By Herp News
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. Finally, an international team of researchers figured out its recipe: a toxin that permanently activates a crucial type of nerve cell protein, preventing the cells from resetting and causing deadly seizures in prey.
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One of the most beautiful snakes in the southeast is the scarlet kingsnake, Lampropeltis elapsoides. No, scratch that , the scarlet kingsnake is one of the most beautiful and colorful snakes in all of North America.
Clad in colors of bright red,black and yellow or sometimes white, this small kingsnake can be stunning.
Barely reaching two feet in length and normally averaging much smaller, this “coral snake mimc” is locally abundant to quite common in many areas of the southeastern and especially in coastal plains regions. They are, like all members of Lamropeltis genus, constrictors, and specialize on lizards, mainly skinks and anoles but will sometimes prey on other smaller snakes. They can also be trained to feed on baby mice in captivity.
Scarlet kingsnakes are fossorial, nocturnal snakes that can be found cruising roads at night. We have even shined one with a flash light more than a few feet off of the ground crawling up the side of a pine tree, no doubt in search of some sleeping lizard prey.
One female that we kept in our collection laid five tiny eggs that hatched in less than two months. The babies all fed eagerly on ground skinks, but were released soon after hatching. …read more
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A fossil discovered in China shows some good parenting from a now extinct reptile species.
From Live Science:
Given that all of these animals died within a tail’s length of one another, it’s likely that the adult was caring for the young, they said.
“Although it is possible that the individuals were all swept together during or soon after the event that killed them, it is [felt] that this specimen more likely represents an instance of postnatal parental care,” the researchers wrote in the study.
Parental care is seen in other animals, including crocodiles and birds, which lived during the time of the dinosaurs. For instance, crocodiles defend their young from predators, and birds protect and feed their young, the researchers said.
Read more here. …read more
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The owner of an exotic pet store in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada, was arrested on February 5, 2015, and then promptly released to face charges to be made public at a hearing to be held on April 27.
A statement released by the New Brunswick Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) disclosed the pending charges are in connection with the death of two young boys in the pet store owner’s apartment, which was above the store.
The RCMP statement also stated “[a]utopsies determined the boys died as a result of being asphyxiated by an African rock python that was being housed in the same apartment where the boys were attending a sleepover.”
This new information suggests the store owner will be charged with negligent homicide, i.e., the store owner’s negligence caused the death of the children. A key fact in any such prosecution is likely to be the first-hand report that a ventilation fan removed from the ceiling of the snake’s enclosure left an opening for the snake to escape and crawl onto the drop-ceiling in the adjacent room where the children were sleeping.
Questions have remained in the reptile community and elsewhere about exactly what happened on that tragic night one and a half years ago, because it is extraordinarily rare for one of these large snakes to kill a human. Efforts are underway to obtain additional details from the autopsy report or any other documentation when such items become available.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years, but domain registrations don’t lie — today is kingsnake.com’s 18th birthday!
On February 8, 1997, kingsnake.com first appeared on the Internet; it’s been 6,574 days, or 157, 776 hours, or 9,466,560 minutes, since our servers first went active and the kingsnake.com community launched. Since then, our reptile and amphibian community has been visited by millions of people from around the world who have posted millions of photos and messages about their pets. Yahoo and Amazon.com are older, but Google, YouTube, and Facebook are still our juniors.
When kingsnake.com first started, few reptile people had even seen the Internet. Now, the Internet is so ingrained in our daily lives, in our community, and in our industry, we would be unable to function without it. Along the way, kingsnake.com has documented much of it, good and bad, and stored in its archives is essentially an almost two decade history of the reptile community. Wading through it brings back a lot of memories of great animals, events, experiences, and many friends who have moved away, moved on, or passed.
We want to thank the many users, advertisers, sponsors, volunteers, and staffers who have made kingsnake.com what it is today: the largest, most relevant, and most popular reptile community on the Internet. – Jeff Barringer and the kingsnake.com staff
Click below to see images of kingsnake.com throughout the years…
1997
1998
2001
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By Herp News
SANDAKAN : There are about 450 habitants on Pulau Libaran and their main livelihood being fishing. Turtles are known to come ashore and lay their eggs on the island.
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By Herp News
The rare turtle. CREDIT: Adam Hutchings The rare turtle. CREDIT: Adam Hutchings
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By Herp News
The animals were found dead in a clutch deposited in a terrarium at the Cologne Zoo in Germany.
