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.
Wednesday, March 30 2022
This frillie looks a little angry our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nydon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Tuesday, March 29 2022
This little White's Tree Frog has his eye on you in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user exoreds ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Monday, March 28 2022
We are loving this shot of a Black Milk Snake in 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/FloridaIguana1.jpg) This is an adult male Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana from the Miami population.Yes, it does seem that unwanted critters come in threes to Florida—three boa species, 3 python species, and 3 iguana species.
When mentioned at all, the subject of iguanas in Florida usually refers to the omnipresent Green Iguanas of the southern peninsula and the Keys. This is understandable for these are the most easily seen as they display in the trees, on abutments, on canal banks, and just about everywhere else. But besides this attention grabber, there are 2 other species that are actually present. These are both Spiny-tailed Iguanas, ground dwellers, very efficient burrowers, speedsters, climbers if necessary, and of very similar appearance. Both species are predominantly herbivorous but will accept animal matter if hungry.
In name they are the Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura pectinata, and the Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, C. similis. Despite the reference to color, C. similis is very similar to C. pectinata. Both are big gray lizards with darker crossbands. Both are capable of considerable color changes, being lightest overall when warm and content, and assuming darker colors when being combative or cold. The actual difference can only be ascertained by the presence or absence of small scales between the dorsal spines and spiny tail whorls. Hatchlings are green, lack a dorsal crest, but caudal spines differentiate them from the green iguana.The presence of both is, like their green relative, the result of escapees or releasees.
If you see a big (4 feet long) gray lizard basking atop a wall or rock in southern FL, you are probably viewing a spiny-tailed iguana. Say “Howdy” for me.
Continue reading "Spiny-tailed Iguanas in Florida"
Friday, March 25 2022
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Beautiful picture of a Black-tailed Rattlesnake ( Crotalus molossus), found in Portal, Arizona, in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user erindonalson . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, March 24 2022
Native Colubrids in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user xtranch are like a box of chocolates! So much good to choose from! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Wednesday, March 23 2022
What a gorgeous Abronia our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SalS ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/5224Abronia_gaminea2.jpg)
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Tuesday, March 22 2022
This pic of a Rainbow Boa in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mjmullis shows why we love them! That iridescence and that stunning eye! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Monday, March 21 2022
I think this Ackie our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BryanD , as his tinder profile pic!! What a cool shot in black and white! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/95084space_ackie-med.jpg)
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![](/blog/uploads/FloridaBox1.jpg) Adult male Florida Box Turtle
Of the 4 subspecies of Eastern Box Turtle, the Eastern, the Gulf Coast, the Three-toed, and the Florida, it is the latter that differs most in appearance from the other 3. While its relatives tend to have carapaces that are flattened dorsally and to be rather round when viewed from above, the Florida subspecies, Terrapene carolina bauri, is rather elongate and highly domed. Additionally, the carapace is usually black with precise elongate yellow rays radiating downward on each dorsal plate and a complete or interrupted yellow vertebral line. The head is black dorsally and olive in the temporal areas. Hatchlings are less precisely marked than the adults, but do usually have a complete vertebral stripe of yellow. Hatchlings are about an inch in length; adults may attain 6 inches. Like other box turtles, this beauty is omnivorous when adult but primarily carnivorous when a hatchling. Earthworms, insects, and arthropods are all eagerly consumed.
This pretty, terrestrial turtle with the hinged plastron was once common on peninsula Florida from the Georgia state line to the southern Keys. Today it seems a bit more difficult to find. Although not entirely protected, it cannot be commercialized in the state and a limit of 2 in your possession is strictly enforced.
Continue reading "Florida Box Turtles"
Friday, March 18 2022
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Fantastic picture of a Mojave Rattlesnake, found in Puebla, Mexico, in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user OXYUMAURUS . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, March 17 2022
What a stunning shot of a Satanic leaf-tailed gecko we have as our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user zmarchetti!
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Wednesday, March 16 2022
Through massive conservation efforts, the wild population of Jamaican Iguanas may have a chance at becoming established once again!
Through work with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Programme, they hope to release 1,000 of the endangered iguanas back into the wild by 2026. Working with in-situ efforts such as predator management and nesting site management as well as the ex-situ headstart program.
Read more about this amazing recovery effort of a once believe extinct animal https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/nepa-plans-release-1000-iguanas-hellshire-hills!
Inset Photo: A Jamaican Iguana labelled for tracking in its natural habitat in the Hellshire Hills of St Catherine. (Photo: NEPA)
Let's go Hog Wild for this Eddy County New Mexico Locality Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nearhoofm ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Tuesday, March 15 2022
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kingsnake.com has been hosting reptile businesses from around the world for over 25 years and for a number of years Bion Terrarium Center has been one of those businesses. Located in Kyiv Ukraine Bion has been the source for many unique specimens found in breeding facilities and zoos around the world, as well as supplying reptile keepers in Ukraine with feeders and supplies. With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine the company and it's employees are in dire need of support from the reptile community. If you are looking for someplace in the Ukraine to support with your donations we recommend that you reach out to Bion and offer them what assistance you can. Below is a message from Dmitri Tkachev, owner of the Bion Terrarium Center.
Dear Colleagues, Friends and Partners of BION all over the world,
As a result of unprecedented invasion of Ukraine from Russian Federation, BION’s activities have been paralyzed for an indefinite period of time and we lost all sources of subsistence.
