Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Red Eyed Leucistic Monocled Cobra, in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user eekster . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!
Remember, we highlight all our venomous animals on Fridays to help raise awareness for their need of conservation. …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
We bring you this beautiful Collared lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user the4thmonkey to brighten your day! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This frillie looks a little angry our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nydon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This little White’s Tree Frog has his eye on you in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user exoreds ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
We are loving this shot of a Black Milk Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gerryg ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This is an adult male Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana from the Miami population.Yes, it does seem that unwanted critters come in threes to Florida—three boa species, 3 python species, and 3 iguana species.
When mentioned at all, the subject of iguanas in Florida usually refers to the omnipresent Green Iguanas of the southern peninsula and the Keys. This is understandable for these are the most easily seen as they display in the trees, on abutments, on canal banks, and just about everywhere else. But besides this attention grabber, there are 2 other species that are actually present. These are both Spiny-tailed Iguanas, ground dwellers, very efficient burrowers, speedsters, climbers if necessary, and of very similar appearance. Both species are predominantly herbivorous but will accept animal matter if hungry.
In name they are the Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura pectinata, and the Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, C. similis. Despite the reference to color, C. similis is very similar to C. pectinata. Both are big gray lizards with darker crossbands. Both are capable of considerable color changes, being lightest overall when warm and content, and assuming darker colors when being combative or cold. The actual difference can only be ascertained by the presence or absence of small scales between the dorsal spines and spiny tail whorls. Hatchlings are green, lack a dorsal crest, but caudal spines differentiate them from the green iguana.The presence of both is, like their green relative, the result of escapees or releasees.
If you see a big (4 feet long) gray lizard basking atop a wall or rock in southern FL, you are probably viewing a spiny-tailed iguana. Say “Howdy” for me. Continue reading “Spiny-tailed Iguanas in Florida” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Mexican Beaded Lizard gallery photo by Andrew Godambe
A Southern California man was accused of smuggling more than 1,700 reptiles into the United States from Mexico. Jose Manuel Perez, 30, was charged on Thursday with nine counts of smuggling goods into the U.S. and two counts of wildlife trafficking.
According to the charging document, Perez was crossing the border last month when a border patrol officer asked him if he had anything to declare for customs. Perez said he did not. After being referred for a secondary inspection, Perez admitted that yes, he had some animals but they were his pets. At the time, Perez had about 60 reptiles concealed inside his clothes, including 38 lizards and four Isthmian dwarf boas. He was arrested soon after.
Perez’s sister, 25-year-old Stephany Perez, is also charged in the indictment with conspiracy. Both have been living in Oxnard, California.
For the last six years, the Pererz siblings, along with three other co-conspirators, have allegedly smuggled in an array of reptiles and amphibians from Mexico and Hong Kong into the U.S., including Yucatan box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles and Mexican beaded lizards.
Social media played a key role in the enterprise. Jose Perez used social media to both buy and sell the animals. He advertised his creatures with photos and videos and used mobile platforms to haggle with customers, accept payments and even at times defend himself from accusations of unethical behavior. Perez was surprisingly open about both his criminal operation and his belief that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.
To read the full article see https://www.courthousenews.com/man-charged-with-smuggling-thousands-of-reptiles-into-u-s-from-mexico/ …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Beautiful picture of a Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus), found in Portal, Arizona, in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user erindonalson . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Native Colubrids in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user xtranch are like a box of chocolates! So much good to choose from! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
What a gorgeous Abronia our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SalS ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This pic of a Rainbow Boa in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mjmullis shows why we love them! That iridescence and that stunning eye! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
I think this Ackie our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BryanD , as his tinder profile pic!! What a cool shot in black and white! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Adult male Florida Box Turtle
Of the 4 subspecies of Eastern Box Turtle, the Eastern, the Gulf Coast, the Three-toed, and the Florida, it is the latter that differs most in appearance from the other 3. While its relatives tend to have carapaces that are flattened dorsally and to be rather round when viewed from above, the Florida subspecies, Terrapene carolina bauri, is rather elongate and highly domed. Additionally, the carapace is usually black with precise elongate yellow rays radiating downward on each dorsal plate and a complete or interrupted yellow vertebral line. The head is black dorsally and olive in the temporal areas. Hatchlings are less precisely marked than the adults, but do usually have a complete vertebral stripe of yellow. Hatchlings are about an inch in length; adults may attain 6 inches. Like other box turtles, this beauty is omnivorous when adult but primarily carnivorous when a hatchling. Earthworms, insects, and arthropods are all eagerly consumed.
This pretty, terrestrial turtle with the hinged plastron was once common on peninsula Florida from the Georgia state line to the southern Keys. Today it seems a bit more difficult to find. Although not entirely protected, it cannot be commercialized in the state and a limit of 2 in your possession is strictly enforced. Continue reading “Florida Box Turtles” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Fantastic picture of a Mojave Rattlesnake, found in Puebla, Mexico, in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user OXYUMAURUS . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
What a stunning shot of a Satanic leaf-tailed gecko we have as our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user zmarchetti!
Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Through massive conservation efforts, the wild population of Jamaican Iguanas may have a chance at becoming established once again!
Through work with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Programme, they hope to release 1,000 of the endangered iguanas back into the wild by 2026. Working with in-situ efforts such as predator management and nesting site management as well as the ex-situ headstart program.
Read more about this amazing recovery effort of a once believe extinct animal https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/nepa-plans-release-1000-iguanas-hellshire-hills!
Inset Photo: A Jamaican Iguana labelled for tracking in its natural habitat in the Hellshire Hills of St Catherine. (Photo: NEPA) …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Let’s go Hog Wild for this Eddy County New Mexico Locality Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nearhoofm ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
kingsnake.com has been hosting reptile businesses from around the world for over 25 years and for a number of years Bion Terrarium Center has been one of those businesses. Located in Kyiv Ukraine Bion has been the source for many unique specimens found in breeding facilities and zoos around the world, as well as supplying reptile keepers in Ukraine with feeders and supplies. With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine the company and it’s employees are in dire need of support from the reptile community. If you are looking for someplace in the Ukraine to support with your donations we recommend that you reach out to Bion and offer them what assistance you can. Below is a message from Dmitri Tkachev, owner of the Bion Terrarium Center.
Dear Colleagues, Friends and Partners of BION all over the world,
As a result of unprecedented invasion of Ukraine from Russian Federation, BION’s activities have been paralyzed for an indefinite period of time and we lost all sources of subsistence.
BION Terrarium Center possesses a unique collection of animals (consisting of 2000 heads of breeding stock only), a number of successful long-term and promising breeding programs for many rare species, as well as a team of 30 employees; many of them have been working for more than 15 years. We would be grateful for any support you can provide!
Pls share this info as much as possible!
Please transfer your donations to:
BENEFICIARY: LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS
BENEFICIARY’s ADDRESS: 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA
Bank: KeyBank (branch #0164)
Bank address: 353 NE Northgate Way
Seattle, WA 98125
Account #: 471641010460
ABA: 125000574
SWIFT: KEYBUS33
or Pay Pal
leogolbrokers@gmail.com
with a note: Support to BION Terrarium Center due to extreme situation in Ukraine.
Dmitri Tkachev,
On behalf of BION team
P.S. LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS, 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA is our reliable partner since 1995!
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This Tomato Frog thinks he is hiding in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user deLuxBuLLi, but we won’t tell him he isn’t!
Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
kingsnake.com’s Cindy Steinle gets up close and personal with a tortoise at Rapid City’s Reptile Gardens
Reptile Gardens in Rapid City is celebrating 85 years of introducing the South Dakotans to reptile species from around the world.
Founded by Earl Brockelsby in 1937 it continues to be run by family members, including his nephew, Joe Maierhauser, the zoo attracts over a million visitors from around the world every year.
Reptile Gardens opened for the season on March 5th. It closes for the winter on November 30th.
Read the full article here https://www.keloland.com/news/eye-on-keloland/85-years-at-reptile-gardens/ or visit the Reptile Gardens web site at https://www.reptilegardens.com/ …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
No matter what the nomenclatural whiz-kids choose to call it, a Yellow Rat Snake is still a Yellow Rat Snake.As I write this in early February, I’m basing my comments on memories of old, of those time when I was roaming the hills and dales of Massachusetts’ Connecticut Valley, of times back when I could flip a flagstone in the yard and come face-to-face with an Eastern Worm Snake, Carphophis a. amoenus (when was the last time you saw one of these?), when Timber Rattlesnakes, C. h. horridus, were a northern subspecies and Canebrake Rattlers were the southern subspecies, C. h. atricaudatus, when Black Rat Snakes were Black Ratsnakes, back then Elaphe o. obsoleta, when Fowler’s Toads were a subspecies of B. woodhousei, the former being B. w. fowleri, and…well you get it. Back when field biology was a recognized study subject, when genetics were seldom spoken of, before those who have used genetic studies to cause nomenclatural turmoil, in most cases for the “publish or perish” concept, or simply because they could make change, and not because change was needed.
Annoying though these name changes may be, the recipients, the snakes in this case, really don’t care what they are called, and we, those of us who are interested in nomenclature, are under no mandate to use the newly suggested names. In other words, a Canebrake Rattlesnake can still be a Canebrake instead of a Timber, and a Yellow Rat Snake does not have to become an Eastern Rat Snake. Your choice. Continue reading “Spring, Herps, and Names” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Some might wonder what is it with this Glass Lizard in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rosycorn, but we all know what it is!
Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Here’s lookin’ at you kid! Check out this gorgeous albino Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Proving that good things come in small packages, this field caught ringneck shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!
