Could Australian cane toads be shipped to China for medicinal uses?

From the Daily Mail:

Their venom could be effective in fighting cancer, researchers have discovered, and the potency of Australian cane toad’s venom is stronger than those in China.

This means that potentially millions of toads could be shipped to China, so they could have their venom extracted and turned into medicine, to be sold on the multi-billion dollar traditional medicine market.

Harendra Parekh, from the University of Queensland’s pharmacy department where the research took place, said this discovery could lead to a ‘potentially a very lucrative export market’.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Anyone involved in herpetoculture has seen one of these, or perhaps hundreds of these at reptiles shows stored in rows and rows of deli cups.

They are one of the most popular pet snakes in the world, coming in a variety of color morphs, so many that it’s almost impossible to keep up with all of them. As I write this, there is probably a new morph about to hit the market! However, this particular animal looks its best in its natural form.

I’m talking about a North American species we are all familiar with, the corn snake. The corn snake, Pantherophis guttatus, in its natural form can be somewhat variable in coloration depending on locality, but they all have a subtle beauty. Certain localities, most notably animals from southern South Carolina and South Georgia, can be absolutely stunning and rival any captive morph.

A corn snake’s ground color can range from brown through yellow or orange with large orange or red blotches, which produces an incredibly beautiful snake. In the wild, corn snakes spend much of their time on the ground but they are also excellent climbers, which is useful when raiding bird nests to feed on eggs or baby birds. They also feed on a variety of small mammals including rats, mice, shrews, voles, and even bats!

Hatchling corn snakes usually start out preying on much smaller prey, preferring small lizards and tree frogs. They are particularly found of green anoles and any Hylid tree frog.

Corn snakes are largely nocturnal during hot summer months but can also be seen during cool morning hours and late in the evening. Chances are, if you’re in the right habitat, you’re liable to see a corn snake at any time day or night!

For instance, I found my first wild corn snake stretched across a road at 4:30 a.m. on a warm December morning. It was a beautiful animal clad in yellow, orange, and red. As I approached, the corn snake immediately went into defense mode and began striking wildly. Wild corn snakes will bite and will stand their ground if cornered. They also have a foul smelling musk.

I nicknamed that animal “Thompson” after a store near where he was found. We took a few photographs and sent him on his way. Since then, I’ve found corn snakes from many other regions of the southeast, but I’ll never forget “Thompson”! …read more
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From a tiny range in Texas, the reticulated collared lizard (Crotaphytus reticulatus) seems to be plotting a world-wide reptile take over in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user reptoman!

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By Herp News

Although a large, attractive bird found across Latin America, scientists know almost nothing about the rufous-vented ground cuckoo (Neomorphus geoffroyi). Renzo Piana, the director of science and research with the Amazon Conservation Association, described the bird as “rare,” “cryptic,” “mainly solitary,” and “mostly silent”—much of which explains why so little is known about it.

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Read more here: herpetofauna.com

Do you live in Michigan? You can help the Department of Natural Resources inventory the state’s herps.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The state Department of Natural Resources is inviting people who see turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders and lizards to report the sightings.

Project coordinator Lori Sargent says information is needed on all species, no matter how common or rare.

The Herp Atlas Project is intended to document the distribution of Michigan reptiles and amphibians, collectively known as herpetofauna or “herps.”

Read more here. …read more
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Although eastern glass lizards, Ophisaurus ventralis, live in our yard, finding them on demand is a definite problem. I have never been able to do so yet! When it comes right down to it, whether I’m looking for them in my yard or elsewhere, I seldom succeed – at least on the first try.

There are 4 species of glass lizard (family Anguidae) in the United States. Three of the four, the mimic, the island, and the eastern, are restricted to the Southeastern United States. The fourth, the slender glass lizard, has two subspecies. The eastern subspecies is found from Kentucky and Virginia to Louisiana and Florida. The western subspecies ranges from a disjunct population in Wisconsin to Nebraska (barely) and southward to south Texas and west Louisiana.

