Love this Southwest Speckled Rattlesnake found in the field in California in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user sluggo781 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! On Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate all forms of venomous reptiles to promote conservation of them world wide!

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These two boas are chilling in a fresh tub of water in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BNixon ! I bet there were babies being made at some point here. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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That’s a whole lotta bull. Bullsnake that is! Loving the colors on the one here in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user orchidspider has never missed a meal! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Most commonly known as the harlequin toad, this Atelopus barbotinitakes center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jamesmatthews! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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It’s World Snake Day and to celebrate, its all about the Alterna in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kcarlson ! You know we have our roots and these are from Sanderson! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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In celebration of all things venomous, a photo of a bushmaster taken in the field graces our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user surgeon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Love the detail in this headshot of a Uroplatus fimbriatus in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user zmarchetti ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Act like this with scaleless rat snake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Allensheehan and stick your tongue out at people! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This sassy lil watersnake had to stop and eat a toad in the yard before the photographer captured it for our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user dinahmoe ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Koch’s Day Gecko is one of the plainer colored green taxa, but also one of the largest.

Having decided to write a bit about a couple of day gecko species, I just (08Feb22) looked at the day gecko (Phelsuma sp.) listings on my host’s, Kingsnake.coms, page to see what species were available today. I was shocked to see only a single listing, this for 2 Koch’s Day Geckos. P. madagascariensis kochii. This was so very different than during the heyday of Malagasy importations, the 1980s, that I could hardly believe my eyes.

Admittedly, I am no longer keeping up with the vagaries of herp availability like I did in the 1970s and 1980s, but the almost absolute lack of ads for these wonderful and easily bred lizards actually shocked me. I well remember the arrival of Malagasy shipments at Gulf Coast Herps (sadly, now closed), and Rob MacInnis and Bill Love scurrying about in their Ft. Myers facility to ascertain all were unpacked and suitably housed as quickly as possible.

I posted a few pix and queries on my Facebook page today (08Feb) and a few responses have come in. It seems that a few of the more common or larger species are being maintained both as pets and breeders. I can only hope that a few hobbyists (there now seems a larger number than I initially thought!) continue to maintain other taxa. Replenishment from the wild seems unlikely, so whether or not these beauties remain available to hobbyists is quite likely now up to the hobbyists themselves.
Continue reading “Where have all the Day Geckos gone?” …read more
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New changes to state law could impact some keepers in Alabama. The state however has opened a comment period until August 4th where you can lodge objections. Some of the more important changes to be aware of:

-Makes all king snakes (Lampropeltis spp.) and hybrids illegal to own, breed, and sell without a scientific collection permit or permit from the Commissioner. Currently, only Eastern, prairie, and black “speckled” king snakes are listed.
-Makes it illegal to own more than one box turtle (all Terrapene spp.) or sell/trade a box turtle without a scientific collection permit or permit from the Commissioner.
-There are other new rules including, but not limited to, additional protected nongame species and Eastern diamondback rattlesnake regulations.

As always, the folks at USARK have made it simple to respond. They have all the contact information and a template here. You can read the full proposal here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This Rhino iguana is doing his best impersonation of a dog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cycluracornuta!

Be sure to tell cycluracornuta you liked it here!

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Although it does include a grandfather clause for current owners, the new law passed this week in Raleigh, NC is quite restrictive.

Spurred on by a viral loose spitting cobra last year, the city council passed a new law banning

Under the ordinance, keeping a pet from a species considered a “dangerous wild animal” will be prohibited within city limits.

A “dangerous wild animal” is considered by the city to be “any non-domesticated animal, which is normally found in the wild state, is inherently dangerous to person or property, and which generally does not live in or about the habitation of humans.”

The city’s definition includes “medically significant snakes.” The city defines those as any snake whose venom can cause death, serious illness, or injury. It also includes snakes whose venom would require emergency room care or immediate care of a physician.

The law does include a grandfather clause for current owners of animals this may apply to. You must register your animals before July 1, 2023. However be ready, the law goes into effect in two months!

These are the extensive requirements for the grandfather clause:
– Detailed inventory of animals with descriptions and photo(s) of animals
– Requirement to notify the City when the animal is moved to another location
– Plan for transfer of ownership or destruction if owner can no longer care for the animal
– Maintain health records of the animal
– Proof of ownership, such as a bill of sale
– Certifies that owner will only keep up to 10 medically significant venomous snakes
– Must possess liability insurance
– Will immediately report the escape of any dangerous wild animals in their possession
A criminal background check would also be required to ensure owners don’t have any previous felony charges or convocations of animal abuse.

