This Wood Frog in our herp photo of the day, brings back memories of summertime herping. Uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . 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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External gills, functional eyes, tailfin–the larval grotto salamander has all three.
Currently there are 191 named species of salamanders in the USA. This large amphibian grouping is contained in 8 families of which the largest by far is the Plethodontidae with 147 species plus well over a dozen subspecies. With the use of genetics it is probable that an additional 25+ species will soon be added to this family.
The plethodontids vary in size from 2” long dwarfs to what are considered in this family comparative giants of 9”. Among these are species that are entirely aquatic throughout their lives (paedomorphic taxa), others which are just as entirely terrestrial, and many that are in between these two extremes. Most seek seclusion beneath logs and rocks in damp woodlands, some prefer a similar microhabitat along stream edges, and others live beneath rocks and leaf litter submerged in streams, creeks, or rivulets. Terrestrial taxa have well developed, fully functional eyes, some aquatic forms have reduced vision, and some aquatics are blind. And then there’s the grotto salamander, Eurycea (formerly Typhlotriton) spelaea, a most remarkable little beast that may be encountered in the cave systems of Southeastern Kansas , Northeastern Oklahoma, Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.
Troglodytic when adult and in its later stages as a larva, after hatching the larvae often follow connecting underground streams from the darkness of caves to the daylight outside. At that point they are pigmented, being a weakly patterned olive brown to tan. They then have functional eyes, 3 pairs of external gills, and a well-developed tailfin. During the daylight hours they, like many aquatic salamanders, hide beneath rocks and stream bottom debris. On cloudy days and at night they are more inclined to depart their lairs, swimming and foraging in the open.
After a larval duration of several years the 3 or 4 inch long larvae follow their home streams back into the darkness and undergo a metamorphosis that is typical in some respects but atypical in others. Simplified, typically the gills and tailfin lessen in size and function until they are fully resorbed and the larvae become capable of existing terrestrially. Atypically the pigment of the now subterranean salamander is gradually lost and rather than becoming lidded and terrestrially functional as do the eyes of other plethodontids, the eyes of the grotto salamander degenerate and the lids fuse, producing at adulthood a pinkish, sightless, terrestrial, troglodyte.
Welcome to the wonderfully complex world of Mother Nature.
Continue reading “Grotto Salamander” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a great field find Copperhead from Brown County, Indiana in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ReptileProducts ! 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, not just rattlesnakes. They all need our help to change misconceptions.
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Love the darker phase of this greyband in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user trevid ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What an awesome shot of this pair of Common Toads in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This lovely Gila monster poses perfectly in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user vegasbilly ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What stunning colors on this male Sceloporus orcutti in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user eve. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Yep! I sure do recognize red pygmys now!
The spring of 1953 was a long time ago, but it was then that Gordy Johnston took me on my first long distance herping trip. In his VW Beetle we traveled from MA to our destination of northeastern NC in just a few hours. I was entranced. Heat, humidity (not that at that time of year the heat and humidity is any stranger to New England), immense live oaks, more pine trees than I had ever seen before, and the possibility (read that probability!) of new herps (back then the words herps and herpetoculture had not yet been coined –right Philippe?).
I’m sure that we found may herps on that trip, but of these one in particular sticks in my mind—a red phase Carolina pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus m. miliarius. And the reason I remember it is because when I found it I had no idea what the little snake was.
Even back in those long ago days the woodlands were far from pristine. Logging, especially of pines, was big business. This seemed especially so on the Albemarle Peninsula and the vicinity of Lake Mattamuskeet. Itinerant sawmills were scattered here and there through the woodlands and wherever one of these sprang up clearings were begun, and like Topsy, they grew and grew as the trees were cut and cleaned (debarked and trimmed). Soon sunshine shone where before had been comparative darkness and the trimmings of the trees grew into piles of seclusion for many herps. At some point the sawmill packed up and moved, leaving behind the trimmings and the tin-roofed open shelter that had protected the machinery from the elements.
Gordy and I had happened upon one of these vacated mill locales and we were busily turning the tree trimmings when I turned up this little red snake. As surprised as I was, the little snake coiled and struck at my nearby hand. Hmmmmm.
“Gordy, I’ve got a baby copperhead here.”
Gordy hurried over and carefully edged the little snake into a gallon jar. We both stared. Its dark saddles on the orange-red ground entranced us—and even after staring at it and realizing that copperheads were usually banded, not saddled, when we left with it and a big kingsnake that also confused us (it was a red phase mole king, Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata) it was with the thought that we had found a strange appearing copperhead.
It was not until we had returned home that a more knowledgeable friend looked at the snake and commented about the tailtip button that we realized we had actually found a pygmy rattler, a red one, a phase that we had had no idea existed. Ahhhhhhh—those good old days (no internet, very few books, and youth—learning could be a real challenge!
Continue reading “Our First Red Pygmy” …read more
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Several Cane Toads remind us that necessity is the mother of invention as they found a novel way to get out of an area being flooded by an overflowing dam. They hitched a Lyft, wait make that lift on the back of a local python named Monty. It is Australia after all, pythons just wander the streets there I hear!
“I went out and the lake had overflowed,” he says, and realised the toads, who nested around its edge, were fleeing the rising waters.
“Thousands of toads were all trying to find somewhere to go,” he says. “And then I saw Monty our local python with a bunch of hitchhikers on his back.”
A variety of theories abound from it being staged to male toads with a little romantic confusion, but we just think it is a cool story! Check out the full story and video here!