Glass lizards are accomplished burrowers. In addition to making their own burrows when substrate is of the proper consistency, they may enter and follow a burrow pre-made by a small rodent or large insect. They also often seek seclusion beneath surface debris.

I have been fortunate enough to have found four eastern glass lizards in our yard, three beneath sheets of tin or plywood and one found about 12 inches below the ground surface while I planted a tree. The island and the mimic glass lizards seem a bit less urbanized and are most often encountered in open sandy woodlands or meadows.

Despite being seldom seen, of the four American taxa in this genus of oviparous lizards, only the mimic glass lizard is considered uncommon.
Continue reading “The hard-to-find glass lizard” …read more
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“Me? I’m just hangin’ out doing snake things in a tree,” is what this wild black rat snake seems to be saying in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user peaceodarock!

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Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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By Herp News

While conducting a bird survey in the Ebo Forest Reserve of Cameroon, Scottish ornithologist Robin Whytock noted two uncommon forest raptors in a camp regularly used by commercial bushmeat hunters. The birds, a crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) and a Cassin’s hawk-eagle (Aquila Africana) were notable sightings not only because they are infrequently spotted. Both raptors were dead, and their stripped carcasses lay discarded on the ground.

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By Herp News

Pets can pass diseases to humans, especially when a pet owner’s immune system is compromised. Here, veterinarians outline ways for families to avoid disease transmission by choosing the right type of pet–or making small changes in the ways they enjoy the pets they already have.

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“Pit viper” a very familiar name to all snake lovers across the world. India is home to 17 species of pit viper; I’m sure this is the largest snake family in the country. One can find pit vipers in all parts of India.

The bamboo pit viper, Trimeresurus gramineus, is the most commonly found pit viper in India. Studies say tree pit vipers are hemotoxic by nature, but their venom is mild compared to the vipers on the land. I guess this might be the reason for excluding pit vipers from the “Indian big four” venomous snakes. There is no proper evidence of any deaths caused by pit viper bite in India, and even I have not come across a case during my research.

The bamboo pit viper is moss-green, yellowish-green, or bright green, with a faint or distinct brown or black pattern on its back. This pattern is darker in juveniles. The head is triangular, flat, and broad, and the eyes have vertical pupils.

Pit-like sensory organs are present between each eye and nostril. Lip scales are yellowish, and the underside is pearl white or yellowish.

Pit vipers are found in hilly forests. They are slow moving, and it vibrates its tail when disturbed and may strike with mouth wide open.

Bamboo pit vipers feed on small mammals, mice, young birds, frogs, and lizards. The maximum length is 3.5 to 4ft. They are viviparous by nature and give birth to 5-15 young ones. A captive female in Maharashtra had given birth to 21 young ones.

As I have mentioned a couple of times in my articles, it’s very difficult to find tree snakes in my area as it’s a concrete jungle, so I never rescued a bamboo pit viper. But because they are somewhat easily found on herpings, I have come across these snakes many times, and these are one of my favourites — as I’ve said before, “I love the shade of green.”

I would thank my friend Riyaz Khoja for allowing me to share these beautiful photographs.
…read more
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Bradley Lawrence of the Dallas Zoo recently gave an interview to KERA news about the zoo’s antivenom supply.

From KERA News:

Interview Highlights: Bradley Lawrence

… on the Dallas Zoo’s stockpile of antivenom: “The reptile department goes back quite a while especially in the ’80s. We were pretty groundbreaking in research and learning how to take of all these exotic reptiles from around the world. Dallas was definitely groundbreaking at the time and we’ve continued it since then.”

Listen to the whole interview here. …read more
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This Leucocephalon yuwonoi looks as displeased as we are that it’s Monday in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user andystorts!

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By Herp News

A hundred thousand African elephants were killed by poachers for their ivory between 2010 and 2012. Now a new threat looms: a growing wildlife trade in baby animals to satisfy international tourism. Zimbabwe has reportedly taken 80 elephant calves from their mothers and families in the wild, and is currently holding them in two heavily guarded facilities in Hwange National Park and near Victoria Falls. The baby animals await transport overseas for sale to unidentified buyers, possibly in China or other countries, says the international elephant rights organization, Global Action Ending Wild Capture (GAEWC).

