By Herp News
The chytrid fungus, which is fatal to amphibians, has been detected in Madagascar for the first time. This means that the chytridiomycosis pandemic has now reached a biodiversity hotspot. Researchers are therefore proposing an emergency plan. This includes monitoring the spread of the pathogenic fungus, building amphibian breeding stations and developing probiotic treatments, say the scientists.
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Last weekend saw the annual British Royal Pigeon Racing Association show in Blackpool. The show attracts around 15,000 visitors, with over 100 trade stands and around 3,000 animals. It’s the biggest pigeon show in the calendar and, as far as we are aware, it went off without a hitch.
But this is a reptile site, so why am I telling you this? Because at the same time as the pigeon show was happening, the UK reptile show scene is preparing for a landmark legal case to determine if reptile shows are legal.
The Federation of British Herpetologists, representing the interests of reptile societies and hobbyists, is confident that the judicial review will be a good thing for the hobby regardless of the outcome.
Should the review find in favour of the shows then this will be a major blow to the extremist animal rights organizations who wish to see the shows banned. Should the review go against the hobby, then government will be under enormous pressure to revise the loophole in the outdated legislation in British law which makes the legality of shows ambiguous. It is hoped that the shows will eventually be licensed as this will vindicate local authorities who are pressured into stopping the shows by animal rights campaigners.
Reptile shows are a hugely beneficial network facilitating the sharing of expertise. Many respected animal welfare organizations recommend hobbyists buy their animals directly from a reputable breeder, and these shows provide the best opportunity to achieve that aim. These shows and relationships help to advance the hobby.
More worryingly, should reptile shows be banned then the ruling would likely be rolled out to cover all vertebrate animals – dogs, cats, fish, rabbits and pigeons included. Then where would we be? …read more
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By Herp News
The Akron Zoo has announced the passing of a female Galapagos tortoise, Azul. Azul passed away on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Azul was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas on June 23, 1989.
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Looking hopeful that spring’s around the corner, this wood turtle will bring a smile to your face in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kensopher!
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Although actually of Eurasian distribution, this hefty glass lizard is often referred to as the European Glass Lizard.
Commonly an unmarked light to dark brown overall, occasional examples are lighter with variable patterns of a darker brown. Hatchlings are gray with irregular darker banding. It may grow to 3 feet or slightly longer when an adult.
Although never of great hobbyist interest, it seems that there has always been a few of these brown glass lizards with the strongly keeled scales available in the pet trade. Prices have always been reasonable. For example, I just checked the Kingsnake.com classified section for “Other Lizards” and there are 2 ads for these interesting lizards asking $75.00 each.
Sadly (and perhaps strangely) there are very few O. apodus bred in captivity. Availability has always dependent on wild collected imports. This renders the availability of this taxon vulnerable to changing and ever more restrictive laws.
I would hope that we won’t allow the availability of this interesting lizard to go the way of the Basin emerald tree boa or the Colombian horned frog, only 2 of many one-time common species that are now very difficult to find in the pet trade.
Continue reading “Raise your glass lizard” …read more
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85 million year old aquatic reptile fossils were found in Israel, a reminder of a time when Israel was covered in water.
From the Jerusalem Post:
“This is the first time that a fossilized animal like this has been found in Israel during this period,” she said. “It’s very rare for an animal like this to be fossilized.”
Researchers found roughly 30 fossilized remnants of the reptile known as the Elasmosaurus, which Ashckenazi- Polivoda described as the “cousin of dinosaurs.” It was 8 meters long, with its elongated neck constituting a third of its body, she said.
“The most exciting thing is that this is the first time that a single species’ bones [of this type] were found in the same place here,” she added. “We’ve found similar fossils from 10 million years later, but never during this time.”
Read more here. …read more
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This gorgeous eyelash viper is just hanging around waiting for the weekend in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user outonalimbo!
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This garter snake found by the Provo River is looking forward to the weekend in our herp photo of the day,uploaded by kingsnake.com user Utahn!
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By Herp News
Hacking group Lizard Squad claimed credit for the attacks on microblogging service Twitter. Lenovo said attackers breached the domain name system associated with Lenovo and redirected visitors to lenovo.com to another address, while also intercepting internal company emails. Lizard Squad posted an email exchange between Lenovo employees discussing Superfish.