Photo courtesy of Paul and Andrew Mock, originally shared at https://tinyurl.com/y8dzldea …read more
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What a gorgeous hybrid (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus x stephensi) in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user -SoloViper- ! If I were to give it a catchy name it would be Specklemint Rattlesnake. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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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My very first bulk cricket order was from Jurassic Snacks in the early 90’s.This was well before the internet, we herpers were still working on long distance calls and mail order lists. Everyone has that story, especially us old timers. After lamenting my issues of fitting the square box full of crickets into the rectangle aquarium to a friend, he let me in on the trash bag trick. This tale from a twitter user had tears coming from my eyes.
This tale from a new bearded dragon owner in Minnesota might very well be the funniest thing you have read this week.
Having never ordered internet crickets before, I naively assumed that I’d open up the box and find the crickets in some sort of sealed bag or other contraption to facilitate easy transfer to their final storage place. I also assumed that given the near-zero temperatures we were experiencing that morning, any crickets in the box would be groggy and disoriented and easy to manage.
I was wrong on both counts.
I have not lived in the home I received my first cricket order since 2000, but I am convinced the house still has crickets roaming the halls. To read the full story, I strongly suggest you click here.
Inset photo of post feeding beardie courtesy of TazziesMommy …read more
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Love this shot from the field! Found on the UC Santa Cruz campus, this Black Salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus) is getting a closer look at us in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user sc_shark ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Baby pictures never get old. Let’s welcome 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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This female Kimberly Rock Monitor is just hanging out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bob! 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 is so very adorable! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Think this Cham in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user 1Sun a little hangry?! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Is this Irian Jaya Jag in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user StonedReptiles bright enough for you? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We hope this Ball Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user toshamc,will bring you a lot of Christmas Cheer! From our family to yours, we wish you a safe, healthy and happy Christmas! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Males of Lacerta viridis, the European green lizard, are an intense dark green with blue jowls.
Memories sure help keep us going. Initially I was going to blog about the first red Carolina pygmy rattler I had ever seen way back about 1956 or 58. Then I said no. Let’s talk about black rat snakes in the derelict houses along Rte 1 up in VA. Or maybe rainbow snakes along Rte 17 in SC. But then I happened across a photo of a western green lizard in Topeka, KS and got to thinking about Quivira Specialties Company.
Quivira Specialties was a mail order live creature and curio supplier. One of the first, it was owned by Charles E. and Mae D. Burt. I learned about the company after reading their ad in the magazine “Outdoor Life”. I was probably in one of the junior high (now middle school) grades at the time so that make the time period in the 1950s.
Continue reading “Memories” …read more
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This little beardie is all ready for his sleigh ride in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ginag ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a festive Tokay in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bloodpython_MA ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Dashing through the snow, two cute Bearded Dragons on a sleigh in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ginag ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Countdown to Christmas! This Green Tree Python is in the holiday spirit in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user toshamc ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We have the proof Santa is a reptile right here in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rosebuds! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Mediterranean gecko. Note the transverse barring on the tail.
I’m not keeping as close of a watch on herpetological happenings as I once did, so when Jake mentioned to me “there’s a new house gecko in eastern Louisiana” I was more than a little surprised.
But when I indulged in a little research I found that this gecko, the small-spotted house gecko, Hemidactylus parvimaculatus, had been first reported from the viicinity of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, about 5 years earlier in 2013. So I guess it can’t really be considered new, just newish. Just as a “by-the-way” this gecko is native to Sri Lanka, Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues, Comoro Islands, Maldives, Mascarene Islands, and India (Kerala). It has now been introduced in areas as diverse as Australia’s Cocos Islands and Louisiana (Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Tammany parishes).
Continue reading “There’s a New Gecko in Town!” …read more
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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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Always watching, this Toffeebelly Hognose is serene in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user hogboy!
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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!
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This totes adorbs Crestie is all ready for snow in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user wendhend! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Cresties really do not like snow. Please don’t take them out in the cold. …read more
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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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Trachemys scripta elegans, the red-eared slider is brightly colored when a hatchling, less so as an adult, and may live for more than 50 years.
Let’s hearken back to the 1940s and 1950s. Despite those “old days,” in fact those “old years,” being the formative years for my interest in herpetology and herpetoculture, I’ll be the first to admit that they were among the toughest of times for the little turtles then referred to by the dealers (in those days dealers were as diverse as 5&10 cent stores and every town’s independent pet shop) as “baby green turtles.”
Continue reading “Those “Little Green Turtles”” …read more
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So small, yet so powerful. We love this little Mexican Coral Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MXHerper ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! On Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate all forms of venomous reptiles to promote conservation of them world wide!
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Some people have St. Nick, but we have St. Kismet in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Really ! Hopefully he brought you more than greens and worms! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This is quite an amazing field shot of a Black Racer in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user piglet ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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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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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This is a “straight from the wilds of Okeetee” Okeetee corn snake.
The ad stated “This boy is stunning, pics do him no justice! He is a wild caught straight from Okeetee.”
Okeetee? What’s an Okeetee?
It’s not only a “what,” but also, rather, a “where,” and in this instance the ad pertained to the colors and patterns of the corn snakes, Pantherophis g. guttata, found there, in fabled Okeetee.
As to the where, Okeetee is a huge hunt club that is situated in Jasper County, SC.
Continue reading “The Okeetee Corn” …read more
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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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