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By Herp News

It seems unnatural that a species could survive without having sex. Yet over the ages, evolution has endowed females of certain species of amphibians, reptiles and fish with the ability to clone themselves, and perpetuate offspring without males. Researchers have found that in species where females have evolved the ability to reproduce without males relatively recently, fertilization is still ensuring the survival of the maximum number of healthy offspring and thus males are still needed.

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The Günther’s racer, Coluber gracilis , (non-venomous), is one of the species of racer snakes found in India.

It is named after the great German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist Albert Günther.

Racer snakes are known for their speed and quickness; the Günther’s racer is also known for his beautiful appearance, with large eyes having round pupils, and grayish-brown body with narrow, black-edged yellow bands.

These bands are darker toward the head and lighter toward the tail. The head can be distinctively identified with a black-edged yellow inverted ‘V’ mark. The underside is white.

An average size of Günther’s racer that I’ve been familiar with was 30-50cms long. This beautiful, fast snake lives under dried leaves or stones and feeds on geckos and skinks. It is viviparous by nature and lays 4-7 eggs during May and June.

I’ve only had the opportunity to rescue these beautiful snakes three times. When I got the call about Günther’s racer, it was from someone I knew telling me a tiny snake entered her office. She even sent me its picture online, but before I had a look at the picture I was planning to transfer the call to another rescuer because the place was around 20 miles away. However, the picture was very helpful for me to recognize it was a Günther’s racer.

I decided to rescue this tiny creature myself, as it is very rare to find one. It was a very delightful rescue, as it was an average sized Günther’s racer which helped me a lot in my research as well.

Photo: Riyav Khoja
…read more
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Time to crack a cold one and celebrate the weekend. This A. c. contortrix is already a step ahead of us in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user AlexNevgloski! p.s. Always pick up the trash you see in the field.

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By Herp News

Frogs may flee from a ground predator and move towards an aerial predator, undercutting the flight path.

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By Herp News

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used in food storage products and resins that line plastic beverage containers. Often, aquatic environments become reservoirs for BPA, and turtle habitats are affected. Now, a collaboration of researchers has determined that BPA can alter a turtle’s sexual differentiation. Scientists are concerned findings could indicate harmful effects on environmental and human health.

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As a herping youngster in New England, I eventually found several eastern milk snakes. On my first trip to the New Jersey Pine Barrens with my mentor, Gordy Johnston, I had seen several Coastal Plains milk snakes Asa Pittman’s, an at erstwhile dealer. But a drawing I saw of the southeastern scarlet kingsnake, (then Lampropeltis doliata doliata, now Lampropeltis elapsoides, but for a very long time between these two names it was known as Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides) ran continually through my young mind.

I finally met a scarlet kingsnake, again with Gordy, but this time in southeastern South Carolina at a place called Okeetee. Our encounter with the scarlet kingsnake might have been on our very first trip to Okeetee. If not then, it was on our second.

At the partially shaded edge of an otherwise sunny field, a long dead pine had toppled. Probably before its impact the bark had loosened in large sheets, and after impact had loosened even more. Bark had broken free in patches and fallen to the ground beneath the trunk. Other patches had merely loosened and were still lying atop or wrapped around the trunk.

Beneath one of these patches, I found the most beautiful snake I had until then seen – a 12 inch long scarlet king!

Since then I have seen dozens more but only this one, and the largest (a 25 inch monster found years later in central Florida), remain so firmly etched in memory.
Continue reading “You never forget your first scarlet kingsnake” …read more
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UK herp lovers are encouraged to create wildlife ponds to shelter newts.

From Express & Echo:

The Smooth Newt is the species most commonly encountered in garden ponds and we can all do our bit to help them, as Dr Wilkinson explains.

“Everyone can help by having a small, or large garden pond populated by native aquatic plants and kept free of fish which will eat young newts,” he said.