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By Herp News
In a first-of-its-kind case, a pair of conjoined lizards called Quince monitor lizards were discovered at a German zoo, according to a new report. The animals were found in June 2009 in a clutch deposited in a terrarium at the Cologne Zoo, in Germany.Other cases of conjoined twins have been reported in reptiles such as turtles, crocodiles and other lizard species, according to the report …
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By Herp News
Enter to win a copy of the game and matching Turtle Beach Evolve headphones.
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By Herp News
The Quince monitor lizard hatchlings were attached at the head and had two tails and eight legs
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo!
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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Check out this video “Buddy’s Life Story!” submitted by kingsnake.com user spotsowner.
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
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By Herp News
Some termite species erect massive mounds that look like great temples springing up from the world’s savannas and drylands. But aside from their aesthetic appeal—and incredible engineering—new research in Science finds that these structures do something remarkable for the ecosystem: they hold back the desert.
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Reptile hobbyists in the UK are watching closely as new legislation unfolds in other member countries of the European Union.
Legislators in Holland have imposed “white list” restrictions on the types of mammals that can be kept in that country, with similar lists for reptiles and birds to be revealed soon.
White list legislation comprises a list of species that can be kept in that country, with all other species becoming illegal. Although this type of legislation is condemned by most pet and welfare experts, it is becoming the holy grail of animal-rights groups in Europe and around the world, as these laws impose the greatest restrictions on the number of species that can be kept.
The alternative “black list” approach to legislation, which only outlaws those species that are proved to be problematic or invasive, is more widely adopted where proper research and consultation has been conducted. However, with several European countries considering white-list laws, British keepers are worried that this legislation could be adopted and rolled out across the entire Euro-zone.
Britain’s reptile hobby and trade have been well protected by advocate organizations such as The Reptile and Exotic Pet Trade and the Federation of British Herpetologists, and so home-grown legislation is unlikely to be problematic. However, reptile keepers are poorly represented in European political circles where animal rights groups are active, well-funded, and organized.
Should the EU Commission decide to heed the lobbying of these groups, the legislation produced there would override any British laws. …read more
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By Herp News
Last year, more than 6,000 people gathered for the World Parks Congress 2014, an event held around every ten years by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The World Parks Congress discusses myriad issues related to protected areas, which recent research has shown are in rough shape.
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Today the range of the greenhouse frog, Eleutherodactylus planirostris, (now one of the most common of Florida’s frogs) extends, at least locally, as far north as coastal southern South Carolina and eastern Texas. This tiny Bahaman, Cuban, and perhaps Cayman Island interloper has a weak, almost tremulous voice: a chirping whistle that is often mistaken for the stridulations of crickets.
However, the tinkling calls are more musical and have less of a cadence. Loose mulch, leaf litter and the moisture holding cups of terrestrial bromeliads are among the favored habitats, but any and all manner of surface debris – discarded newspapers, construction materials, or vegetable debris, be it in backyard or woodland – provide ready homes for this inch long tropical frog.
Since this frog has direct development (no free-swimming tadpole stage), standing water is neither necessary nor sought. The eggs are laid in moist locales,such as on a bromeliad leaf, and when the young emerge they are miniatures of the adult.
The ground color of this frog may be brown to reddish brown and usually blends remarkably well with the background. The pattern of lighter striping or darker reticulations serves to break up the outline making this anuran even more difficult to see. In fact it is only the almost imperceptible stirring of a dead leaf made as the alert frog darts quickly from sight that discloses its presence.
So if you’re herping in the deep south and you think you see a leaf move when you turn debris, take a moment and check it out. You might have just seen a departing greenhouse frog. It would be good to keep tabs on their actual distribution.
Continue reading “Hide and seek with a greenhouse frog” …read more
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Walking around Australia to raise money for a hospital, a man’s stormtrooper suit saved him from a king brown snakebite.
From the New York Daily News:
“The armor actually protected me and stopped the bite,” Loxley said in a video posted online.
“I could feel the teeth on the plastic, scraping, but the armor actually stopped something,” he said.
“So all those people that rag on the old stormtroopers, you know, ‘the armor doesn’t do this it, doesn’t do that’, it stopped a snake bite and probably saved my life today,” he added.
The former soldier is walking around Australia dressed as a stormtrooper to raise $80,000 for the Monash Children’s Hospital in his home city of Melbourne.
Read more here. …read more
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By Herp News
As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance aftermarket support to investors, Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. announced today that it will begin reporting daily NAVs for each of it
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!
