By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Feb. 28, 2013, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $1.9 billion and its unaudited ne

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I am new to this site but am glad I found something place to share this and hopefully get some information from others too. In August my two boys found two baby painted turtles and brought them home. The turtles are from Northern Wisconsin which is the same state where we live. At first when I found out they were bringing them home I thought, “Oh great, who can I give these away too.” Then I saw them, it took all of 2 seconds for me to fall in love with both of them. Toby and Lily are their names. The lake they came from is overrun with painted turtles. From what we found learned you can actually see thousands of the little buggers everywhere and people/locals do not treat them very kindly. I won’t dare go into that part.

So we decided to keep them. We did tons and tons of research. We got the right food, lighting, and since I have been a fish keeper for years and years water quality and filtering was not an issue for me at all. However, since we got the turtles they have had continuing shell problems. At first they were constantly dull and looked cracked or crooked so I worked on that.

Then last Friday the big blow came…I picked up my little Toby who hadn’t been feeling well all week and found a dark spot on her tummy, when I pushed on it a little it was soft. The rest of her shell appeared to be in fairly good condition though. However, I made a vet appointment right away on Monday for both turtles. I found out Toby has a Calcium deficiency problem and an infection that is caused by this condition. I had everything written down that we had been doing…food, lighting, water, exercise. I found nothing we did could have prevented this. Before we got her this happened and because I didn’t know about it or what to look for it got worse.

The vet came back with my little Toby in his hand and told me things don’t look good and he couldn’t inject her with antibiotics because she’s so small yet. I begged him to please not give up because this isn’t just a turtle to me. I can’t explain it but I am very attached to her. So Toby got the injections.

Over the last week I have injected Toby with her antibiotics everyday, her food is being coated in calcium and fed to her (thankfully she eats out of my hand). At the beginning of this her shell did have the slight bleeding and I would move her for her because I know how painful it is for her to move right now. So now that it is Friday her energy level is way up, she is moving around really great, she loves her new more powerful UV light and the new tank set-up, she is eating like crazy, …read more
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By Herp News

This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Feb. 28, 2013 and cumulativ

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By Herp News

Biologists have discovered two new species of salamander in Tamá National Natural Park in Colombia. While the discovery should be cause for celebration, the news was dampened by the fact that both species are already infected with the deadly fungal disease, known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has wiped out amphibian populations worldwide. Both of the new salamanders belong to the genus Bolitoglossa, which are web-footed salamanders found in the tropical Americas.

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The world’s largest turtle may be extinct in as little as 20 years, conclude researchers in a study published this week.

“Sea turtles have been around about 100 million years and survived the extinction of the dinosaurs but are struggling to survive the impact of humans,” said reproductive biologist Thane Wibbels of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), a member of a research team studying the fate of these reptiles.

The leatherback — the world’s largest turtle — can grow to six feet long and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

A study published this week in the Ecological Society of America’s scientific journal Ecosphere estimates that only about 500 leatherbacks now nest at their last large nesting site in the Pacific, down from thousands previously. The study tracked the turtle’s ongoing population decline since the 1980s.

“If the decline continues, leatherback turtles will become extinct in the Pacific Ocean within 20 years,” Wibbels said.

Read the full story here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

Count coral in the Chagos Archipelago, save amphibians from the deadly chytrid fungus, replant trees in the Atlantic Forest, and count predators and prey in the African Savannah—a new free online game by Wildscreen, dubbed Team WILD, allows young players to learn about science and conservation while moving fast-paced through different ecosystems. Wildscreen is a conservation charity devoted to using imagery to raise awareness and protect wildlife.

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By Herp News

The majestic Pacific leatherback turtle could be extinct in two decades, scientists say.

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By Herp News

The majestic leatherback — the world's largest turtle — could be extinct in two decades, scientists say.

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By Herp News

The world’s largest sea turtle, the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), is vanishing from its most important nesting sites in the western Pacific, according to a new study in Ecosphere. Scientists found that leatherback turtle nests have dropped by 78 percent in less than 30 years in the Bird’s Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea. Worryingly, these beaches account for three-fourths of the western Pacific’s distinct leatherback population; globally the leatherback is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, the highest rating before extinction.

