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
Read more here: King Snake

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

Climbing to greet the morning is this beautiful green tree monitor in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user roadspawn!

Be sure to tell roadspawn 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

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!

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

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
Read more here: King Snake

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!

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

There is so much to love about Colubrids, so why not celebrate them with a big ole pile of beauty in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user xtranch ! 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

What a gorgeous way to spotlight one of the underappreciated pythons! This lovely Olive Python poses perfectly in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BNixon ! 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

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!

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

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!

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

Below our windows, this Florida leopard frog was on the prowl for insect drawn by the lights.
Darkness. Thunder. Lightning. Ferocious rain. Nervous dogs. Moths drawn to the window screen by the lights. I sat here watching 2 pretty, fair-sized moths, wondering whether they would leave in the rain. A kerthunk! and before my eyes one moth disappeared. It didn’t walk away. It didn’t fly. It was just gone, Another kerthunk and the 2nd moth disappeared, What the…? So I walked out, got soaked, and initially saw nothing. 2 screens down another moth landed. A patch of dirt exploded and the moth disappeared. Beneath the window sat a well camouflaged Florida leopard frog, Rana sphenocephala utricularia. If the rain weren’t in my eyes I’ll bet I would see the anuran smacking its lips. I wonder if my soaked camera will ever work again?
Continue reading “Florida Leopard Frogs” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It’s black friday, what else would we share but a Black Tailed Rattlesnake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bigdnutz ! On Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate ALL things venomous! 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

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!

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

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!

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

Herp Keepers with cameras, annoying our eating pets for decades like this bearded dragon in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jdertinger ! 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

Besides these 2, we saw several other Carolina “sandhill phase” pygmy rattler on this trip.

Initially our photo-target was the carpenter frog, Rana virgatipes. We had both seen this little ranid on many occasions but it just seemed time to upgrade photos.

But as Jake and I often do, by only an hour later as we had crossed into Georgia, our photo-target list had grown to encompass three additional taxa, Carolina pygmy rattlers Sistrurus m. miliarius, of the Sand Hills phase, just for the heck of it, a southern copperhead, Agkistrodon c. contortrix, and a small, still undescribed two-lined salamander lookalike, Eurycea species. As it turned out, we were successful on all but the salamander.
Continue reading “Carpenters, Copperheads and Pygmys” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Wild in nature. One of the best places to see this Great Basin Rattlesnake found in Utah, but shared with us in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocman6594 ! On Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate ALL things venomous! 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

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!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This hatching Cribo in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user alanB makes monday more bearable! 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

Gotta love the sassy nature of the Schneider’s smooth-fronted caiman in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cpipes! 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

This Ambilobe Panther Chameleon is all fired up in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user vinniem1210! 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

For a few years the Marie Gallante sail-tailed anole could be seen in southwestern Florida. It was apparently extirpated by the occasional freezes.
This is a pretty, large (males to about 9 inches females significantly smaller), bluish headed anole with a yellow-green body color. Males have a prominent tailfin. This anole, Anolis ferreus by name, is endemic to the island of Marie Galante in the Lesser Antilles. In the 1990s several examples (adults of both sexes and hatchlings) were seen and photographed in Lee County, FL, but the small population seems no longer extant.
Continue reading ” More Non-native Anoles: Marie Galante Sail-tailed, Jamaican Giant, and Knight Anoles” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This is such an amazing shot of an eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user beckherps ! 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.

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

One little, two little, three little Bearded Dragons in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dedragons ! 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

Photo of one of the alligator ponds at St. Augustine provided by Cindy Steinle

St. Augustine Alligator Farm is a fantastic place to visit, but only during open hours. Recently a man in Florida felt it was a good idea to break in to the farm after hours and that is when the shenanigans began. Several exhibits were damaged but so was the trespasser. When workers arrived the next morning, they found the damage to the exhibits, a lot of blood, a pair of shorts and a “croc” shoe. The man was found wandering the neighborhood in only his boxers and covered with blood.

To read the full story and view the video, visit Fox 13. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

We never post enough kingsnakes, so get a gander of this beautiful kingsnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kasie ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! 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

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!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King 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!

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

Disturbed during an evening crawl, this canefield king coiled and hissed rather than hurrying away.
Florida’s not like it used to be. But that’s no secret. Native Floridians and long-term residents have known this for decades. And since I’m one of the latter and I have an interest in natural history I’ve noticed and disliked the trend, the never ending conversion of natural areas to macadam covered parking lots and shopping centers. When I started coming to Florida in the mid-1950s US 27 was a 2-lane road that was clad down to Lake Okeechobee with woodlands and a few pastures and south of the Lake was edged on the east by an Australian pine rimmed canal and Everglades and on the west by Everglades, Everglades, and more Everglades. Somewhere to the west of Okeelanta was an area termed “the peanut patch” in which were a dozen long unused migrant laborers houses, all of which were then home to what seemed an endless number of beautiful deep orange Everglades rat snakes.
Continue reading “Canefield Kings” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

A woman in Pennsylvania is hissing mad because someone sold her 17 year old son a 4 foot alligator at a local reptile show. The alligator, which now resides at a reptile rescue, had no comment.

While many states regulate the sales of crocodilians Pennsylvania does not and the operator of the rescue is urging people to contact their state legislators to stop the “Pannsylvania alligator invasion” and outlaw their sales to children. To read the full article click here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! We just love this close up of a Massasauga in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user venombill ! 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

Regretfully I missed the first talk. We will start with the second panel from the event. This is a live blog and will have errors. It is typed as the day goes.

Panel 2 – Lacey Act Changes, Implications – Scott Hardin moderator

Craig Martin, Chief of the Branch of aquatic invasive species, USFW

Craig started by defining invasive and then explained a few examples such as brown tree snakes. Invasive species are second most destructive to native species. Managing invasies is a pathway management. Using Zebra mussles as an example (these things such). The look at 3 primary pathways. Transportation, living and miscellaneous Most species are not harmful. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This hatching Burmese python our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user OrangeTurtle is our inspiration as we prepare to head to the reptile legal summit. Seeing these back at shows this year reminded us WHY we keep fighting. 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

What a stunning shot! This gorgeous California newt in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user AndrewFromSoCal takes you right into the field. 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

The Eastern Black Kingsnake, Lampropeltis nigra
The Eastern Black Kingsnakes was recently revised from what was a sub-species to a full blown species, Lampropeltis nigra. This snake has a relatively small range when compared to many other species that used to also be included in what was the getula complex. A considerable amount of variation occurs in this snake across its range. I appreciate this snake in all of its forms but can’t help but to like the ones that are the most black and also the most shiny. Many EBK retain a lot of pattern and others can have a dull look. The specimen pictured was found in a North-Central Kentucky county and exhibits the attributes that I most appreciate. Because the majority and most centrally located portion of this snake’s range is in Kentucky I have often wanted for this to be named the State Reptile of Kentucky.

While it is true that most snakes are loathed by many people, this snake is one that the majority of local and rural people recognize as being beneficial. In time I also suspect that this species will catch the interests of those who like to keep kingsnakes. In addition to being attractive, easy to keep, and somewhat rare in collections, this species is also smaller than many of the other kings from the Eastern US and this makes it more attractive to keepers who have space-related issues. In my experience males make the best captives with fewer health complications and whose dispositions lend themselves to educational programs, live interactions, and handling. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Let’s celebrate in the mighty southwest beauty of the Rock Rattlesnake here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Janne ! 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

Martha, a Reeve’s Turtle, is just chilling out in the sun in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kasie ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! 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

So tiny and cute! This young garter in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Scott_Felzer is seeing how he measures up. 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