By Turtle Times
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Herp Photo of the Day: Caecilian
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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Herp Photo of the Day:Milk snake
This Milk snake is just hanging out our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gerryg . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A Pine Tree and a Scarlet King
Fallen pines and scarlet kingsnakes just seem to go together.
The salamander mentioned in the last blog having been found, I began the 60 mile drive back home. But about 20 miles into the drive I began reminiscing about a big eastern diamond-backed rattler I had seen crossing a forest road on my last trip. So I turned around and retraced my drive about 10 miles and turned into the forest. The area was a bit damper than when I had last wended my way, but I was pretty sure the diamondbacks wouldn’t mind, not that I actually thought I’d see one. But timing and temperature were on my side, so…
I drove slowly along a road once dry but now awash with rainy-season slushiness. Eventually the road ascended a few inches into pine and palmetto forest. Five minutes then 10, and still no snakes—of any kind. The next easily accessed turnaround spot was still a few minutes ahead so I continued. Sort of. But a big pine, long dead but newly fallen was lying across the road. Whoops. Turnaround was now unavoidable. But the dead pine, fully a foot in diameter, beckoned. Could I move it from the roadway? Probably not, but what the heck, it was worth a try.
And though moving the pine did prove impossible (for me) as I tried a slab of bark loosened and then slipped away. Fortuitous, yet unintended, as the bark slipped away it left behind a beautiful, 20” long scarlet kingsnake, Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides.
Pictures were taken, the snake was placed near some remaining loose bark, and before I left had again disappeared from sight.
This was a great ending to what had until then been a mud-flung day.
Continue reading “A Pine Tree and a Scarlet King” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
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!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Boa
With his nose peeking through the baby goo, this boa’s first moments are here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dpiscopo69,! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Monitor
Climbing to greet the morning is this beautiful green tree monitor in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user roadspawn!
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Softshell Turtle Eggs Help
By Turtle Times
I had a Florida softshell turtle lay eggs in my yard on may 22nd. Well about 1 month ago I had a coyote come into my yard in broad daylight and start digging it up. I was able to chase him off since he was in my yard,where my kids play. I have 16 eggs all with babies in them, he only ended up getting 6 eggs. Today is day 65 and there are still no babies, but i candled one last night and they’re alive! Has anyone ever hatched softshells if so how long did it take?
Answer 1:
Egg hatching varies so much with the temperature that it is hard to say. They should be getting ready to hatch. Do not rotate the eggs as they need to stay in the same orientation as they were laid. The coyote could have moved some so they may never hatch, but since you have candled them, you know they are alive. It’s a good idea to put an X or a dot on the top of the egg so you know how to put them back into the incubator without rotating them. Keep the eggs moist but not wet so they don’t dry out too much or grow mold if they get too wet.
You might want to get a nursery set up for those who do hatch.
An animal rehabilitator in your are can be of great help with specifics about softshells. They may be rare, and most of the turtles are best left in the wild, but since they are so small, they probably will need special help to survive. Contact a vet in your area to locate a rehabber or google to find one.
So many people do rescue eggs and shelter them in a hatchling state. That’s great that you did this.
Comment:
I use to have a neighbor that bred and sold turtles so i know quite a bit about the incubation process. They stay at 80-83 degrees and 80-90 humidity, none have been turned, i just wasn’t sure about hatching time as all articles i read said 59-60 days i guess they just need some more time. There are 3 that are flaking or peeling and almost all the rest have cracks but no piping. Thank you for your reply!
Answer 3:
I do think that since the eggs are changing in the positive with flaking, peeling and cracks, that you have live babies. I understand that some turtles actually take about 1 week to completely hatch. Then, they still have the egg sac under their belly/plasteron which cannot be disturbed since the little guys use this as a food pack for about another week. Then, they might start actually eating.
I would love to see pics of the baby softshells. Don’t know much about these kinds of …read more
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Turtle Pond Algae Help
By Turtle Times
Answer:
Well to make it plain and simple, with the amount of livestock you have in your pond there is a huge amount of waste being produced. The waste gives off nitrates that aquatic plants including algae feed off of. So as long as you have that many turtles in there, there is going to be that problem. The way to get rid of it is going to be tough. In natural ponds you’ll see that a lot of them are very clear, this is because there are aquatic plants in the pond, after a while the larger plants compete with algae for the nitrate, eventually the bigger plant will win, the algae will slowly die off and the plant (Water Hyacinth for example) will multiple until there is a balance with the amount of nitrate being produced and the plants consuming it. I don’t know what you can do with trying to avoid your turtles from eating the plants, you can try netting off an area for the plants. Or buy a TON of the plants, place them in and see what happens.