Amorous amphibians are a key part of UK springtime, so this year why not forgo the frogs and instead nurture a newt by digging a wildlife pond.

Read more here. …read more
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Speckles are always better than freckles. Just ask this Crotalus mitchellii in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user simus!

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Speckles are always better than freckles. Just ask this Crotalus mitchellii in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user simus!

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Frankie is a one-hundred and five pound potential disaster when ever he sets himself in motion….or refuses to get into motion. Frankie targets are walls, buckets, ceramic pots, door steps, cricket containers, boxes, and regretfully, more personal objects like my fingers, toes, shins, back, muscles, tendons, etc., or in general, ME.

I sport numerous Frankie related injuries. I once dropped Frankie on my middle left finger crushing it so bad that neighbors now know the extent of my cussing vocabulary. I ripped four inches of shin falling over a Frankie barrier one winter. One summer, Frankie dug those hard front leg spurs into my bare skin when attempting to reach a carrot leaving me with a vampire like scar on my leg.

Believing myself a clever person, I continually attempt to find better ways to transport and move him without the risk of injury. I’ve bought four different and varying sizes of carts as he grew but they are completely useless as it requires that Frankie be placed on top which I cannot do without a second person to help me lift Frankie.

I have considered marrying a second weight-lifting husband but multiple husbands is still against the law in Alabama. Drat.

Recently I started using straps especially when walking Frankie in case I need to “redirect” Frankie in the right direction. Frankie has a very bad habit of deciding his own direction regardless of potential risk, like walking in the middle of a road.

The strap goes under his front shell just behind his two front feet. The strap works pretty good as I can lift Frankie to rotate him left or right with just a little bit of effort.

Good turtle friends, Michal and Greta, stopped by here a few weeks ago. Like to say they wanted to visit me but let’s be honest: Frankie is the big personality here at this house. They wanted to see Frankie and headed to the back yard within five minutes of arriving.

On the agenda was taking Frankie on a Big Walk. Frankie has not been on a Big Walk in a long time. It’s just too hard for me to navigate the ever growing Frankie by myself even with the strap. Three people taking Frankie on a walk sounded oh-so-easy: three navigators, three to watch for cars, three to pick up Frankie in a pinch.

Frankie did not oblige our guests. First thing Frankie did once down the drive way was to stop and eat grass in the front yard and he wasn’t going to stop eating grass because he hadn’t seen that much grass since Fall. Frankie wasn’t going anywhere. No Big Walk. Frankie didn’t care. Frankie stuffed himself.

Oh, getting him to return to the back yard was near impossible once he discovered where all the …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times

By Herp News

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan must halt its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean as it found no evidence that the killing of hundreds of Antarctic minke whales was scientifically justified. The ruling sent Japan scrambling for a new plan to continue its ‘scientific’ whale hunt. But, now an expert panel has rebuked Japan’s latest plan as well.

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By Herp News

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan must halt its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean as it found no evidence that the killing of hundreds of Antarctic minke whales was scientifically justified. The ruling sent Japan scrambling for a new plan to continue its ‘scientific’ whale hunt. But, now an expert panel has rebuked Japan’s latest plan as well.

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By Herp News

Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Japan must halt its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean as it found no evidence that the killing of hundreds of Antarctic minke whales was scientifically justified. The ruling sent Japan scrambling for a new plan to continue its ‘scientific’ whale hunt. But, now an expert panel has rebuked Japan’s latest plan as well.

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Read more here: herpetofauna.com

Typically, when people think about the garter snakes, the first member of the genus they think of is the eastern garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis.

This member of the Thamnophis genus is quite common and has a broad range here in North America with many color phases. They can be found in just about any habitat that has a water source where there typical prey of frogs, toads, and other amphibians can be found, and are often found in backyards, gardens, city parks, and other suburban areas.

However, there is another subspecies of garter snake, the blue striped garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis similis) that is far less common, has a much smaller range and in my opinion is a very beautiful snake. The blue striped garter snake, as its name implies, is a dark colored snake, almost black, with a distinct blue stripe on both sides of its body and sometimes a faint blue dorsal stripe.

