Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We hopped into the wayback machine to visit this C.ruber in the field in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user joecarroll ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world.

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This vibrant Cape Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer vertebralis) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade will brighten your day for sure! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Meet Juliet, a Sehuencas water frog recently collected from the Bolivian cloud forest. (Robin Moore, Global Wildlife Conservation)

A year ago, Romeo was trolling match.com looking for another just like him. The staff at Bolivia’s Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny in Cochabamba put an ad up on the dating site to help bring awareness and funding to help locate another Sehuencas water frog. They didn’t find him a “date” on the site, but they gained the funding needed to locate 5 frogs, including an adult female who has been named Juliet.

Close to a waterfall, however, expedition leader Teresa Camacho Badani saw a frog jump.

“When I pulled it out, I saw an orange belly and suddenly realized I had in my hands the long-awaited Sehuencas water frog,” Badani, who works for the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny in Cochabamba, tells Carrington. “My first reaction was to yell ‘I found one!’ and the team came running over to help me and pull the frog to safety. It was an incredible feeling.”

Researchers are still looking for more of the cricitcally endangered frogs to build an assurance population. Read more about this awesome expedition at Smithsonianmag.com.

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This little cornsnake must have been racing to get out of the egg ahead of his siblings in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What amazing colors Uros come in, like this ornate in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user plietz! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.

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Loving this Blue tongue skink just chilling in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PatS . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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For our 22 birthday, we go back to our roots, a stunning greyband in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user APLAXAR s! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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A True Giant. This Komodo Dragon takes center stage in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cowboyfromhell s! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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How cool is this African Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MVH4 . Gotta love colubrids of all types! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Follow the lead of these Water Dragons in our herp photo of the day and spend hump day with someone you love, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran !
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If any of their variable colors could be considered normal, it is this phase with the mossy green ground color.
I have always been enamored of arboreal vipers, be they of the America’s, Africa, or Asia. I was so infatuated with them that at one time Patti and I kept and bred, or at least tried to breed, 30+ species. But, truth be known, although I found all of interest and beautiful, over the years two of my favorites became and remained, 2 of the more commonly seen Central and South American species, the 2-lined forest pit vipers, Bothriopsis bilineatus, and the eyelashed pit piper, Bothriechis schlegelii. Why these 2? I just don’t know. But even between the two I favored one over the other, this being the eylashed species.

Perhaps it was the ease with which this variably colored snake could be housed, fed, and bred. Or perhaps it was the overall hardiness. Then again, I guess that it could have been the remarkable and entirely natural variability of color. You like ‘em green, the eyelashed viper comes in several naturally occurring phases that vary from a dusky forest green to pale green. If you like something different and don’t mind searching a little, you will likely be able to find an orange –red, a yellow-orange, a bright yellow (the latter is known as the “oropel” phase), or a yellow with greenish or dusky bands (the “tiger” phase).

It was many years after I had acquired my first trip of eyelashed vipers that Patti and I had an opportunity to meet this snake in the wild. We went to Costa Rica. Patti called it a Honeymoon. I called it a herping trip. On the first afternoon, after walking a rainforest trail and marveling at poison frogs and minute geckos, as we walked back to our hotel I glance at a small banana tree that edged the path and stopped dead in my tracks. I was looking at a small grayish B. schlegelii! I hadn’t even known they came in that color.

Since then I have seen a few others in the field. Admittedly, not many, but among those seen have been an oropel and one of mossy green. What wonderful snakes!

This snake has an interesting defensive display during which it opens its mouth widely and faces the perceived threat. The snake will bite if threatened and envenomation has resulted in human death.
Continue reading “A Snake of Many Colors, The Eyelashed Pit Viper” …read more
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This adorable pair of Tiger Salamanders in our herp photo of the day in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user persephonie are just popping out to see whats for dinner! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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We love everything that rattles, but today we give the spotlight to this baby timber rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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We are LOVING this motley snow Boa Constrictor in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Sharkman20 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Amazon Tree Boas are some of the most photogenic snakes in our world, like this one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BPruett , always perfectly posed! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What a great looking pair of Australian water dragons in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This hatching Cribo in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user alanB makes monday more bearable! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Coloration alone indicated that this snake was Bothriechis supraciliaris.
This occurred in those “good old days,” in the days when, believe it or not, snakes (including this one, but usually baby boas), mouse opossums, tarantulas, and other creatures were imported by accident in shipments of fruit and especially in bananas. This snake arrived with bananas at a fruit vendor in Boston in the early 50s and rather than killing it the Boston Museum of Science was notified. The snake was gathered in due haste by researchers from the Museum’s Herp Dept.

Back then it was identified as an eyelash viper, Bothrops (now Bothriechis schlegelii (this was 1954, the same year that B. supraciliaris, the blotched palm viper was described, but back then very few folks knew of the existence of the latter). For reasons that were unknown to me then and remain so today, rather than being preserved the snake was maintained in the live collection and when a year or so later I saw the beautiful snake and got excited about its existence it was given to me. I kept it for years, photographed it (as best I could in those days) and after its death the snake was disposed of in a now forgotten manner. From time to time I have published its photo. For years nothing was said, but in recent years I have been told that the snake, rather than a schlegelii was a supraciliaris. Others steadfastly maintained it was a schlegelii.