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
To the delight of giggling children, the lizard and the bird tried to make the sun appear. Click to Continue »
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By Herp News
Byline: The Three Tuns at St Keverne held a fantastic charity evening at the hotel recently, which raised £600 for The Lizard RNLI lifeboat. Page Content: When Chris and Dawn McKay, the proprietors of the Three Tuns Hotel in St Keverne, decided to hold a fundraising event at their establishment, there were no holds barred. Wanting to raise as much money as possible in one night they came up with …
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Worried about federal overreach, and because they’re “creepy,” lawmakers rejected a bill championed by a local school girl to name the Idaho giant salamander the state amphibian.
From the Star Tribune:
Frank Lundberg, a herpetologist, testified in support of the bill and was disappointed after it failed.
“It is a mistake to ever overestimate the ignorance of the Idaho Legislature,” he said.
Idaho fourth grade classes study state symbols as part of Idaho history, and a fourth-grade teacher backed the bill as well.
But Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, voted against the salamander after recalling being repulsed by them as a young boy.
“They were ugly, they were slimy, and they were creepy,” he said. “And I’ve not gotten over that. So to elevate them to the status of being the state amphibian, I’m not there yet.”
Read more here. …read more
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Worried about federal overreach, and because they’re “creepy,” lawmakers rejected a bill championed by a local school girl to name the Idaho giant salamander the state amphibian.
From the Star Tribune:
Frank Lundberg, a herpetologist, testified in support of the bill and was disappointed after it failed.
“It is a mistake to ever overestimate the ignorance of the Idaho Legislature,” he said.
Idaho fourth grade classes study state symbols as part of Idaho history, and a fourth-grade teacher backed the bill as well.
But Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, voted against the salamander after recalling being repulsed by them as a young boy.
“They were ugly, they were slimy, and they were creepy,” he said. “And I’ve not gotten over that. So to elevate them to the status of being the state amphibian, I’m not there yet.”
Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Worried about federal overreach, and because they’re “creepy,” lawmakers rejected a bill to name the Idaho giant salamander the state amphibian.
From the Star Tribune:
Frank Lundberg, a herpetologist, testified in support of the bill and was disappointed after it failed.
“It is a mistake to ever overestimate the ignorance of the Idaho Legislature,” he said.
Idaho fourth grade classes study state symbols as part of Idaho history, and a fourth-grade teacher backed the bill as well.
But Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, voted against the salamander after recalling being repulsed by them as a young boy.
“They were ugly, they were slimy, and they were creepy,” he said. “And I’ve not gotten over that. So to elevate them to the status of being the state amphibian, I’m not there yet.”
Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Eve!
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
Only about 3,000 of these rare turtles are believed to remain in the wild, a number that is shrinking rapidly. Over the past two months at least 186 forest turtles—more than 6 percent of the entire known population—have been rescued from five groups of poachers who intended to sell them on the illegal international pet trade, according to a report this week from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade …
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By Herp News
Fins up, dude! A professional kite surfer gave a sea turtle the ride of a lifetime when he used his board to rescue the creature from certain death. Mitu Monteiro,…
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By Herp News
For the first time, Indonesia has sentenced an illegal manta ray trafficker to jail time and a fine, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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It had rained, poured, rained, then misted all day and Jake wanted to see a Florida gopher frog – badly. So badly that he swore that if I would just get him to where they were chorusing he WOULD NOT come back to the car without a picture.
We visited and failed at some of my “tried and true” ponds the night before, so I prevailed on Paul Moler’s better nature to provide the locale of a new pond. Thanks again, Paul!
Jake and I headed west and for nearly the entire hour’s drive the conversation varied from his headache (he got a lot of sympathy for that!) to how the next gopher frog he heard would not evade his camera.
When we arrived it was almost dark. It was windy and cool. No gophers were singing. Finally after an hour’s delay, I decided to walk down to the pond just to take a better listen. Jake accompanied me. Guess what! A few gophers WERE singing. We got to the water and I said something to the effect of “they’re here, they’re singing, go get ’em Jake.” His response was “Um – I forgot my camera.”
By now the frogs were actually calling loudly so I told Jake to go and at least find one so he could add it to his life list. He went. I stood and shivered. Jake got a quarter of the way across the pond and the frogs stopped singing. Jake stood. One frog called. Jake, sounding like a distraught porcupine, answered. Lo, the frog answered Jake who was again stalking s-l-o-w-l-y towards the calling site.
