What a chunker! I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say that the Barking Tree Frog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user saltycity has never missed a meal! 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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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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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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This Uromastyx (U.acanthinurus) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rockabirdie, is all fired up and sassy! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Through all the years, corn snakes remain 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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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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Help fight off any case of the Mondays by welcoming this little ball python to the world in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user TerryHeuring brighten your day!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Inyo Mountains Salamander at home (momentarily minus the sheltering rock
We headed to the Inyo Mountains to try to whittle some species from the list.
“Turn right, ummm—here,” Gary said as we barreled along. I turned right and was confronted by a half-dozen boulders someone had rolled onto the dirt road.
“I can roll those.” Gary said (I didn’t argue because I wasn’t sure I could—roll them, that is).
Somehow between Gary’s efforts and the car’s 4-wheel drive we actually accessed the gravel-dirt road.
“See that ridge?” Gary said?
“I think so.” I said tentatively. There looked to be several ridges.
“That’s where we’re going.”
“OK.”
So I put the car in low and we went. As we bounced slowly along we frightened huge basking male desert collared lizards, Crotaphytus bicinctores, from boulder-top vantage points. Toasty warm, they were alert, unapproachable, and clad in scales of warm desert brown. Good road.
Somewhere along the way one of the low ridges developed a sombrero of green formed by one or more cottonwoods. Ahhhh-that was the ridge. That was good. It was considerably closer than the one at which I had been looking. A short spur turned right and we bumped our way to the cottonwoods and at the cottonwoods was a bubbling spring.
“This is one of two places where that salamander is found.” Gary said.
“That salamander” was, in this case, the Inyo Mountains slender salamander, Batrachoseps campi.
So we parked, got out, and began carefully turning damp rocks. Nothing. Nary a salamander, but we were serenaded the whole time by goldfinches so all was not lost.
Gary said “Let’s try the second spot.”
Sounded good to me, so off we went. The roads got worse and as we ascended and rock-hopped I found myself wishing I had a Wrangler rather than a Trooper. But the car was steadfast in its approach—until the road disappeared and I chickened-out.
So we stopped and walked upwards, ever upwards, and finally we entered a beautiful spring fed copse of cottonwoods. This was a magnificent desert spring, replete with terrestrial orchids, mosses, ferns, and flat surface rocks. If ever an oasis existed, this was it.
Gary went in the direction where on an earlier trip he had found an Inyo Mountain slender salamander. Not knowing better, I floundered around in a more open area having a great number of flat rocks, most of which were partially awash in the numerous seeps that emerged from the main spring.
And through dumb-luck, it was I who found the only Inyo Mountain slender salamander of the trip. This beautiful caudatan of the silvery phase was right at water level beneath a tilted rock.
What can I say but “thanks, Gary!”
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday from this Pygmy Rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user randyprobst ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Remember, we celebrate #RattlesnakeFriday to celebrate our venomous animals and spotlight their conservation needs
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Good things come in small packages, like the Rough Earth Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gdy! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Glass Lizards, like these guys in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user sweetpea are like having the best of both world’s dontcha think?!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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It is a whole lotta squee in this two for Tuesday 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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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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Black collared lizard juvenile
Next stop would be a bit closer to San Diego, where amidst canyons and boulder fields we would try to photograph Baja black collared lizards, Crotaphytus vestigium. Because of their color, predominantly black with an intricate pattern of white crossbars and spots, the breeding males of this species are distinctively different in appearance from any other collared lizard in the United States. Breeding females are also dark but have deep brown fields alternating with the black.
The good news about our search for these collared lizards is that we found them. Gary, with his new fangled, reach to eternity digital camera, even got some good photos of a basking (but very wary) male.