BION Terrarium Center possesses a unique collection of animals (consisting of 2000 heads of breeding stock only), a number of successful long-term and promising breeding programs for many rare species, as well as a team of 30 employees; many of them have been working for more than 15 years. We would be grateful for any support you can provide!
Pls share this info as much as possible!
Please transfer your donations to:
BENEFICIARY: LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS
BENEFICIARY’s ADDRESS: 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA
Bank: KeyBank (branch #0164)
Bank address: 353 NE Northgate Way
Seattle, WA 98125
Account #: 471641010460
ABA: 125000574
SWIFT: KEYBUS33
or Pay Pal
leogolbrokers@gmail.com
with a note: Support to BION Terrarium Center due to extreme situation in Ukraine.
Dmitri Tkachev,
On behalf of BION team
P.S. LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS, 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA is our reliable partner since 1995!
This Tomato Frog thinks he is hiding in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user deLuxBuLLi, but we won't tell him he isn't!
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Monday, March 14 2022
![](/blog/uploads/7758image0074.jpg) kingsnake.com's Cindy Steinle gets up close and personal with a tortoise at Rapid City's Reptile Gardens
Reptile Gardens in Rapid City is celebrating 85 years of introducing the South Dakotans to reptile species from around the world. Founded by Earl Brockelsby in 1937 it continues to be run by family members, including his nephew, Joe Maierhauser.
Located south of Rapid City, South Dakota, on the road to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. the zoo attracts over a million visitors from around the world every year
The park is open the first Saturday in March through November 30 each year. Reptile Gardens was cited in the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest reptile zoo.
Read the full article here https://www.keloland.com/news/eye-on-keloland/85-years-at-reptile-gardens/ or visit the Reptile Gardens web site at https://www.reptilegardens.com/
![](/blog/uploads/spring2022_1.jpg) No matter what the nomenclatural whiz-kids choose to call it, a Yellow Rat Snake is still a Yellow Rat Snake.As I write this in early February, I’m basing my comments on memories of old, of those time when I was roaming the hills and dales of Massachusetts’ Connecticut Valley, of times back when I could flip a flagstone in the yard and come face-to-face with an Eastern Worm Snake, Carphophis a. amoenus (when was the last time you saw one of these?), when Timber Rattlesnakes, C. h. horridus, were a northern subspecies and Canebrake Rattlers were the southern subspecies, C. h. atricaudatus, when Black Rat Snakes were Black Ratsnakes, back then Elaphe o. obsoleta, when Fowler’s Toads were a subspecies of B. woodhousei, the former being B. w. fowleri, and…well you get it. Back when field biology was a recognized study subject, when genetics were seldom spoken of, before those who have used genetic studies to cause nomenclatural turmoil, in most cases for the “publish or perish” concept, or simply because they could make change, and not because change was needed.
Annoying though these name changes may be, the recipients, the snakes in this case, really don’t care what they are called, and we, those of us who are interested in nomenclature, are under no mandate to use the newly suggested names. In other words, a Canebrake Rattlesnake can still be a Canebrake instead of a Timber, and a Yellow Rat Snake does not have to become an Eastern Rat Snake. Your choice.
Continue reading "Spring, Herps, and Names"
Some might wonder what is it with this Glass Lizard in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rosycorn, but we all know what it is!
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Friday, March 11 2022
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, March 10 2022
Proving that good things come in small packages, this field caught ringneck shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran!
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Wednesday, March 9 2022
Check out this curious little Wood Turtle our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kensopher! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/89501Female_Wood_2-1-med.jpg)
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Tuesday, March 8 2022
This curious little wild Rat snake is checking out the camera in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cmac107 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/159223rsz_dsc_4711(2).jpg)
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Monday, March 7 2022
So small and precious, this baby Broad Banded Water Snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran is so very adorable! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
![](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/96920BB_baby__1.jpg)
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Tropes, formerly called Dwarf Boas, are high on the lists of herps we hope to see. This is Tropidophis melanurus.
The beautiful Island Nation of Cuba. A mere 90 miles away, yet Cuba, with a climate about identical to our southern Florida Keys, but with a wonderfully different herpetofauna and avifauna, remains an “unknown” to many, if not most, Americans. But Patti and I are two of the lucky ones. We have each been to our neighboring island several times. And it is probable that as you read this, Patti and I, and a few other participants, are again in the air on an airliner, heading southeastward from Tampa.
But let me explain.
The previous times we’ve visited Cuba have been on birding trips. Despite this designation, we were able to get a bit of herping in. But this time, we’re have broadened our view a bit and designated our quests as both herping and birding. And if this trip goes well, we may attempt a later trip specifically for herping (but we’ll also look for birds) to a different destination. Just a thought at the moment, but the far western peninsula, Guanacahabibes, seems to be calling strongly to us. We’ll keep you posted both about our current and future trips.
Continue reading "Cuba, Here We Come"
Friday, March 4 2022
It would be pretty hard to tread on this Albino Atrox in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user krantz ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, March 3 2022
This American Alligator is chilling like a villian in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user mwright82 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Wednesday, March 2 2022
Today's herp photo of the day reminds us to always flip that tin! This five-lined skink was found with her eggs under a paving stone, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDB_reptiles!
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Tuesday, March 1 2022
Loving this Dumeril's basking in the sun for a photoshoot in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user liljenni ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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