Here’s a picture of my pond with a similar problem to yours. You can see the plants are very few.
And here over time five Water Hyacinth and five Water lettuce multiplied to about 60 in total.
Wow that is amazing! I think I will try to net off an area for the plants. I have some really nice ones that are multiplying like crazy in the other pond. Thanks!
You can also try using a UV light inline with your filter. I had the same problem and it solved it within a week. It’s been all summer now and no green water. Some algae grows on the sides but the fish like munching on it.
Where is the best place to buy a UV light? Thanks for your help! My turtles thank you, too. I just spent 3 hours wiping down their shells, and refilling the pond again.
just curious did you leave a receipt tag on the large plant or am I imaging it.
You can also get UV lights from Lowes and your local pond supply store. The down fall to UV lights for you pond is that they need to be changed about every six months just like the UVB bulbs you use over an aquarium. My pond was almost that green once upon a time and I ran down to my local pond store and picked up a animal friendly chemical to reverse the effects (the brand name escapes me right now) and wa-lah, my pond was crystal clear again.
the internet and your local pond store can be pretty helpful.
Also, UV clarifiers are really expensive. …read more
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Turtle & Tortoise Care
By Turtle Times
The Testudines are the only shelled species of reptile or amphibians. All Turtles and Tortoises have a carapace (upper shell) and a plastron (lower shell) to some degree. Sea turtles have a very aerodynamic shell which is thoroughly connected while tortoises have large, dome-shaped shells which look quite cumbersome.
There are two main groupings of turtles. The Pleurodira and the Cryptodira. The Pleurodira include the Chelus and Pelomedusa species and retract their heads by bending their necks horizontally. Conversely, the Cryptodira, which comprise most of the Testudines, retract their heads by bending their necks vertically.
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Turtle And Tortoise Common Names
By Turtle Times
Common Names
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Snapping Turtles |
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Florida Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina osceola) |
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Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentina) |
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Alligator snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temminckii) |
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Common Name |
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Box Turtles |
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Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) |
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Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) |
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Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis) |
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Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina major) |
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Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) |
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Desert Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata luteola) |
Chinese Box Turtle Cistoclemmys flavomarginata caresheet
Yucatan Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina yucatana caresheet
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Common Name |
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Map Turtles |
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Barbour’s Map Turtle (Graptemys barbouri) |
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Yellow-blotched Map Turtle (Graptemys flavimaculata) |
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Common Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) |
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Mississippi Map Turtle (Graptemys kohnii) |
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Black-knobbed Map Turtle (Graptemys nigrinoda) |
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Ringed Map Turtle (Graptemys oculifera) |
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False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica ) |
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Ouachita Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica ouachitensis) |
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Sabine Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica sabinensis) |
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Texas Map Turtle (Graptemys versa) |
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Common Name |
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Mud Turtles |
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Striped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon baurii) |
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Yellow Mud Turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) |
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Big Bend Mud Turtle (Kinosternon hirtipes murrayi) |
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Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum subrubrum) |
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Mississippi Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis) |
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Sonoran Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) |
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Common Name |
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Musk Turtles |
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Razorback Musk Turtle (Sternotherus carinatus) |
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Flattened Musk Turtle (Sternotherus depressus) |
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Loggerhead Musk Turtle (Sternotherus minor minor) |
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Stripe Neck Musk Turtle (Sternotherus minor peltifer) |
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Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) |
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Common Name |
Picture |
Care |
Sliders |
(Trachemys decorata) Hispaniolan Slider
Trachemys decussata decussata Common Cuban Slider
Trachemys decussata angusta Taco River Slider
Trachemys dorbigni dorbigni Southern Orbigny or Brazilian Slider
Trachemys dorbigni brasiliensis Northern Orbigny or Brazilian Slider
Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans caresheet
Trachemys scripta elegans Red-Eared Slider
Trachemys scripta troostii Cumberland Slider
Trachemys scripta emolli Nicaraguan Slider
Trachemys scripta venusta Mesoamerican Slider
Trachemys scripta chichiriviche Venezuela Slider
Trachemys scripta scripta Yellow-bellied Slider
Trachemys scripta cataspila Huastecan Slider
Trachemys scripta callirostris Columbian Slider
Trachemys scripta gaigeae Big Bend Slider
Trachemys scripta grayi Gray’s Slider
Trachemys scripta hartwegi Nazas Slider
Trachemys scripta hiltoni Fuerte Slider
Trachemys scripta nebulosa Baja California Slider
Trachemys scripta ornata Ornate Slider
Trachemys scripta taylori Cuatrocienegas Slider
Trachemys scripta yaquia Yaqui Slider
Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri Puerto Rican Slider
Trachemys stejnegeri maloney Inagua Slider
Trachemys …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Chameleon
Everyone feels just like this little chameleon does here in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user 1Sun every once in a while! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Tokay Gecko
They may be sassy but the beauty of a Tokay gecko is undeniable, like this one in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user stingray! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A Small and Secretive Salamander
One- toed Amphiuma are the smallest, most unicolored, and habitat restricted of the 3 species.
