The obvious solution for my turtle and tortoise pond dilemma was simple: hard plastic kiddie pools. They've been used uncountable times for this and similar situations, and for most people, they're the preferred option.

While they have some immediately obvious, and a few less obvious, problems, I still ended up trying this pond idea in a pen just to see how difficult the issues were to overcome.

Even though it was beyond "pool" weather for the year, I was able to track down some 3-foot round "dog washing pools" at Petco for $10 that were the right size and shape, even if they had a giant bone imprinted on the bottom. I probably seemed a little odd buying 12 of them, but they were almost out for the year and I wanted to be prepared if this was the best choice for all the ponds. If not, they would still be useful as temporary turtle and tortoise pens.

The first, and most obvious issue, is that kiddie pools have steep plastic sides made of hard plastic that would be difficult if not impossible for a box turtle to climb out of on its own. One suggested fix was to use rocks piled up in the pool to provide entrances and exits, and in the end this is what I did.

While finding enough of the right sized rocks for one pond was easy, it took no time at all to determine that I would be buying a truck full of rocks if I had to do this in 96 ponds. And while replacing the rocks with concrete was a solution, again I saw myself having to buy a truckload of concrete, as well as 96 kiddie pools at $10 each, and 96 drain plugs.

The second major issue was that it took four times as long to excavate all the dirt required to seat the pond in the ground, as it was substantially deeper and larger than the first pond. I did this with a shovel and a water hose. Again I used the auger to create a 3-4 gallon sump in the excavation, but as the pool holds 20 gallons of water or more, it takes a while to drain out.

Once in place the Gulf Coast Box Turtles used it, but the steep sides made it difficult for them to enter and exit. Often they had to splash around, frustrated, until they gained footing on the rocks. While I am still testing the kiddie pool as turtle pond, it is likely to get replaced over the winter. While this is a "workable" solution for one or two ponds, it doesn't scale well to my needs.

In part 3, I'll try another solution!

Box turtles, though primarily terrestrial, love to splash around in the water, and of course box turtles need access to fresh drinking water, too.

Tortoises need access to fresh water as well, so it's a natural that some type of pond should be included in an outdoor enclosure, even if only deep enough to provide a ready source of fresh drinking water.

I wanted ponds that were deep enough for the turtles and tortoises to immerse themselves, but not big enough to require major maintenance or financial outlay. They needed to be very basic and easily reproduced. They had to be sloped enough to allow the turtles and tortoises easy and safe access, and they had to be easy to clean. I wanted ponds that could be flushed weekly rather than requiring filters that would have to be powered in some manner.

In looking for the right solution, I tried a number of options used successfully by other people. All of them had and have issues.

My initial design had a small rectangular pond excavated from each pen, framed in wood, and concreted in with a sump and drain plug.

For my first test pen, I used this design. I used a shovel to excavate most of the pond, and the auger to create a deep 3-4 gallon sump at the lowest spot. I used some hard plastic from an underbed box lid, and cut a rough cover for the sump hole.

In the center of the plastic, I inserted a 1-5/8 PVC pipe to provide a drain, and placed the plastic with the pipe over the sump hole. With the sump hole covered carefully first so the plastic didn't cave in under the weight, it took around two 60-lb bags of quik-crete to fill my pond excavation, which when cured held approximately 3 gallons of water.

While this worked well and was relatively inexpensive, it seemed more labor-intensive than I'd like. By framing it, the dirt had to be excavated further than planned and required more concrete to build back the slopes.

However, the 3-toed box turtles loved it, and within 24 hours were happily splashing around. The pond allowed them easy access in and out, and was just deep enough to submerge. The biggest issue was that I failed to give the pond a "lip" that would prevent heavy rains from washing down into the pond, so it needs to be flushed if rainwater fills it with mud.

With the first pond down I wanted to try some other ideas. Stay tuned for part 2!

It was time to add the hoophouse roof, but as planned, the final greenhouse would be considerably larger than this first prototype.

That's why I only wanted a temporary solution, until I could determine the size of the final greenhouse, and could plan accordingly. Thus I wanted to try to use the 16-foot steel livestock panels as a temporary solution, and didn't want to permanently affix them to the structure.

Allowing the remaining posts concrete to set overnight, I then placed the steel livestock panel arches into the pens, allowing the bottom of one end to dig into the dirt while I pushed from the other side.

As the other end stopped upon encountering the wall, it began to bow upwards, forming the arch needed for the roof. Once the end I was pushing was also inside the pen, I set it down, allowing the spring effect to push it outward and dig into the dirt as well.

Were this the plan for the permanent solution for the roof, and had this been as big as I was planning it would have been, I would have framed the bottom with 2x4s and cemented the livestock panels in as well. As it was, only their weight, and the pressure exerted by their spring tension from being bent, held them in place, which was enough for a temporary solution.

Once I had the livestock panels in place, I covered the whole thing with poultry wire and then zip-tied some inexpensive tarps across the top to provide temporary shade.

And we were ready for turtles. Not finished, but ready enough to move them from their temporary home.

This worked really well, was quick to build out, used a minimal of materials at hand or easily available, and could be finished as-is with doors, or expanded to be part of a larger entity. Since I had purchased the auger, I had long ago decided to make this part of a larger entity. But, would my design expand in real life as well as it did on the computer? I was about to find out -- and so will you, in the next in this series!

If I were only going to do a single pen, I could have stopped with where I was in my last post, and do the finish out. All that was left was to set the steel panel hoophouse roof up, cover it in wire, and throw a tarp over it. But not yet.

