--- title: Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Tortoises, lizards and geckos are reptiles, and reptiles cannot make their own body heat. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets:… # Tortoises, lizards and geckos as pets: heat, light and washing hands Lesson 329 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/0/) — Tortoises, lizards and geckos are reptiles, and reptiles cannot make their own body heat. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/2/) — They also need sunshine of a special kind. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/3/) — Reptile lamps give UVB light, which helps the body make vitamin D to use calcium; without it bones grow soft and bent, and window glass blocks most UVB. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/4/) — Picture a crested gecko licking its own eyeball: it has no moving eyelids, so its tongue is its windscreen wiper. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/5/) — Reptiles are full of such tricks, from dropping tails to sticky toes that walk up glass. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/6/) — Healthy reptiles often carry salmonella germs, so everyone washes their hands with soap after holding them, and small children under five should not handle them. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/7/) — Reptiles cannot make their own body heat, so a tank needs a warm end and a cool end, and a cold reptile cannot digest its food properly. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/8/) — Reptile lamps give UVB light like sunshine, which helps the body make vitamin D; without it reptiles cannot use calcium and their bones grow soft and bent, and window glass blocks most UVB. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/9/) — Many reptiles carry salmonella germs without being ill, so hands are washed with soap after touching them, and children under five should not handle reptiles. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/10/) — Geckos can drop their tail to escape a predator; a new tail grows back shorter and fatter, and because the tail stores fat, losing it is a big loss. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/11/) — Most geckos have no moving eyelids and clean their eyes with their tongue, but leopard geckos are unusual geckos with eyelids that can blink. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/12/) — Pet tortoises often live 50 years and some much longer, and Jonathan, a giant tortoise on St Helena, is reported to be around 190 years old. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/13/) — Tortoises from cooler places slow right down and sleep through winter, and a vet checks them first because a sick or thin tortoise can die during it. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/14/) — A bearded dragon bobbing its head is signalling that it is in charge, waving one arm is a calm giving-way signal, and its beard turns dark when stressed or showing off; bearded dragons come from the dry lands of Australia. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/15/) — A crested gecko has five toes on each foot with wide pads covered in millions of tiny hairs that grip glass very closely, so it can walk up walls and upside down; leopard geckos have no sticky pads. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/16/) — Lizards shed their skin in pieces while snakes usually shed in one long piece, many geckos eat their old skin, and a damp hide helps a gecko shed so it does not lose toes. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/329-tortoises-lizards-and-geckos-as-pets-heat-light-and-washing-hands/17/) — A tortoise cannot leave its shell, because its ribs and backbone are joined to it as part of its skeleton, and it can feel touch through the shell. - ← previous: [Old pets: grey muzzles, slow walks and saying goodbye](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/328-old-pets-grey-muzzles-slow-walks-and-saying-goodbye/) - next →: [Unusual pets: stick insects, giant snails, ant farms and hermit crabs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/330-unusual-pets-stick-insects-giant-snails-ant-farms-and-hermit-crabs/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)