Herp Keepers with cameras, annoying our eating pets for decades like this bearded dragon in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jdertinger ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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New beginnings and new life! A peek at a super dwarf Reticulated Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jnemani! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! How stunning is the red on this pygmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius miliarius), uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tamers1 ! This guy was found in extreme northeast North Carolina.. 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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Throughout the years, corn snakes remain one of our favorite for a great beginner snake! After seeing this one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran, it is pretty obvious why! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Not much cuter on the internet today than this hatching Eastern Box Turtle in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user terrapene ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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According to this tomato frog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user RaderRVT it must be dinner time! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Alert and always keeping his eye on you, this Basiliscus plumifrons shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kus! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Although rear-fanged, the red-lipped snake was once common in the pet trade.
The Red-lipped or Herald Snake, Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia, is a rather small, nocturnal, rear-fanged, colubrine snake from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is adult at 3 feet or less, and has large rear-fangs that have been described as “blade-like.” It is oviparous.
When surprised it is a defensive snake species, flattening the head, distending the lips, and striking forcefully. If carelessly grasped it will bite. In other words, this little amphibian eater does all possible to appear formidable.
Despite producing a venom that is fully capable of overcoming the amphibians on which it preys, bites sustained by humans have shown no signs of toxicity. What isn’t known of course is whether the bites were sufficiently forceful or lengthy for the snake to bring its rear venom conducting teeth into play. When kept captive it quickly tames and once acclimated seldom attempts to bite.
The common name describes an identifying characteristic of red-lipped snakes from the southern part of the range—the upper lips (labial scales) are red. However, this species in the more northerly part of the range may have white, cream, or even dark upper lips.
The head of this species is nearly black with an iridescent sheen (the iridescence is especially notable when the snake has freshly shed its skin), is noticeably darker posterior to the eyes, and is darker than the brownish to olive dorsum. When the snake’s body is inflated as when it huffs and puffs in indignation, white interstitial flecks in the form of narrow bars are often visible. The venter is white.
This snake, once common and inexpensive in the pet trade, is now less frequently available.
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We just love this close up of a Massasauga in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user venombill ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This Milk snake is just hanging out our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gerryg . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This Mexican Pine Snake (Pituophis deppei jani) is ready for action in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Love this shot! You can feel the texture and see the amazing variety of colors on this kingsnake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tony D ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This boa is chilling out for photo in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pythonas! Be sure to tell them you liked it here
Anery boa, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pythonas” />
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A profile of an adult male Great Plains Skink
This dweller of plains and prairie grasslands is known scientifically as Plestiodon obsoletus. It is not only pretty, but is also one of the 2 largest skink species in the USA where it may be equaled in size by the more easterly Broad-headed skink, Plestiodon laticeps.
The ground color of the Great Plains skink varies from light sandy tan to a much darker olive-tan. Each dorsal and lateral scale is edged in black or very dark brown. The edging varies in thickness, producing when minimal a light tan skink or when broad one that is quite dark in color. Over all the pattern may be appear speckled, striped, or almost nonexistent. The sides may be darker than the dorsum. This lizard does not change color or develop a strongly widened head when in breeding condition. However, males may develop a wash of orange along each side and become more territorial. Females are normally a bit smaller than the males and, except when gravid, are slenderer.
Like those of many skink species, the hatchlings are of a color very different than the adults. Hatchlings have a black head and body, white labial (lip) spots, a few small yellowish spots along the upper edge of the snout and above the eyes, and a dark blue tail.
This insectivore ranges widely in the USA from southwest Nevada and extreme southwest Iowa southward to south Texas and southern Arizona. It also ranges well into northern Mexico. Secretive, they are primarily terrestrial, can burrow, but often seeks seclusion beneath surface cover.
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This Cobra in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MaxPeterson just learned we celebrate venomous animals every Friday! Boy is he happy for the respect! 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. Be sure to tell him you like it here.
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Good things come in small packages, like the Rough Earth Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gdy! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy New Year! May the year bring you fresh life and joy, like this little Gecko in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SA starting out! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This little Caiman in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user roadkill55 is feeling SASSY! Say goodbye to 2019 safely tonight! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Bluish and caramel is just one of the colors of the variable ground snake.
