A python, reported to be 20 feet in length, critically injured a pet store owner in Newport Ohio in an apparent feeding mishap. According to media reports store owner Terry Wilkins was feeding the snake when it latched onto his arm and wrapped around his head, neck, and torso. Wilkens was not breathing when officers […]

In what is likely to be the first of a number of reptilian additions the Black Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi, has been added to the USFWS Threatened and Endangered Species List. Found in southwestern Alabama through southeastern Mississippi into eastern Louisiana, Black Pine Snakes are the only melanistic pine snake, ranging in coloration from […]

By Herp News Most people know and love marsupials like kangaroos and koalas, but some members of this infraclass are virtual unknowns — despite facing similar extinction threats — and being just as cute. One example is an underappreciated group of small wallabies called bettongs, rabbit-sized bouncers once widespread across Australia but now reduced to […]

Photo: Eric Sharp, Detroit Free Press Despite being up for consideration of listing on the Endangered Species Act since 1999, the Eastern Massasauga has remained unprotected. Now it appears that will change. Known for their docile nature, the massasauga rattlesnake has it’s greatest known population density in the state of Michigan, but as with most […]

Is it any wonder that Bearded Dragons are still one of the most popular pets in the reptile community? Not when you see this cute guy in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user JFKDragons ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos […]

By Herp News Tackling the illegal trade in wildlife requires tremendous concern for the welfare of other species and a passion for change. Ofir Drori, founder of EAGLE (Eco-Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement), embodies both of these traits. Mongabay recently interviewed Drori about how his organization strives to combat corruption and save species endangered […]

By Herp News HORN sheds light on South Africa’s rhino poaching crisis from a different angle In 2011, filmmaker Dr. Reina-Marie Loader had an unforgettable, close encounter with three rhinoceros in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Dr. Loader was acutely aware rhinoceros poaching rates were increasing in South Africa and, with her experience in documentary […]

By Herp News The shared patterns of gene expression in the limbs and phallus are generated in part by a common set of noncoding DNA, also called ‘elements’ or ‘enhancers,’ which act to control gene expression in both of these structures, argues a new study. These conclusions stemmed from an initial observation that many limb […]

A great shot of a live (as they should be) Pygmy Rattlesnake on concrete in the field in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user JARHEAD1969 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured […]

This is an adult pair of Egyptian tortoises. It was about 35 years ago when Chris invited me to check out a few tiny tortoises that he had just received. They were, he said, Egyptian tortoises, Testudo kleinmanni. I had to do some scrambling to familiarize myself with this taxon but I was able to […]

Photo Credit: Matthew Schlesinger, New York Natural Heritage Program Carl Kauffeld believe there were two very different species of Leopard Frogs, but he did not have the means to prove it. Thankfully we now do! With the help of a geneticist, a team of researchers recently proved Kauffeld’s belief to be true and named the […]

By Herp News The hunters ransack the vulnerable nests of tropical birds in richly biodiverse but poorly patrolled Venezuelan rainforests. Wildlife merchants brazenly display young fledglings, monkeys and other animals, right next to main roads throughout the forest. Many captives will travel a difficult path — an exhausting, often fatal journey covering thousands of miles, […]

By Herp News Scientists have shown, for the first time, what happens when a frog’s tongue makes contact with a surface. They discovered similarities to conventional adhesive tape. Like sticky tape, the tongues form lots of little threads (fibrils) when being removed from a surface, which break one at a time before the contact disconnects. […]

This gorgeous closeup of a Painted Turtle also shows a bit of old fashion home grown cage decor in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user trachemys ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them […]

By Herp News A Pacarana (Dinomys branickii) photographed in a jungle house near Santa Maria, Peru. Photo by Benjamin Frable made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication [dropcap]L[/dropcap]ast October, a TV report from Peru’s Chanchamayo province depicted protesters swarming the streets, raising their voices in unison chanting: “Pepe Lucho is […]

An wonderful shot of this Indigo Snake in the field in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user ACO3124! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: King Snake […]

Photo via Twitter user @MeghanCArnold San Francisco is having an invasion of sorts on their public transit. It seems many owners of Green Iguanas are taking over, bringing their pets on the bus. While we wish it weren’t causing such a stir, looking at these photos, we can certainly understand why! When transporting your reptiles, […]

Finding examples of the Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides) in Kentucky can be quite difficult. On a scale of 1-10 I give them a solid 7.5, perhaps lower if you live in or close to a county where they occur. As for myself, I have to drive over 3 hours each way to be in […]

Meet an upset Mohave rattler. Again came the now familiar cry — “snake!” But this time it was I who noticed the hefty serpent at road edge. Either a western diamondback or a Mohave rattler– and it proved to be a 3 1/2 foot long example of the latter. Jake had been getting a few […]

