This momma Suboc is guaring her fresh clutch in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pecoskid ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This male veiled is hanging on tight for whatever is in store for him in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user GECKOPERSON ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a fabu shot of Atelopus barbotini in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jamesmatthews ! These guys are native to French Guyana. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Daytime green, the polkadot treefrog may have spots of yellow or red.
The Polkadot Treefrog, Hypsiboas (formerly Hyla) punctata, a Kermit lookalike, occurs pretty much throughout South America from Colombia to Argentina and from Bolivia to Brazil’s Caribbean coast. It is also found on Trinidad and Tobago. Swamps, marshes, irrigated gardens, slow-flowing oxbows, and many other moist and wet sites are home to this 1 ½ inch long frog.
In fact, it was about 20 years ago that, in company of several other treefrog species, I met the polkadot species in a water lettuce choked oxbow of Peru’s Rio Orosa. Drawn to the oxbow by the squawks, churrs, and whistles of the frogs, it soon became apparent that the chuckling notes were produced by the little reddish popeyed treefrogs with the Kermit facial expressions. Polkadot treefrogs! I collected a couple to assure that we could all get satisfactory photos (the frogs were returned to the oxbow the next night).
Yes, when found they were reddish with brighter orange dorsal polkadots and a greenish overcast. But they were not that color the next morning! In fact, except for the Kermit-like expression, they looked like different frogs. All were decidedly green, some pale, some bright lime. On some the polkadots had remained orangish, on others the dots were bright yellow. The night to day color change (metachrosis) was remarkable.
But within the last couple of years something more remarkable than mere metachrosis has been accidentally learned. The polkadot treefrog, fluoresces!
As stated in an article by Amanda Ellis: “According to (researcher) Carlos Taboada and colleagues the fluorescence intensity represents about 18−29% of the luminosity under twilight conditions and is suspected to play a possible role in the communication, camouflage and mating of the frog.”
Be this as it may, Patti, Jake, and I have seen hundreds of polkadot treefrogs at dusk and later and we have never noticed any indication of fluorescence under natural light. Now I’m really wondering about my field acumen.
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This Horned Desert Viper (Cerastes cerastes) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Gaboonviper1388is just peeking from its hiding spot! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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As always, on Fridays, we highlight our venomous animals as part of #RattlesnakeFriday to help bring awareness to their conservation status. …read more
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Like something out of a sci-fi film, the mighty Mata Mata patrols the depths of the water in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Geo! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Except fot the 3 obvious rows, all other scales on the Dragon Snake are minute.
Even to those among us who realized that the Dragon Snake, Xenodermus javanicus, existed, it was a species shrouded in mystery. The only detailed account of the species that I had seen were a couple of dozen sentences in John Coburn’s “The Atlas of Snakes of the World” published in 1991 by TFH. But even this was a bit incomplete. And although that volume was replete with photos, a photo of the “Dragon Snake” was sadly lacking.
But now let’s jump forward a couple of decades.
Dragon Snakes are no longer a species known only to a few taxonomists and herpetologists. This strange little nonvenomous snake is now occasionally available in the pet trade. They are still rather high-priced, but they are available. They do not appear to be super-hardy, but that may well be a case of conditions at the collecting and holding facility and/or parasitism. As usual, articles have now been written, some conflicting, but all ostensibly in the best interest of what is now thought of as an interesting snake that requires rather exacting captive conditions. This is my effort. Don’t hesitate to look elsewhere for additional or different information.
A few details here: It is certainly understandable why the dragon snake was overlooked for so many years. It is pretty much a brownish to charcoal snake—a mud-colored snake, if you will—that is nocturnal and that spends the daylight hours in creek-side burrows. They are very slender and seem to be slow moving. There is sexual dimorphism, the males being a slim 16-20 inches long and the females being a bit stouter and adult at 24 to 32 inches.
Most records are from the southeastern Malay Peninsula at elevations from sea level to about 4400 feet. This may account for some articles recommending captive temperatures of 72 to 75F. However, if records are correct, the dragon snakes now available to American hobbyists are being collected and shipped from low elevations in Java where temperatures are warmer. These snakes seem to do well at the higher room temperatures commonly found in North Florida.
Despite the 3 rows of strongly tuberculate scales on the dorsum, the skin of Xenodermus is delicate. The sides are finely scaled with much interstitial skin showing between. This is also so of the skin between the 3 rows of tuberculate dorsal scales. This skin tears easily. Use care when handling. According to keepers this snake is also very prone to moisture blisters and requires a moist subsurface but a dry surface. Success has been had with sphagnum, pads of artificial turf, and treefern trunk substrates. If frightened, including handling, rather than gliding away as most other snakes would do, the little xenoderm often becomes motionless and rigid, then resembling a twig more than a living animal.
Although dragon snakes are known to eat minnows of small size, …read more
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What an adorable trio of Banana Pectinatas in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kellyp. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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And the Oscar goes to this Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MCMB . They are SUCH drama queens. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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SO bright and brilliant, this Yellow Anaconda shines 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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A pair of scrub lizards, female at bottom.
Trash was everywhere. Old carpets. Broken furniture. Vegetative debris. Mattresses. Deteriorating wood. Cut trees. All this and more lay atop the sandy substrate that several lizards, one amphisbaenid, anurans, a few snake species, and one tortoise, the gopher tortoise called home.