Be sure to tell cochran you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Check out this curious little Wood Turtle our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kensopher! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
.jpg?w=250)
This curious little wild Rat snake is checking out the camera in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cmac107 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
So small and precious, this baby Broad Banded Water Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran is so very adorable! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Tropes, formerly called Dwarf Boas, are high on the lists of herps we hope to see. This is Tropidophis melanurus.
The beautiful Island Nation of Cuba. A mere 90 miles away, yet Cuba, with a climate about identical to our southern Florida Keys, but with a wonderfully different herpetofauna and avifauna, remains an “unknown” to many, if not most, Americans. But Patti and I are two of the lucky ones. We have each been to our neighboring island several times. And it is probable that as you read this, Patti and I, and a few other participants, are again in the air on an airliner, heading southeastward from Tampa.
But let me explain.
The previous times we’ve visited Cuba have been on birding trips. Despite this designation, we were able to get a bit of herping in. But this time, we’re have broadened our view a bit and designated our quests as both herping and birding. And if this trip goes well, we may attempt a later trip specifically for herping (but we’ll also look for birds) to a different destination. Just a thought at the moment, but the far western peninsula, Guanacahabibes, seems to be calling strongly to us. We’ll keep you posted both about our current and future trips. Continue reading “Cuba, Here We Come” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
It would be pretty hard to tread on this Albino Atrox in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user krantz ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
-med.JPG?w=250)
This American Alligator is chilling like a villian in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user mwright82 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Today’s herp photo of the day reminds us to always flip that tin! This five-lined skink was found with her eggs under a paving stone, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDB_reptiles!
Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Loving this Dumeril’s basking in the sun for a photoshoot in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user liljenni ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
There is no denying the extreme cute factor of this Xenopus laevis in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Florida Scrub Lizards, male foreground, female rear.
The state of Florida has a fair number of endemic herp species. There are Florida sand skinks, Crowned snakes of not one but of 2 species, Florida worm lizard (that, with an example having been found in south Georgia just became non-endemic) and several others. But one that we don’t hear much about is the Florida Scrub Lizard, Sceloporus woodi. Once fairly common in 4 well defined but well separated locales, this little member of the spiny lizard (also known as “swifts”) clan now seems reduced in numbers and may even have been extirpated in some regions.
Having a body length of less than 3 inches (the tail will add another couple of inches), the Scrub Lizard is one of the smaller members of the genus. The Scrub Lizard’s dark lateral stripe makes differentiating it from the Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, that lacks the stripe, a simple task. This Scrub Lizard, agile and alert, is sexually dimorphic. Adult males lack most dorsal markings between the dark lateral stripes while females have rather prominent dark, wavy, dorsal crossbands.
If startled while basking or foraging on the ground the Scrub Lizard usually darts for the nearest tree and puts a trunk or limb between it and the interloper. Small, alert, and fast—3 requisites for survival in what can be a hostile home range. Continue reading “Florida’s Scrub Lizard” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We are seeing red with this gorgeous shot of a Pygmy Rattlesnake our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tamers1 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
What amazing colors Uros come in, like this ornate in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user plietz! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
Here is to hoping this Northern Pine in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user orchidspider can cure any case of the blues!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
“You’re kingsnake.com, where are all the kingsnakes?” Right here in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user trevid ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
The yellow groin differentiates the Pickerel Frog from the Leopard Frogs.Pickerel Frog or Leopard Frog? The shape of the dorsal spots will tell. Or perhaps they won’t. It would be convenient if the dark markings of the Pickerel Frog, Rana palustris, always complied with the description most often attributed to it—squared or rectangular dorsal spots— but the sad truth is that this is not always so. However, another field marking, that of having a yellow groin and underleg coloring does seem to be a constant. And you can always hope that the frog at which you are looking does have squared dorsal and dorsolateral blotches. Many do.
The Pickerel Frog is rather unique amongst the eastern ranids in that it produces a decidedly noxious skin secretion. The secretion can cause many human tears if the eyes are rubbed before hand washing. The secretion also seems sufficiently repulsive to render the anuran an unsuitable prey item for many snake species.
Overall, this brown spotted 3 ½” long, tan frog is common throughout its divided range. The eastern population ranges westward and southward from eastern Quebec to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, then southward to northwest Alabama and southeast South Carolina. The western population ranges westward and southward to Western Wisconsin, then to east Texas and South Central Alabama, and Escambia County, FL. Between the two populations is a broad swath of what seems to be Pickerel Frog No Man’s Land.
The snoring call of this frog man be produced when the frog is fully exposed or when it is fully submerged. This frog may be encountered in moist meadows, near or in grassy puddles, bogs, and ponds, and may even enter caves. IOW it may occur wherever you would expect to find a frog and in some places that you might not expect one. They are not hard to find.
BTW, Lithobates is no longer the genus for the eastern ranids. They have been returned to Rana.
Continue reading “The Pickerel Frog” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.
This little Diamondback baby found Arizona is adorable in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd in the field! We can only imagine the excitement at this find! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
No products found.