Me? My little 35mm never even had a chance with the lizards. So we decided to try to catch one to enable me to photograph it. After a more than casual “look around” the lizard we zeroed in on was a beautiful adult male in peak coloration. He was basking quietly atop a boulder only about half the size of a house about 20 yards from the road. Even before the car had stopped he was on the alert (being alert is how you get to be a big lizard!) and as we got out he darted over the side and disappeared. Gary ran and I hobbled over to where we thought he had gone and found that he had wedged himself in a cul-de-sac of rocks. He was safe from everything but a whipsnake or our lizard noose. Gary manned the noose and after about a half an hour of standing and lizard fishing in sunshine that had heated the desert to a seeming 200F, he exclaimed “I’ve got him!” He withdrew the noose and with it came one of the most spectacular lizards I’ve ever seen. We were elated—for a moment. The lizard dangled free for a moment, seemed to glare (was it balefully or quizzically) at Gary, shrugged a bit, and before either of us could move to grab him, he had dropped free and was gone. We still don’t know what happened, but we do know it was collared lizard, 1, collared lizard noosers, zero!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday from this Timber Rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user evil-elvis ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! Remember, we celebrate #RattlesnakeFriday to celebrate our venomous animals and spotlight their conservation needs
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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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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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This American Alligator is is keeping an eye out for Dorian in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user mwright82 ! Hang in there Florida, you are in our thoughts! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A Florida black pine snake–almost!
Two of Florida’s forestlands are located on the Panhandle, a 3 or 4 hour drive from my home. The closer of the 2 is the Apalachicola National Forest, more than 550,000 acres of pine and mixed forestlands with stands of hardwoods along the creeks and rivers. West of the Apalach (as it is fondly called) by some 100 miles is the Blackwater River State Forest. This is an expanse of 190,000 acres of uplands, lowlands and in-between-lands, that are home to an impressive array of herp-life, not the least interesting being the Florida pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus mugitus. On the east side of the forest the Florida pines are of very typical appearance. This means that they are pale snakes—they have a pale, chalk white ground color, and the tannish blotches, widely separated posteriorly but almost contiguous anteriorly, can vary from nearly indistinct to reasonably well-defined. This coloration doesn’t usually vary much throughout this snake’s entire range of from southeastern South Carolina to Mobile Bay and throughout most of the northern 4/5 of the Florida Peninsula. In western Escambia County, Florida though, pine snakes that are obvious intergrades between the Florida and the black have been found. These are big (to over 8 feet in length!) and both ground color and blotch color are variably suffused with melanin. The result is that these hulking snakes are distinctly different in appearance than either of the parent species, but are decidedly dark enough in color to be unexpected on the Florida side of Mobile Bay.
Although neither the Florida nor the intergrade pine snakes are commonly seen throughout most of the year, in the spring when males are surface-active and trailing females, seeing a pine snake is a distinct possibility.
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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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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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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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Look closely or you might miss the Uroplatus pietschmanni hiding here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mcamo3 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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In my opinion anurans don’t get much prettier than the Pine Barrens treefrog.While I’m way out in western Florida, there are two treefrogs that I always try to see and photograph. One is widespread and abundant, one is localized, rather uncommon, and protected. The abundant one, the bird-voiced treefrog, Hyla avivoca, is attractive, but many other species are prettier. However, none have the wonderful ululating vocalizations that characterize the bird-voiced treefrog. This cool-gray to green treefrog attains a length of about 1½-inches and is a denizen of the great southern river-swamps. Typically, a large, irregular, dark dorsal marking is present and the limbs are dark banded. A light spot is present beneath each eye. The groin is pale yellow to pale green. Pretty? Well, kind of. But its mellow summer-night tremolo, especially persistent when conditions are overcast or stormy, pleases the ear far more than this treefrog’s color pleases the eye.
However, it is the opposite with the Pine Barrens treefrog, Hyla andersoni. There are few other anurans that can equal the Pine Barrens treefrog in color, but a lot of others equal or surpass its vocalizations. Although the Pine Barrens treefrog can and does change colors, when at its prettiest it has a bright apple-green back, a belly that shades from plum anteriorly (males have darker throats) to bright orange posteriorly and in the groin, and these two colors are separated by a broad, light-edged, plum stripe that runs from nose to groin and beyond. The plum coloration is also present on the feet and the rear of the forearms. But that this frog is primarily eye-candy (to humans) is apparent when you hear its aria of repeated nasal “quonks” that sound somewhat similar to the unmusical calls of a badly stressed goose.