Nothing remains of this snake but its old photos. Its identification has not really been settled. Although I’ll probably never know for certain, Just for the record, I have since seen snakes that were very similar to my questionable snake, and that were definitely supraciliaris. I’m still leaning in that direction and always shall.
Continue reading “It’s a What?” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Here’s lookin’ at you kid! Check out this gorgeous albino Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What a cute lil Punkin! Loving this gorgeous shot of a young Tokay Gecko in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mfontenot ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Love this cage set up for this Arizona Mt. Kingsnake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rbichler !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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It’s hatch day for this little Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user motorhead !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This young banded water snake being very curious in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This is a typically marked adult ringed salamanderJake and I were recently back in southwestern Arkansas on, as might be expected, a herping foray. Ever since Jake had learned of this salamanders existence, he had told me time and again, he had been enamored of the beauty of the ringed salamander, Ambystoma annulatum, and although we had been in the region where they were found on previous trips, neither weather conditions nor season, had been conducive for these aptly named mole salamanders to have emerged from their burrows. So we had previously whiled away our time searching for and photographing some of the other Ozarkian caudatans.

But today, a cool autumn day, was different. It was raining and the rain was forecast to extend well into the coming hours of darkness. We had a few locales to check out before dark. All in all things were looking good. Necessary tedium first–motel, a bite to eat– then into the mountains.

After bumping for several miles along a woodland dirt road we found ourselves in a land of rocks. This was definitely ringed salamander habitat—but there was a problem. Rock after rock, for as far as we could see, had been freshly turned out of its cradle and just left lying atop the leaves. We could only guess that this was the work of uncaring market hunters. For the first hour Jake and I rolled rocks back into their original positions. By then darkness was approaching and we discontinued the reconstruction efforts with hundreds of rocks still out of place. We did want to get a few minutes of salamander hunting in.

We walked a bit further to a small ephemeral pond and found after considerable searching Jake’s lifer ringed salamander and dozens (probably hundreds) of freshly laid eggs.

The rain continued making photographing difficult but not impossible and we were soon on the way back to the motel.

Once back to the paved road, the rain now barely a sprinkle, we were lucky enough to see another 4 ringed salamanders. Our trip was a resounding success.

Continue reading “Ringed Salamanders” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Yes, it isn’t a Rattlesnake, but it is a venomous snake! The only snake as well known as a rattlesnake is a cobra, but not all cobras are made alike! Some stand out like this red eyed leucy Monocled Cobra in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user eekster ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.

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Here is to hoping this hatchling albino Siamese Crocodile our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocodilepaul helps you survive this Monday!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Welcome to the world little one! That magical moment when a baby takes it’s first breath is captured here with this boa in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dpiscopo69 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This Wood Frog in our herp photo of the day, brings back memories of summertime herping. Uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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So very underestimated but how many of you caught a Garter like the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user snakekate for your first field find? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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External gills, functional eyes, tailfin–the larval grotto salamander has all three.
Currently there are 191 named species of salamanders in the USA. This large amphibian grouping is contained in 8 families of which the largest by far is the Plethodontidae with 147 species plus well over a dozen subspecies. With the use of genetics it is probable that an additional 25+ species will soon be added to this family.

The plethodontids vary in size from 2” long dwarfs to what are considered in this family comparative giants of 9”. Among these are species that are entirely aquatic throughout their lives (paedomorphic taxa), others which are just as entirely terrestrial, and many that are in between these two extremes. Most seek seclusion beneath logs and rocks in damp woodlands, some prefer a similar microhabitat along stream edges, and others live beneath rocks and leaf litter submerged in streams, creeks, or rivulets. Terrestrial taxa have well developed, fully functional eyes, some aquatic forms have reduced vision, and some aquatics are blind. And then there’s the grotto salamander, Eurycea (formerly Typhlotriton) spelaea, a most remarkable little beast that may be encountered in the cave systems of Southeastern Kansas , Northeastern Oklahoma, Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.

Troglodytic when adult and in its later stages as a larva, after hatching the larvae often follow connecting underground streams from the darkness of caves to the daylight outside. At that point they are pigmented, being a weakly patterned olive brown to tan. They then have functional eyes, 3 pairs of external gills, and a well-developed tailfin. During the daylight hours they, like many aquatic salamanders, hide beneath rocks and stream bottom debris. On cloudy days and at night they are more inclined to depart their lairs, swimming and foraging in the open.

