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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.
Friday, March 5 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This Crotalus tigris, found and photographed in AZ, is keeping her eye on you in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd ! 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! Thursday, March 4 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Boa
What a beautiful boa constrictor in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user biophiliacs . 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! Wednesday, March 3 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Snake
Snakes and Cats living together, it will be anarchy! Wait what? Nah it is just a nice shot of a Cat Snake (Boiga cyanea) in our Herp Photo of the Day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo! Be sure to tell ptahtoo you liked it here!
 Tuesday, March 2 2021ALERT: Texas - Name Update to Burmese rules Two Texas bills are currently working their way through the legislature that will update the names in their existing law. This change is including the Burmese Pythons, which were previously considered a subspecies of Python molurus on their listing to full species status. Be aware, this is already a law and it is just an update to the nomenclature. Below is the list of species included in the regulation that requires a TP&W permit. There are two permits available: one for possession and one for commercial business This is already law! The bill just adds the Burmese python and hybrids to the list. Bold text is the new language: For more information, visit the USARK page on this here. Herp Photo of the Day: Iguana
This Rhino iguana is doing his best impersonation of a dog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cycluracornuta!
 Be sure to tell cycluracornuta you liked it here! Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Monday, March 1 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Turtle
What a lovely field shot of a Northern Yellow-faced Turtle hatchling in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frilly ! 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! ACTION ALERT: NEW YORK Shipping ban legislation proposedRecently New York State has proposed wide sweeping legislation preventing shipping of animals by "any mail carrier", which would also include frequently used outlets such as FexEx and UPS, which both allow the shipment of live animals with rules and restrictions. This includes shipping both to and from the state and aims ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. USARK has already set up a page including contact information for all legislative representatives involved and even a sample letter for you to personalize. You can read the full bill and access all needed information on USARK's page for New York here. Be sure at all times to remain calm and polite when reaching out to representatives on this matter. Collett’s Black Snake (aka Collett’s Snake) Old adults are usually much darker than this half-grown example. By Dick and Patti Bartlett The elapine (cobra relatives) Australian and Papuan genus Pseudechis contains at least 6 species. Although the snakes in this genus are commonly grouped as “Australian black snakes,” this generalization can be misleading, for some are gray with dark flecks, another is an almost uniform olive-brown, and the one we are about to discuss, Pseudechis colletti, Collett’s Black Snake or simply Collett’s Snake, is a beautiful mixture of red, pink, or off-white and black when a juvenile but does darken considerably as it ages. The venter is usually colored similarly to the light lateral barring. This elapine is adult at 4 1/2 to 8 feet in length, is rather heavy bodied, and is endemic to the drier regions of the interior of the northeastern Australian state of Queensland. Males are longer than the females. When frightened or defensive this snake may flatten its head and neck like, but not as wide, as the hood of a cobra. It is dangerously venomous, producing a virulent cytotoxic (blood cell destroying) venom that may be combined with neurotoxins. Despite this it is reportedly commonly kept in Australia as a captive, but because of export restrictions is less commonly seen in captive collections of other countries. Clutches contain up to 20 eggs. The diet consists of frogs, lizards, snakes, and small mammals. Continue reading "Collett’s Black Snake (aka Collett’s Snake)" Saturday, February 27 2021FWC moves forward with rule change in Florida The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission has moved ahead with their proposed rule change regarding a variety of species from Iguanas to Anaconda. This includes a ban on ownership of several species. If you already own these animals, there are a variety of changes in your ownership, but you still make keep the animals. The species impacted are: Green iguana (Iguana iguana) All Tegus (genera Salvator and Tupinambis, all species) Reticulated python (Python reticulatus) Indian and Burmese python (Python molurus and Python bivittatus) Northern African python (Python sebae) Southern African python (Python natalensis) Amethystine python (Morelia amethistinus) Scrub python (Morelia kinghorni) Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) USARKFL has a breakdown of restrictions, including ownership, breeding and sales info here. Be sure you are following USARK to help fight future legislation. Friday, February 26 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! How stunning is the red on this Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus), uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura ! This Speck was found in Arizona. 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.