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By Herp News
Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally, save the world’s lemurs from mass extinction. Costing just $7.6 million, the plan focused on setting up better protections in 30 lemur hotspots. However, there was one sticking point: donating to small programs in one of the world’s poorest countries was not exactly user friendly.
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As the name itself describes, the vine snake, Ahaetulla nasuta, is a tree-reliant snake that camofluages itself as a vine in foliage. There are five species of vine snake found in india amongst which the green vine snake is most commonly found.
The green vine snake has a thin and long body that is expanded when disturbed to show a black and white scale marking otherwise hidden under the scales. The head is elongated and pointed, which appears like a leaf shape having attractive golden yellow eyes with black horizontal pupils.
The body colour is bright or dark green with a bluish tint in exceptional cases. The ventral side is separated by two white lines in the greenish dorsal under side .In an adult green vine snake, size varies from 150 to 200 cmThe green vine snake is viviparous by nature.
Vine snakes are found across the world including the South American and African continents. Most of the places it is called a whip snake.
I never got a chance to rescue this species because my area is a “concrete jungle,” full of buildings, but I’ve come across vine snakes while herping. One fine morning in the jungles of Goa, I was herping for some vine snakes and pit viper snakes through the green trees and cool breeze.
Although it was a sunny morning, I could not find anything. Then I took a few steps back and realized I’d missed something due to the previous night’s booze effect, and I saw a vine snake hiding himself in the green leaves. It was almost 7am and indeed a good start.
Vine snakes are a perfect example of nature’s beauty. Many of my friends call it “a snake from a different planet” because of its appearance, which makes it look different from other snakes. For me, “Green is my favourite colour and vine snake is my favourite creature in green.”
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By Herp News
THERE are currently 11 snakes who are living at the SSPCA Cardonald centre and are hoping to find their forever homes with experienced owners.
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Years of studying redtail coral venom has finally paid off.
From Johns Hopkins:
For more than a decade, a vial of rare snake venom refused to give up its secret formula for lethality; its toxins had no effect on the proteins that most venoms target.
It comes from a reclusive redtail coral snake, or Micrurus mipartitus, which is primarily found in Costa Rica and parts of South America.
But recently, an international team of researchers figured out the venom’s recipe—a toxin that permanently activates a crucial type of nerve cell protein, causing deadly seizures in prey. The details were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
Read more here. …read more
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Years of studying redtail coral venom has finally paid off.
From Johns Hopkins:
For more than a decade, a vial of rare snake venom refused to give up its secret formula for lethality; its toxins had no effect on the proteins that most venoms target.
It comes from a reclusive redtail coral snake, or Micrurus mipartitus, which is primarily found in Costa Rica and parts of South America.
But recently, an international team of researchers figured out the venom’s recipe—a toxin that permanently activates a crucial type of nerve cell protein, causing deadly seizures in prey. The details were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.
Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Hump day blues kicking in? This leopard gecko hatching in our herp photo of the day is the new beginning we need to make it the rest of the week, uploaded by kingsnake.com user alkee42!
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By Herp News
Biodiversity, including small predators such as dragonflies and other aquatic bugs that attack and consume parasites, may improve the health of amphibians, according to a team of researchers. Amphibians have experienced marked declines in the wild around the world in recent decades, the team added.
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By Herp News
NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — A sea turtle that was rescued from frigid Northwest waters and treated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium has caught a ride back to California on a Coast Guard training flight.
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By Herp News
Rescued sea turtle Solstice catching ride from Oregon to California on Coast Guard flight
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By Herp News
FAMILIES will soon be able to get up close with snakes, lizards and tortoises after plans for a huge reptile house were unveiled.
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By Herp News
The fossil of a prehistoric 9-foot-long carnivorous reptile that had sharp, serrated teeth is helping researchers fill out the early branches of the reptile family tree, according to a new study.
