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Watch the video of a tortoise and a rattlesnake!

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Five eggs the size of Ping-Pong balls crack open as the tiny desert tortoises inside break through the shells. The two-inch-long babies immediately crawl off in search of flowers and grasses to eat. These animals may be newly hatched, but they already have survival skills that will allow them thrive in their harsh, sizzling-hot habitats.

Burrow builders

Desert tortoises live in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. During the summer, ground temperatures in parts of their range can hit 140˚F. To beat the heat, desert tortoises use their strong forearms and tough nails to dig underground burrows where they can hide from the sun. Some of these tortoise tunnels are up to 32 feet in length. And the burrows can get pretty crowded. As many as 25 desert tortoises might bunk together in one shelter.

The animals also dig grooves into on the ground's surface to catch rainwater. After a storm, they'll return to these holes to slurp up the water that's collected inside. Once it's had a good drink, a desert tortoise can go up to a year without requiring fresh water again. The reptile stores the water it has consumed in its bladder and can later absorb the liquid when it needs to hydrate.

Tortoise tussle

Despite sometimes hanging out in burrows together, desert tortoises are pretty solitary. And sometimes when males come across each other, they'll fight to establish dominance. The dueling duo may use horns on their chests to try and knock each other over. The contest ends when one animal flips the other on its back. The losing tortoise can turn right side up by wiggling its body back and forth until it flips over. But after that, the tortoise knows who's boss. Sounds like a tortoise's shell isn't the only thing about it that's tough!

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Five eggs the size of Ping-Pong balls crack open as the tiny desert tortoises inside break through the shells. The two-inch-long babies immediately crawl off in search of flowers and grasses to eat. These animals may be newly hatched, but they already have survival skills that will allow them thrive in their harsh, sizzling-hot habitats.

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1. Desert tortoises eat grasses and flowers.
2. Desert tortoises live in the deserts.
3. They dig in the sand to hide from the sun.
4. Once the tortoise has a good drink, a desert tortoise can go up to a year without needing fresh water again!

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1. Like most snakes, the boa constrictor flicks its tongue from side to side.
2. The boa hunts prey, such as rats, birds, monkeys, or wild pigs.
3. They wrap their bodies around their victims and constrict, or squeeze tightly, until their prey can no longer breathe.
4. AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 20 to 30 years
5. Boa constrictors tend to live alone.
6. Mother boas give birth to about 60 babies at a time!

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A chameleon sits motionlessly on a tree branch. Suddenly its sticky, two-foot-long tongue snaps out at 13 miles an hour, wrapping around a cricket and whipping the yummy snack back into the reptile's mouth. Now that's fast food dining! And the chameleon's swift eating style is just one of its many features that'll leave you tongue-tied.

COLORFUL CRITTERS

Chameleons mostly live in the rain forests and deserts of Africa. The color of their skin helps them blend in with their habitats. Chameleons that hang out in trees are usually green. Those that live in deserts are most often brown.

They often change color to warm up or cool down. (Turning darker helps warm the animals because the dark colors absorb more heat.) They also switch shades to communicate with other chameleons, using bright colors to attract potential mates or warn enemies.

So how exactly do chameleons change colors? The outer layer of their skin is see-through. Beneath that are layers of special cells filled with pigment-the substance that gives plants and animals (including you) color. To display a new color, the brain sends a message for these cells to get bigger or smaller. As this happens, pigments from different cells are released, and they mix with each other to create new skin tones. For instance, red and blue pigment may mix to make the chameleon look purple.

EYES EVERYWHERE

Over 150 species of chameleons exist, ranging from the size of your thumbnail to that of a house cat. Some species of chameleon (such as the tiger chameleon) are endangered, but others (like the Drakensberg dwarf chameleon) are not. No matter their differences, all chameleons have a prize pair of eyes. Their peepers can move in two different directions at once, giving the lizards a panoramic view of their surroundings. This eye-popping reptile really knows how to scale up the cool factor.

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A chameleon sits motionlessly on a tree branch. Suddenly its sticky, two-foot-long tongue snaps out at 13 miles an hour, wrapping around a cricket and whipping the yummy snack back into the reptile's mouth. Now that's fast food dining! And the chameleon's swift eating style is just one of its many features that'll leave you tongue-tied.

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1. Chameleons change colours to attract mates, regulate body temperature, or tell intruders to stay away.
2. Chameleons have eyes that can look in two directions at once.
3. Chameleons can display a wide range of colors including red, green, blue, white, purple, and more.
4. Chameleons’ tongues are fast!
5. Chameleons live up to 12 years in the wild.

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Reptile Roundup | Weird But True!-Fast Facts

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1. AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 4 to 10 years
2. It has a “beard” of spikes under its chin that puffs up depending on its mood.
3. They live in warm areas, like deserts.
4. When threatened, a bearded dragon will open its mouth, raise its chin, and puff out its beard to make itself appear bigger.

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Australia, where bearded dragons are from, is very hot and dry.
Bearded dragons that are kept as pets have to be looked after carefully in vivariums specially set up to keep them the right temperature.

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1. Corn snakes eat mice.
2. They are constrictors. They wrap themselves around their prey (rodents) before eating them whole!
3. Corn snakes are orange or brown snakes.
4. Corn snakes live up to 23 years in zoos, but usually shorter in the wild.

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The corn snake is mainly nocturnal and hides during the day under cover of loose tree bark, in animal burrows, or in old abandoned buildings

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The boa's hunting technique is generally to ambush prey, such as rats, birds, monkeys, or wild pigs. The snake swallows its prey whole. Food is digested by strong stomach acids.

After a large meal, a boa doesn't need to eat again for weeks. A boa constrictor grows throughout its whole life, which can be 20 to 30 years. An adult boa will generally weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) and grow to about 13 feet (4 meters) long. Boa constrictors tend to live alone.

Mother boas give birth to about 60 babies at a time! A baby boa is on its own from the start. It is born with the instinct, or built-in knowledge, of how to hunt. It also has an instinct to hide to stay safe from predators. The baby boa's diet changes as it grows. The bigger it gets, the bigger its preferred prey becomes.

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Boa constrictors are powerful snakes and stealthy hunters. They live in tropical climates throughout most of Central and South America, where they hunt at night. The boa's hunting technique is generally to ambush prey, such as rats, birds, monkeys, or wild pigs. The snake swallows its prey whole.

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Chameleons' skin changes based on their mood!