Black-tailed prairie dog burrows scar the landscape. Stop for a moment while driving through Wind Cave National Wildlife Refuge in the Black Hills during the hours of daylight and a dozen or more prairie dogs will come running in hope of a handout. Look both ways before you begin driving again because a curious bison […]

A newly approved rattlesnake antivenom is being tested in Arizona. From KVOA.com: The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson and the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix will be conducting a study to find the most effective way to […]

A newly approved rattlesnake antivenom is being tested in Arizona. From KVOA.com: The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson and the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix will be conducting a study to find the most effective way to […]

What a great shot! Check out this close up of the eye of the dragon (a bearded one that is) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mecdwell! Be sure to tell mecdwell you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see […]

This Arizona mountain king is getting ready for a change in wardrobe in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nategodin! Be sure to tell nategodin 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: […]

By Herp News Authorities in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra buried the rotting carcass of a critically endangered female tiger that died after being ensnared by a pig trap on a rubber plantation earlier this month. The creature, a mother who was probably teaching her young to hunt, was found covered in wounds, its […]

The International Herpetological Symposium is creeping closer to its 38th annual event in San Antonio,Texas. Guest speakers include Tom Crutchfield on his Sal Salvador rock iguana conservation efforts and Jeff Barringer on night-time field herping. I can barely contain my excitement. IHS plays an important role as a place herpetoculturists and herpers can come together, […]

Water management plans are making it difficult for alligators to find prey. From the Sun Sentinel: The Everglades alligators appear to be suffering from the artificial water management imposed on the area to drain land for cities and farms, he said. Before the canals and pumps and other structures went up over the past century, […]

Baby shots are always a favorite! This Lampropeltis triangulum gaigeae grabs its first breath in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nategodin! Be sure to tell nategodin 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 […]

By Herp News The original snake ancestor was a nocturnal, stealth-hunting predator that had tiny hindlimbs with ankles and toes, according to new research. Snakes show incredible diversity, with over 3,400 living species found in a wide range of habitats, such as land, water and in trees. But little is known about where and when […]

The London Zoo has become the first zoo in the world to successfully breed an incredibly rare Lake Oku clawed frog. From the Irish Examiner: The Lake Oku clawed frog is native to only Lake Oku in Cameroon and, due to their unique history of evolution (including the loss of their tongues), the aquatic frogs […]

The London Zoo has become the first zoo in the world to successfully breed an incredibly rare Lake Oku clawed frog. From the Irish Examiner: The Lake Oku clawed frog is native to only Lake Oku in Cameroon and, due to their unique history of evolution (including the loss of their tongues), the aquatic frogs […]

In many areas where once common, the smooth green snake, Opheodrys vernalis, seem to have become hard to find. In various areas where I have searched – Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, West Virginia, South Dakota, and New Mexico among them – in locales where the taxon was known to have once been fairly common, I have […]

This yearling Okeetee corn snake is just hanging out doing snake things, like climbing a tree, in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran! Be sure to tell cochran you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read […]

By Herp News The Mandarin Oriental hotel chain has landed in environmentalists’ crosshairs for the practices of its sister company Astra Agro Lestari, a rapidly expanding palm oil producer with fully developed plantations on an area larger than Singapore. The new She’s Not a Fan campaign – a play off Mandarin’s celebrity-fan endorsement drive – […]

Conservationists are working to make sure Florida has a great turtle season this year, and are on the lookout for green turtles. From news-press.com: Kelly Sloan, sea turtle program coordinator Sanibel/Captiva Conservation Foundation, also has plans to make this a good year for turtles. “Coyotes are a problem,” Sloan explained. “We are going to attempt […]

Conservationists are working to make sure Florida has a great turtle season this year, and are on the lookout for green turtles. From news-press.com: Kelly Sloan, sea turtle program coordinator Sanibel/Captiva Conservation Foundation, also has plans to make this a good year for turtles. “Coyotes are a problem,” Sloan explained. “We are going to attempt […]

I’ve been rescuing snakes and other animals for a long time now, and I’m very well aware of the species found in my area. Nonetheless, my last rescue really surprised me. Two days ago, somewhere around 7 PM or half past, I received a rescue call from a nearby area where I had rescued common […]

Not just any pine snake, but a pied black pine, gets the spotlight in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pikiemikie! Be sure to tell pikiemikie 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 […]

A Salmonella outbreak in 16 states linked to Crested Geckos has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though usually associated with turtles, salmonella in it’s various sub-types is found in all reptiles and amphibians and this outbreak is a reminder to all that proper hygiene is required after handling any reptile […]