Those among you who think snakes can be identified by color will likely find the profile of this diminutive burrower disconcerting. Having a record length of nearly 19 inches, the nonvenomous and harmless Variable Ground Snake is more typically 10 to 13 inches long. Ranging westward from western Missouri and eastern Texas to southeastern California and northwestern Nevada, this is a grassland/aridland snake that is most often found beneath flat stones and other ground surface debris. It feeds on insects and other small arthropods (ie centipedes, scorpions, spiders, etc.). The ground snake’s head is slightly wider than its neck, a helpful identifying characteristic.
And now for the color—ready for this? First the belly; this is unmarked and may be white, cream, or pale yellow. The underside of the tail may be unmarked or banded. Now to the dorsum. This may be steel gray, tan, fawn, cinnamon or other brownish hues and may be unpatterned, have a brown to reddish dorsal stripe, or have only a darker brown to black head. Or it may have the anterior or even the entire body saddled with broad black markings. As if this were not confusing enough, the back may be cream to rich tan (the sides are usually somewhat lighter) and be saddled with darker gray, brown, blue, or red. The saddles may be few and far between, or many and close together, and may be only on the back or extend far down on the sides.
I guess that by now you can see why the term “variable” is a bit more fitting than “western” for this tiny, harmless, and beneficial snake.
Just as a by the way, this little burrowing snake makes an interesting and hardy, albeit secretive, captive. It usually feeds readily on crickets, waxworms, or tiny caterpillars. So—if you want to keep a pet snake but don’t have room for a large terrarium consider a 10 gallon tank decorated with a few inches of earth and a securely supported flat rock beneath which the snake can hide, and if you have enough light a cactus or other succulent may be added. And don’t forget a flat water dish. Good luck.
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This gorgeous Shinisaurus crocodilurus in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user lavadusch will hopefully be the brightest part of your day! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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There is so much to love about Colubrids, so why not celebrate them with a big ole pile of beauty in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user xtranch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A wonderful field find in Mexico of this Lyre Snake brightens your day in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Chuck_Ch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We hope this Ball Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user toshamc,will bring you a lot of holiday Cheer! From our family to yours, we wish you a safe, healthy and happy holiday! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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One day to get things ready and this gecko is making those light look boring in our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrisvanaken! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Santa’s gecko elves are prepping to load the sleigh in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Geckoranch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Salamandra salamandra is the fire salamander most often available in the pet trade.
Although they are now hard to access in the USA, occasional fire salamanders may be offered in the pet trade. They are, roughly speaking, the Old World ecological equivalent of our ambystomatid species.
Fire salamanders are lovers of coolness, their ranges extending from cool, temperate lowlands to high into the European Alps. They are ovoviviparous, adult females bearing about a dozen gilled, living young in cool shallows. The gills may be prominent and well-developed, or in the perpetual coldness of alpine regions, nearly entirely resorbed at birth.
When keeping and breeding fire salamanders, coolness and cleanliness should be your 2 major concerns (of course this holds true for all caudates). Since salamanders like to burrow, and must be moist, several inches of fresh, damp (NOT WET), unmilled sphagnum moss will adequately provide for their needs. Or if this simple setup is not to your taste, you may prefer to make a naturalistic masterpiece having plantings of mosses, selaginellas, or even readily available potted plants such as vining philodendrons. Flat rocks, and driftwood can then be added to your taste. As with the sphagnum, the substrate should be kept damp, not wet.
Since amphibians absorb their moisture requirements through their skins and mucous membranes, it is unnecessary to provide a drinking dish but this is optional and will be needed, as will temperature cycling, if successful breeding is to occur.
Although it is entirely unlike the newts in appearance, the European fire salamander is a member of the same family, the Salamandridae. There are a number of subspecies (now often considered species) of this terrestrial caudate, their separation being based upon pattern (as well as locality and genetics).
The common fire salamander bears the redundant nomenclature of Salamandra salamandra. Hardly could a more beautiful salamander be imagined. The stocky, six inch length of the fire salamander is clad in glandular black skin highlighted with spots and stripes of intense, metallic, yellow. The head is broad and flattened and a pitted parotoid (nape) gland is present on both sides of the neck. The skin and parotoid secretions of the fire salamander are more toxic than are those of most other salamander species. Although it will not harm you (or them) to handle them gently, wash your hands before rubbing your eyes or putting your finger in your mouth.
Enough said.
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! How stunning is the red on this Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus), uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura ! This Speck was found in Arizona. 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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Kismet thinks Iguanas are better to lead Santa’s Sleigh in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Really! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a festive Tokay in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bloodpython_MA ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Countdown to Christmas! This Green Tree Python is in the holiday spirit in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user toshamc ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We have the proof Santa is a reptile right here in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rosebuds! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A profile of a South Florida boa constrictor.
