com/daycamp.php for themes, info, and registration forms.

It's a Moulting Monday!

Is that 2 bugs? No! One of our tailless whip scorpions recently moulted! The smaller one is the discarded exoskeleton!

Moulting is the process of shedding an old, hardened exoskeleton and expanding into a larger one. When our inverts stop eating, that can be a sign of moulting. They secrete special enzymes that dissolve and reabsorb much of the inner old shell. A new, soft, and folded exoskeleton develops underneath.

When they are ready to shed, they takes in air or water to inflate its body, creating internal pressure that causes the old shell to split along pre-determined lines, allowing the animal to shimmy its way out. The newly emerged animal is soft and needs to have its exoskeleton harden, and they actually grow larger by stretching out the exoskeleton!

Often when we think we see a dead spider, it is a moult. Other invertebrates that moult include grasshoppers, beetles, crabs, cockroaches, spiders and scorpions.