We had planned on three pens for our initial test, so digging another four holes with the auger, I quickly expanded to three pens, using the same approach as for the first pen, one pen at a time. Then I added the posts, the 2x4 toppers on the edges, then the corrugated panels.

The only difference was I needed to snip out a small amount of corrugated steel with tin snips on each of the interior wall panels, to allow the 2x4 top frame to seat properly on the 4x4 posts. Building the two remaining pens took about the same amount of time as building the first pen.

Once all three pens were up, all the walls were checked where they met the ground to ensure that there were no gaps that could provide an escape path. Once that was done, fill dirt excavated from the post holes was used to build up the dirt around the edges of the pens to a depth of 3-5 inches. This would prevent immediate escapes. but would do little to dissuade a burrower from either direction.

When we were done with the basic pens. it was time to consider our herp greenhouse roof. Stay tuned!

Dragging some old 4x4 fenceposts for the first pen I used a saw to cut them down to four 40-inch lengths.

Using our recently purchased auger, I dug out four holes spaced 8 feet apart as four corners of my square pen. Dug down approximately 18 inches, we wanted our posts to stick up 22 inches.

Even with the auger, digging into the hard, dry, baked, clay soil was difficult. Every time I tried to dig, the auger bit would bounce off the big chucks it would gouge until they finally choked the bit to stoppage. A simple solution turned out to be pouring a bucket of water into a started hole and letting the dirt soak it up. With the clay thus loosened, the auger had no trouble boring holes in the dirt quickly and as designed,

Once the holes were dug, the 4x4 posts were set into them, dry, and then topped by 2x4s on three sides, one side at a time, the "open" side being left for expansion to the other two pens. With the pens' frame in place on one corner, a cordless drill with a drill bit and another with a Phillips bit were used to mount the corrugated steel walls of the pen.

With all four walls mounted in a simliar fashion and leveled as best possible, the 4x4 posts for the first pen were then set in the ground with approximately a bag and a half of quik-crete per hole. Once set, the first basic pen was complete and we were ready to add the remaining pens. While this was a lot of work it only took a couple hours of labor.

More to come!

Using a simple computer graphics program and a clean canvas, I began to rough out a design for a "small" greenhouse solution, a single pen 8 foot by 8 foot square, covered by steel livestock panels arched over to form the hoophouse roof.

The walls of the pen would be 8 foot x 2 foot corrugated steel roof panels secured to 4 inch x 4 inch posts set in concrete and rising 22 inches out of the ground, topped by 2x4x8s around the outside. As designed, it used both existing materials on hand and new materials that needed to be sourced and priced. And it proved to be relatively easy to duplicate and expand the number of pens as needed. Simply copying the single pen design image and pasting it next to the original allowed me to easily expand the design and figure the budget accordingly.

But while everything looks good on the computer, real life has a tendency to interfere. So we had to prove the design.

After a quick trip to the store for some corrugated steel panels, concrete, and importantly a gas powered auger, we set about our mission, building a permanent 3-pen herp greenhouse that could be inexpensively and readily expanded.

Placement of the greenhouse was the first decision. It needed to be on ground that was relatively flat, yet have a slight grade, on good soil, and positioned so that it was expandable to a considerable size. The perfect place turned out to be right next to my power pole, which was convenient to my house and driveway. Laying out my materials in a rough approximation of where they were to be placed, I was ready to start.

Watch for part 3...

While our little temporary greenhouse was great for its purpose, it wasn't much of a barrier to large threats, such as a big dog, or heavy winds or weather. It wasn't anchored at all, and could be lifted up and moved with two hands. And in the end it was temporary, just as planned.

To do box turtles, and tortoises, properly, and in the quantities I was planning on, I needed to design something larger, more permanent, and most importantly, expandable, so I could add on as needed.

It didn't require heating or cooling, but did need to be screened to keep the pets in and the threats out. And it needed to have overhead cover during the summer to provide some shade during the oppressive heat of July and August.

It wouldn't need electrical connections, but it would need water for the planned misting system. Most of all, it had to be stable in the weather, and with winds often gusting over 50 mph and higher, it would need to be secured and anchored well. And it had to be designed so a single person could build and install it.

Some things I tried worked well, others not so much. Some design elements didn't scale, and attempting to use existing materials sometimes burdened the design, leading to somewhat catastrophic failures.

Along the way I found better ways to do things, and better materials and tools to use. But first, I needed to start with a single small greenhouse for the first groups of box turtles. Stay tuned for part 2!

In many places, herpers who have the space may have the opportunity to raise their pets in an outdoor enclosure.

Some reptiles just don't thrive inside, and with others, their size or captive requirements my require it. Outdoor enclosures can be as simple or as complex as you want to build them, and many herp owners turn to greenhouse designs as a starting point.

Whether you buy a greenhouse kit or build one from stuff just laying around, as long as the greenhouse is secure and escape-proof, it can be used to raise everything from turtles and tortoises to chameleons and iguanas.

The simple hoophouse greenhouse pictured here was built by one person (me) in about four hours, using scraps from other projects and a total of 16 screws. Designed for temporary use for box turtles, it used some old fence boards and several welded wire livestock panels bent over to provide the hoop frame.

It was wrapped in rolled welded wire and covered with tarps. It could be wrapped in plastic just as easily, but for our purposes the welded wire did the job.

