The British Herpetological Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious Societies of its kind in the world. Founded in 1947 by Britain's leading herpetologists, the BHS still enjoys national learned status.
The Society's Herpetological Journal is ranked as one of the leading scientific publications devoted to herpetology. The Society actively supports Conservation, Research, Education and responsible Captive breeding.
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MEMBERSHIP
Thank you for registering to attend the 2026 AHH / BHS Drayton Manor Conference!
We are running 4 different workshops in the 2026 event.
How will it work?
The workshops will all be run once on Saturday and once on Sunday in parallel sessions - so each delegate can attend one from the four on each day.
The workshops are included in the ticket pricing - there is no extra charge for attending these.
How to book
Please enter your email address below (this must be the email address that we contacted you about booking these workshops) and select which workshop you'd like to book for each day.
The maximum number of participants for each workshop is 25, so book in early to get your first choices!
The closing date for booking workshops is Monday 16th March.
Workshops:
Exotics Vet Q&A
Great opportunity to chat with an exotics qualified Vet
Dr Marie Kubiak of Evolution Exotics will lead an open Q&A session about reptile health and wellbeing - a great opportunity to direct your questions to an exotics specialist veterinarian
Herp Lighting Lab
Gain some hands on experience in herp lighting set ups!
Tom Griffiths of Tomaskas will lead this popular interactive workshop where teams will have the chance to build a lighting rig for a surprise reptile or amphibian. Learn about lighting layouts, lamp choices, and thermostat use, through a bit of fun!
A great way to engage in CPD for stores and zoo workers, and to get feedback from a Professional Lighting Consultant. Some individuals will need to use a drill, but there's absolutely no experience necessary. Suitable for beginners and experts alike!
Sunlight Power Density
Catch up with the latest thinking and techniques in this emerging topic!
Roman Muryn will again lead this workshop on the importance of lighting energy to captive herptiles, covering methods of measurement and application:
A practical use of the sunlight Power Density meter (ISM 400) demonstrating measuring sunlight light, then finding data on the web, and applying that knowledge to an enclosure
"We shall take a reading outside, chase it up on the web. We will compare what we measured with what we forecast and then make decisions on how we would set up lighting intensities in a vivarium based on best practices. On the day we could extend the idea for a Bearded Dragon or any animal.
There will be technical content such that keepers with animals knowledge gaps can add to their data armoury when they get home or to their collection.
A tool has been developed that enables readings to be mapped on a pc and an iso-irradiance/illuminance charts to be produced and shared easily - this will be shared."
New data and information gathered in 2025 will be presented together with a new keeper-friendly guidance chart.
Rock Work with Aquatect
Opportunity for hands on experience creating rock themed backgrounds for vivaria!
James Dale, Director of Aquatect will be running a rock theming workshop. You will learn how to create realistic rock themed backgrounds for your vivariums and enclosures using concrete and a range of techniques to texture and colour it.
Welcome to the Young Herpetolgists (YH) Members Area! Here you'll find...Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Your Subscriptions:
All YH members have access to The Herpetological Bulletin and Natterjack.
Useful Links:
Activity Sheets:
A talk by Henry Brames at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
The 'after dinner' talk presented by Carl Franklin at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
2 views
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Carl Franklin at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Roman Muryn on research into reptile lighting, presented at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Dr Sarina Wunderlich at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Dr Johnathon Howard at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Francis Cosquieri at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Dr Frances Baines at the 2023 AHH / BHS Conference at Drayton Manor
1 views
3 weeks ago.
A talk by Tim Baker on Seasonal Temperature Fluctuation Influencing Reproduction of Smaug mossambicus at the AHH & BHS Conference at Drayton Manor on the 12th March 2022.
8 views
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
A talk by Huw Golledge, Ph.D, on the welfare of rodents used as food for reptiles at the AHH & BHS Conference at Drayton Manor on the 12th March 2022.
10 views
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
A talk by Dr Peter Sound on current industry/hobby state & social effects at the AHH & BHS Conference at Drayton Manor on the 12th March 2022.
5 views
Tuesday, 25 October 2022
A talk by Roman Muryn C.Eng, on the theory & use of infra red heating/lighting for herptiles - delivered on 14th March 2022 to a range of zoo staff from multiple collections, hosted at Drayton Manor the day after the AHH/BHS Conference.