We flipped, flipped, then flipped some more. The dunes seemed bereft. Only a small gecko and dead ground skink, and lots of roaches were seen. With the trash come the bugs.
But as I stood contemplating the wondrous success of the cockroaches (did you know there are over 4000 species worldwide?!) I heard a scrambling sound in a small oak next to me. I glanced over just in time to see a small grayish lizard leap from the trunk and land running. Scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi. These small cousins of the fence lizard are not always easy to find. They top out at a length of about 5 ½ inches but are often smaller. They occur in 4 disjunct sandy regions of Florida—one such area being on the southeast and the southwest coasts and 2 in the center of the state.
This wary lizard is adept at evading detection, squirreling around a tree trunk or limb at the slightest sign of disturbance. Both sexes bear a prominent lateral stripe on each side, The male has only vague (if any) dorsal markings between the stripes but has an elongate black edged blue patch on each side of the belly and 2 blue spots on the throat. Females lack the ventral blue markings but have irregular stripes across the back.
These interesting insectivores don’t seem as common today as once. If you get a chance to look them up it may be best to do so now.
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We love everything that rattles, but today we give the spotlight to this baby timber rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Hopefully this adorable shot of an Elongated Tortoise in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user TylerStewart will help brighten your day! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Leopard frog yin and yang! The Leucistic tadpole really stands out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user retnaburner!
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This Mexican Pine Snake is SUPER sassy in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A portrait of a canefield king.Time and again Jake and I had mentioned taking a drive to South Florida and trying our luck at locating 1 or 2 of the once common and now much less common Florida peninsula kingsnakes. By today’s genetic standards these are simply eastern kings. By Linnaean standards they are easily differentiated from the eastern kingsnake. Some researchers have simply considered them an intergrade between the eastern and the South Florida kingsnake. Others (and I prefer this designation) have assigned the subspecific designation of Lampropeltis getula floridana to these. With this latter designation Florida would be populated by 4 kingsnake subspecies, the Apalachicola Lowlands, the common, the South Florida (aka Brook’s), and the Florida.
It was early in January 2020 that we finally made the jaunt southward. We beat a southbound cold front by 36 hours. And in those 36 hours we searched hard for the Peninsula (or Florida) kings. Found were garter snakes, a very disfigured yellow rat, some banded and brown water snakes, and some baby American crocodiles. No kings—Florida or otherwise.
The next morning dawned a bit “brrrrrish”—close to 50F. For Floridians that’s brrrrrish. We decided to recheck a few boards just in case a wandering king decided to seek shelter from the cool. Few boards zero kings but one bobcat. We drove 15 miles to a new venue. First several boards, zero. One more board area to recheck and the we’d be heading north again.
Glad we rechecked. 1 yearling king was at home. Quite a thrill, for it was the first one either Jake or I had seen for 10+ years.
Homeward bound!
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What a great looking pair of Australian water dragons in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Yes, it isn’t a Rattlesnake, but it is a venomous snake! What an awesome shot of this Lansberg’s hognosed pitviper (Porthidium lansbergii) in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Neverscared ! 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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The cutest of our angry creatures, this great field shot of a Snapping Turtle takes the spotlight our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user anuraanman ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Love this cage set up for this Arizona Mt. Kingsnake 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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Welcome to the world little one! That magical moment when a baby takes it’s first breath is captured here with this boa 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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Red and black? Black and yellow? Mimics in nature are clear with this pair of South American hognose from the same clutch in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Longhitano!
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Upclose and personal with this gorgeous Eastern Diamondback in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user seed0529 ! 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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Blue Tongue Skinks are such amazing pets, they deserve the spotlight of Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PatS !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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So small and precious, this baby Broad Banded Water Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran gets up close and person with the mighty herper! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Sonoma County has some beautiful Black Speckled Salamanders, just like this one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user skyserpent ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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It should be no surprise to the reptile and amphibian community that we would be impacted by the COVID-19 virus shutdowns. We will do our best to keep the herp community informed, here, on this post with the latest event cancellations. Most of these event cancellations have been mandated by state or local agencies and the event promoters had no say in the cancellations. In all cases it is best to check with the event promoter to check the status of individual events as some may not be listed here. If you are event or meeting promoter that needs to list a cancellation or postponement please send us an email at jeffb@kingsnake.com
List updated 03/13/20
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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!
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So very underestimated but how many of you caught a Garter like the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user snakekate for your first field find? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A True Giant. This Komodo Dragon takes center stage in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cowboyfromhell ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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!
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If this axolotl in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tadpoleo doesn’t make you smile, I am not sure what will! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Baby pics make #RattlesnakeFriday so much better! Loving this baby timber rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! No round-ups this week, just a look at a new life.
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The West Alpine locality momma is holding tight to those new eggs in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user oursnakes ! Be sure to tell oursnakes you liked it here!
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A neat close up view of the Philippines Flying Dragon (Draco spilopterus) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user johnny888 !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Take on your day like this sassy Cribo in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user steve fuller ! We are so jealous! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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SO bright and brilliant, this Yellow Anaconda shines 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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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Massive support is needed in the conservation of the gorgeous Massasauga Rattlesnake all across the country. That is why they take the spotlight today in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user ratsnakehaven ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Diamond’s aren’t just a girl’s best friend, they are everyone’s! This stunning Diamond Python our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CincyGrady shows us why! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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