Reptile & Amphibian News Blog
Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
Monday, July 6 2020
![](/blog/uploads/success1.jpg) A red diamond rattler was one of Jake's target species. Done.
There’s simply no other way to say this. Jake’s and my primary target on our recent western jaunt—a jaunt that comprised nearly 9,000 miles—had been to photo not only a white speckled rattlesnake, Crotalus pyrrhus, but a red one and a blue one as well (the ground color of this species varies in accordance with habitat color). One by one we failed. Neither were a white nor a red found, but the only blue we managed to see was found by friends (thanx again Nick and Mike) who called us and allowed us to photograph their find.
Dismal? Well, not quite.
The one way trip from home to white rattler habitat is actually only about 2,625 miles. That makes the round trip a mere 5,250 miles. So how do we account for the other ~3,000 miles?
Well, we herped TX, other parts of AZ, CA, NV, & UT. Those miles added up quickly. And with the variety of species seen the trip was actually quite successful, especially for Jake for whom many were lifers.
Jake wanted to see a red diamond rattlesnake. We saw these and several other buzztail species. Ditto variable sand snake, Nevada and Desert shovel-noses. Some Glossy, Gopher, King, and Patch-noses. To the total we added a salamander and several toad species. Then we terminated the trip with a few eastern natricines. So I guess whether this trip was a failed attempt or a success depends on how much importance is placed on the various color phases of speckled rattler. But I’ll close by saying that Jake got about 10,000 pix and I got close to 7,000. It’ll be a while before we wade through all of them.
Continue reading "Failure or a Success? Your Call!"
Friday, July 3 2020
This little Diamondback baby found Arizona is adorable in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd in the field! We can only imagine the excitement at this find! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, July 2 2020
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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Wednesday, July 1 2020
This sassy lil watersnake had to stop and eat a toad in the yard before the photographer captured it for our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user dinahmoe ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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![](/blog/uploads/106538197_280547139952473_3624515131687978317_n.serendipityThumb.jpg) Starting July 1, 2020, Iguanas ( Iguana iguana) and Tegus (all species in the genera Salvator and Tupinambis) are now added to Section 379.372, the Florida Statute that regulates species of concern.
This change will restrict ownership, however there is a grandfather clause for animals owned prior to July 1, 2020 as well as exemptions for education as well as breeders. To learn more about your special use permit, click here.
The draft rules will be presented at an upcoming meeting July 22-23 which will be held remotely and you can attend by visiting MyFWC.
To learn more, visit this USARK post.
Tuesday, June 30 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/5263Typhlonectes-med.jpg)
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Monday, June 29 2020
This Milk snake is just hanging out our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gerryg . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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![](/blog/uploads/elapsoides3.jpg) Fallen pines and scarlet kingsnakes just seem to go together.
The salamander mentioned in the last blog having been found, I began the 60 mile drive back home. But about 20 miles into the drive I began reminiscing about a big eastern diamond-backed rattler I had seen crossing a forest road on my last trip. So I turned around and retraced my drive about 10 miles and turned into the forest. The area was a bit damper than when I had last wended my way, but I was pretty sure the diamondbacks wouldn’t mind, not that I actually thought I’d see one. But timing and temperature were on my side, so…
I drove slowly along a road once dry but now awash with rainy-season slushiness. Eventually the road ascended a few inches into pine and palmetto forest. Five minutes then 10, and still no snakes—of any kind. The next easily accessed turnaround spot was still a few minutes ahead so I continued. Sort of. But a big pine, long dead but newly fallen was lying across the road. Whoops. Turnaround was now unavoidable. But the dead pine, fully a foot in diameter, beckoned. Could I move it from the roadway? Probably not, but what the heck, it was worth a try.
And though moving the pine did prove impossible (for me) as I tried a slab of bark loosened and then slipped away. Fortuitous, yet unintended, as the bark slipped away it left behind a beautiful, 20” long scarlet kingsnake, Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides.
Pictures were taken, the snake was placed near some remaining loose bark, and before I left had again disappeared from sight.
This was a great ending to what had until then been a mud-flung day.
Continue reading "A Pine Tree and a Scarlet King"
Friday, June 26 2020
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Here's lookin' at you kid! Check out this gorgeous albino Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, June 25 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/69466baby_boa_still_in_sack.jpg)
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Wednesday, June 24 2020
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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Tuesday, June 23 2020
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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Monday, June 22 2020
They may be sassy but the beauty of a Tokay gecko is undeniable, like this one in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user stingray! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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One- toed Amphiuma are the smallest, most unicolored, and habitat restricted of the 3 species.
It had been a typically muggy late spring day in northcentral Florida and I had decided to take a drive to the Gulf Hammock area and try my luck in finding a one-toed amphiuma, Amphiuma pholeter. Unlike their 2 wide-ranging and larger two-toed and three-toed relatives, both of which are less restricted in habitat preference, the little one-toed species insists on a habitat consisting of a liquid mud slurry and is restricted in range to Florida’s Gulf Hammock and Panhandle as well as a tiny speck of range in sw GA and sw AL.