With rocks bordering the walls to prevent dig-unders, this enclosure was used for several weeks while a more permanent home was being built. While the materials you have at hand may vary, a trip to the home improvement store can replace any missing items, and in a nice afternoon you can end up with something functional. And with a little more effort, and more materials, something this simple can be easily expanded into a more permanent structure.

Me, I'm going to need something more permanent. And larger. Much larger.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed including the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina), Florida softshell turtle (Apalone ferox), smooth softshell turtle (Apalone mutica), and spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or Convention), including live and dead whole specimens, and all readily recognizable parts, products, and derivatives.

The Fish and Wildlife Services feels that listing these four native U.S. freshwater turtle species (including their subspecies, except Apalone spinifera atra, which is already included in Appendix I of CITES) in Appendix III of CITES is necessary to allow us to adequately monitor international trade in these species; to determine whether exports are occurring legally, with respect to State and Federal law; and to determine whether further measures under CITES or other laws are required to conserve these species.

To read the USFWS proposal in its entirety and to file a response, please review the USFWS announcement at the Federal Register website. Comments on this proposed rulemaking action must be submitted by December 29, 2014, for consideration.

Gallery photo by kingsnake user d156156156

Longtime reptile keeper and breeder and kingsnake.com member Rico Walder, known for his passion for green tree pythons, lost his long fight with brain cancer yesterday.

Rico always brought out the best in people, and watching the reptile world pull together, with dozens of fundraisers at reptile events coast to coast over a multi-year period, showed just how special he was to our community. His fight was our fight as well, and to lose him makes the reptile world seem a colder, emptier place for all.

Rest in peace Rico. You are already missed.

Is Southern California facing a COBRANADO crisis?

Maybe, maybe not, but questions are being raised in the reptile community about the timeline of the search for an "albino" monocled cobra in the Los Angeles area. The snake was photographed Monday after it allegedly escaped and bit a pet dog.

News stories indicate the dog was bitten and taken to the vet on Monday, yet the incident was not reported to animal control until late Tuesday, with a subsequent search, which involved helicopters, being launched, then cancelled on Wednesday.

How could the resident have the presence of mind to take photos of the cobra, then take his dog to the vet, yet somehow wait a full day to alert the authorities that a potentially lethal exotic snake was roaming the neighborhood?

To read more about the ongoing search for this apparently escaped cobra, check out the Los Angeles Times article here, or follow the ongoing debate by reptile hobbyists and experts alike on Facebook with the hashtags #LACOBRA and #COBRANADO.

After the lights and sirens drama of my dog Ruby's encounter with a 36-inch Western diamondback rattlesnake, we began the waiting game of her treatment and recovery.

Within minutes of the bite, Ruby's head began to swell almost immediately. Within a few hours, she was unrecognizable as the same dog.

Given two vials of Bioclon's antivenin intravenously, she looked forlorn and pitiful in her cage at the clinic. Her eyes had swollen shut, and the bite wound seeped blood and other fluids. Neither would stop getting worse until long after she came home. But her vital signs were strong and she had begun to take liquids orally, which were the two major factors allowing her to be released to go home roughly 48 hours after being bitten.

She was sent home with an arsenal of medications, including antibiotics, painkillers, anti-nausea drugs, and eye drops, all of which were designed to help her feel more comfortable but few of which she wanted to take willingly.

Her swollen muzzle had made chewing painful, and for the first 72 hours it was all she could do to lap a little water or baby food; despite making a few cautionary attempts at the kibble in her bowl, little had disappeared from it. Even soft treats were taken only sporadically, and then with little enthusiasm, leaving her to be medicated with a syringe, her drugs crushed up and suspended in water.

Despite the bitter taste, she hesitatingly lapped the watered-down drug solution from the palm of my hand, a process we were to repeat every 8 hours. Mopping up the seepage dripping from here eye, and keeping it clear enough to see out of, would be a continual battle, however, and breaking up the crust that it formed required wet warm compresses and lots of patience on both our parts

By the end of the fourth day after the bite the swelling had peaked, and so had the drainage. Ruby was beginning to take some solid foods, allowing her meds to be delivered in treats rather than in a water suspension. Still. with the pain, solid foods were hit and miss, and several mornings we resorted to baby food until the painkillers had a chance to work.

Signs of Ruby's improvement were appearing, she was going outside on her own to defecate. There had been no blood in her stool or urine, and she was beginning to explore the house and her dog run a bit more. She was tentatively barking at the bicyclists and deliverymen which was a strong sign of continued improvement. She was still in pain, however, and her companion, Scout, found out the hard way that jumping on her head was the wrong way to get Ruby to play, eliciting a sharp growl that sent Scout off to hide in a closet.

On the fifth day we woke to find Ruby's facial swelling dramatically decreased, along with the drainage. Ruby was no longer on a liquid diet, and was eating soft foods and kibble from her bowl, despite the swelling that remained. Her right eye was still swollen and crusted over, but you could see it, it could see you, and with each hour that passed it seemed to open a little more.

By the sixth day Ruby's swelling had almost completely disappeared except around her eye, which continued to show increasing improvement. After a follow up stop at our regular vet, Dr. Haley at Georgetown Veterinary Hospital, we were cleared to discontinue all her meds except the remaining antibiotics. Dr. Haley and here staff were very impressed with Ruby's recovery and noted that there appeared to be little or no necrosis, tissue or muscle damage, and Ruby was released from their care with no required follow ups.

