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, November 8 2021
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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![](/blog/uploads/westernpaintedturtle1.jpg) Both in young and old (this is a hatchling) the plastra of Western Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta bellii, bears a variable dark figure against the red.
For nearly my entire life I have been enchanted by the beauty and abundance of the 4 subspecies of painted turtles—the eastern, the midland, the southern, and the western. Where I spent my childhood, both the eastern and western subspecies were common. But to see both the southern and the western painteds in the wild, it was necessary to travel several hundred miles. But travel those distances I did, and was happy to do so.
Of the four subspecies, the southern is the smallest and the western, at a straight-measure carapace length of 8 to 10 inches, the largest. The western also has the largest range and just happens to be the most colorful. It may be seen throughout most of the central states, to the Pacific Northwest, southwestern Canadian Provinces, and in several disjunct river systems and lakes of our southwest. The olive-ish carapace may or may not have a busy pattern of light lines and the plastron is red to reddish (especially bright on hatchlings) with broad areas of dark pigment following the scute junctures. Face, neck, limbs, and tail are olive to dark grayish green and are busily striped or spotted with yellow.
Continue reading "Meet the Western Painted Turtle"
Friday, November 5 2021
Do you know a diabetic? Let them know that animals like this Gila Monster in our herp photo of the day in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user LJs Herps Are helping to save their lives! Medication made from the venom of Gila Monsters helps to keep blood sugar balanced for millions in the world. We celebrate all things venomous on Rattlesnake Friday to help remind people of the importance of the maligned animals Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/9490smgila.jpg)
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Thursday, November 4 2021
Blue Tongue Skinks are such aazing pets, they deserve the spotlight of Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PatS !! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Wednesday, November 3 2021
This Blue Beauty in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user DunnsMtnReptiles is experiencing the world for the first time! What an amazing shot! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Tuesday, November 2 2021
This Nosy Be Panther Chameleon is taking aim in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kenw ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Monday, November 1 2021
![](/blog/uploads/CubanTree1.jpg) Adult female Cuban Treefrogs can be quite a handful.
Cuban Treefrog: Osteopilus septentrionalis.
Color: Variable, often some shade of uniform tan, or occasionally green, bluish green, pasty-white, or mottled. All individuals are capable of a wide range of color changes.
Skin (glandular) secretions: Irritating, toxic
Size: Sexually dimorphic. Males are adult at from1 to 3+ inches, females are larger and bulkier occasionally attaining a snout-vent length of 5 ½ inches.
Food: Besides invertebrates small vertebrates including other frogs are consumed.
Lifespan: Males 1 to 3 years, females to 5+ years.
How long in the USA: First recorded on the Florida Keys in 1930s.
Native to: Cuba, Bahamas, Cayman and other Caribbean Islands.
Current Range in USA as of 2021: Currently expanding, now throughout most of Florida, occasionally reported from southern Georgia. May be unexpectedly carried to more distant area in plant shipments.
Habitat: Many and varied, but often most common near human habitations. Plant nurseries, ponds, puddles, irrigated areas, illuminated areas to which insects (and other frogs) are drawn.
Comments: The presence and spread of the Cuban Treefrog in Florida has created at least two very different biological outlooks. One viewpoint, based as much on this frog’s cannibalistic propensities as on any thing else dictates that each-and-every-one found be humanely euthanized. The argument is that Cuban Treefrogs deplete populations of our native hylids, in some cases to the point of localized extirpation. To this I respond that on the southern peninsula, where the Cuban Treefrogs have been present for most of their 90 years, I can still find native species without looking too hard.
The opposite viewpoint is that this species has been in FL for 90 years and its presence should now be ignored allowing Mother Nature to work things out. Sadly, in those early years this frog’s presence on the Keys was ignored. But then, so was the presence of virtually every other non-human ignored.
Do Cuban Treefrogs belong in the USA? The answer is a resounding and unequivocal “no.” But perhaps they are not quite as devastating as so often portrayed.
Continue reading "The Cuban Treefrog, To accept or to extirpate."
Herpy Halloween from this Bearded Dragon with big aspirations uploaded by kingsnake.com user Snakeskii . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Friday, October 29 2021
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a gorgeous albino helleri in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user lichanura ! 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.
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Thursday, October 28 2021
There is no mistaking why these guys are called the yellow-belly puffing snake ( Spilotes sulphureus), as you can see 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/160848sulphureus.jpg)
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Wednesday, October 27 2021
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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Tuesday, October 26 2021
Looking like velvet, this Mexican Black Kingsnake shines in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BBretro . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/107842my_MBK-med.jpg)
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Monday, October 25 2021
![](/blog/uploads/bothropsatrox1.jpg) This adult Fer-de-lance is coiled in ambush position at the base of a tropical tree.
The Fer-de-Lance, Bothrops atrox, or Jergon (as it is known in the Iquitos, Peru region) is one of those well camouflaged venomous species that is everywhere and nowhere. There were times when we could walk all around the biological preserves and never see one, and there were other times when they were literally in all areas. The latter seemed especially true when rains had induced frog activity, and frogs are a favored prey item of the Jergon.
A dangerously venomous, crepuscular and nocturnal, species of neotropical rainforests, the fer-de-lance is primarily a terrestrial snake, especially when adult. Neonates are more inclined to access low shrubs and other vegetation. Adult size ranges between 3 and 5 feet. It ranges widely east of the Andes Mountains from Panama to Bolivia and northern Brazil. It also occurs in Trinidad.
A viviparous species, litters are large, often consisting of 25 to 40 (up to 80 have been recorded). The neonates have a light colored tailtip and utilize caudal luring.