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By Herp News

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – The giant Pacific leatherback turtle, known for its arduous 6,000-mile (10,000 km) ocean trek from the U.S. West Coast to breeding grounds in Indonesia, could go extinct within 20 years as its population continues to plummet, scientists say. “Sea turtles have been around about 100 million years and survived the extinction of the dinosaurs but are struggling to …

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By Herp News

The annual Sea Turtle Day Festival attracted 4,000 people last year, and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is ready for its close-up on Saturday.

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By Herp News

Ridgefield — “Sit” and “sleep” sound more like commands you would bark at the family dog than at an alligator.

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By Herp News

Johnson County Public Library celebrates culmination with its 18th annual winter reading program with a special event at its four branches.

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By Herp News

The powerful venom of the saw-scaled viper Echis carinatus contains both anticoagulants and coagulants according to a new study. These may be a source of potent drugs to treat human disease. The saw-scaled viper family Echis, responsible for most snake attacks on humans, are recognizable by the ‘sizzling’ noise they make, produced by rubbing together special serrated scales, when threatened. Echis venom causes coagulopathy, which can result in symptoms ranging from lack of blood clotting, hemorrhage, renal failure and stroke.

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By Herp News

The promise of lemurs, lizards, and a bouquet of biodiversity brought mongabay.com founder Rhett Butler to Madagascar sixteen years ago. He was not disappointed by what he found and was inspired to return, many times to experience the wildlife, landscapes, and people of the dynamic island. In 2004, Rhett founded wildmadagascar.org, a site that highlights the spectacular cultural and biological richness of Madagascar and reports on environmental news for the Indian Ocean island nation.

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By Herp News

An international team led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) at the turtle's last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean.

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By Herp News

International team led by UAB finds 78 percent drop in leatherback turtle nests at primary nesting site; largest marine turtle in world may vanish.

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By Herp News

An international team led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) at the turtle’s last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean.

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By Herp News

The number of tigers being captive bred in China for consumption exceed those surviving in the wild—across 13 countries—by over a third, according to a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). The report, Hidden in Plain Sight, alleges that while the Chinese government has been taking a tough stance on tiger conservation abroad, at home it has been secretly creating demand for the internationally-banned trade. Few animals in the world have garnered as much conservation attention at the tiger (Panthera tigirs), including an international summit in 2010 that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the vanishing wild cats.

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Our Jeff Barringer was at the NARBC show in Arlington, Tex., last weekend — and faster than you can say, “Pics or it didn’t happen!”, he created this photo album from the show.

Our favorite? The beautiful artwork displayed by Jeff Littlejohn, like this piece:

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By Herp News

Menswear and accessories maker Turtle is set to launch hand-woven khadi garments next month. The new range – complete with shirts, trousers and jackets – will be marketed as premium casual wear and will hit stores by the first week of March.

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By Herp News

Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are unique among large cats. They have a highly specialized body, a mild temperament, and are the fastest living animals on land. Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, the Asiatic subspecies, is unique among cheetahs and the only member of five currently living subspecies to occur outside of Africa. Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List—with a population of between 70 and 100 individuals—the Asiatic cheetah is one of the rarest felines on the planet. But new proposed road through one of its last habitat strongholds may threaten the cat even further.

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By Herp News

The late, great Ernie Harwell recited this “Voice of the Turtle” passage from Song of Solomon before the Detroit Tigers' exhibition opener each year during spring training.

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By Herp News

Kolkata-headquartered menswear apparel and accessories maker Turtle is set to launch khadi garments in the premium casual wear segment by the first week of March.

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How do you ship a 70-million-year-old fossilized dinosaur back to the land it was smuggled out of? Very, very carefully.

From Popular Science:

“You’d take all the bones apart, and all the bones go in individual cases,” Kenneth Lacovara, a Drexel University paleontologist, says. Researchers can easily build made-to-measure plywood cases for the bone pieces, cushioning the fossils with foam. “We use packing peanuts. We use foam that is meant for home insulation,” Lacovara says. “Sometimes we use the foam that you’ll see in, like, expensive camera cases.” What foam he and his lab members use depends on the size of the bone, he says.

[…]

A few paleontologists rely on a Chicago-based company, called Rocket Cargo, that specializes in shipping for rock bands. “They’re used to shipping big things, and they’re used to dealing with odd cargo,” Lacovara says.