A week after being bitten Ruby is doing great. She still has a small amount of swelling and crusting around her right eye, which continues to improve each day. She appears to have no permanent damage and may not even have a physical scar as a reminder of the encounter. Dr Haley attributes Ruby's rapid recovery to her quick treatment and the administration of antivenin almost immediately after the bite, as well as the excellent after care she received at the hospital and at home. There were no ill effects or allergic reactions to the new antivenin, something that had been problematic with the older antivenins.

Ruby and I want to thank all the doctors and staff at the Heart of Texas Veterinary Specialty Centerand the Georgetown Veterinary Hospital for both their emergency and follow-up care. It helped make the best of a very bad situation, and their daily calls for status updates gave me a sounding board for my questions and concerns that was welcome and needed.

We also want to thank the thousands of people who have been sending emails and posting messages of support on our site, Facebook, and Twitter. Your support helped pull us both through this crisis.

It was dusk and I heard my dog Ruby's distinctive "snake" bark before I realized that the buzzing I was hearing wasn't coming from the window air conditioner. With a buzz that loud, I knew Ruby had a large rattlesnake cornered. As I yelled to her to back off, I raced for a pair of tongs and a bucket I keep handy for such occasions, only to hear a loud "yelp" as the snake struck home.



It was a 36=inch female Western diamondback (Crotalus atrox), fat from a recent meal, coiled, angry, and full of fight. I grabbed the snake with the tongs, deposited it in the bucket, snapped the lid on, and raced off to find Ruby.

I found her curled under the covers on my bed. Pulling the sheet back, I could see a small amount of blood above her right eye where the snake's fangs had connected. It had already started swelling and oozing in less than five minutes. This was a "hot" bite, a bad one from a good-sized snake.

I immediately put my emergency protocols into action. With a rattlesnake bite time is often the deciding factor, so knowing where to go and who to call beforehand can save precious minutes and, maybe, a life. Scooping Ruby up and piling her into the truck, I raced to the nearest 24-hour animal hospital, the Heart Of Texas Veterinarary Clinic, more than 20 miles away.

Ruby was starting to feel the effects of the bite, and her head was swelling rapidly. She crawled into my lap as I impatiently watched the mile markers tick by. It seemed as if every slow driver had decided to park in my lane, no matter which lane I picked. I watched the digits on the clock seemingly race upward, while the mile markers slowed.

Finally reaching our exit, we pull up at a red light. After what seemed an interminably long time but in reality was but a few seconds, the light turned green. I punched the accerator and launched through the intersection, and in just a few more minutes was there.

Picking Ruby off my lap, I carried her through the door only to be met by the medical staff, ready to take Ruby back for immediate treatment. While I filled out forms, they gave Ruby a shot of morphine for the pain and began prepping her for an IV. After consulting with the vet we agreed on several courses of treatment depending on the direction her condition took.

And now the waiting begins.

Rubys's prognosis for recovery is good. She's a large dog, young, and in good health and shape. The bite was above the left eye so the fangs were unable to penetrate deeply, and there is little tissue in the immediate area to be impacted by necrosis. The primary worry is whether the necrosis will damage her eye, which only time will tell.

Ruby's treatment and recovery were helped immensely because I had a bite protocol plan in place for my dogs and was able to get medical attention quickly, less than an hour after her bite. If you live in a rural area having a plan in place beforehand can save your pet's life. The first step is to know where your local 24-hour emergency animal hospitals are, and keep their contact information handy.

Was a milk snake discovered in the Galapagos?



Equador's Ministerio del Ambiente (Ministry of the Environment) announced that yesterday, a group of citizens from the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands gave the Rangers a snake so far unidentified, possibly a false coral, that was hit on the road Puerto Ayora - Itabaca Channel, off Santa Rosa parish.

After reviewing the photograph published to the ministry's website, kingsnake.com staff members agree that the snake appears to be a member of the Lampropeltis triangulum group, known commonly as milk snakes. Possibly a member of the micropholis subspecies, found natively in Ecuador and known as the Equadoran milk snake, little has been published on the sub-species, and few specimens or even photographs exist.

As milk snakes are not known to be native to the Galapagos, it is most likely that the snake arrived as a stowaway and slipped through the Galapagos quarantine programs. If so, according to historical record, this would be the first confirmed case of snake introduction to the Galapagos Islands. But there is also the slim chance that the snakes are native to the island, their presence being unknown and unrecorded for all these years.

The Ministry of Environment, through the Galapagos National Park (GNP) and the Agency for the Regulation and Control of Biosecurity and Quarantine for Galapagos (ABG), has established an action plan to monitor the area finding and determine the possible origin.

To read the original press release in Spanish, click here. To read a Google translation, click here.

Can you help a long-time herper who needs a new heart?

West coast herp photographer and kingnake.com community member Dave Northcott has been notably absent from his usual place at herp events and shows over the last two years, suffering from heart problems that have progressively worsened. Now Dave's doctors have given him more bad news: he needs a new heart.

Dave, a fixture in the community whose photographs of reptiles and amphibians have graced the covers and pages of countless reptile and amphibian magazines as well as dozens if not hundreds of books, faces months of rehab and recovery, and countless medical bills.

Faced with mounting medical costs that even with insurance will likely end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, his daughter Kait Northcott has set up a fundraiser at GoFundMe to raise money to help offset their rising medical bills.

As part of this fundraising effort to get Dave a new heart, kingsnake.com has donated $1000.00 and is asking other businesses in the reptile community to match our donation at the GoFundMe site.

If your business would like to match our donation, or if you would like to contribute as an individual, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/6g1rak.

On Monday, kingsnake.com launched a new vendor profile system in the classifieds, allowing all classified account holders to have a permanent presence for their business in the classifieds, even if they don't have any classified ads running at the time.

