We hope that this amazing field shot of a Wood Frog kicks off your Monday right in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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In for spring to hit this weekend, a beautiful photo from an outdoor shoot of an albino Western Diamondback in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user krantz d! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Ever wonder what a day is like for Frankie? What can a sulcata tortoise do all day? The list isn’t all that long:
Get some beauty sleep
Bask in the glory of sunlight till the shell hums with warmth
Walk everywhere
Drink as much water as you want
Check out the sky
Make sure the trees are in their place
Look for exotic foods
Get the daily carrot
Check out the humans
Inspect the yard for intruders and strange objects
Hump anything resembling another tortoise
Ram invaders
Inspect buildings and fences
Wait for a walk around the block..
Okay, so the list gets long once you observe Frankie and his shenanigans.
Your turn to check our Frankie and his daily routine…..about four hours worth of Frankie business.
Video is three minutes and twelve seconds. Enjoy!
…read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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By Herp News
Scientists have discovered a new species of pale-gold colored frog from the cloud forests of the high Andes in Colombia. Its name, Pristimantis dorado, commemorates both its color (dorado means ‘golden’ in Spanish) and El Dorado, a mythical city of gold eagerly sought for centuries by Spanish conquistadores in South America.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
The legend of St. Patrick banishing snakes from the emerald isle some 1,500 years ago is indelibly etched in folklore — even if science suggests snakes were unlikely to have colonized the country following the last ice age. But what would happen if St. Patrick’s scaly foes were introduced now? Experts believe snakes could certainly slither into Ireland’s ecosystems if introduced but would likely cause trouble for native ecosystems.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Now for something a little bit different. This pair of Gran Canaria giant lizard (Gallotia stehlini) are just trying to find a little privacy in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user John-C . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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All brown, brown and green, or green are all common color variation of the Caatinga horned frog.
When the death of a pet occurs it is disturbing. When the death of a healthy pet occurs it is infinitely more disturbing. And this latter occurred a while ago when my male Caatinga horned frog, Ceratophrys joazierensis, was killed by my female during a breeding attempt.
There is always a chance of such things happening when cannibalistic frog meets cannibalistic frog, but this surprised for vocalizations had led to amplexus and I was reasonably sure that all was well in the rain chamber. But this time I was wrong. For some reason amplexus was discontinued, and the female turned, grasped the male by one hind leg and faster than I could intercede swallowed the male to midbody. By then I had them in hand, pried her jaws open, released the male (who at that time seemed none the worse for that harrowing experience) and separated the pair.
But despite there being no outward sign of the aggression something detrimental had happened to the male because from that day, until his death 2 weeks later, he simply sat in one spot (not unusual for a horned frog) and he never again ate (very unusual for a horned frog).
Since that time I have been looking for a replacement male. I know this taxon has been bred in captivity so there are some out there somewhere. But until now I have neither seen nor heard of any being available. But I’ll keep looking…
Continue reading “A Horned Frog Predicament” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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I will never forget my first Kenya Sand Boa experience. I was around 14 years old when I saw my first babies at the local pet store and I had to buy a pair. It took me over a month to pay for them and I took feeding them and making them breeder sized very seriously. By the time I hit 17 I was working at the shop where I bought them and when my female gave birth I called my boss at around midnight to tell him. I was excited, and he was exhausted!(LOL) But when I got to work the next day he had a big banner up across the isles of the store congratulating me. It was the first time I ever bred a Boa. As I inched towards 40 I had bred many species of snakes and learned that they all took up space, so that got me thinking about Sand Boas again. There are no fortunes to be made here, but the fact is that I find the process to be fun. Not sure if this is manopause or not, but here I am breeding these little worms again. Pictured is my holdback female from 2015. Call it what you will, I am guilty as charged! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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What an amazing field find! This baby 3 toed box turtle is emerging from it’s nest in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user relic37! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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By Herp News
The ability to recognize own offspring and provide preferential care is difficult for the poison frog Allobates femoralis. According to a new study male and female frogs have different strategies for offspring discrimination. Females remember the exact location where they laid their eggs and exhibit preferential behavior toward their own clutches. Males assume that all offspring in their territory are their own.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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In our opinion, Water Snakes, like the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Lachesis1 are among the most under-rated and misunderstood of our non-venomous snakes. We, however, love them! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A beautiful adult Basin emerald.
It seems it always happens this way. For about 20 years, on innumerable trips to Amazonian Peru, I and those who have travelled with me, have searched long and hard for what is considered by many the gem of the Amazonian rainforests, the Basin emerald tree boa, Corallus batesii.