The Mongolian Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism will be responsible for shipping the Tarbosaur, but the ministry doesn’t yet know where it’ll get funding, whether the T. bataar will go by air or by sea, or many other details, says Minister Tsedevdamba Oyungerel. “Logistical talks just started but nothing is clearly cemented yet,” she wrote in an email.

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By Herp News

After a bounteous 2012, experts are cautiously optimistic about the 2013 sea turtle nesting season that begins Friday and runs through Nov. 15.

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By Herp News

Last year, Roger Peet, an American artist, traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to visit one of the world’s most remote and wild forests. Peet spent three months in a region that is largely unknown to the outside world, but where a group of conservationists, headed by Terese and John Hart, are working diligently to create a new national park, known as Lomami. Here, the printmaker met a local warlord, discovered a downed plane, and designed a tomb for a wildlife ranger killed by disease, in addition to seeing some of the region’s astounding wildlife. Notably, the burgeoning Lomami National Park is home to the world’s newest monkey species, only announced by scientists last September.

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By Herp News

WBZ-TV's Steve Burton made some new friends on Sunday night's Sports Final on WBZ-TV.

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By Herp News

TREASURE COAST — After a bounteous 2012, experts are cautiously optimistic about the 2013 sea turtle nesting season that begins Friday and runs through Nov. 15.

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By Herp News

AN IPSWICH lizard with cancer will become the first reptile in Australia to undergo specialised radiation treatment on Monday.

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By Herp News

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — An exotic lizard valued at $170 has gone missing from Berkshire County pet store and the owner thinks it was stolen.

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By Herp News

The largest traveling reptile conference in the country is making a stop in Arlington this weekend. Photo Credit: NBC 5 News

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If you’ll be at the NARBC show in Arlington, Tex., this weekend, keep an eye out for own Jeff Barringer! He’ll be handing out kingsnake.com bumperstickers and window decals. Be sure to grab one!

And keep an eye out for the official kingsnake.com snake hunting truck, too! …read more
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By Herp News

A colorful turtle sculpture is a gift of healing from the beachside town of Surfside to survivors of the Connecticut school shooting in December, and one of many art projects on display in Newtown

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By Herp News

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — An exotic lizard valued at $170 has gone missing from Berkshire County pet store and the owner thinks it was stolen.

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Venom can be deadly, but it can also cure. That’s a message getting increasing attention from the media lately.

From ABC News:

Jon-Paul Bingham, an assistant professor in the department of molecular biosciences and biological engineering at the University of Hawaii, has made a career of studying various species of the cone snail and characterizes them as “pretty horrific, pretty nasty.”

But the venom, Bingham said, causes one surprising reaction in its victims: They feel no pain.

This venom’s ability to cut off pain receptors has led to a second life as a powerful pain reliever called Prialt. The drug is 1,000 times more potent than morphine and is nonaddictive.

Prialt is just one example of the many ways venom components can be used therapeutically. Currently, six venom-derived medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but new technologies and research have shown how proteins and toxins within venom can provide key blueprints for treating a wider variety of ailments, including autoimmune disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis.

Read the full — and very detailed — story here.

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By Herp News

The late, great Ernie Harwell recited this “Voice of the Turtle” passage from Song of Solomon before the Detroit Tigers' exhibition opener each year during spring training.

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By Herp News

Iain Douglas-Hamilton has dedicated his life to elephants. ‘I like elephants because of the way they treat each other,’ he says. ‘They’re very nice to each other most of the time, but not all the time … You see a lot of play…a lot of tender touching, caressing, tactile contact of one sort or another.’ The affection goes both ways. Douglas-Hamilton recalls one curious female who would always approach his vehicle. ‘Eventually I got so friendly with her that…I could walk with her and feed her the fruits of the wild gardenia tree. That was a very special elephant for me. She eventually brought her babies up to meet me.’ Douglas-Hamilton’s dedication extends to protecting the species from harm, and especially the ivory trade. He calls the current ivory trade “totally unsustainable” and recommends a total ban on the trade.

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By Herp News

LANESBOROUGH — An exotic lizard valued at $170 has been stolen from its cage at a pet store, according to the store's owner.

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By Herp News

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — An exotic lizard valued at $170 has gone missing from Berkshire County pet store and the owner thinks it was stolen.

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