It had been a typically muggy late spring day in northcentral Florida and I had decided to take a drive to the Gulf Hammock area and try my luck in finding a one-toed amphiuma, Amphiuma pholeter. Unlike their 2 wide-ranging and larger two-toed and three-toed relatives, both of which are less restricted in habitat preference, the little one-toed species insists on a habitat consisting of a liquid mud slurry and is restricted in range to Florida’s Gulf Hammock and Panhandle as well as a tiny speck of range in sw GA and sw AL.
Amphiuma pholeter, unicolored and slender as a #2 pencil, was described in 1950 and is a unicolored grayish brown both above and below. It is fully adult at an 11 to 13 inch length. The limbs—all 4 of them—are so tiny that they may be easily overlooked, and as suggested by the common name, bear a single toe per limb.
Because of its dependence on mud-slurry habitat and spotty distribution this aquatic salamander (yes, it’s creek-side habitat is well on the watery side of dry) this little salamander can be difficult to find even in spots where it is known to exist. But once seen its unicolored body, lack of external gills, and tiny one-toed legs, are positive givaways.
So, the next time you feel like reverting to childhood mudpuddles and mudpies accentuated 100 times over, opt for a one-toed amphiuma search. You may not find the salamander but just think how rejuvenating a return to childhood ways will feel. Good luck.
Continue reading “A Small and Secretive Salamander” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
What a fabulous shot of a Great Basin Rattlesnake in Utah in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocman6594! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Gecko
How precious and tiny is this! This wee Gargoyle Gecko is delicately perched on a finger in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user madisyn74 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Agama
Wary and keeping his distance, this agama is protecting his territory in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user aero_tiff ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Iguana
How beautiful is this Ctenosaura quinquecarinata in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rockabirdie ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Eastern Hoggies
An eastern hog-nose in its best cobra pose.
They don’t always erupt like the example in the first picture, but the one thing you can be sure of is that eastern hog-noses, Heterodon platirhinos, are of as variable disposition as they are of color and pattern. Whether they ignore you entirely, perform their “cobra display”, play dead, or simply assume an immobile loose coil in the grasses, for a herper an encounter with this rather common snake of eastern and central North America is always an enjoyable experience.
In the springtime you may be lucky enough to happen across a female moving slowly across a road or through vegetation that is trailed closely by one or more amorous males. In the late summer and autumn it is often the hatchlings that are encountered.
On one April day, Dan and I were driving along a mid-Florida sand road. Our way was pleasantly interrupted by a crossing brightly patterned female eastern hoggie. Before she has made it all the way across a smaller male, this one black, emerged from the roadside vegetation the female had just left and behind him were a second and third male, both brightly patterned. Almost assuredly the female was leaving behind a pheromone trail, invisible in all ways to us, but easily followed by the tongue-flicking, trailing, males.
We took a few pix, then stood quietly until the four had crossed. Quite probably, once from sight, breeding soon occurred, and egg-laying and hatching would happen in due time.
Although we saw little else on that trip, it had been a truly successful herping experience.
Continue reading “Eastern Hoggies” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Frog
There is always something special with dart frogs like this one in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user FrogUs ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
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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Herp Photo of the Day: Gecko
This Leaf-tail Gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) has his eye on you 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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Herp Photo of the Day: Kingsnake
When we find a king this pretty we just have to share it in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rbichler ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Corn Snake
The best part about corn snakes is their wide variety of looks, like this Striped Sunglow Motley in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jcherry! Be sure to tell them you like it here!