Available to both standard and enhanced account holders, the new vendor profile is an all-in-one marketing tool for reptile businesses, allowing them to maintain and re-list classified ads, link to their websiite and all their social media profiles, link to USARK and PIJAC, list upcoming trade show appearances, receive customer endorsements, and more.

Check out the huge list of features below:

The new vendor profile system allows you to:

- add a physical address and map
- add a store/shop image that pops up to a larger size when clicked
- add a large background image
- list all your classified ads
- list all the shows/expos you will attend (if in the kingsnake events database)
- display shipping options and package trackers
- display payment options
- add a lengthy business description
- add a FAQ/Terms sheet
- receive recommendations from kingsnake.com registered users
- link to your website
- link to your social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn)
- display your years on-site (if more than one year)
- display your business verification button/info
- display info for multiple physical locations
- allow you to run a special offer/coupon in your vendor profile
- display your enhanced account banner (if applicable)
- view traffic stats on vendor profile visitors
- display a membership button for USARK and PIJAC
- display an embedded video
- search engine friendly URL (http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/lllreptile, etc.)

The vendor profile system works whether you have a standard or enhanced classified account, and as long as your account stays active, the profile is visible and can be linked to from your own website, banner ads, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

Purchasing or renewing a 1-year account guarantees your profile is active year round, so even if you don't have or maintain active classified ads your business can still have a presence in kingsnake.com's popular classified advertising system.

To see sample classified vendor profiles, please visit
http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/lllreptile
or http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/RodentPro.com.

To update and view your own classified vendor profile,
please log in at http://market.kingsnake.com/account.

To purchase or renew an existing standard or enhanced classified account, please visit http://www.kingsnake.com/shared/services/classified.php

A proposed port development on the Goat Islands in Jamaica threatens the re-introduction of the endangered Jamaican iguana to the two small cays located less than a mile off the coast of Jamaica.

The IUCN Iguana Specialist Group is reporting that the planned port, to be built by the China Harbour Engineering Company, will include extensive dredging and filling in the surrounding area to build a massive trans-shipment port. These small islands were a planned relocation sites for not only the Jamaican iguana, hutia, and Jamaican boa, they are also home to significant numbers of endemic plants, birds, and other species.

The planned port facilities will require development on the mainland as well, opening up the nearby Hellshire Hills, close to the core forest where the Jamaican iguana persists. With over 400 plant species in the Hellshire Hills and Goat Islands area, including 47 Jamaica endemics as well as 11 endemic birds, it is considered one of the largest and most pristine remaining examples of dry tropical forest in the Caribbean.

While the Jamaican government has launched a media campaign to promote the planned port, conservationists and herpetologists have not given up the fight to save the islands and have launched their own in response, starting with a petition at Change.org.

Conservationists are hoping to reach 5,000 signatures and deliver it to the Jamaican government as part of a larger media campaign in early January. To sign the petition, click here.

To read more about the fight against the Goat Islands port, please check out this article in the Jamaica Observer.

Every year kingsnake.com gets asked, "I want to hold a contest and give away a live animal, can I advertise this on your site?"

The answer is surprising to many: kingsnake.com and our other pet-related sites will not accept advertising for live animal contests.

No, it's not because we don't like contests.

Aside from the ethical problems raised by giving away live animals to people who may not, or cannot, care for them responsibly, many states have outlawed the practice, or limited the practice but regulate it in some manner. Some allow it with certain animals, and in certain circumstances, while others outlaw it completely.

Many of these laws have been on the books for decades, some having been written in response to specific problems. Often they were implemented in response to traveling carnivals that would offer goldfish, green iguanas, anolis lizards, turtles, or even baby alligators as inexpensive prizes in games of chance on the midway. Who hasn't seen goldfish bowls at the carnival?

Most, if not all, of these animals died horrible deaths at the hands of owners ill-equipped to deal with them, many times unsupervised children, and over the years many states took action to make the practice illegal or to limit what could and couldn't be offered as a prize.

Does your state have laws against animal giveaways? If so, you may be subject to criminal charges, either as the contest holder or the contest winner. What makes it even more dangerous and problematic is when the contests -- and prizes -- cross state lines. When that happens, a simple misdemeanor, can easily turn into a federal crime.

When a live animal contest crosses state lines, and the contest violates either the state laws of the contest holder or the prize winner, then according to the United States Fish & Wildlife Service, a violation of the federal Lacey Act statutes has occurred, regardless of the species involved. Thus a leopard gecko or ball python that may be 100 percent legal to purchase, keep, possess, and ship across state lines, is illegal as a contest prize instead of a purchase.

So, should you participate in live animal giveaway contests?

If you're a responsible pet owner with experience in the species offered as a prize, and the contest does not violate your state or local laws, or the contest holder's state laws, then there is nothing wrong with participating in a live animal giveaway. But do your homework first! Or that next "prize" might be more than you bargained for.

Veterinary Practice News is reporting that reptile and exotic animal vet, author, and longtime kingsnake.com community member Dr. Kevin Wright passed away unexpectedly Sept. 26 after a brief illness. He was 50 years old.

Dr. Wright was a prolific writer on reptile and amphibian subjects, contributing over 300 articles to Reptiles magazine and other publications over the years, and was an original board member with the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians.

A 1988 graduate of the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Wright was co-author of the 2001 manual "Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry." His career included work at zoos in Philadelphia, Miami, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C., and he owned Wright Bird and Exotic Pet House Calls, a mobile practice based in Mesa, Ariz.