A salmonella outbreak in 16 states, linked to crested geckos, has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although usually associated with turtles, salmonella in its various sub-types is found in all reptiles and amphibians. This outbreak is a reminder to all that proper hygiene is required after handling any reptile or […]

By Herp News Market prices can provide an equally reliable indicator of wildlife declines as field data for a thirtieth of the price, according to a new study analyzing Sumatra’s pet bird trade. The researchers found that species that were increasing in price but decreasing in trade volume were likely to have been identified by […]

The white-lipped pit viper, Trimeresurus albolabris, is one of the most common species of pit vipers found in southeastern parts of Asia, which includes some northern states of India. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, India is home to 17 species of pit viper; among these 17, the white-lipped pit viper is […]

Our Herp Video of the Week shares a herper named Zach and his Valentine’s Day find of a bundle of ringneck snakes in the Bay Area. 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 Read […]

This Phyllomedusa hypocondrialis is hanging on til the weekend in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Herpetologia! Be sure to tell Herpetologia 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 […]

By Herp News Trophy hunters may need to find another flight home, as South African Airlines (SAA) has announced a new ban on any wildlife trophies from their flights. The debate over trophy hunting in Africa is rising as many of the continent’s most beloved mammals—including lions, elephants, rhinos, and giraffes—face precipitous declines. Go to […]

Awareness! There was such a thing as a horned frog, and a giant one at that. My first awareness of this genus of frogs occurred at about 7 years old as I was, with parents, riding the rails – the rails of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford – home from New York. We […]

Recently discovered Brazilian frogs create underwater chambers to mate. From the Daily Mail: And when it comes to mating, this family of frogs has a unique trait not seen in other frogs. They typically like to live near fast streams and, if a pair decides to mate, they will spend five minutes searching for a […]

Simply beautiful is the only way to describe this Mitchell’s reed frog (Hyperolius mitchelli) taking center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user arkherps! Be sure to tell arkherps you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! […]

By Herp News Indonesian researchers believe they have identified six new animal species in the newly declared Mount Tambora National Park on the island of Sumbawa. Their haul includes two bent-toed geckoes, two moths and and two amblypygids, a type of arachnid that resembles a scorpion crossed with a spider. Go to Source …read more […]

Spend Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday laid out on my back with excruciating back pain and muscle spasms. I was so seriously incapacitated that I was unable to pick up socks from the floor because if I was foolish enough to lean over involuntary screams could make my neighbor think I was being murdered by […]

By Herp News In the first four months of 2015, poachers killed 393 rhinos in South Africa, the epicenter of the rhino poaching crisis. This is an 18 percent rise from last year, which saw 1,215 rhinos butchered in total. Like previous years, the biggest hotspot was Kruger National Park where 290 rhinos have died […]

Balls of tar have washed ashore on a Malaysian beach known for its nesting green turtles. From the Star Online: Lang Tengah Turtle Watch co-founder Raphe van Zevenbergen said he noticed clumps of tar balls washing up ashore along the 15m-stretch beach and immediately lodged a report with the marine park authorities. “So far, we […]

There is nothing common about these common frogs (Rana temporaria) taking the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the Day , uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch! Be sure to tell Krallenfrosch 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 […]

After a long, hard fight against cancer, former New Mexico state herpetologist Charlie Painter succumbed to the disease early this morning. His wife and partner, Lori King Painter, said, “Charlie lived his life with everything fiber of his being, and did not want to leave the world that he loved so much.” Charlie’s contributions to […]

By Herp News On a path flanked by thick woods, I first spied our quarry. When she appeared, far away between the long verticals of bare trees, I could hardly believe she was there. She was a ghost, a specter haunting this winter forest. Her horns were prettily curved, her face slender, her whole 400 […]

By Herp News A new study published in mongabay.com’s open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science describes how the Harapan Rainforest was prior to extensive logging and compares it to its current condition. The authors call for the Harapan’s conservation because it is still very rich in species and holds rare habitats and many endemic plants. Go […]

By Herp News Poison dart frogs (Dendropatidae), named for their poisonous secretions used by indigenous tribes to coat blow gun darts, may possess another less deadly talent. According to a recent study, published in the journal Biology Letters, the curiously named brilliant-thighed poison frog (Allobatis femoralis) can use its memory to find its way home […]

Kenny and I agreed that it was a long way from North Central Florida to southwest South Dakota just to try to see one little snake, so time and again we delayed the attempt. But finally the time seemed right. We were planning a salamandering trip that would take us along most of the Pacific […]

This rundown of snake fact and fiction may change some minds about the reptiles. From Live Science: Snakes play important roles in ecosystems, but they also terrify some people. That fear has led to many myths about snake behavior. To get to the bottom of some of the assumptions about snakes in the United States […]