Corn Snake, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jcherry” />
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Herp Photo of the Day: Python
Get Naked! Ok maybe not, but this Ball python was slipping into something a little more comfy in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tylerwork ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A Lucky Canebrake
This is the gravid female Canebrake Rattler we saved.
I long ago stopped trying to figure out what makes canebrake rattlers, Crotalus horridus atricaudatus, do what they do. It’s a whole lot easier when you realize that they just do what they want to do whenever they want to do it.
This heavily gravid female was coiled on a busy paved road in August in the full sunshine. Road surface temp was ~120F. We moved her because there were a rancher and his wife parked on the other side of the road, pistol drawn, waiting to shoot the snake when she moved. While we were easing the snake into a bucket I asked the rancher why he had waited. Said he didn’t want to put a hole in the tarmac. As good a reason as any other I guess.
He asked what plans we had for the snake.
When I told him we would find a nearby quiet place and release her, the rancher looked at his wife in disbelief, shook his head, and drove off.
We did exactly as I had said we’d do and wished the snake a long life as she slowly left the confines of the pail.
And yes, I have called the snake a canebrake and not a timber. I’ve even used its old trinomial nomenclature. I have done do because I feel this remains correct. But please, call the snake anything you wish to. It simply doesn’t care.
Continue reading ” A Lucky Canebrake” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Small and a master of disguise, you gotta love this little Coral Snake, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gila7150 Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.
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Herp Photo of the Day: Python
The Coelen’s python may be a hybrid, but they are still are so beautiful that they deserve a spot in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user JonathanH! Be sure to tell tem you liked it here!
Be sure to tell JonathanH you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Frog
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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Herp Photo of the Day: Morelia
Gotta love this stunning pair of Chondros in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user NYCMedic ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Lizard
Alert and always keeping his eye on you, this Basiliscus plumifrons shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kus! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Rainbow Snakes
This is a hatchling Northern Rainbow Snake
Rainbow Snakes, Farancia erytrogramma ssp (2 subspecies) were once relatively common but are now considered uncommon to very rare. The southernmost subspecies, the South Florida rainbow snake, F. e. seminola, known only from 3 examples and not seen for the last several decades, has now been declared extinct. Believers continue to hope this is not true and searches continue. The northern rainbow snake, F. e. erytrogramma, adult at 4 to 5 feet in length and nonvenomous (it can rarely be induced to bite!), once ranged south along the coastal plain from the southern tip of MD to central FL, and westward to eastern LA. It has not been seen over much of this range for a very long time. In fact, deservedly or not, one found recently (Feb 2020) in central FL was given headline publicity. It is quite likely that river damming and the corresponding marked reduction in the catadromous American eel, the primary prey item of the rainbow snake, is the main cause of the greatly lessened numbers of the rainbow snake.
Both subspecies are shown herewith
The South Florida rainbow snake, much the darker of the two, is a preserved specimen at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Continue reading “Rainbow Snakes” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! It may not be a rattlesnake, hot patootie it’s a beauty!! This wild shot of a Death Adder from the Great Sandy Desert, uploaded by kingsnake.com user geoffcunningham assumes the traditional cobra pose for this photo! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.
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Herp Photo of the Day: Racer
So simple and so beautiful. That is the black racer in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ReptileProducts ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Canefield Kings
This is a typically colored Canefield Kingsnake.
There was a time when because of a more than ample food supply (garter snakes, water snakes, leopard frogs and rodents) drawn by the always full irrigation ditches these big busily patterned kingsnakes were actually fairly common. In the canefields they were so abundant that market hunters collected and made them a staple of the pet industry.
Canefields? What exactly are canefields. Well without overexpounding on the subject, I’ll simply say that over vast acres, actually miles, of southcentral Florida, where the Everglades once existed, thanks to King Sugar and an often uncaring government, there are now fields of sugarcane, and sugarcane = canefields.
And the kingsnakes that once thrived there are known by the vernacular of “Canefield kings.” Their actual name is Florida Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula floridana, and their range now extends far southward from the canefields to the tip of the Florida peninsula. But herewith we are discussing only those kings from the canefields that surround Lake Okeechobee and extend a bit southward from there.