To read more, visit CBS17

Inset image courtesy of Bob B. Chicago Herpetological Society Rescue Program. …read more
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There are several issues that USARK-FL is currently dealing with in Florida that they need the help of Florida Residents.

First up is a rule requiring owners to report all injuries from their animals to the authorities. This opens your medical files to the government and could also be used as violations against you. You can read more about that here This rule is coming up for a vote at the FWC meetings next week. You can learn more about attendance here.

There is also the ongoing issue of the white list and banned animals in Florida. From their most recent alert, which can be read here:

From Kristen Penney Sommers of FWC to USARK FL President Elizabeth Wisneski on June 9, 2022:
“Per our discussion yesterday, the attached list is a repository of species that we have either had risk work completed on, or species that have been suggested to have risk work conducted on. In no way is this the “white list” that your members are claiming. One of the duties of the Nonnative Fish and Wildlife program is to evaluate the risk of species that may be introduced into the state. This spreadsheet is in part documentation of our efforts to address responsibilities to all of the citizens in Florida.”
While use of the term “White List” was discouraged by Sommers and other FWC staff at the last “Technical Assistance Group” (TAG) meeting, FWC did introduce the terms “Unrestricted List,” “Restricted List,” and “Not Allowed List.”

If you are a Florida herper, you really need to follow and join USARK-FL to keep abreast of the ever changing legal environment! …read more
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So small, yet so powerful. We love this little Mexican Coral Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MXHerper ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! On Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate all forms of venomous reptiles to promote conservation of them world wide!

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This little Alligator Lizard is feeling sassy in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tokaysrnice !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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It’s big, it’s black and it is beautiful! This Indigo seen in Williston, FL while herping earns it spot in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ACO3124 !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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New beginnings and new life! A peek at a super dwarf Reticulated Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jnemani! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Eyelashed Pit Vipers come in almost all shades of green and yellow plus gray and brown.
We had just met with a little blunt-headed tree snake on a trailside shrub. It looked so like the twigs on which it quietly lay that we had walked by and then, for some reason decided to retrace our few steps back to the creek. Only then, because it had decided to lift its head a bit, did we see the tree snake. Aha. Imantodes inornata. A new species.

Again, we scanned the creek, then moved ahead on the trail only to be stopped in a few steps by the creek itself that had there decided to widen, deepen, and cross the trail. What had earlier looked to be a yard wide and a foot deep had been deepened and widened here by innumerable footsteps on the pathway. We were either going to get wet or turn back, so of course we got wet.

And it was a good thing we had done so, for as we sloshed along our guide quietly said “Oropel.”

I said “Oh WOW!”

I had kept an example of the Eyelashed Viper, Bothriechis schlegelii, many years before. That snake had been rather dark and overall nondescript. But it had been a gift and I was still a kid, so I cherished it. Then, I was fortunate over the years to have seen many others, at dealers, at breeders, and at zoos, but now I was looking at my first “in field” example. This was an experience different and more exciting than the others and a beautiful example this oropel, the yellow phase, was. And before the walk was over we were to see a second, a greenish one that time.

A memorable stroll!
Continue reading “Meet the variable Eyelashed Pit Viper” …read more
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Fantastic headshot of a Steppe Viper (Vipera renardi) in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user VenomouS996 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Fridays, we take the time to spotlight our venomous friends to help raise the awareness for the need of conservation and protections of them as part of the #RattlesnakeFriday movement!

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What an awesome shot of this pair of Common Toads in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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I bet Barry White is playing in the background for this pair of Mocquard’s Beauty Snakes in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user RandyWhittington ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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We never post enough kingsnakes, so get a gander of this hatching kingsnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user intuitivetype ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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It is a whole lotta squee with this pair of hatching Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user caracal ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Small snakes, variable bush vipers are adult at from 18 to 24 inches in length.
Meet Africa’s non-eyelashed, muilticolored viperine answer to the crotaline Eyelashed Pit Viper of Central and South America! This is the variable bush viper, Atheris squamiger. An arboreal species, this 18 to 24 inch long viperine is most at home in forest shrubs rather than canopy reaching trees.

Although in some populations the color of the variable bush viper may be a rather standardized olive-green, in other locales the variations in coloration are nothing short of remarkable. In these latter the little snakes may be of some shade of green, orange, russet, cinnamon, blue, yellow, charcoal, or brownish. Some may even be of one color dorsally and a second color laterally. And on any of these colors the snake may or may not bear a vague or prominent dorsal pattern of dark-edged, darker than ground color, dorsal saddles or chevrons. The belly may vary from immaculate to heavily spotted. Have I yet described a variability sufficient to warrant the name? I would certainly think so.