Continue reading "Abundant and Dangerous, The Terciopelo, Jergon, or Fer-de-Lance"
Friday, October 22 2021
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Heading south of the border for this Olemecan Pit Viper ( Atropoides olmec) in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user PeteSnakeCharmer ! 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.
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Thursday, October 21 2021
This little Retic has it's eye on you in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Steve_Ray ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/56203wandaandhelen_002-med.JPG)
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Wednesday, October 20 2021
Stunning headshot of an Eastern Indigo in our herp photo of the day! Uploaded by kingsnake.com user CtrsOfNightshade . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Tuesday, October 19 2021
This curious little Nile Monitor is checking us out in our herp photo of the day! Uploaded by kingsnake.com user mantafish . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Monday, October 18 2021
As fall creeps in, 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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![](/blog/uploads/duskypygmy1.jpg) A Dusky Pygmy Rattler basks on the roadside.
Dusky is an excellent descriptive for this little rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius barbourin. The ground color is usually gray and bears a profusion of even darker stippling that is heaviest dorsally. Oval, light edged, black dorsal blotches are larger than the lighter, often orange, interspaces separating them and there is smaller light edged lateral blotches. The tail is dark on adults but yellowish on neonates and juveniles, bears a tiny tailtip rattle that is broken easily, but that is barely audible even when entire. The crown is dark with an orange(ish) central stripe that extends onto the neck. The chin and belly are dark with scattered darker blotches. A nervous snake, if approached it will usually tilt the head upwards and twitch. The tail is often also elevated and shaken. The yellow tail of the juveniles serves as a caudal lure. Prey includes nestling rodents, frogs, salamanders, and arthropods.
Sadly, the young of many harmless snakes (most commonly hatchling racers, rat snakes, and hog-noses) are mistaken for a pygmy and are summarily dispatched.
As suggested by its common name, this small but heavy bodied snake is adult at 15 to 24 inches in length. The largest example I have seen pushed 33 inches. It is common to abundant in some areas but entirely absent in others.
A viviparous species, between 2 and 9 young are produced in each clutch. Neonates measure a rather slender 6 inches in total length.
This subspecies ranges in brushy to lightly wooded habitats from southeastern South Carolina to southeastern Mississippi, and throughout Florida excluding the Keys. It intergrades with both the Carolina and Western subspecies at the northern and western extremes of its range.
Continue reading "Common, Venomous, and Interesting, The Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake"
Friday, October 15 2021
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Today we bring you this serene headshot of a lovely Black-tailed Rattlesnake ( Crotalus molossus), uploaded by kingsnake.com user MartinWhalin1 ! This guy was found in the wild in Arizona and as you can see, he was respected by the herpers and he gave them respect in return. 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.
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/45822Image020.jpg)
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Thursday, October 14 2021
How adorable is this Newt in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user plagueguitarist ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/61560DSC01199copy.jpg)
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Wednesday, October 13 2021
A whole lot of AWWWWS for this newborn Collared Lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user the4thmonkey! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/70483Hobbs.jpg)
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Tuesday, October 12 2021
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!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/32835dark_greyband-med.JPG)
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Monday, October 11 2021
Hopefully the gorgeous blues of this Dendrobates auratus uploaded by kingsnake.com user amazonreptile will brighten your day. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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![](/blog/uploads/greatplainsskink1.jpg) There is hardly any way to misidentify a hatchling Great Plains Skink.
There are in the USA 3 groups of moderately large-size (to 12+”, tail included) skinks. On the Pacific Coast there is the Gilbert Skink group with 5 subspecies, on the Atlantic Coast there is the 5-lined group with 3 full species, and in the Central States the subject of our discussion, the Great Plains Skink, Plestiodon obsoletus, a stand-alone species.
It is probable that the Great Plains Skink is the largest of the genus, having been measured at 13 ¾”. It also differs in several other respects. Although the male’s temporal area swells slightly during the spring breeding season, it does not assume the bright orange-red color of the males of other species. It is the only skink species in the USA that has the lateral scales in oblique (slanted) rows. And rather than the uniform warm brown that gradually supercedes the brightly striped dorsal pattern and blue tail of the hatchlings and juveniles of the coastal species, the adult of the Great Plains Skink is grayish-yellow to straw-yellow and may or may not have the dorsal and dorsolateral scales edged with dark brown that gives the impression of stripes. And the hatchlings are usually a jet black with a cobalt blue tail and bold white or orange labial spots.
Breeding occurs in the spring and in early summer the female lays and guards a dozen to 20 eggs (sometimes less, sometimes more) that hatch after about 60 days.
This is a skink of the wide open spaces, although populations are often concentrated near permanent water sources. It ranges from southern Texas to extreme southwest Iowa and southern Nebraska, southwestward to central and southern Arizona. It also occurs in northern Mexico.
Continue reading "The Beautiful Great Plains Skink"
Friday, October 8 2021
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This copperhead in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user AlexNevgloskiwould like you to give a hoot and not pollute! 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.
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And seriously, please do not leave your trash behind when herping and put everything back the way you found it!
Thursday, October 7 2021
Look close to see the egg tooth on this hatching California Mountain Kingsnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user JKruse looks like he is hoping for snacks! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.
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Wednesday, October 6 2021
This Tiger Jag Coastal Carpet python in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user reelmassacre looks like he is hoping for snacks! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.
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Tuesday, October 5 2021
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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Monday, October 4 2021
Such a lovely contrast against the blue, this Angolan Python takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user EdCB ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/99444SSC_0077-med.JPG)
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