The US Fish & Wildlife Service will be adding boa constrictors, reticulated pythons, and anacondas to the invasive species restricted list, banning their import and interstate transport, reports the Miami Herald. On Friday, agency director Dan Ashe will make the announcement in Florida at at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach.

This is not likely to end the long fight between the USFWS and the reptile community, begun in 2006 when the ban was first proposed and the subject of an ongoing lawsuit by the United States Association of Reptile & Amphibian Keepers (USARK). While it is expected to impact the industry, many states will see legal local sales of restricted animals continue, so the overall impact is unclear.

For more information, check out the complete story at the Miami Herald.

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By Herp News

Family members managed to get the reptile off his arm and beat it to death.

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By Herp News

Family members managed to get the reptile off his arm and beat it to death.

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Alligators have a natural immunity to infection that could help humans combat bacterial illness.

From Bay News:

The government-funded study took place at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park over the past four years.

“Alligators live in a pretty inhospitable environment, “ said Barney Bishop, one of the lead researchers. “Many of them live in stagnant water where there is lots of bacteria. And while they are predators, they also eat carrion, so they must have a robust immune system to fend off infection in these situations.”

The researchers were able to isolate those infection-fighting peptides in the alligator blood. The hope is to use alligator blood as battlefield medicine. Soldiers wounded in battle are vulnerable to bacteria, such as MRSA. Alligators have a natural resistance.

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Known as the one hundred pacer to some, a graphic reference to the supposed efficacy of the venom (one bite and you’re dead in 100 paces or less!) and the snorkel-nosed viper to others, Deinagkistrodon acutus is one of the most recognizable and photogenic of the Asian snakes.

Having a light ground color, the dark triangular pattern is boldly evident–unless the snake is lying quietly coiled on a substrate of variably colored leaves. Then the camouflaging benefits of the pattern will be truly appreciated.

Adults of this oviparous crotaline may near a heavy bodied 5 feet in length. Hatchlings are a relatively slender 8 inches. A clutch typically numbers between 10 and 25 eggs, but up to 35 have been documented.

Prey items of this crepuscular and nocturnal snake include amphibians, small ground nesting or ground active birds and rodents.

Ranging over much of southern China and northern Vietnam, this taxon is of cultural significance in many areas, among which Taiwan is prominent.
Continue reading “The beautiful one hundred pace snake” …read more
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Known as the one hundred pacer to some, a graphic reference to the supposed efficacy of the venom (one bite and you’re dead in 100 paces or less!) and the snorkel-nosed viper to others, Deinagkistrodon acutus is one of the most recognizable and photogenic of the Asian snakes.

Having a light ground color, the dark triangular pattern is boldly evident–unless the snake is lying quietly coiled on a substrate of variably colored leaves. Then the camouflaging benefits of the pattern will be truly appreciated.

Adults of this oviparous crotaline may near a heavy bodied 5 feet in length. Hatchlings are a relatively slender 8 inches. A clutch typically numbers between 10 and 25 eggs, but up to 35 have been documented.

Prey items of this crepuscular and nocturnal snake include amphibians, small ground nesting or ground active birds and rodents.

Ranging over much of southern China and northern Vietnam, this taxon is of cultural significance in many areas, among which Taiwan is prominent.
Continue reading “The one hundred pace snake, an Asian beauty” …read more
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#ThrowbackThursday! Seadog, a gray tiger salamander, was 10 years old in 2008 when this photo was taken. In our herp photo of the day, Seadog proves that pets come in different shapes and sizes, uploaded by kingsnake.com user emajor!

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By Herp News

A pair of studies show that the deadly fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, responsible for the extinction of more than 200 amphibian species worldwide, has coexisted harmlessly with animals in Illinois and Korea for more than a century. The research will help biologists better understand the disease caused by Bd, chytridiomycosis, and the conditions under which it can be survived.

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By Herp News

The Tour de France is a long way from the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training clubhouse. Lizard Skins started selling cycling accessories such as handlebar grip tape back in 1993 and now distributes to 84 countries. The company says its bat grip tape combines softness and tackiness while reducing vibration. “It's gone like gangbusters,” said Canadian Brad Barker, who is Lizard Skins general …

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By Herp News

There are likely less than 100 vaquita on the planet. Found only in the northern pocket of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, the vaquita is a tiny, shy porpoise that has been brought to the very edge of extinction due to drowning in gillnets used for shrimping. But after years of stalling, Mexico now appears to be making a final effort to save the world’s most endangered cetacean.