Boa constrictors? In Florida? Don’t you mean pythons?
Ummmm. No. Believe me, I am well able to separate boas from pythons—even without a field guide in hand.
Unlike the pythons that continually, though inadvertently, grab the headlines, the boas are a quiet snake that has survived in a small section of Miami for close to 60 years. They are so retiring that even in the 1960s when I was avidly searching for them I was able to find only one. They are an easily handled and easily kept snake that has always been a hobbyist favorite. As hobbyists are wont to do, over time, decades actually, and many failed attempts, a number of color morphs have finally been developed and stabilized. Just a few of the 25+ variations now available from herpetoculturists are blood, albino, Arabesque, hypomelanistic, leopard, jungle, and sunglow phases.
The boas in the population being discussed here are of normal color and are the result of animal trade escapees from back as far as the 1950s. More than one subspecies was involved, which fact results today in pretty snakes of muddled subspecific appearance.
Today, after being basically ignored for many years the FWC has decided they should be eradicated and has asked that all found be humanely killed.
The boas are beautiful snakes that are patterned in tans and red with a little black and a little white mixed in. They are adult at 6 to 10 feet in length but are usually closer to the lower figure in that size estimate than the upper.
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This Crotalus tigris, found and photographed in AZ, is keeping her eye on you in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Back in the field as this lovely Fire Salamander takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user NYgaboon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This gorgeous Ctenosaura quinquecarinata is just hanging around in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rockabirdie ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What an awesome frilled dragon in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frilly ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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So precious! We love hatchling photos, like this awakening Gecko in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SA! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Often brown, the Cuban treefrog may change colors in only a few minutes.
Let’s talk Cuban Treefrogs, Osteopilus septentrionalis. These interesting frogs are not only now a very real part of Florida’s unnatural history, but have been for close to 80 years now. And no matter your outlook on their presence, you might as well face the fact that unless Mother Nature herself takes a hand, this frog is here to stay.
The Cuban treefrog is a member of the bony-headed treefrog group. It was introduced to the Florida Keys, probably inadvertently in commerce, in the 1920s. It thrived in its new home but its presence was basically ignored. By the early 1950s the frog populations had outgrown their insular home and had become well established on the southern peninsula. This fact was commented on by herpetologist-researcher, Al Schwartz. By 1958, when I moved to FL comments were being made about the voracious appetite of the Cuban treefrog and laments were heard that it would out compete (it can do so) and eat all of our native hylid frogs (at a 5.5” body length adult females would certainly be capable of eating most native species) and the demise of our natives within the growing range of the Cuban was imminent—totally and completely. But here we are, nearly three quarters of a century later, and this disappearance still hasn’t happened. Populations of native hylids may be somewhat reduced here and there, and we may have some fat Cuban treefrogs, but I can still go to the Everglades or Lake Okeechobee or almost anywhere else and still hear vibrant choruses of green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, and when within their ranges and habitats, of pine woods and barking treefrogs. Compare the statistics with habitat reduction or loss caused by humans and the “damage” caused by Cuban treefrogs is negligible. In fact, it is in disturbed areas that Cuban treefrogs seem most abundant.
Researchers at the Univ. of Florida have this to say about Cuban Treefrogs:
Cuban Treefrogs eat at least five different species of native frogs, not to mention the occasional lizard or small snake, and their tadpoles compete with native tadpoles for space and food. Cuban Treefrogs are common in urban areas, where they hang out near lights on the walls of houses and catch insects. They often poop on walls and windows (leaving ugly stains), take over birdhouses, and lay eggs in fish ponds and bird baths. Sometimes Cuban Treefrogs even find their way into homes, hanging out in toilets and clogging sink drains. Cuban treefrogs grow very large, and are known to cause costly power outages by short-circuiting utility switches. Our native treefrogs are all much smaller, and aren’t known to cause such utility problems.
In other words, the Cuban treefrog is doing exactly what every other treefrog, every other anuran for that matter, does to exist. Asking the same question posed by Rob Macinnis, how long is a species required to live here …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We are seeing red with this gorgeous shot of a Pygmy Rattlesnake our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tamers1 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Does a kingsnake really need an intro for our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user trevid ? Nope, but hey nice grayband. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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