Reddit reviews The Snake Almanac

Sorry, wee bit late and on the phone. Let me pull up the documents so then I'm not leaving a broad trail here.

The Limbic System: https://books.google.ca/books?id=NiTLf7g1n04C&pg=PA120&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030100820500002X

The Limbic system is what holds our processes for emotions and the memory thereof. I won't go into tonnes of details beyond that is what it is for sake of what I posted before.

Reptile limbic system: I cannot seem to link the Snake Almanac here. http://www.amazon.com/Snake-Almanac-Edward-R-Ricciuti/dp/1585741787/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452072350&sr=8-1&keywords=snake+almanac Is an incredible source of information and studies. I am frustrated I have no way to get you the important information on the study between empathy and memory between snakes and how they lack the ability and brain capacity to form those links.

Iguanas: Professor Scott McRobert (http://www.sju.edu/about-sju/faculty-staff/faculty-experts/scott-mcrobert-phd) did a little test with their dept.'s iguana, Fido: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16321931-200-oh-its-you/

I don't have any research papers on Geckos.... and I doubt many exist because they are so common. From first hand knowledge of having a Gecko I can tell you that as long as their cage is big enough and they've eaten, you can handle them just fine. They don't hop around or look for anyone in particular. (But I did have a Gecko that didn't like my neighbor if he wore his cologne, so I imagine that's because lizards have particular olfactory glands)

Anoles are very similar to Geckos and haven't fallen far from the evolutionary tree, but I believe they are closer related to the Iguana. So far there's not been any behaviour studies on them because they're a common species, like the Gecko in Australia. I do have research papers on their amazing abilities to adapt (should I post that?)

Turtles: Common snapping turtle: http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_question_answer026.html also: http://www.chelydra.org/snapping_turtle_handling.html - I quote this website even if it's garish because it has extremely good information for people who are thinking about turtles for pets AND that was the nature of the question.

Snapping turtles strength: According to http://uahost.uantwerpen.be/funmorph/publications/herrel%20et%20al%202002%20j%20evol%20biol.pdfa snapping turtle's actual jaw strength registered between 208 and 226 Newtons of force. Snapping turtles evolved in an aggressive way, they see something and snap! they get it. When they see a finger coming at them, their natural reaction is to snap at it. In an amazing article you can read here: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9304140038/reptile-that-stakes-survival-snap-decisions details the snapping turtle's history and learned/evolved behaviours.

Now which turtles and tortoises would I need to post on common information for domesticated turtles from pet shops and/or the wild?

While I would love to display and give tonnes of scientific data, there isn't enough or as much as we could have. What little research done on reptiles has come to the same conclusions: without the ability to form memory attachments and empathy, an animal (in general) will not bond with a human. But we should never blanket statement an entire species, because some individual animals defy the rules. (see above post on Dr Scott McRobert and the iguana, Fido)