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Thursday, February 25 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Gecko
Take a few moments today to follow the lead of this Giant Day Gecko in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crazyrhacos and give yourself some time to relax! 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! Wednesday, February 24 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Corn Snake
The colors on this Madison County locale corn snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user draybar are screaming! 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! Tuesday, February 23 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Turtle
The cutest of our angry creatures, this great field shot of a Snapping Turtle takes the spotlight our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user anuraanman ! 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! Monday, February 22 2021kingsnake.com knocked offline by historic storm For the first time since launching in February of 1997 kingsnake.com's servers were knocked offline several times for long periods during last weeks polar vortex. The servers, located in Austin Texas, were victims of state mandated rolling blackouts that impacted many areas of Texas. Though the servers were backed up by a large uninterruptible power supply and a commercial generator system, those systems themselves eventually ran out of power. Additionally upstream internet switches also failed due to power issues thus causing a double-whammy, so when power was restored the servers were still unreachable. Those systems have all been restored for several days now and operations are mostly back to normal. Kingsnake.com will be totaling up the downtime and offering our advertisers credit to their accounts once we have determined the extent the outage. We apologize for not being able to provide you the level of service that you have come to expect for the last 24 years, but the situation was beyond our control. That being said over the last 2 months kingsnake.com has been upgrading to a new set of Dell PowerEdge servers that are bigger, faster, and more capable than our old fleet of PowerEdge servers. For the first time our servers will be "viitualized", utilizing the multiple cores that the more current generation of Intel processors offers. This has required us to upgrade the core software that runs our servers several generations at once, causing a few bugs here and there that need to be squashed. We have gotten most of them but every once in a while a new one unexpectedly crops up. If you hit one of those bugs please let us know by using our contact form. This weekend we will be upgrading our classified ad server and you can expect brief periods of down time on Sunday, as well as a few bugs going forward. Next weekend we will be upgrading the main site including the blog, events system, business directories as well as other features. We have already upgraded the servers for the forums, forum archives, photo gallery, and banner ad system. We hope to have all our server upgrades completed by March 15. Herp Photo of the Day: Skink
Loving this Blue tongue skink just chilling in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PatS . 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! Fowler’s Toad Fowler's Toads are often rather precisely marked with 3 pairs of dorsal spots. By Dick and Patti Bartlett Fowler’s Toad, Bufo fowleri, ranges widely in sandy habitats from central New England to southeastern Iowa, eastern Texas and the panhandle of Florida. It is one of the more precisely marked toad species. In some parts of its range it may be the dominant species, in other it is a comparative rarity. Where I (Dick) grew up in central New England, Fowler’s Toad was abundant but always 2nd in a lineup of 2. The American Toads would arrive first at the breeding ponds to voice their slow-pulsed melodious trills. Then a couple of weeks later, when many American toads had already left the calling sites, the rapidly pulsed, very non-melodious, “whirring notes” of Fowler’s Toads, back then a subspecies of Woodhouse’s , could be heard. Occasionally we would hear a vocalization that confused us and when we tracked it down it would be as intermediate between the 2 species in appearance as it was in voice—a hybrid between the 2. Mother Nature at work. Continue reading "Fowler’s Toad" Sunday, February 21 2021ACTION ALERT: ILLINOIS - Illinois House Bill 3889 We have an urgent action alert from USARK regarding the return of the "animal program ban" that has returned in Illinois. As it is written, it could end even the most common of after school educational programs. From USARK: This bill bans much more than lions jumping through rings of fire. It is a ban on taking a Greek tortoise into a classroom for an educational program about reptiles. It is a ban on taking a ball python, a red-eyed tree frog, a parakeet, and a hedgehog into a library for an educational show discussing the differences between reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. It is a ban on llamas and any other non-traditional livestock at the State Fair or county 4-H fairs. Basically, if an animal non-native to Illinois is placed into a vehicle and taken to any location where someone will see it, other than a veterinarian in a private room, then it would become an illegal activity, and you a criminal. You could receive a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for taking a leopard gecko into your child’s classroom for a presentation. The Chicago Herpetological Society hosts the largest and oldest hands-on reptile exhibit in the country. It reaches tens of thousands of people annually and this bill could destroy it. It could end programs coming to your child's school, day care or scouting program. The impact to the reptile community in Illinois would be devastating. USARK has detailed instructions for reaching out to representatives and what we as a community can do here. Friday, February 19 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This prairie rattlesnake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user DanL shows us exactly what a rattlesnake does in the wild if they feel threatened! First they warn and then they try to run away! Rattlesnakes are so very important to our ecosystem and it is so very important to understand that it is important to watch for them, respect them and give them their space for freedom. Despite the urban legends, they run away! 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! Thursday, February 18 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Frog
Hang in there today just like this Borneo Eared Frog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tropicaltreefrog! 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! Tuesday, February 16 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Kingsnake
What started it all for us, a stunning greyband in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user APLAXAR s! 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! Friday, February 12 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! All venomous snakes need our support! This Cottonmouth is screaming it from the field in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user BowieKnife357 ! 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! Thursday, February 11 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Sand Boa
This Kenyan Sand Boa is getting into the mood for the weekend, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Thera, in our herp photo of the day! 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! Wednesday, February 10 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Kingsnake
This kingsnake has perfect camouflage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rick d ! 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! Tuesday, February 9 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Snake
This is a once in a lifetime shot! How cool is this field shot of an Alameda whipsnake grabbing a meal in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user trevid ?! 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! Monday, February 8 2021A Rainforest Adventure Often said to be cannibalistic, very little is known with certainty about the hylid frogs of this genus. by Dick & Patti Bartett It had been 2 days in the Peruvian rainforest and the rainforest was acting like a rainforest should act--it was raining, hard then softly, then torrentially, then softly. It was a wonderful day. Everybody could get caught up on photographing and then we'd hit the trails again for after dark amphibs. Darkness approached, Danilo prepared our evening meal, we ate, checked flashlight batteries, put on hats to try and keep some rain out of our eyes, and we were on our way. I chose the medium trail and a couple of herpers decided to accompany me. Another few chose the short trail and one, with the guides, chose to hike the 5 milelong loop. When we began the rain had almost stopped but when the Gods of rain determined we were all so far away from camp that there was no way we could avoid getting drenched, the torrents came. Band after band found its way through the treetops, each one harder than the last. I needed windshield wipers on my glasses. Going was slow. The trails were ankle deep mud and footing was precarious on the slopes. But all of that was forgotten when I spied that small frog sitting crossways on a vertical sapling--Hemiphractus proboscideus, a Long-nosed Casque-headed Treefrog. Who said herping in this weather wasn't worth the effort? Continue reading "A Rainforest Adventure" Friday, February 5 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This certainly is not a rattlesnake, but it is a beautiful venomous creature. What a great close up of a Gaboon Viper, uploaded by kingsnake.com user magnum26 is full of sassy and potentially life-saving venom! 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.
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Thursday, February 4 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Lizard
A shout out to the little guys! Loving this Vinales Anole in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user macraei ! 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! Wednesday, February 3 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Lizard
What a cool field shot of this Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus reticulatus) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user reptoman ! 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! Tuesday, February 2 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Snake
This young banded water snake being very curious in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia ! 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! Monday, February 1 2021Herp Photo of the Day: Snake
This vibrant Cape Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer vertebralis) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade will brighten your day for sure! 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! |
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