Then, as if a curtain had been lifted, the cloud cover dissipated. Within minutes stars twinkled overhead. Moonlight glinted brightly from the water’s wind-rippled surface. Ranid calls ceased. Except for cricket frogs and the whistling of strengthening breezes there was almost absolute silence. It was time to acknowledge that the gophers had won this round. But there would be a next time and we would be ready.
Now, if we could only find the path back to the car.
Continue reading “The call of the Florida gopher frog” …read more
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After a snake common in Sri Lanka was found in India, scientists now suspect the two countries were once connected by land.
From the International Business Times:
The snake can jump five metres and disappear in a trice, says wildlife biologist Bubesh Guptha who has spotted it near the temple town of Tirumala in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Around three feet long and sporting big eyes and skin patterned in ash and olive green, he has spotted the same species twice in and around the same hills.
The mildly venomous tropical snake Chrysopelea taprobanica eats bats, lizards, geckos, smaller snake species, skirls and birds, reports Nature Asia.
Read more here. …read more
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user KE!
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
With flatback hatchlings continuing to dig clear of the nests lining Cemetery Beach to begin their lives at sea, turtle monitors are hailing the latest nesting season a success.
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Jan. 31, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $377.5 million and its unaudit
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By Herp News
Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Jan. 31, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $250.1 million and
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By Herp News
Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Jan. 31, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $408.2 million and its unaud
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By Herp News
Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Jan. 31, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.1 billion and its unaudited net asset value
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Jan. 31, 2015, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $4.1 billion and its unaudited ne
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India is truly the land of the cobra, with five species of cobra found there, including the king cobram Ophiophagus hannah. The spectacled or Indian cobra, Naja naja, is one of the most common cobras found in the Indian subcontinent. They are found in all parts of India exept the snowy mountains of the Himalayan range.
The average size of the Indian cobra is about 150-180, and its maximum lengthm which is rarely found, is about 220 cm. As its name suggests, it has a distinctive head with large black eyes and nostrils. When the hood is spreadm a spectacle mark is visible on the backside of the hood. This mark is subject to considerable variation and may even be absent. Body colour is yellowish, brown, dark brown, and black.
Cobras are a universal symbol for snakes around the world. In India this cobra is revered and worshipped. For example, lord Shiva has a cobra wrapped around his neck and Lord Vishnu has a cobra with seven hoods providing him shade.
There are many myths and traditions associated with these cobras. The most common amongst them is that cobras search for vengeance if its partner is killed. It is still believed that cobras with five hoods are found in near divine places like temples as the protectors of god.
One of the funniest misbeliefs I’ve come across is that cobras mate with rat s nakes (Ptyas mucosa) on selected weekdays. Some of these misbeliefs are also beneficial, as people hesitate to kill cobras because they believe they are sacred to Lord Shiva and Vishnu.
Interestingly, dispelling these superstitions was one of the main motivations of herpetologists to research cobras, as they became curious after getting so many unrealistic views from people all over the country.
For me cobras are one of the most beautiful and fascinating creatures on the planet — and equally dangerous if handled carelessly.
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Last spring, while hiking around at a lake in Northeast Alabama, we found a queen snake, Regina septemvittata, basking on a limb about six feet above the water.
I stood there and watched the snake for about five minutes, trying to figure out a way to get close enough to get a photograph without the snake plopping off into the water. I eased into the water and immediately sank up to my knees in mud.
Realizing that wasn’t going to work, I got back on shore and slipped in between several trees right at the water’s edge, trying to be stealthy so as to not scare the snake into the water. I tried every angle, but there was just no way I was going to be able to get out there without the snake seeing me.
Within another minute, the snake actually did spot us and was gone with a splash. It was then that I just happened to glance down at the base of one of the trees I had been using to block the queen snake’s view. Sitting coiled about three feet from me was an eastern cottonmouth.
The eastern cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus, is a strongly aquatic pit viper that feeds on a variety of vertebrate life, from fish and water fowl to rodents and even other snakes. Cottonmouths are infamous around here, and have a reputation for being an ill-tempered, aggressive snake.
This one had been content to just sit there among the tree roots and grass and hope it went unnoticed. When my attention moved to the cottonmouth and it finally realized that it had been seen, it began to display a defensive posture by opening its mouth and showing the white lining that gives it its common name.
After a few photographs we moved on and left the cottonmouth to bask undisturbed. …read more
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