After a larval duration of several years the 3 or 4 inch long larvae follow their home streams back into the darkness and undergo a metamorphosis that is typical in some respects but atypical in others. Simplified, typically the gills and tailfin lessen in size and function until they are fully resorbed and the larvae become capable of existing terrestrially. Atypically the pigment of the now subterranean salamander is gradually lost and rather than becoming lidded and terrestrially functional as do the eyes of other plethodontids, the eyes of the grotto salamander degenerate and the lids fuse, producing at adulthood a pinkish, sightless, terrestrial, troglodyte.

Welcome to the wonderfully complex world of Mother Nature.
Continue reading “Grotto Salamander” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a great field find Copperhead from Brown County, Indiana in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ReptileProducts ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world, not just rattlesnakes. They all need our help to change misconceptions.

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Love the darker phase of this greyband in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user trevid ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What an awesome shot of this pair of Common Toads in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This lovely Gila monster poses perfectly in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user vegasbilly ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What stunning colors on this male Sceloporus orcutti in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user eve. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Yep! I sure do recognize red pygmys now!
The spring of 1953 was a long time ago, but it was then that Gordy Johnston took me on my first long distance herping trip. In his VW Beetle we traveled from MA to our destination of northeastern NC in just a few hours. I was entranced. Heat, humidity (not that at that time of year the heat and humidity is any stranger to New England), immense live oaks, more pine trees than I had ever seen before, and the possibility (read that probability!) of new herps (back then the words herps and herpetoculture had not yet been coined –right Philippe?).

I’m sure that we found may herps on that trip, but of these one in particular sticks in my mind—a red phase Carolina pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus m. miliarius. And the reason I remember it is because when I found it I had no idea what the little snake was.

Even back in those long ago days the woodlands were far from pristine. Logging, especially of pines, was big business. This seemed especially so on the Albemarle Peninsula and the vicinity of Lake Mattamuskeet. Itinerant sawmills were scattered here and there through the woodlands and wherever one of these sprang up clearings were begun, and like Topsy, they grew and grew as the trees were cut and cleaned (debarked and trimmed). Soon sunshine shone where before had been comparative darkness and the trimmings of the trees grew into piles of seclusion for many herps. At some point the sawmill packed up and moved, leaving behind the trimmings and the tin-roofed open shelter that had protected the machinery from the elements.

Gordy and I had happened upon one of these vacated mill locales and we were busily turning the tree trimmings when I turned up this little red snake. As surprised as I was, the little snake coiled and struck at my nearby hand. Hmmmmm.

“Gordy, I’ve got a baby copperhead here.”

Gordy hurried over and carefully edged the little snake into a gallon jar. We both stared. Its dark saddles on the orange-red ground entranced us—and even after staring at it and realizing that copperheads were usually banded, not saddled, when we left with it and a big kingsnake that also confused us (it was a red phase mole king, Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata) it was with the thought that we had found a strange appearing copperhead.

It was not until we had returned home that a more knowledgeable friend looked at the snake and commented about the tailtip button that we realized we had actually found a pygmy rattler, a red one, a phase that we had had no idea existed. Ahhhhhhh—those good old days (no internet, very few books, and youth—learning could be a real challenge!
Continue reading “Our First Red Pygmy” …read more
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Several Cane Toads remind us that necessity is the mother of invention as they found a novel way to get out of an area being flooded by an overflowing dam. They hitched a Lyft, wait make that lift on the back of a local python named Monty. It is Australia after all, pythons just wander the streets there I hear!

“I went out and the lake had overflowed,” he says, and realised the toads, who nested around its edge, were fleeing the rising waters.

“Thousands of toads were all trying to find somewhere to go,” he says. “And then I saw Monty our local python with a bunch of hitchhikers on his back.”

A variety of theories abound from it being staged to male toads with a little romantic confusion, but we just think it is a cool story! Check out the full story and video here!

Photo courtesy of Paul and Andrew Mock, originally shared at https://tinyurl.com/y8dzldea …read more
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What a gorgeous hybrid (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus x stephensi) in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user -SoloViper- ! If I were to give it a catchy name it would be Specklemint Rattlesnake. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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If this axolotl in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tadpoleo doesn’t make you smile, I am not sure what will! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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My very first bulk cricket order was from Jurassic Snacks in the early 90’s.This was well before the internet, we herpers were still working on long distance calls and mail order lists. Everyone has that story, especially us old timers. After lamenting my issues of fitting the square box full of crickets into the rectangle aquarium to a friend, he let me in on the trash bag trick. This tale from a twitter user had tears coming from my eyes.

This tale from a new bearded dragon owner in Minnesota might very well be the funniest thing you have read this week.

Having never ordered internet crickets before, I naively assumed that I’d open up the box and find the crickets in some sort of sealed bag or other contraption to facilitate easy transfer to their final storage place. I also assumed that given the near-zero temperatures we were experiencing that morning, any crickets in the box would be groggy and disoriented and easy to manage.

I was wrong on both counts.

I have not lived in the home I received my first cricket order since 2000, but I am convinced the house still has crickets roaming the halls. To read the full story, I strongly suggest you click here.
Inset photo of post feeding beardie courtesy of TazziesMommy …read more
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