He is survived by his wife, Marlene.

For more information, read the article on the Veterinary Practice News website.

Cancer: It's a word no one wants to hear. Especially when it happens to a family member.

As many members of the East Texas Herpetelogical Society (ETHS) in Houston know, a longtime member of their family and the herp community, Nathan Wells, has been fighting a battle with cancer since first diagnosed in the summer of 2012.

Nathan kept friends and family up to date with his battle throughout the year, posting updates of his fight from hospital bed describing his treatments and procedures, until he beat his cancer.

But as any cop will tell you, you may beat the ticket, but you never beat the ride.

Even with medical insurance, a long cancer fight is an expensive battle, one that continues long after the illness has passed, and Nathan and his family have been left with a pile of medical bills.

His family at ETHS pitched in during their 23rd Annual Conference and Breeders Expo over the weekend, and held a fundraiser with a goal of raising $10,000 for Nathan's medical expenses. They continue to take donations on his behalf.

Nathan's story, a story that can happen to any one of us, is detailed on the ETHS website this month. To read more about one herper's incredible fight against cancer and for details on how to donate to his medical expense fund, click here.

Noted California herpetologist and author of many popular reptile and amphibian field guides used by amateur and professional herpetologists alike, Robert C. Stebbins passed away yesterday at the age of 98.

Born on March 31, 1915, in Chico, California, the first of seven children, his work with reptiles and amphibans on the west coast has been described as "what the Oxford English Dictionary is to lexicographers" and includes such noted works as;

• Amphibians of Western North America (UC Press, 1951)
  
• Amphibians and Reptiles of Western North America (McGraw-Hill Press, 1954)
  
• Reptiles and Amphibians of the San Francisco Bay Region (UC Press, 1960)
  
• A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians (Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1966)
  
• Amphibians and Reptiles of California (UC Press, 1972)
  
• A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd edition (Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1985)
  
• A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 3rd edition (Houghton-Mifflin Co., 2003)
  
• Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California, revised edition (w/ Samuel M. McGinnis; UC Press, 2012)

Incredibly, even though retired and well in his 90s, Robert Stebbins was still working, releasing an updated Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California just last year.

To read more about Robert Stebbins and his work, click here for more from the (bio)accumulation web site .

Old school herpers like myself are prone to "do it yourself" projects simply because we grew up in an era when products specifically designed for reptile owners were either too basic, or simply not available at all, and thus we quite often were left with no choice but to "do it yourself." Although this mindset still occurs in herp breeders young and old, there are times when doing it yourself might be the least expensive option, but not the best.

Take, for instance, a mouse breeding rack.

In the past my racks have all been hand made, essentially nothing more than tubs resting on wooden shelves, screen tops made of wood and hardware cloth, and individual water bottles, one per cage. This system worked well for what it was but as you expanded the system became harder to clean and maintain, and harder and longer to work. Individual water bottles had to be filled on a regular basis, replaced on a regular basis, and the rodents had a habit of chewing the plastic tops. Wooden screen tops had to be made by hand, and all that hardware cloth was bound to rip, tear, and puncture skin no matter how thick the gloves you used. Worst of all, the wood could never be cleaned adequately, or in the case of a disease outbreak, sterilized, and thus if your colony was struck by illness you had to replace much of your caging materials as well as your breeding colony.

Today most of the troubles and problems I experienced with my "do it yourself" racks can be avoided by purchasing a commercial mouse breeding unit. Designed to eliminate many of the problems and issues home built racks have, modern breeding racks are industrial strength units designed to be worked easily, and cleaned thoroughly. Made of aluminum, steel and plastic these racks are manufactured by a number of different companies, and most all are sturdy well built units designed to offset their high cost by providing years of solid service.

After reviewing a number of breeder rack units, we settled on the rodent breeder racks made by Freedom Breeder, one of the oldest and most established cage companies in the reptile community. Founded by Lindy Johnson, and run by his son Jeff, Freedom Breeder was one of the first companies offering commercial caging and equipment to the reptile industry and their cages are used by some of the top names in the reptile industry and the company has maintained a solid reputation. The name Freedom Breeder on a rack is as good as having the name Sterling on silver.

When our Freedom Breeder Rodent 50 unit arrived on the 18 wheeler, it had to be moved via a pallet jack it was so large and heavy. Arriving mostly assembled it took approximately an hour to get it unstrapped from the pallet, wheels installed, and watering system hooked up. Only a wrench was needed to fix the wheels to the bottom, and a knife to cut the plastic tubing for the watering system. When fully assembled the unit stood taller than our truck, yet on it's wheels could be moved with one hand. With the levels being easily detachable it was easy to size the unit to fit our required space in the steel container, it being exactly 2 levels too tall.

With a 5 gallon bucket provided to service the watering system, and large feed bins for mouse chow, time required to service the mouse colony is at a minimum, and instead of constantly filling tiny food bins or water bottles, daily monitoring is usually all that is required rather than daily servicing, greatly reducing maintenance time and mess. Freedom Breeder even supplies the unit with a removable feed tray that allows the racks food bins to be filled quickly from behind.

With the rack all set up now all we needed was some mice. Lots and lots of mice.

kingsnake.com is on the road to Daytona!

The kingsnake.com Zombiehunter truck is loaded up with "I Brake For Snakes" bumper stickers and RodentPro coupons and is en route to the National Reptile Breeders Expo in Daytona Beach, Florida.