Stated as succinctly as possible, despite the thousands of search-hours spent, we failed. We found 150 other species of herps, but when it came to the emerald, pure and simple, we failed. Years passed and this year (2015) I elected to retire. A few weeks after having done so, friend, Kenny (a biologist and geneticist) decided that he’d like to research the wildlife of what had become our major preserve, Santa Cruz Forest Preserve on the Rio Mazan in Amazonian Peru. He and his family moved to the preserve for a year long stint.
Four months into it Kenny texted me “You retired too soon” and attached a pic of the coveted emerald tree boa. It seems that Kenny, accompanied by his wife, Maria, and a village youngster, Cain, by name, were taking an evening stroll along the main trail when, only a few meters from the compound, Cain noticed the snake. It was hanging head downward, nose only a few inches from the leaf litter of the forest floor, in a small tree only a foot or so from trail edge. Kenny’s correct. I retired a few months too soon.
Continue reading “Emerald Tree Boa—Finally!” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Our favorite type of blue Monday! Check out these stunning dart frogs in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frogological! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Last week a friend bought a sexed pair of Spotted Pythons from me. It took him 4 weeks to save up the funds, and during that time he asked me all the right questions and got everything ready. Within two hours after arriving home and getting the snake put away he discovered that one had escaped…the female of course!
I hate the fact that people have to go through things like this, but most of the time it takes a loss and a bad mistake in order to learn. When it comes to keeping snakes it is a fact that there are forces working against us all at every turn. Even when it is legal and you go out of your way to do everything right, all it takes in one tiny detail to ruin everything and foul up all the fun. In my experience I have found that my work is never done and that it is best to always be on the lookout for how I can make things better. In this case the snakes were put in a baby rack made for snakes, but they still got out even though the snake was over 7 months old and no longer a baby. When I put baby snakes in a rack I fold up newspaper and put it under the box so that it is raised up and made even tighter with the top of the rack. Of course, that restricts air flow so I have to drill more holes to make sure my snake can breathe! It seems that every adjustment requires an additional adjustment! The work never ends, and if you think your work is done I bet something will go wrong while you are sitting back relaxing thinking that all is well! Be careful out there fellow snake keeper! It is all in the details!! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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I recently took my daughters to their first reptile show. Once inside they were drawn to a booth with dozens of mounted rats and mice along with rat bone necklaces and mouse skull jewelry. I allowed each of my girls to select a specimen, and as I discussed the terms of the price with the two mouse women a long line formed behind me. I watched as everyone in the line attempted successfully to sell their dead rodents. The herp show had gone green and was recycling dead feeders! I learned that there was a demand for dead snakes too! My favorite item was a jumbo rat mounted on remote controlled wheels. I could sure have some fun with that! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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A reprieve….I have a day’s reprieve. It’s raining outside, Frankie is hanging out inside his greenhouse, I get to sit and write a Frankie Tortoise Tail.
New problem in the Frankie’s Backyard Paradise.
Two years ago when we moved here our neighbor let us know we had a fruit tree in our yard. The excellent tree that shades the back porch is some sorta exotic fruit tree that I had never hear about. I kept an eye on it that first year yet no flowers or fruit every appeared.
Frankie loved eating the non-toxic year round green leaves that fell in the yard. Pretty much, except for the excellent shade and delicious leaves I quit paying attention to the tree.
…..until this December. Tiny lovely white flowers began adorning the tree. What tree blooms in the middle of the winter?
The Loquot Tree does.
Not only does it bloom in the winter, it’s one of the very few trees that produces fruit in the winter.
Curiously I watched as the fruits begin forming. By January the little green fruits were thumb size. In February they begin to ripen into yellow luscious fruits.
Fruits are a no-no for sulcata tortoises. The fruit sugar wrecks havoc with the tortoise digestion system evolved for a scant grassland diet. Sugars cause intestinal bacteria imbalances, and contributes to the dreaded bladder stones.
Just say, “No,” to fruit Frankie. Just say, “No!”
Frankie camps out under that Loquot Tree like a beggar.
First thing in the morning I head out to the tree and pick up anything fallen from the night before.
Doesn’t matter. Frankie haunts the tree like a Florida retiree on a beach.
Frankie under the Loquot Tree
Took just a couple of days to realize I was missing all the “pre-nibbled” fruit dropped to the ground by birds. Bits of fruit fall the ground hidden by grass and dirt and only the sharp nose of a tortoise can find the little sweet morsels.
And then there were the seeds. For barefooted me its like stepping on Tic-Tacs. I know they are there. I can feel them. The panic came when I realized that Frankie was eating the seeds.
An internet search reveals the seeds may or may not be poisonous, depending on the source. Thanks, Internet.
Time for Poop Patrol. I dissect three previous days’ poop. Yep. Frankie is eating the pits.
Good news: Frankie doesn’t chew. Bad news: Frankie swallows.