This subspecies lives in coastal regions of the eastern Florida panhandle and down trough the Big Bend down the Gulf Coast. It is often found in marshes and even in salt marsh habitat where its principle prey is also small amphibians like frogs, toads, tree frogs, and even aquatic salamanders.

We recently discovered a large female blue striped garter snake while hiking a trail in North Florida. They are are a very beautiful species to see in person. This one was basically black with neon blue stripes. She had been basking in the open when we spotted her so she was fast and alert and was not easy to collect for photographs, but after a few minutes of chasing her through vine tangles, briars, a saw palmetto, and even a couple of cactus, we were able to secure her for a few photographs.

She showed her displeasure by repeatedly biting my herping partner and smearing him with an extremely pungent musk. It was all worth it, of course, to be able to get pictures of such an incredibly beautiful and not so common garter snake! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Some costly antivenoms may soon be replaced by opossum blood.

From Chemistry World:

But treatments are costly and inaccessible for many people. Most antivenoms are made by injecting dilute venom into a mammal, such as a horse or rabbit. This results in an immune response, and the animal’s serum is then processed so that it can be injected into snakebite victims to scavenge toxic molecules in their blood. Such treatments typically cost $100-150 (£60-100) per dose, a prohibitive price for many people in developing countries.

But a team led by Claire Komives from San Jose State University has identified a protein from the blood of opossums – animals known for their ability to survive snake bites – that can be produced in large quantities by engineered bacteria, and shows promise as an antivenom.

In studies carried out on venom-exposed mice, those that were given just the venom died within 12 hours, while those that received the same amount of venom but were treated with the opossum peptide exhibited no ill effects. ‘Basically, the venom was completely neutralised,’ explains Komives, who was speaking at the 249th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Denver, US. The peptide could protect the mice from the venoms of western diamondback rattlesnakes and Russell’s vipers.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Some costly antivenoms may soon be replaced by opossum blood.

From Chemistry World:

But treatments are costly and inaccessible for many people. Most antivenoms are made by injecting dilute venom into a mammal, such as a horse or rabbit. This results in an immune response, and the animal’s serum is then processed so that it can be injected into snakebite victims to scavenge toxic molecules in their blood. Such treatments typically cost $100-150 (£60-100) per dose, a prohibitive price for many people in developing countries.

But a team led by Claire Komives from San Jose State University has identified a protein from the blood of opossums – animals known for their ability to survive snake bites – that can be produced in large quantities by engineered bacteria, and shows promise as an antivenom.

In studies carried out on venom-exposed mice, those that were given just the venom died within 12 hours, while those that received the same amount of venom but were treated with the opossum peptide exhibited no ill effects. ‘Basically, the venom was completely neutralised,’ explains Komives, who was speaking at the 249th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Denver, US. The peptide could protect the mice from the venoms of western diamondback rattlesnakes and Russell’s vipers.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Poised and ready to make a sideways retreat this Crotalus cerastes shows us it’s beauty in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Ryan-reptilian!

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By Herp News

60 captive-raised Myanmar roofed turtles—a species once thought extinct—have been released into their native habitat in Myanmar, conservationists report. The Myanmar roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata) was believed extinct until 2001, when two researchers found a single shell from a recently killed turtle at a village along the Dokhtawady River. Subsequently, live individuals were discovered at a wildlife market in China and in the ponds of a pagoda in Mandalay. These turtles formed the nucleus of the captive assurance colony which was established.

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By Herp News

A tortoise called Charles Darwin munches his way through a ribbon of rocket lettuce to officially open a new science laboratory at the University of Lincoln.

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By Herp News

The last time there was a sighting of Bouvier’s red colobus disco was all the rage, the Internet was non-existent, and Madonna still referred solely to the mother of God. But then the African monkey vanished and conservationists feared it had gone extinct—a victim of the bushmeat trade. For years, research groups called for an expedition to find out if Bouvier’s red colobus still survived.