Photo : Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen/Nature World News Previously thought to be extinct, the first photographs of a live Western Serpentiform skink (Eumecia anchietae) have emerged. In true reptile fashion, it was spotted alongside the road by a tourist in Masai Mara. There is little known of the species because of their extremely reclusive nature […]

By Herp News An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in Itatiba Zoo, Brazil. Photo by João Carlos Medau from Wikimedia Commons. Wild cats — from the small jaguarundi to the large jaguar — are elusive animals. They usually prowl about at night, are difficult to detect, and merge with the background landscape. Researchers often depend on indirect […]

Take 5 and turn your face to the sun today, just like the Frilled Dragon in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read […]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is initiating status reviews for 14 petitions that presented substantial information that the species may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act . The Service will initiate a review of the status of each of the reptile and amphibian species listed below. To ensure that these reviews are comprehensive, […]

By Herp News Scientists have discovered the first ever glow-in-the-dark sea turtle. National Geographic Emerging Explorer David Gruber said he made the discovery mostly by accident: He was filming biofluorescent coral off the coast of the Solomon Islands when the glowing sea turtle swam right by him. The marine biologist captured the turtle on a […]

By Herp News Leopards occur in two forms: spotted and black — the black-coated version being the result of the presence of the dark-colored pigment melanin, a condition known as melanism and the opposite of an albino condition. Previous research determined that only melanistic black leopards likely lived in the forested regions of Southeast Asia […]

By Herp News When we think of what wildness remains on our depleted planet, one place still truly speaks to the human spirit: Africa — site of the last stand of the wondrous Pleistocene megafauna that our forbears largely extinguished across the rest of the world; the final redoubt of the lions, leopards, elephants and […]

Loma Linda University is working closely with researchers to determine whether the proteins can reduce bleeding and swelling during and after brain surgery. The study will last until 2019, but if successful it may impact over 800,000 people in aiding in the recovery after surgery including the reduction of loss of functions that may happen […]

By Herp News Legal ivory items for sale in an accredited shop in Beijing in May, 2009. Photo courtesy of IFAW, International Fund for Animal Welfare. On Friday, September 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to end commercial ivory sales in their countries. In a joint statement,  China and the […]

Hopefully this stunning shot of a Painted Mantella (Mantella baroni) in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Hoosierfrogger starts your week out right! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more […]

Waffles, you near your third year and thus far think yourself a mere tot of a tortoise. Behold, young tortoise, this is the greatest time of your life: you are discovering who you really are. I am here to walk you through this special time as you come full into being one of the greatest […]

From the “don’t be an idiot” files… Stephanie Moore (pictured right), 20, was jailed on a $2,000 bond on a felony warrant on charges of possessing, selling or molesting a marine turtle or eggs nest, according to the Melbourne Police Department’s Facebook page. Moore was arrested after police in Melbourne, on Florida’s Atlantic coast, responded […]

A retired teacher in Winter Park Florida is in an Orlando hospital after being bitten on the hand Thursday by a 20 inch Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica). The reptile owner, a licensed keeper, is expected to recover, and the snake has been secured, as has the rest of his small collection. “It wasn’t as if […]

Check out this gorgeous 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! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more here: King Snake No products […]

By Herp News Vitus Pango and Albogast Mkude harvest honey from a beehive fence in Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Alex Chang’a. This is a story about elephants, bees, trees, and a drink called Amarula. Amarula Cream is a liqueur distilled from the fermented fruit of the marula tree. The trees’ fruit is beloved by humans […]

A stunning shot from Ghana of this Crowned Bullfrog steals the limelight in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Slaytonp ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more […]

Hatchling and juvenile Baird’s rat snakes have prominent saddles “Snake!” Jake had grimmaced as I stopped again to photograph the ever-changing and increasingly beautiful West Texas sunset. Within minutes I was back on the road and traffic was still quite light. We dipped and had started up a gentle incline when a female striped skunk […]

By Herp News Vitus Pango and Albogast Mkude harvest honey from a beehive fence in Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Alex Chang’a. This is a story about elephants, bees, trees, and a drink called Amarula. Amarula Cream is a liqueur distilled from the fermented fruit of the marula tree. The trees’ fruit is beloved by humans […]

By Herp News As if life wasn’t hard enough during the last Ice Age, a new study has found Australia’s first human inhabitants had to contend with giant killer lizards. Researchers working in Central Queensland were amazed when they unearthed the first evidence that Australia’s early human inhabitants and giant apex predator lizards had overlapped. […]

By Herp News Sumatran Rhinoceros photographed in Gunung Leuser National Park (inside Leuser Landscape). Photo courtesy of Leuser International Foundation and the Gunung Leuser National Park Researchers have identified what could be the last safe havens for the Critically Endangered Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), according to a new study published in the journal PLoS One. Only about […]

This American Alligator is peeking out and looking forward to it’s future in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user mwright82 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more Read more […]