To get your free kingsnake.com bumper sticker and RodentPro discount coupon, find us outside the Ocean Center Saturday and Sunday, parked outside the main entrance; you can't miss us!

Since it's been a while since kingsnake.com has been to Daytona, we're going to do something special. We have about 60 kingsnake t-shirts left, the "My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake" shirts, and some "rare" "kingsnake racing" shirts that we're going to bring to Daytona.

Everyone at the event who donates $10 to this years NRAAC Law Symposium can get one (while supplies last, of course!).

We never released the "kingsnake racing" shirts and only made a limited number (fewer than 50). The "My Snake Is Bigger" shirts are available in large, with only a couple 3XLs. The "kingsnake racing" shirts are available in XL and 2XL. Sorry, no smalls or mediums, these are the last of the last. Once they are gonel kingsnake.com t-shirts will only be available through our Cafe Press store.

Also, to help fund this year's Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium in Washington D.C., the proceeds of all kingsnake.com display ad (banner) purchases or renewals from now until September 30 will be donated to NRAAC! With the symposium rapidly picking up size and speed as the date nears, and the goal to have 50 panelists and speakers lined up for this November's meeting, now you can help do your part in supporting this important event and get something in return!

To buy display banners on kingsnake.com and help support the Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium at the same time, go to http://banner.kingsnake.com

For more info on this year's free Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium at George Washington University, check out the NRAAC website. To register, please click here!

Once we have the holes cut and the A/C and vent mounted, it's time to insulate the container. Every side of the container is steel, and every side of the container exposed to the sun will heat up and transmit that heat into the container. The more you can prevent that the better, and barring that, the more you can isolate the inside of the container from its metal sides and top the better.

The best product we have found for both of these are the reflective insulation panels found at most home improvement stores. Measuring 4 x 8 feet, these styrofoam-type panels cost from $10 to $15 each, and have a reflective foil surface on one side with a paper backing on the other. Easily trimmed to shape with an X-ACTO blade or even a sharp pocket knife, it took less than an hour and a can of spray adhesive to insulate the back and side walls, and another hour to seal the gaps between the panels with duct tape.

After turning on the A/C and letting the unit cool down, the next big problem to resolve came when I opened the big steel door. The minute it swung open, all the cool air came rushing out, and in seconds the unit was at the same temperature as the outside air. I had already planned on a fix for this, and within no time I had framed a wall and a pre-hung door 4 feet from the end, thus creating a small storage area and a "cool door" that could be opened without losing the inside temperature.

Finally I tackled the biggest problem, the roof. Initially I wanted to build a steel roof over the container, but in the end I Gorilla-glued 5 of the 3/4 reflective insulation panels to the outside of the roof. Designed for exterior use, they will survive all but the largest hail, and once the glue had dried, be impervious to wind. Best of all, where touching the roof from inside was once similar to grabbing a hot dinner plate, it was now cool to the touch and easily air-conditioned.

Now our mouse shack is ready to go!

Steel CONEX containers would be the perfect mouse shacks, if the sun didn't have a habit of turning them into gigantic ovens. But with a little ingenuity, a small air conditioner, and a reasonable amount of insulation you can quickly turn that oven into something cold enough to store meat in, even in the Texas sun.

CONEX boxes are available in many different types and sizes from gigantic 40-foot monsters down to tiny 6- or 8-foot units. Some are designed as cooler units, referred to as "reefers," but most are just giant steel boxes designed to carry goods in bulk around the world as deck cargo on ships, trains, or trucks.

The price varies, but used reefer units are generally out of the reasonable price range with 20-foot units going for $6000-$9000. A standard, non-leaker, used 20-foot CONEX box can usually be located on Craigslist for around $2000-$2500, and can be moved by most flat bed tow trucks a reasonable distance for $100 to $150. Larger, and heavier, 40-foot units usually require a specialized delivery truck, a lot more room, and a lot more money.

We found our CONEX box locally on Craigslist for $2100, and had a tow truck deliver it to our site for $150. Our unit came with passive louvered vents on the front door and the rear, although most do not. Once the unit was in place, we made the first of what would be many trips to Home Depot. There we bought a small window A/C, an inexpensive pre-hung interior door, some 2x4s and a number of 1/2- and 3/4-inch 4x8 reflective exterior insulation panels. And duct tape. Lots of duct tape.

With an active vent louver from Amazon.com and a box fan and a Sawzall reciprocating saw from the shop, we set about modifying the CONEX box. First, we removed the existing vent from the rear of the unit, then we expanded its hole using a metal cutting blade on the Sawzall. Though the steel is 1/4-inch thick, the reciprocating saw had little difficulty cutting though it. Once the vent hole was expanded, we cut another hole below it for the air conditioner. Bracing it with wood on the inside, we installed the A/C, making sure that the intakes were reaching the outside.

The vent hole we started with was larger than our active went louver, so we had to make a 2x2 wooden plate to cover the gaps. Once installed, and tested with a fan, the louvers popped right open like designed. Hooked up to a timer, the ventilation fans will come on from 10 pm to 8 am, automatically opening the louvers and venting the mouse room of any built up ammonia for 8 hours. The louvers will close when the fans turn off and the A/C runs, from 8 am to 10 pm.

Whether you're breeding 100 mice or 10,000, setting up your breeding facility correctly at the beginning can prevent a lot of problems and heartbreak down the road.

If you can think of a problem, it has happened to someone before, in many cases with disastrous consequences. No one wants to come home from vacation to find that your rodents are floating down the hallway and you've made the 6 o'clock news.