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There are several snake species in Amazonia that undergo extreme color changes as they progress from hatchling/neonate to adulthood.

The orange to green color changes of two, the two species of emerald tree boa, are well known. However, there is a lesser known species, the rusty whipsnake, Chironius scurrulus (a colubrine) about which you seldom hear, that undergoes color changes as great as, but exactly the opposite of, those of the boas.

This slender snake, adult at over six feet in length, is leaf green and largely arboreal as a hatchling. Predominantly terrestrial (actually a largely river-edge, frog eater that swims well and fast) it is rusty brown as an adult. Between these two color extremes the snake appears more faded, a rather nondescript greenish-gray and then grayish-red.

It is a species that we always enjoy finding on our Amazonian Peru tours.

But enough talk. Meet the rusty whipsnake.
Continue reading “The color shifting whipsnake” …read more
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Human and other primates may have evolved keen eyesight to detect dangerous snakes.

From NPR:

In a new paper published in the journal Primates, author William C. McGrew, a former professor of evolutionary primatology at the University of Cambridge, reports a high rate of venomous snake encounters by his team of primatologists seeking to observe unhabituated wild chimpanzees in Mount Assirik, Senegal, West Africa.

McGrew’s snake-encounter analysis in the paper Snakes as hazards: modelling risk by chasing chimpanzees is one test of what’s known as the snake-detection theory of primate origins, a set of hypotheses that suggest we (along with other primates) owe certain features of our evolution to the risks posed by death and injury from snakes.

During the 609 days that make up the core period of the analysis, McGrew and his team encountered a snake in Assirik, on average, once every 4.3 days — totaling 132 snake encounters. During the entire study period of four years, 142 snakes of 14 different species were identified. Of these, 64 percent were venomous: 33 cobras, 27 vipers and 24 rear-fanged snakes.

Read more here. …read more
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We continue our week of love for all that rattles with this perfectly poised Crotalus viridis in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user akcoldbliss!

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By Herp News

A cat-eating species of monitor lizard, originally from Africa, is creating a havoc in Florida. The state wildlife officials are taking steps to locate and completely eliminate the Nile monitor from the state — particularly along the canals in North Miami — since the creature is posing a danger to the state wildlife. The impact of the five-feet-long, mottle brown, yellow or olive coloured …

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By Herp News

Conservationists have brought the Myanmar roofed turtle, the world's second most endangered turtle, back from the brink

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Recently India has been facing a lot of weather and climatic changes. Sometimes it’s really hot in winter and sometimes it rains in summer. I usually avoid herping during the summers as the climate is very hot and humid, and the forests are dried up to a certain extent.

In my city, it rained many times in March. A group of herpetologist friends and I decided to go herping in some nearby hills. Four of us were all set for herping.

Me and my group of friends have been into rescuing, conservation, and study of snakes for the past five years, and all of them are part of a new generation of Indian reptile hobbyists. So I would like to introduce them: Akshay Parahalkar (Axy), metalhead and a snake rescuer and studying reptiles; Anirudh Rathod, a newcomer who has been doing great work in snake rescuing; Riyaz Khoja, who I mentioned in my previous article, a very good wildlife photographer and snake rescuer who always helps me with his magnificent photographs for my articles.

So coming back to my story, we started herping at 7 AM so we could see some of our reptilian friends basking in the sun. It did not take much time to find one.

Axy and Anirudh were the ones to spot this amazing snake called the common bronzeback tree snake, Dendrelaphis tristis, one of the beautiful tree snakes of India. The common bronzeback is thin and long with flat elongated head and large eyes with round pupils. A brown or bronze stripe runs along top of body from head to tail. The underside is yellowish, bluish-green, or light green.The upper lip scales are light yellow.The size varies from 3.5 ft to 5.5 ft, and is viviparous by nature.

After finding this beauty, Riyaz clicked these beautiful photographs and we continued with our herping.

Photos: Riyaz Khoja …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

In the beginning gods created lizard-man and man. Then lizard-man learned magic, and things pretty much go downhill from there in Son of Nor . Read more…

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