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By Herp News
London, Feb 24 (ANI): A Russian councilor has claimed that President Vladimir Putin is controlled by 'reptile aliens' who have also been advising him on the ongoing Ukraine conflict. According to Daily Star, Simon Parkes, the Labour councillor, who represents Whitby in North Yorkshire, believes the reptiles, named the “The Nordics”, are said to be advising the Russian leader on steps to take …
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By Herp News
Shane McConnell, Little Rays Reptile Zoo director of marketing and sponsorship, let a visitor hold a tarantula during the Wildlife Festival held at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall on Feb. 18.
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By Herp News
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — A baby caiman has found a new home at a Lithuanian zoo after its previous owner tried to sell it online, apparently upon realizing that the pet reptile he was raising in his bathroom wasn't a harmless lizard.
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By Herp News
A baby caiman has found a new home at a Lithuanian zoo after its previous owner tried to sell it online, apparently upon realizing that the pet reptile he was raising in his bathroom wasn't a harmless lizard.
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By Herp News
The Alberta SPCA says they’ve found a new home for dozens of cold-blooded critters from a Drumheller zoo.
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By Herp News
Lizards and other reptiles are not normally considered venomous, but a number of lizard species actually do produce and use venom. The most classic venomous lizard is no doubt the gila monster — a heavy-bodied lizard. As the first in the world, a group of researchers has made a comprehensive description of the proteins in the venom which can prove to be relevant in connection with developing …
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Since I live in Gainesville, Florida, and since blue and orange is the official color scheme of the University of Florida football team the Gators, it is only reasonable to think that I’m writing about football. And if I gave a twit about the game, perhaps I would be.
But the blue and orange I’m thinking of is found from Charlotte and Brevard counties southward to the tip of the peninsula. They are the breeding colors of the males of a fast moving, very agile, introduced lizard. Known as the red headed agama, Agama agama africana, the dominant males of this African pet trade lizard actually have a bright orange head that contrasts sharply with the deep blue body coloration.
Non-breeding males may be only slightly more colorful than the olive-gray females.
It was more than 2 decades ago that the South African subspecies of this lizard, Agama a. agama, (identified by an all blue-green tail) was first found to be feral in Florida. It is not known whether cold weather extirpated this taxon from Florida or whether it interbred with and was out-competed by the West African form (identified by a tricolored blue-orange-black tail) that is now present in the state.
The red headed agama may be seen on bridge abutments, old buildings, and ornamental exposed rocks in gardens and fences. It is quick to notice any movement that it considers threatening and quickly retreats to safety.
Pretty? Yes! Does it belong here? No. But this form has been present for about 20 years now and continues to expand its range. It may just become a permanent lacertilian fixture in the state.
Continue reading “Blue, orange, and beautiful” …read more
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A new water frog species was discovered in a place thought to be thoroughly explored.
From sci-news.com:
The specific name ventriflavum comes from the Latin venter, meaning belly, and flavus, meaning yellow and refers to the golden yellow and orange coloration on the body.
The populations of several species of the water frog genus Telmatobius have declined dramatically over the past 30 years, and the genus is now thought to be extinct in Ecuador. These declines have been associated with the spread of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
Telmatobius ventriflavum was discovered in the species-poor coastal valleys of central Peru, a region well studied but apparently still hiding surprises.
Read more here. …read more
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What is it about frogs that just make us smile? They pose without realizing it! This cute gray tree frog is just hanging out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gerryg!
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By Herp News
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is ready for at least 3,500 visitors, last year's count for the annual Sea Turtle Day on Saturday, the annual kickoff for sea turtle nesting season March through October.
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By Herp News
The world’s largest rodent today is the capybara, weighing in at around at about 45 kilograms (100 pounds), though the record breaking female weight in at 91 kilograms (201 pounds). But that’s nothing compared to the biggest rodent ever to live. Discovered in Uruguay in 2008, Josephoartigasia monesi may have weighed in at 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
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The checkered keelback, Xenochrophis piscator, is one of the most commonly found water snakes in the Indian subcontinent. I call it “the serpentine mermaid” due to its aquatic habitat and a beautiful checkered pattern on its body personifying a mermaid. The word “keelback” describes rough scales in every keelback snake.
This snake appears to have a thick, round, and cylindrical body growing more slender toward the tail, with size varying from 140n to 175 cm in length. Checkered keelbacks have large eyes with round pupils, and a checkered pattern of glossy keeled scales can be seen on the upper body with rows of black, yellow, or moss-green checks alternating with white ones. Colours on the fore body can be seen in reddish, greenish, yellowish, brownish, and bluish shades, with white underside and two black streaks behind the eye.
