Thai police raided Boonlue Prasitsom’s warehouse finding more than 200 lizards in water filled tanks. It is believed that Boonlue was planning to smuggle the lizards to China. Officials believe Boonlue has been poaching lizards for more than ten years and is one of the countries biggest offenders. Last week Indonesian officials also busted a man carrying hundreds of reptiles in luggage.
Author Archives: Jason W
Overgrown Crocodile for sale.
Ms Sandstrom who dose reptile shows at schools, parties and other functions says her 2.6m long croc named Snappy will be sold as he is to large and dangerous for her to handle anymore. Snappy will be replaced by 2 smaller Crocodiles. I really have to speak out on this one. A pet is a pet for life not just until it gets to big and inconvenient for you. Stories like this are all to common in America and it really pisses me off to hear of this one. I mean what the heck did she expect the Salt Water Crocodile to stay small forever. I honestly think she should not be allowed to keep them anymore if they are so meaningless to her that she can just dump them when they get to big. Like it or not but I dont care, this is one of those stories that I really do not like to tell. I equally hate to give the website a plug but everyone should go there and tell her how much of an immature keeper she really is, check the link below.
A King among Snakes
A King among Snakes
By
Kingsnakes are touted by a lot of people in the herpetoculture realm as one of the better snakes to start out with. While their popularity in herpetoculture cannot be denounced my personal experiences with both wild caught and captive bred Kingsnakes Lampropeltis getula leaves something to be desired. We’ll get that in a minute. First, let’s get a better idea of Kingsnakes Lampropeltis getula and how they fit into the realm of Colubrids (basic snakes).
Breaking it Down
Before moving on here’s a little bit of interesting information you might not realize. The 25 species of Milksnakes described today are in the same genus as Kingsnakes which is Lampropeltis. So technically speaking, all Milksnakes are subspecies of Kingsnakes. This can and is somewhat confusing but still good to know as a fact.
Given the above there are approximately 14 species of what most call Kingsnakes and according to some 23 to 25 subspecies of Milksnakes. For the sake of your boredom I’m not going to go into the taxonomy of how their split except to say that Lampropeltis triangulum is the genus and species of Milksnakes which is then further broken down into subspecies.
In the Name of a King?
From what I have been able to discern everybody seems to agree that the name Kingsnake originated from this particular snake being able to withstand being envenomated by Rattlesnakes Crotalus sp. Now then whether this is an actual immunity or a resistance is still up to debate which you can read more about in the forums of the premier venom expert Dr. Bryan G. Fry Venom Forum. Not to mention that it is now considered common knowledge that Kingsnakes L. getula will kill and consume a Rattlesnake Crotalus sp. Long story short, no one that I know of actually can surmise with any accuracy the definite answer of how the Kingsnake L. getula got its common name. But the closest thing we have been able to get is that some early settler saw a Kingsnake L. getula consume a Rattlesnake Crotalus sp. and thought this made it the king of snakes and the name stuck.
The Kings Court
Kingsnakes L. getula are found in an extremely wide range of habitats from southern Canada to the northern areas of South America. Within that range they inhabit deserts, swamps, and mountains alike. It seems that they are none to picky about habitat.
Coat of Arms
The Kingsnake L. getula as it is found in the wild comes in some colors that would be considered drab when compared to the morphs available in captivity. Some are brown and yellow or grey and orange banded, as well as speckled varieties. In the captive environment however breeders such as Bob Applegate of Applegate Reptiles have species they have created such as the stunning Applegate Arizona Mountain Kingsnake Lampropeltis pyromelana which is Red and white in color as well as the Light Phase greeri Lampropeltis mexicana greeri.
Final Decree
As I stated earlier when I began this post my personal experiences with Kingsnakes L. getula leave something to be desired as each one that I have owned eventually became very nippy as they got older and would bite anyone that attempted to handle them. That said I have heard from countless sources that their snakes are extremely calm and never bite. Another aspect of Kingsnakes L. getula that I have found disheartening is the fact that when frightened or caught in the wild is their practice of musking which is the equivalent of a snake fart for lack of a better term. They evert the cloaca and poop and pee all over the handler in order to get the threat to release them. Now this is a great tactic as in the wild a coyote or some other predator will probably not want to eat something that smells like crap. Captive breeding may lessen this behavior and as I have said earlier my experiences are not echoed by the hundreds of people that I have spoken with over the years who have raised and owned Kingsnakes L. getula. If you’re interested in an intelligent snake which will bring many years of enjoyment as well as being a piece of living art then I would recommend you give the Kingsnake L. getula a try and please let me know about your personal experiences with them. Who knows, maybe Kingsnakes L. getula don’t like me because I like one of their food sources better that I do them. I am somewhat of a venom junky and I really enjoy Rattlesnakes Crotalus sp. and find them to be one of the best snakes to work with. But that’s another topic we may cover later.
Lost Frogs found in India
A frog last seen 136 years ago is one of 5 lost frogs to be rediscovered in India. The search for the lost frogs in India stems from the story below where scientists searched 21 country’s in search for lost frogs The Chalazodes bubble-nest frog was last documented by a British Herpetologist in 1874. Scientists believe the frog hatches from the egg fully developed. Also found during the search were the Anamalai dot frog, the Dehradun stream frog, the Silent Valley tropical frog, and the Elegant tropical frog.
Search for lost Frogs success.
Last August we spoke about researchers traveling the globe in search for lost Frog species. Their target was 100 lost frogs, the succeeded in finding 4 of those and concluded that the other 96 species were in fact extinct. “Rediscoveries provide reason for hope for these species, but the flip side of the coin is that the vast majority of species that teams were looking for were not found. This is a reminder that we are in the midst of what is being called the Sixth Great Extinction with species disappearing at 100 to 1000 times the historic rate—and amphibians are really at the forefront of this extinction wave,” said Dr. Robin Moore “We need to turn these discoveries and rediscoveries into an opportunity to stem the crisis by focusing on protecting one of the most vulnerable groups of animals and their critical habitats.”
Connecticut cracking down on exotic pets
We have all heard the story back in 2009 where the woman was mauled by a Chimp in Connecticut. Well now the sate is trying to ban exotic animals including Pythons. A bunch of animal enthusiasts, shop owners and exhibitors voiced their concern at a public hearing on the issue. The Maritime aquarium even said that under the proposed law they would no longer be considered an aquarium and some of their exhibits would become illegal. This folks is what we need to stop. A Chip is not a snake and I am offended that they have to pick on everyone for one morons mistake. Contact info for the DEP is below, please contact them in a responsible manor and voice your opinion no matter if you live in the state or not.
| Mailing Address: | Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection 79 Elm Street Hartford, CT 06106-5127 |
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| General Information: | 860-424-3000 | |
| E-mail: |
dep.webmaster@ct.gov (Please include your name, postal mail address and telephone number in any e-mail inquiries. In many cases it would be most efficient to respond to you by telephone or postal mail.)
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Audubon Society seeks scholarship applicants
The Bedford Audubon Society is seeking applicants for its 2011 Marty McGuire Scholarship. I past some of the grant has been used for reptile and amphibian research at Audubon’s summer camp in Vermont. The money, up to $1,000 can be used for course registration and materials or project related expenses. The application for the grant can be found online at
http://www.bedfordaudubon.org/documents/marty-mcguire_scholarship11.pdf. The deadline for application is April 15.