It’s been wait and watch.
Fruits been falling for three weeks. Frankie isn’t dead yet.
Still not taking chances. I am outside sweeping, raking, picking up the fruit all day long. I have to be vigilant. Frankie is.
Frankie does his morning bask and a quick …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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By Herp News
A new fossil reptile that lived 250 million years ago in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southernmost Brazil has been discovered by an international team of researchers. The species has been identified from a mostly complete and well preserved fossil skull.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Imagine exploring a wooded site along an Alaska stream or lake for evidence of animals. Maybe you’ll see moose prints in the soil or a bit of wolf fur in a berry bush. But some species don’t leave footprints. They still leave a clue. It’s their DNA.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Separated by several hundred kilometers from its next of kin, a new blue-tailed monitor lizard unique to the remote Mussau Island has been described. Given a Latin name meaning ‘isolated,’ it is the only large-sized land-living predator and scavenger on the small Pacific island.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
A gene in snails that determines whether their shells twist clockwise or anti-clockwise has been discovered by a team of international researchers. It could offer clues to how the same gene affects body asymmetry in other animals including humans, they report.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
A new study has called for a change in the way we manage bycatch — to better monitor the unintentional catching of sea turtles by commercial fishers. The number of turtles caught in a single fishery or year may not seem to be a cause for concern, but even low levels might place pressure on a species when considered across fisheries and over multiple years, say the authors.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
A new species of snake has been identified in Europe. The researchers were able to demonstrate that the “Iberian Grass Snake” does not constitute a subspecies of the wide-spread common Grass Snake as previously thought, but rather a distinct species.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Marine turtles experienced an evolutionary windfall thanks to a mass extinction of crocodyliforms around 145 million years ago, say researchers.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
As the natural forests in Ethiopia is already less than 3 percent of what it once has been, the banana frog species, dwelling exclusively in the southwestern part of the African country, is exposed to a great risk of extinction. Through their survey, a research team have extended its range, thus making the first steps to saving the charming frogs.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Using head shapes and genetic analyses, researchers have recommend that six groups of subspecies of the western rattlesnake be elevated to full species status.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Researchers have discovered a new species of extinct worm lizard in Texas and dubbed it the ‘Lone Star’ lizard. The species — the first known example of a worm lizard in Texas — offers evidence that Texas acted as a subtropical refuge during one of the great cooling periods of the past.
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Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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By Herp News
Coral snake venom carries significant neurotoxicity and human injuries can be severe or even lethal. Despite this, antivenom treatments are scarce due to challenges collecting adequate amounts of venom needed to produce anti-elapidic serum. Exciting new research uses synthetically designed DNA to produce coral-snake antivenom.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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In our celebration of all things venomous on Friday, this little rough-scaled bush viper (Atheris hispida) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user eekster26 is looking forward to the weekend! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a stunning Leopard Gecko 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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Still with well defined facial markings, this black-breasted leaf turtle is about a quarter grown.
Have you ever wanted to kick yourself in the butt for getting rid of a particular herp or for passing by the opportunity to purchase a given species. On several occasions I have done both and regretted it for a long time after.
For example, I regret not acquiring a photo of the Javan tubercled or dragon snakes when they were being offered. It is true that they have proven difficult (read that impossible) to keep as captives but there has to be a key to that problem somewhere.
Of the herps that I am most upset at allowing myself to be talked out of was and still is my 2 pairs of black-breasted leaf turtles, Geomyda spengleri spengleri.
There are several Asiatic turtle species of which I am fond, several members of the genus Cuora among them, but IMO none compare with this little leaf turtle.
This is not because of color. This leaf turtle is a variable but often dingey brown above with very pronounced posterior carapacial serrations. The yellow(ish) rimmed plastron is mostly black. The skin is also brown with the only noticeable highlight being the stark white irides of the protuberant eyes.
So, if it’s not color what is it about these four inch long Asian turtles that is so enchanting? One word—personality. Once acclimated this turtle, naturally alert, quickly becomes tame– actually outgoing—and seems contemplative. It reminds me in more ways than one of our little bog turtle but outdoes the boggy in each aspect…
Time to close. I’ve almost talked myself into another purchase.
Continue reading “Black-breasted Leaf Turtle” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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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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In high school I got my hands on Barbours book about Snakes in Kentucky and will never forget gazing at the picture of the Corn Snake and learning that a small and isolated population of these snakes occurred in Kentucky. Little did I know that the names of the other students who checked out that book would be my future bosses and co-workers at The Louisville Zoo, or that my friend Phil Peak and I would one day focus in on this serpent and spend countless hours in the counties that seemed so far away and foreign to me at the time.