Unlike the widespread bird-voiced treefrog, the Pine Barrens treefrog is present in small colonies in very precise, isolated, patches of acidic, steephead habitat, formations that are quite uncommon if Florida. It is also present in extreme southcentral Alabama, both Carolinas, and the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
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What a gorgeous pair of Eastern Indigos in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user steve fuller ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! To end the week, a whole lotta squee for these baby Death Adders for our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Oxyrhopus ! 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.
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After a brief hello to this hatchling Western Pond Turtle our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ericR he went on his way! 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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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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This Mexican Pine Snake (Pituophis deppei jani) is ready for action 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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This Cobra in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MaxPeterson just learned we celebrate venomous animals every Friday! Boy is he happy for the respect! 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. Be sure to tell him you like it here.
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It is with much sadness that kingsnake.com has learned of the passing of reptile industry pioneer Don Hamper.
I first heard Don Hamper’s name mentioned by John Hollister in the late 80s while taking a roadside break while hunting for reptiles out near Langtry Texas. It was all “Hamper had those” or “Hamper bred those” or “Hamper can get those”. In the days before the internet word passed from herper to herper about other reptile people across the country(and around the world). Don Hamper’s name was prominent among them and it seemed that in some way all herp roads led to Don Hamper. I finally actually met Don Hamper at an International Herp Symposium in the early 90s, where most of the reptile illuminati would gather to listen to lectures and compare keeping and breeding notes. By then Don was famous for hosting one of the few regular reptile expos, the All Ohio Reptile Show, as well as for his pioneering work captive breeding many of the species commonly found in the trade today, and through his work introduced literally thousands of midwesterners to the reptile hobby. Don’s pioneering work both in reptile breeding and reptile expos dramatically helped expand the hobby into a true industry and his impact can still be seen in the many reptile breeders that sprouted up in America’s heartland in the 90s and early 2000s, many of which are still active to this day.
I would run into Don many times over the next 3 decades at symposiums and expos across the country and each time he greeted me like we were long lost brothers. kingsnake.com ended up hosting his web site for many years as well as helping him spread the word about his expos.
I will miss Don and his everpresent smile and kind word. He was a true gentleman and will be missed greatly by all that knew him. Kigsnake.com’s prayers go out to the Hamper family and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts.
– Jeff Barringer …read more
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It is with much sadness that kingsnake.com has learned of the passing of reptile industry pioneer Don Hamper.
I first heard Don Hamper’s name mentioned by John Hollister in the late 80s while taking a roadside break while hunting for reptiles out near Langtry Texas. It was all “Hamper had those” or “Hamper bred those” or “Hamper can get those”. In the days before the internet word passed from herper to herper about other reptile people across the country(and around the world). Don Hamper’s name was prominent among them and it seemed that in some way all herp roads led to Don Hamper. I finally actually met Don Hamper at an International Herp Symposium in the early 90s, where most of the reptile illuminati would gather to listen to lectures and compare keeping and breeding notes. By then Don was famous for hosting one of the few regular reptile expos, the All Ohio Reptile Show, as well as for his pioneering work captive breeding many of the species commonly found in the trade today, and through his work introduced literally thousands of midwesterners to the reptile hobby. Don’s pioneering work both in reptile breeding and reptile expos dramatically helped expand the hobby into a true industry and his impact can still be seen in the many reptile breeders that sprouted up in America’s heartland in the 90s and early 2000s, many of which are still active to this day.
I would run into Don many times over the next 3 decades at symposiums and expos across the country and each time he greeted me like we were long lost brothers. kingsnake.com ended up hosting his web site for many years as well as helping him spread the word about his expos.
I will miss Don and his everpresent smile and kind word. He was a true gentleman and will be missed greatly by all that knew him. Kigsnake.com’s prayers go out to the Hamper family and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts.
– Jeff Barringer …read more
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This isn’t our forefathers Af Rock! This beautiful patternless African Rock shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MEIER21288 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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To celebrate World Lizard Day, we share the Utlia Island Iguana, Ctenosaura bakeri, in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user s4sainz! These iguanas are endemic only to the Utila Island and are listed as critically endangered. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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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This garter snake strikes a defensive pose in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user clayemt ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a fantastic close up of this horned viper (Cerastes cerastes), uploaded by kingsnake.com user gaboonviper1388! 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.
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This Rhino iguana is doing his best impersonation of a dog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cycluracornuta!
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