First, you need to determine your needs, as this will set the size of the breeder colony you need and the space and caging required. We've already determined that we will need to produce at least 8,000 mice in a 12-month period. A mouse's reproductive cycle is roughly 20 days, and then they are immediately ready to breed again. We will need at least 1000 litters in 12 months. Rounding up to 30 days between litters, we need to produce 84 litters per month to reach that number, or in plain numerical terms 84 producing females.

The number of males required will be set by the total number of mice each cage will support. For our cages we'll be using one male for every three females in each cage, so we will need at least 28 males. Larger tubs, such as bus tubs, usually support larger groupings of between six and eight mice. In a perfect world we would need 112 mice total to keep our colony fed for a year, along with caging, food and water, and other basics.

However...

Because mice are horrible at math, and nature is unpredictable...

We will base our first mouse colony on having 200 mice, in 50 cages. That will provide for a backup in case of slow production, cycling of new and retired breeders, and insurance against accidental losses. Hopefully it will provide a small backstock of over-production and allow for rapid expansion when the time comes.

Housing 200 mice is something you don't want to do in your house, or worse, your apartment. The risks of cross contamination are simply too great. In a best case scenario all animals, mice included, should be sited in a separate outbuilding, ideally one that can be decontaminated if not sterilized. While people have been using wooden buildings to breed mice for years, if you're starting from scratch there are other better options to consider.

Many breeders use steel sheds, others use custom metal buildings. We chose a 20-foot steel CONEX shipping container. With only a wooden floor that can be removed and replaced as needed, it's almost the perfect solution. Almost.

With a projected 200 kingsnake cages to start with, securing the food source is probably the most important first step in my business plan. Before I even began to hunt for my breeder snakes, I wanted to have a primary and secondary food source in place.

Kingsnakes and milk snakes are ravenous feeders that will eat a variety of prey items, from rodents to reptiles, so that makes it relatively easy to find a food source. Availability, price and delivery can make this a costly proposition, however, especially on a commercial scale.

When I started as a hobbyist, finding a feeder mouse or two wasn't difficult, but finding enough to feed 20 or more animals on a regular basis was problematic. To feed a collection of size you invariably had to start your own mouse colony.

Today, a hobbyist or breeder can choose from a variety of sources, from individually-wrapped frozen feeders at the chain pet stores Petco and PetSmart, or bulk frozen feeders from a local pet shop. Frozen feeders are almost always available in bulk at the many reptile expos that occur across the country every year as well, supplied by the dozens of local breeders. And feeder mice are also available in uncounted places on the internet, from massive breeders like RodentPro, Mice Direct, and Big Cheese Rodents, to smaller local breeders advertising in kingsnake.com's classifieds. Frozen feeder mice are even available on Amazon.com!

If you want to save yourself space, convenience, labor, smell, and a variety of other issues, hazards, and problems, buying frozen feeder mice is really your best option.

If, on the other hand, you plan on starting and building a massive colony of breeder snakes as we are, the costs of buying frozen feeders can be daunting. With an estimated 200 colubrid snakes consuming a minimum of 1 mouse a week, 40 weeks a year, we will need to have on hand 8,000 feeder mice over a year's time. So in our case, our best option is to start our own mouse colony.

Welcome to August!

kingsnake.com and RodentPro.com will be displaying the kingsnake.com Zombiehunter Snake Hunting Truck at the entrance to this years National Reptile Breeders Expo in Daytona Beach. kingsnake.com will also be handing out their free "I brake for snakes, not Zombies" bumper stickers and RodentPro discount coupons.

Join us from 10 am to 3 pm Saturday, August 18, and Sunday, August 19, outside the main entrance of the Ocean Center, grab a bumper sticker and a coupon -- while supplies last! -- and have your picture taken with the giant Zombiehunter truck!

The National Reptile Breeders Expo, one of the largest and oldest reptile and amphibian community events, will start in Daytona Beach on Thursday, August 15, and run through Sunday, August 19, at the Daytona Beach Hilton and the Ocean Center, on Atlantic Avenue.

For a full schedule of events, travel information and more, please visit their website!

Reptile and amphibian hobbyists, breeders, academics, researchers, and zookeepers from around the globe are converging on the Astor Crown Plaza in New Orleans, Louisiana, this week for the 36th International Herp Symposium.

Starting with an icebreaker Wednesday night, followed by three days of presentations on herpetology, herpetoculture, and reptile veterinary medicine, the event also includes swamp tours in an airboat, a banquet and keynbote by Australian herpetologist John Cann, a silent auction, and more. Additionally, all attendees are invited to free admission to the Audubon Zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas and the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans.

While the call of Bourbon Street may be tough to ignore, there will be dozens of cool reptile and amphibian presentations over the next few days to keep herpers out of the bars, at least during the day. Some of the world's leading herpetologists, herpetoculturists, veterinarians, and more are scheduled to present at this year's event, guaranteeing something for every herper's interests. For a schedule of the IHS presentations, check out the IHS website.

I will be giving a presentation on reptile and amphibian laws on Friday at 4:45pm. My 30 minute presentation, titled “Reptile Laws: The role of NRAAC and NGOs in the Reptile & Amphibian Regulatory Process,” will be a quick overview of the NRAAC organization, and other organizations, and how they are involved in the creation of laws and regulations at the federal, state, and international levels. It will also discuss the upcoming NRAAC Reptile & Amphibian Law Symposium in Washington D.C. in November.

For more information on the NRAAC Reptile & Amphibian Law Symposium please visit the NRAAC website.