Atheris squamiger occurs in tropical West and Central Africa

This snake will bite if threatened and envenomation has resulted in human death.
Continue reading “The Variable Bush Viper” …read more
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After many years with our current server farm, they are closing and we will be moving our servers to a new provider this weekend. This will result in about a half a day to a full day of time being offline. We are working closely with our server providers to make this as smooth of a transition as possible.

Thank you for being a loyal kingsnake.com member! …read more
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A great shot of a live (as they should be) Pygmy Rattlesnake on concrete in the field in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user JARHEAD1969 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This gorgeous closeup of a Painted Turtle also shows a bit of old fashion home grown cage decor in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user trachemys ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Throughout the years, corn snakes remain one of our favorite for a great beginner snake! After seeing this one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran, it is pretty obvious why! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This juvenile yellow Anaconda is ready for his close-up in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mattf77 ,! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Although often called incorrectly a rubber eel, this Rio Cauca Caecilian (Typhlonectes natans) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish is all amphibian! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Mussels and crayfish beware. You are being searched for.
Rapids, calm, more rapids then more calm. Kelly and I were on the 7-Point River, now searching for, among other things, common map turtles, Graptemys geographica. Still an hour or so before dusk, robins were already chirruping their evening songs and red bats were flitting in quest of insects just a few feet above the water.

Thanx to Kelly and another AR GFC biologist, both of whom dove deeply to check on Ozark hellbenders, Cryptobranchus bishopi, I had already had an opportunity to see and photo one of these huge salamanders. Throughout that float we had been watched by raccoon, a mink, and taunted by common map turtles that rose from the depths almost, but not quite, in reach from the boat.

But now we had a longer net that I hoped would increase our chance of getting up close and personal with one of these chelonians. It didn’t. They continued to surface but as if divining our intent, all were now even more distant. Well, darn.

While not the largest of the genus, the common map turtle is big. Females attain a 10” carapace length and males are between 4 and 6” in shell length. Females, mollusk and crustacean eaters, develop the enlarged head associated with such a diet. IOW, they are an impressive turtle. And I had just about decided I was going to have to leave with no photo.

But Lady Luck was with us. Just as we beached a big female map turtle came trudging down the sandy bank. Probably returning to the river from a nesting, pix were taken, and we, turtle and humans, went merrily on our individual ways.

Thanx again, Kelly. Yours is a beautiful region.

Continue reading “The Common Map Turtle” …read more
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Celebrating World Croc Day with this pair of Cuban Crocs (Crocodylus rhombifer) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocodilians ! In the wild, Cuban Crocs are considered critically endangered. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Bearded Dragons are always such characters like these two in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user TazziesMommy is all amphibian! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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What a gorgeous little Ameiva in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Agata ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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This hatching Leopard Gecko is cute as a button in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user radar357 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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A pair of diminutive Egyptian tortoises, Testudo kleinmanni.
OK, Chris, what are those?

I had ventured over to harass Chris and Mike while they unpacked a shipment of Egyptian imports. I recognized most of the herps, but the critters before now, little tortoises, were something new. They looked a bit like Hermann’s tortoises, but were much smaller, a little more elongate, and these ostensibly came from Egypt and Hermann’s didn’t, so????

And that was my introduction to the little “Egyptian” tortoise, Testudo kleinmanni. It was apparently rare back then and is now even more so. And sadly, as I later learned, those in that first shipment didn’t fare very well.

There seem to be very few of this tortoise species in America but a few are bred in zoos and by private hobbyists each year.

The highly domed carapace varies in color from a variable off-white, through buff, to brown. Reflecting more heat than darker colors, this allows the little tortoise to remain in the open and forage longer. The carapacial scutes often have dark edges or dark anterior blotches. The plastron is off white to buff and carapace is light yellow, often with two dark triangles on each of the two abdominal scutes. The head, neck, and legs are pale. These colors blend well with the light background colors of their desert home. Adult size is about 4”.

This is a chelonian species that I have never worked with. I have been told that although shy, the species does well and breeds readily once acclimated. I’m glad I had an opportunity to meet them so many years ago and hope to see more captive bred examples in the future.
Continue reading “The Egyptian Tortoise” …read more
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You can’t deny the awesome patterns in ball pythons, like this one in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user hcrepties! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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We never post enough kingsnakes, so get a gander of this beautiful kingsnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kasie ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Tiny but stunning, this Oophaga ventrimaculatus shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user obeligz ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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