Amphiuma pholeter, unicolored and slender as a #2 pencil, was described in 1950 and is a unicolored grayish brown both above and below. It is fully adult at an 11 to 13 inch length. The limbs—all 4 of them—are so tiny that they may be easily overlooked, and as suggested by the common name, bear a single toe per limb.
Because of its dependence on mud-slurry habitat and spotty distribution this aquatic salamander (yes, it’s creek-side habitat is well on the watery side of dry) this little salamander can be difficult to find even in spots where it is known to exist. But once seen its unicolored body, lack of external gills, and tiny one-toed legs, are positive givaways.
So, the next time you feel like reverting to childhood mudpuddles and mudpies accentuated 100 times over, opt for a one-toed amphiuma search. You may not find the salamander but just think how rejuvenating a return to childhood ways will feel. Good luck.
Continue reading "A Small and Secretive Salamander"
Friday, June 19 2020
What a fabulous shot of a Great Basin Rattlesnake in Utah in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocman6594! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, June 18 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/208928gargoyle.PNG)
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Wednesday, June 17 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/118864Copy_of_Red_headed_agama_small.jpg)
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Tuesday, June 16 2020
How beautiful is this Ctenosaura quinquecarinata in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rockabirdie ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/157422IMG_7815.JPG)
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Monday, June 15 2020
![](/blog/uploads/easternhognose1.jpg) An eastern hog-nose in its best cobra pose.
They don’t always erupt like the example in the first picture, but the one thing you can be sure of is that eastern hog-noses, Heterodon platirhinos, are of as variable disposition as they are of color and pattern. Whether they ignore you entirely, perform their “cobra display”, play dead, or simply assume an immobile loose coil in the grasses, for a herper an encounter with this rather common snake of eastern and central North America is always an enjoyable experience.
In the springtime you may be lucky enough to happen across a female moving slowly across a road or through vegetation that is trailed closely by one or more amorous males. In the late summer and autumn it is often the hatchlings that are encountered.
On one April day, Dan and I were driving along a mid-Florida sand road. Our way was pleasantly interrupted by a crossing brightly patterned female eastern hoggie. Before she has made it all the way across a smaller male, this one black, emerged from the roadside vegetation the female had just left and behind him were a second and third male, both brightly patterned. Almost assuredly the female was leaving behind a pheromone trail, invisible in all ways to us, but easily followed by the tongue-flicking, trailing, males.
We took a few pix, then stood quietly until the four had crossed. Quite probably, once from sight, breeding soon occurred, and egg-laying and hatching would happen in due time.
Although we saw little else on that trip, it had been a truly successful herping experience.
Continue reading "Eastern Hoggies"
There is always something special with dart frogs like this one in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user FrogUs ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Friday, June 12 2020
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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Thursday, June 11 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/160848gecko-med.jpg)
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Wednesday, June 10 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/42669DSC04219-med.jpg)
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Tuesday, June 9 2020
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!
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Monday, June 8 2020
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/222984snake_shedding_cropped-med.jpg)
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![](/blog/uploads/luckycane2.jpg) This is the gravid female Canebrake Rattler we saved.
I long ago stopped trying to figure out what makes canebrake rattlers, Crotalus horridus atricaudatus, do what they do. It's a whole lot easier when you realize that they just do what they want to do whenever they want to do it.
This heavily gravid female was coiled on a busy paved road in August in the full sunshine. Road surface temp was ~120F. We moved her because there were a rancher and his wife parked on the other side of the road, pistol drawn, waiting to shoot the snake when she moved. While we were easing the snake into a bucket I asked the rancher why he had waited. Said he didn't want to put a hole in the tarmac. As good a reason as any other I guess.
He asked what plans we had for the snake.
When I told him we would find a nearby quiet place and release her, the rancher looked at his wife in disbelief, shook his head, and drove off.
We did exactly as I had said we'd do and wished the snake a long life as she slowly left the confines of the pail.
And yes, I have called the snake a canebrake and not a timber. I’ve even used its old trinomial nomenclature. I have done do because I feel this remains correct. But please, call the snake anything you wish to. It simply doesn’t care.
Continue reading " A Lucky Canebrake"
Friday, June 5 2020
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Small and a master of disguise, you gotta love this little Coral Snake, uploaded by kingsnake.com user gila7150 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.
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/251coral2.JPG)
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Thursday, June 4 2020
The Coelen's python may be a hybrid, but they are still are so beautiful that they deserve a spot in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user JonathanH! Be sure to tell tem you liked it here!
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Wednesday, June 3 2020
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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Tuesday, June 2 2020
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!
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