These snakes are very aggressive and eager to bite when disturbed unexpectedly. A checkered keelback bite can be really painful because of its sharp pointed fangs, which help it to get a good grip on slippery fish and amphibians. I always prefer using a snake stick while handling a checkered keelback because I had a bad experience in the past being bitten by one, which was enormously painful with a deep scar.
These snakes prefer living in marshy water bodies like gutters, drainages, rivers, ponds, and lakes while staying on land at night. If threatened, it flattens its neck and strikes with mouth wide open. It is an oviparous snake laying 20-40 eggs in crevices near water. It was recorded that a female checkered keelback 150 cm long laid 110 eggs at the Pune Snake Park in Pune, Maharashta.
It’s always fun handling a checkered keelback because of its active behavior, but the experience is scary, too!
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Conjoined Quince monitor lizard twin, who were dead before hatching, were found in a zoo in 2009.
From Live Science:
It is possible that the reason the lizards were conjoined was partly due to the low amount of genetic variation that stemmed from having parents that were siblings, according to the report. In 2002, research was published on snakes, called Natrix tessellata, which showed a link between an increased rate of developmental abnormalities and a low genetic variability in small populations that had a limited number of ancestors.
Moreover, a study on sand lizards “revealed a significant effect of parental genetic similarity on the risk of hatching malformations,” van Schingen said.
However, previous reports have also pointed to other potential causes of malformations in reptiles. For instance, in 2010, researchers described a case of a crocodile hatchling with eight legs and two tails in Venezuela that was found in an area that was exposed to chemicals from agriculture, according to the report.Another cause of deformations in reptiles may be adiet that is not well-suited to the needs of animals kept in captivity, which has previously been the case with bone malformations in green iguanas, van Schingen said.
Read more here. …read more
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kingsnake.com has launched a new cassified ad directory of those who have an active profile in our vendor profile system, which launched last year.
Listing in the directory is free with the purchase of a classified advertising account, and the listing stays active while the classified account is active. If the classified account expires or becomes inactive the vendor profile, and its listing in the directory, will “hibernate” until the classified account becomes active again.
The classified directory has an overview and detailed view of vendor listings, as well as vendors, classified ads, and events listed by state or province. To be listed, current vendors need to update their profiles.
You can check out the new Classified Vendor Directory here!
If you have a classified account but have not set up your vendor profile yet, you can set up or edit your profile by logging in at http://market.kingsnake.com/account/. If you already have a classified ad vendor profile, there is one minor update you’ll want to make: adding a descriptive sentence about your business for the directory.
After 18 years kingsnake.com is still the largest and most popular reptile and amphibian classified site on the web. A kingsnake.com classified account enables you to post dozens of ads per day, seen by thousands of reptile and amphibian people worldwide, all for just pennies a day.
If you don’t have a classified account, need to renew, or want to be listed in the Classified Vendor Directory, you can purchase a classified account for as little as $20 by going to http://www.kingsnake.com/shared/services/classified.php. …read more
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Despite being treated as one of the most ‘disposable’ of reptile pets, their regal nature is unmistakeable. Gotta love big green iguanas like this female in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cycluracornuta!
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By Herp News
A full-grown adult hawksbill turtle was caught tangled and injured in a fish pen in Masbate City Monday morning.
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By Herp News
Hunters are frustrated as turtle gobbling hogs disappear from North Island, but wildlife biologists are delighted. Click to Continue »
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By Herp News
It’s that crazy time of year again, World Pangolin Day, where we feverishly run out into the streets and join the thousands of pangolin protectors, fighting for the survival of our scaly friend. Well, no actually, hold on, what’s a pangolin?
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By Herp News
This article A Missing Turtle Brings Father & Son Closer originally appeared on Viddsee BUZZ. Ah Kwan and his dad are distraught because their beloved pet turtle has gone missing. The father and son leave no stone unturned in their search. It is during this hunt that some unspoken words come to the forefront. As they remember how the … Continued Download the new free Viddsee iPhone app to watch …
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