It took some effort to locate my first specimen by the time that I was in my 20’s, but once I began to figure them out I was able to locate well over 100 of them in a very confined area. Phil and I were able to establish a small group of these snakes in captivity and we donated babies to educational facilities across Kentucky. We also gave them to people in our local Herp Society so that they could be used in presentations, and also so that our local people would not feel the need to go down and remove additional specimens from the wild. Phil and I had a lot of questions about this isolated population of snakes so we began to record as much information about each specimen as we could. In addition to blotch and scale row counts we were also able to determine when they emerged, when they bred, when they laid eggs, when the babies hatched, and when the adults went back underground to spend the winter. After compiling all of our data we began the process of publishing our work in a scientific format. This process was long and complicated for us, and we were fortunate to meet Danna Baxley who came onboard with our efforts as a co-author and helped us organize the work in a way that was presentable and acceptable to the newly formed Journal of North American Herpetology where it was published in 2015. To anyone interested in the scientific paper, here is a link to the PDF file that can be found on the Center For North American Herpetology website: http://www.cnah.org/pdf/88314.pdf
It is difficult to fully describe everything that was involved in this whole process in the short format here, so I will close it out by saying that the journey from my high school library all the way to being published in a scientific journal was a long and interesting experience that has left me grateful to the local people of rural Kentucky and to my friends Phil Peak and Danna Baxley whose knowledge and patience made possible what I could not have done on my own.
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Crocodilians come out of the egg sassy, like this Cuvier’s dwarf caiman in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user sk8r009 give us a serious case of the “awws”! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Many McGregor’s pit vipers are strongly patterned.
This is another of today’s choose your name species. This beautiful and variable pit viper from the Philippine islands of Batan and Sabtang (perhaps introduced to other locales) has gone from its 1913 described name of Trimeresurus mcgregori (named for the collector of the first specimen who just happened to receive and survive a bite) to Trimeresrus flavomaculatus mcgregori, then to Parias mcgregori, and now back to the starting name, T. mcgregori.
This is one of the more variably colored pit vipers, ranging from solid brown to a pure silvery white and having many shades of yellow and a few differing patterns between those 2 extremes. It is adult at about 3 feet in length. It is an oviparous species.
Protected in its Philippine homeland and the relatively few captives having proven problematic to breed, this beautiful pit viper is not a frequently seen species in collections. As would be expected, when on the rare occasions this taxon does become available, the prices asked are often out of range for all but the most dedicated of venomous keepers.
Continue reading “McGregor’s Pit Vipers” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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These hatchling Galapagos Tortoises in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jerry d. fife give us a serious case of the “awws”! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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By Herp News
Coral snake venom carries significant neurotoxicity and human injuries can be severe or even lethal. Despite this, antivenom treatments are scarce due to challenges collecting adequate amounts of venom needed to produce anti-elapidic serum. Exciting new research uses synthetically designed DNA to produce coral-snake antivenom.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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In our celebration of all things venomous on Friday, what an amazing close up of the Hagen’s pit viper in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user knotsnake ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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The old standby, Wagler’s viper, Tropidolaemus wagleri, Thailand.
A decade or so ago, the Wagler’s viper, Tropidolaemus wagleri, once thought to be just a very variable snake species, was determined to actually be a species complex. Researchers have now elevated several of what were long considered simply geographic or color variants of the Wagler’s viper to full species status. This has, of course, rendered the Wagler’s viper, itself, much less variable, but definitely no less interesting.
Besides T. wagleri of Thailand and West Malaysia the genus now contains:
Hutton’s pit viper, T. huttoni (a poorly known species from southern India)
Mindanao pit viper, T. philippinensis (a genetically separable Wagler’s viper lookalike from Mindanao)
Keeled green pit viper. T. subannulatus of the Philippines and Borneo (as described, possibly a species complex)
Broad-banded temple pit viper, T. laticinctus, of Sulawesi.
The alternate name of temple viper (applied to at least 2 of the species) seems to have originated due to the abundance of T. wagleri near the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaya.
If you search old literature or Google the species, you will undoubtedly see photos of people, old and young alike, often near the Temple of the Azure Cloud, holding Wagler’s vipers barehandedly. In my opinion this is unwise in the extreme. Admittedly this snake, nocturnal by nature, is relatively placid and reluctant to bite in the daylight hours. They are far less apt to allow indiscriminate handling after dark. It is to the best interests of all herpers (and especially yourself) that you not become an expensive and controversial snakebite statistic.
Continue reading “Wagler’s Vipers” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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By Herp News
Using head shapes and genetic analyses, researchers have recommend that six groups of subspecies of the western rattlesnake be elevated to full species status.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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So precious! We love hatchling photos, like this awakening Gecko in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SA! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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