Today (2020), due to habitat polluted by the rampant use of insecticides and pesticides, as well as major alterations of the topography that has resulted in a huge reduction of the snake’s prey species and cover in the canefields, it would seem that these beneficial snakes have gone from common to rare. This is an abrupt change in only a 3 or 4 decade time span.
As hatchlings these kingsnakes are quite dark in overall color, with often barely discernable crossbands and even more difficult to see light speckles on some of the dark scales. Colors lighten and patterns become more visible as this kingsnake grows. Adults have a light brown ground color with many scales edged in black, and with irregular off-white dorsal banding. Lateral markings are varied. Some are merely extensions of a dorsal band, some appear like a rough edged triangle, others are just whitish scales scattered haphazardly over the snake’s side. The venter is usually yellowish with yellowish checkers. The average length of predominantly terrestrial, primarily diurnal, snake is 3 ½ to 4 ½ feet. However they occasionally exceed 5 feet.
Clutch size for this kingsnake is usually between 5 and 20 eggs. Hatchlings measure between 9 and 12 inches in length.
Currently difficult to find, I must wonder whether the next decade or two will bring extirpation or renewed abundance to this iconic kingsnake. We’ll hope for the best, of course.
Continue reading “Canefield Kings” …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Gopher Snake
This vibrant Cape Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer vertebralis) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade will brighten your Monday for sure! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Vine Snake
It is hard to not see beauty when you look at the Asian Vine Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user 13lackcat! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Turtle
What makes a Monday more tolerable? A baby box turtle hatching like the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user norristhenut . Bonus shout out for World Turtle Day, which we missed this weekend! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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The Search for a King
Hatchling Eastern Kingsnakes often have a bit of orange laterally.
Jake and I wanted to see eastern kingsnakes, Lampropeltis g. getula, There are a few places where this subspecies can be found in northern Florida but Jake insisted that we’d have a better chance in Georgia. I’m easily swayed, so on a Sunday morning, about the time the midwinter sun was thinking about rising so we piled camera and us into the car and headed northward. Once there we rendezvoused with Noah and his dad, Dave, who knew this area far better than we, and began the hunt.
Noah and Dave really did know the area. They guided us to one abandoned ramshackle shack, and the fallen roofing tins associated with such locales, after another. Many harbored rodent nests but none sheltered snakes—of any kind. Until, sometime about midday a flipped sheet of tin divulged—SNAKE!—but darn, it was only a hatchling southern black racer, Coluber constrictor priapus. The racer home was carefully replaced and we moved on.
We moved from tin pile after tin pile (called flip spots) but no other snakes. We moved on to a tangle of fallen and a few still standing dead pines. We searched high and we searched low. Just as we were about to abandon efforts, Dave called out SNAKE! He had chanced upon a juvenile gray rat snake, Pantherophis obsoletus spiloides. We actually took pix of this one. In our minds it wasn’t as good as a king, but it WAS better than a baby racer (we never told the racer this).
Time was moving on but Noah suggested one more spot. He had never found a king at the suggested spot but he felt it had potential. Off we went and 30 minutes later we stopped beside 3 pieces of plastic. Jake, Noah, and Dave piled out. I’m a lot slower these days—I watched. Beneath the first piece of plastic, nothing. Ditto on plastic number 2. But plastic piece number 3? It held in its folds the prize of the trip. As Noah happily exclaimed “The crown jewel of a fun day of tin flipping, a chunky female Eastern King.” I’ll simply add that it was scale perfect, very well nourished, and just entering ecdysis.
Photos were taken, the snake was replaced, we shook hands, hopped in the cars, and in the proverbial cloud of smoke (actually flying sand) we closed out the great kingsnake hunt.
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TURTLES AND TORTOISES (Testudines)
By Turtle Times
The Testudines are the only shelled species of reptile or amphibians. All Turtles and Tortoises have a carapace (upper shell) and a plastron (lower shell) to some degree. Sea turtles have a very aerodynamic shell which is thoroughly connected while tortoises have large, dome-shaped shells which look quite cumbersome.
There are two main groupings of turtles. The Pleurodira and the Cryptodira. The Pleurodira include the Chelus and Pelomedusa species and retract their heads by bending their necks horizontally. Conversely, the Cryptodira, which comprise most of the Testudines, retract their heads by bending their necks vertically.
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