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By Herp News

The Tour de France is a long way from the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training clubhouse. Lizard Skins started selling cycling accessories such as handlebar grip tape back in 1993 and now distributes to 84 countries. The company says its bat grip tape combines softness and tackiness while reducing vibration. “It's gone like gangbusters,” said Canadian Brad Barker, who is Lizard Skins general …

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Sometimes the key to healthy poison dart frog populations is a pig playing in the mud.
From BBC Earth:

Typically, female poison dart (dendrobatid) frogs lay eggs on land. Once the tadpoles hatch, male frogs, their fathers, then carry them to small nursery pools.

But these pools may be short-lived, and the frogs are too tiny to dig their own.

Enter the peccary, a species of wild pig common in Central and South America.

Peccaries like to fling turf, specifically by digging out wallows – their own individual mud spas.

As they do so, they can radically transform the rainforest floor, creating pools of water that are just the right size for prospective frog parents.

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Now that winter is almost over here in the South, and with it the wonderful mass migrations of all our Ambystomatid salamanders, it is now time to change gears and focus on another group of cool amphibians: Pseudacris!

Although this genus is not a salamander, these neat little frogs are out in full force right now.

Actually, the ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata) have already been calling on warm nights since December. The mountain chorus frogs (Pseudacris brachyphona) are calling in Northeast Alabama, along with the upland chorus frogs (Pseudacris feriarum) and the southern chorus frogs (Pseudacris nigrita) down here.

A personal favorite of mine is is the spring eeper (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer). Not much is known about these secretive frogs because they are really rarely encountered outside of their breeding season, but during this time of the year any ditch, mudhole or low depression that holds water will serve as a breeding site for these small frogs. …read more
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Gotta love seeing a breeding group of gharials in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Lucky 7!

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By Herp News

Turtle Bay Resort announced Tuesday the settlement of a lawsuit brought by Keep the North Shore Country challenging the City and County of Honolulu's acceptance of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the resort's proposed development plans. Full terms of the settlement were not released, but Turtle Bay Resort has agreed to make contributions toward the conservation of threatened …

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Planned for the Tottenham Hotspur football club, a new athletic facility has halted development because the land is home to great crested newts.

From the Irish Mirror:

“Surveys confirmed the presence of a medium-sized breeding population of great crested newt within the pond on site, and individual long-eared and common pipistrelle bats roosting in the agricultural buildings as well as the presence of grass snake on site.

“This being the case; the proposed development will result in the loss of a great crested newt breeding pond, confirmed bat roosts, amphibian/reptile suitable habitat and mature trees.”

It states that before planning permission can be granted the newts and bats must be “looked after” and that the club must “demonstrate that the favourable conservation status of the species will be maintained within the whole of the site”.

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It was late spring, in the Apalachicola National Forest (ANF) and I happened to have an hour to kill before meeting Kenny for a couple of days of herping. I was within a few miles of a favorite puddle, so decided to stop by for a hurried visit. During the winter this bit of water was a breeding site for ornate chorus frogs, I had seen a banded water snake or two there, and in previous years had seen a few mole salamanders beneath water edge logs.

But this time when I pulled up the site was unrecognizable. We had had an unusually wet winter and the rains had continued into the spring. The site, including the road-edge drainage ditch, was filled and overflowing with water. For a moment or two I contemplated whether I wanted to get wet just before leaving on a trip. But then a turtle surfaced in the flowing water of the ditch–a turtle with a narrow head and a prominently striped neck– an eastern chicken turtle, Deirochelys r. reticularia.

Unlike many of their semi-aquatic emydine stay-at-home relatives, the chicken turtles (3 subspecies) are known for their peregrinations. These turtles wander widely from flooded meadow to vernal pond to the still waters of canal edges. If things get uncomfortably dry they dig down and aestivate. And although I consider them one of the “everywhere and nowhere” turtles (meaning they are widespread but seldom readily seen), they are seen infrequently enough to consider each sighting a mini-event.

So now, if you have interpreted the last paragraph correctly, you know I wasn’t about to leave without at least trying to get some data from the chicken turtle. Yep. I got wet, but I was able to catch the turtle, a perfect example, an adult male. Hopefully he is still wandering, stopping now and again to sire more generations of wandering turtles. They are a delight to see.
Continue reading “Chicken turtles wander, but they aren’t lost” …read more
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This hatchling Gulf Coast spiny softshell gives us just enough of the “awwws” to make it through a Tuesday in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gambusia!

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $4.2 billion and its unaudited ne

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $383.7 million and its unaudit

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $383.7 million and its unaudit

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By Herp News

Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.1 billion and its unaudited net asset value

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By Herp News

Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.1 billion and its unaudited net asset value

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By Herp News

One of the most iconic animals on the planet got good news this week. The world’s giant panda population has risen by 268 individuals over the last decade, hitting a total of 1,864 animals, according to China’s fourth decadal survey. This represents a total rise of 16.8 percent.