32 views
Monday, 06 June 2022
Thank you for registering to attend the 2025 AHH / BHS Drayton Manor Conference!
We have now finalised the details of the practical workshops we'll be running on the Sunday on a variety of topics. We are running 5 different workshops - full details below.
How will it work?
The workshops will be run during the second morning session on Sunday, between approx 11am to 1pm.
Each workshop will be run twice within that period, so a delegate can attend a maximum of two of the five workshops
How to book
The workshops are included in the ticket pricing - there is no extra charge for attending these.
Please enter your email address below (this must be the email address that we contacted you about booking these workshops) and select which workshop you'd like to book for each session.
The maximum number of participants for each workshop is 25, so book in early to get your first choices!
The closing date for booking workshops is Monday 10th March
Workshops:
Exotics Vet Q&A
Put your reptile health questions to Dr Marie Kubiak!
Dr Marie Kubiak of Evolution Exotics will lead an open Q&A session about reptile health and wellbeing - a great opportunity to direct your questions to an exotics specialist veterinarian and one of our speakers!
Herp Lighting Lab
Gain hands-on practical experience on lighting set ups!
Tom Griffiths of Tomaskas will lead this interactive workshop where teams will have the chance to build a lighting rig for a surprise reptile or amphibian. Learn about lighting layouts, lamp choices, and thermostat use, through a bit of fun!
A great way to engage in CPD for stores and zoo workers, and to get feedback from a Professional Lighting Consultant. Some individuals will need to use a drill, but there's absolutely no experience necessary. Suitable for beginners and experts alike!
Sunlight Power Density Metering
A unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor with some of the latest thinking!
Roman Muryn, Ethan Parrott and Tom Wells will lead this workshop
A practical use of the sunlight Power Density meter (ISM 400) demonstrating measuring sunlight light, then finding data on the web, and applying that knowledge to an enclosure
"We shall take a reading outside, chase it up on the web. We will compare what we measured with what we forecast and then make decisions on how we would set up lighting intensities in a vivarium based on best practices. On the day we could extend the idea for a Bearded Dragon or any animal.
There will be technical content such that keepers with animals knowledge gaps can add to their data armoury when they get home or to their collection.
A tool has been developed that enables readings to be mapped on a pc and an iso-irradiance/illuminance charts to be produced and shared easily - this will be shared.
Ethan Parrott from Marwell Zoo will share how to measure irradiation/illumination in zoo sized enclosures and the team will discuss how iso-irradiance mapping could be approached. A demonstration will use the iso-irradiance charting tool (on a smaller scale) during the talk"
Bio-Active Set-Ups
Learn how to set up a Bio-Active vivarium with Zoo Med
Cyril Geoffray of Zoo Med will lead this workshop focusing on Bio-Active set-ups.
Cyril will demonstrate key ingredients, materials and success factors involved in creating successful Bio-Active vivaria and terraria. A great opportunity to draw on Cyril's years of experience in this popular topic!
Creating a COSHH Risk Assessment
Learn about the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations in context of reptile and amphibian keeping - from the experts at Safe4!
Our sponsors Safe4 will lead this valuable workshop focusing on COSHH - of particular importance to professional or trade keepers but also relevant to the private keeper.
The workshop will include a presentation and then some practical work going through an SDS and identifying which parts are relevant for a COSH assessment.
Elements covered will include:
- Introduction to COSHH
- Key Aspects of COSHH
- Examples of Hazardous Substances
- Consequences of Non-Compliance
- Understanding Disinfectant Products and COSHH Compliance
- Common Risks with Disinfectants
- Hazard symbols and phrases
Our membership subscriptions give you instant online access to the latest issues of our publications and a range of other benefits.
Whether you are a conservationist, a scientist, a field naturalist, or if you are interested in reptile and amphibian husbandry, the Society has something to offer.
Find out more
The Young Herpetologists (YH) is the junior section of the British Herpetological Society open to anyone from the age of 5 to 17 years.
Based on the platforms of sound conservation practice and regard for animal welfare, the YH is an ideal way to encourage today's new generation of young amphibian and reptile enthusiasts.
Find out more