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Using computer models of jacky dragons, researchers have learned it’s the order of a jacky dragon’s movement that makes communication possible.

From Johns Hopkins:

Woo and Rieucau conducted a playback experiment using computer animations of lizard displays. They created three simulated animations of lizards that differed in their shape and skin texture and performed the displays either with natural syntax or reversed syntax. There was the “cyberlizard,” which had normal shape and skin texture; a lizard with normal shape but without realistic skin texture; and an object shaped generally like a lizard but lacking texture.

The researchers found the order of the actions was critical for signal recognition. Even the animated lizards with abnormal shape and texture elicited responses from the jacky dragon subjects, as long as the actions were in the correct order.

The lizards responded to animations with correct syntax by making social signals of their own. These included aggressive signals like fast head bobs or the entire visual display pattern (tail flick, quick arm wave, and push-up body rock) or submissive displays like slow arm waves and slow head bobs.

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This tegu is ready to take on the day in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tristen!

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By Herp News

This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Feb. 27, 2015 and cumulativ

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By Herp News

This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Feb. 27, 2015 and cumulative distribu

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By Herp News

A recent report of a male black-and-white tegus attempting to mate with a dead female in Brazil raises the question: Why are some animals necrophiliacs?

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By Herp News

Dave Bethel, owner of Reptile World, said he is in the process of winding down his business. Nine specimens from Reptile World were euthanized after the Alberta SPCA took 142 reptiles and amphibians into protective custody.

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By Herp News

The remaining animals at Reptile World have been removed and are destined for new homes in Ontario. On Thursday, February 12, Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers and Alberta SPCA officers were at Reptile World.

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By Herp News

The Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has issued a warrant to the ownership the Reptile World, and is in control of the building for the next three days.

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By Herp News

After two and a half decades, a major Drumheller tourist attraction may be forced to close it doors.

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By Herp News

Marine biologists have long known that leatherbacks like to chow down on jellies, but they never knew precisely how. Researchers from the non-profit organization the Canadian Sea Turtle Group use the tiny “turtle-cams” to gain insight into the sea turtle’s foraging habits off the coast of Nova Scotia. “It’s like getting turtle’s home videos—seeing what they see, where they go, and how they …

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There is just something adorable about the Bushveld rain frogs, and the cute, catchy video game music makes this a great way to wake up and start your weekend!

Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users! …read more
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By Herp News

The chytrid fungus, which is fatal to amphibians, has been detected in Madagascar for the first time. This means that the chytridiomycosis pandemic has now reached a biodiversity hotspot. Researchers are therefore proposing an emergency plan. This includes monitoring the spread of the pathogenic fungus, building amphibian breeding stations and developing probiotic treatments, say the scientists.

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Last weekend saw the annual British Royal Pigeon Racing Association show in Blackpool. The show attracts around 15,000 visitors, with over 100 trade stands and around 3,000 animals. It’s the biggest pigeon show in the calendar and, as far as we are aware, it went off without a hitch.

But this is a reptile site, so why am I telling you this? Because at the same time as the pigeon show was happening, the UK reptile show scene is preparing for a landmark legal case to determine if reptile shows are legal.

The Federation of British Herpetologists, representing the interests of reptile societies and hobbyists, is confident that the judicial review will be a good thing for the hobby regardless of the outcome.

Should the review find in favour of the shows then this will be a major blow to the extremist animal rights organizations who wish to see the shows banned. Should the review go against the hobby, then government will be under enormous pressure to revise the loophole in the outdated legislation in British law which makes the legality of shows ambiguous. It is hoped that the shows will eventually be licensed as this will vindicate local authorities who are pressured into stopping the shows by animal rights campaigners.

Reptile shows are a hugely beneficial network facilitating the sharing of expertise. Many respected animal welfare organizations recommend hobbyists buy their animals directly from a reputable breeder, and these shows provide the best opportunity to achieve that aim. These shows and relationships help to advance the hobby.

More worryingly, should reptile shows be banned then the ruling would likely be rolled out to cover all vertebrate animals – dogs, cats, fish, rabbits and pigeons included. Then where would we be? …read more
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By Herp News

The Akron Zoo has announced the passing of a female Galapagos tortoise, Azul. Azul passed away on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Azul was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas on June 23, 1989. 

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Looking hopeful that spring’s around the corner, this wood turtle will bring a smile to your face in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kensopher!

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