Chat Week at kingsnake.com:
December 8-14, 2002
Below you will find the lineup for the Fourth Annual Chat Week at kingsnake.com, where our users met with a variety of noted herpetologists and herpetoculturists in the world's longest running online reptile symposium. Links to chat transcripts are also listed below.
Kelli Hammack
Leopard Geckos
Sunday, December 8, at 9 PM Eastern in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Kelli Hammack runs the Herpetological Institute for Scientific Study website, devoted to the study, appreciation, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians through education and captive propagation. Her topic will be Leopard Geckos. For Transcript: Kelli Hammack
 Andrew H. Price, Ph.D.
Relationship of an Academic Herpetologist and Hobbyist to the State Wildlife Agency in Texas
Sunday, December 8, at 10 PM Eastern in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Andrew H. Price, Ph.D. is a Natural Resources Scientist for the Wildlife Diversity Program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He is also
the author of Poisonous Snakes of Texas, numerous scientific articles, and is currently working on two future books. For Transcript: Andrew Price
Michael Ralbovsky
Crocodilians
Monday, December 9, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Michael Ralbovsky, (RRS) founder/owner of Rainforest Reptile Shows, is one of only a few who has worked with all twenty-three species of Crocodilians including "Gomek," one of the world's largest crocodiles. Together with the University of Florida's Dr. Kent Vliet, Ralbovsky conducted behavioral studies among the crocodile population at St. Augustine Alligator Farm as well. Hoping to educate and entertain people of all ages about reptiles, animals and the importance of preserving the rain forests, Michael started Rainforest Reptile Shows in 1993. For Transcript: Michael Ralbovsky
Patrick Nabors
Getting Started with Dart Frogs
Monday, December 9, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Patrick Nabors has been keeping and breeding reptiles and amphibians since 1990. In the mid-nineties the focus of his business, Saurian Enterprises, began to shift from lizards to dart frogs. He currently maintains a large collection of dart frogs, and breeds many different species of frogs and lizards. For Transcript: Patrick Nabors
 Daniel Bennett
Savannah Monitors
Monday, December 9, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Daniel Bennett is a conservation biologist from Glossop England with a
keen interest in monitor lizards. His recent projects include studies of the rare and endangered Gray's monitor lizard in the Philippines and a book about the natural history and husbandry of savannah monitors (co-written with Ravi Thakoordyal) that is published this month. For Transcript: Daniel Bennett
 John Agnew
Reptile and Amphibian Artist
Tuesday, December 10, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
John Agnew's career has been as a museum artist, scientific illustrator and exhibit designer, and now as an award-winning fine artist specializing in natural history art. For the last twenty years he has painted murals, designed exhibits and produced illustrations for museums, zoos and nature centers around the country and as far away as Moscow, Russia. John's work as a scientific illustrator has engendered a deep respect for accuracy and skill, and combined with his artistic vision, enables him to create incredibly realistic and intimate views of seldom seen creatures. His love of reptiles has lead him to travels in the American deserts and wetlands, and Central American tropical forests. These landscapes provide dramatic backdrops for his paintings of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and even a token mammal or two. For Transcript: John Agnew
 Bob Applegate
Gilas and Tri-colors
Tuesday, December 10, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Author of The General Care and Maintenance of Milk Snakes, Bob Applegate is a strong advocate of "Conservation Through Captive Propagation." Applegate Reptiles has been known for over twenty-five years as a breeder of quality and rare reptiles. Their name is on two strains of snakes - the Applegate Arizona Mountain Kingsnake and the Applegate San Diego Gopher Snake. For Transcript: Bob Applegate
Christie Keith
Director of Community Services, PetHobbyist.com
Tuesday, December 10, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Curious about what "PetHobbyist" is about? Want to get the facts behind the rumors? Drop by for an update on Kingsnake.com, PetHobbyist.com, and get the inside story! For Transcript: Christie Keith
Richard Hoyer
Rubber Boas
Wednesday, December 11, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Richard Hoyer is a retired middle school teacher who has been an active field herpetologist in the Pacific Northwest for over four decades. Richard has published several papers on the Rubber Boa dealing with taxonomy and biology. While the majority of his efforts were concentrated in Western Oregon, for the last several years, his focus has been on the southernmost populations in California. All this has been, and continues to be, done on his own time and with his own funding, simply for the love of this species, and the love of learning. Richard has also studied the Sharp-tailed snake, and in the winter of 2002 published a discovery paper for a new species in the genus Contia. For Transcript: Richard Hoyer
 David Congalton
Author, When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die
Wednesday, December 11, at 10 PM Eastern in CatCareCentral
David Congalton is the award-winning author of Three Cats, Two Dogs: A Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss and co-author with his wife Charlotte Alexander of When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die. David will be discussing how you can protect your pets if you are no longer able to care for them due to death or other unforseen circumstances. Included in the discussion will be wills, and specific provisions that can protect pets. Although this chat is hosted by CatHobbyist.com, it is open to, and will discuss, companions of all species. All pet owners are welcome! Those with long-lived pets such as parrots, horses, and others are especially encouraged to attend.
 Jeff Ronne
Boas... of course. And cages.
Thursday, December 12, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
From the mouth of The Boaphile himself: "I have been breeding Boa Constrictors since long before Boas were cool. I have bred and produced babies every year since 1986. In fact in the late 80's and early 90's Boas were near the bottom of nearly all herpers' lists of animals that were cool to work with. Anyhow, I hung in there and NOW Boas are among the most popular of all herps kept today! I didn't get into this to get rich. I began breeding Boas because I have always been fascinated with them. I wanted to specialize in one thing and really loved the Boas. In case a visit to my site didn't make you realize it...I don't take myself too seriously. I do take my animals seriously though. I love these kids!" For Transcript: Jeff Ronne
 Bob Clark
Python morphs
Thursday, December 12, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Bob Clark has a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters in Herpetology, both from the University of Kansas. He has been breeding pythons since 1973 and says, "I think I was the first full time commercial breeder of pythons. I've developed most of the python color and pattern mutations available on the market today. I'm now working with some interesting boa morphs and I've got some interesting python traits coming up as well." For Transcript: Bob Clark
 Ed Pirog
Tortoises
Friday, December 13, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Ed Pirog has a strong passion for reptiles in general that started as a youngster in the 60s and has yet to show any signs of slowing down. His present interest focuses on chelonians in general and tortoises specifically. He’s authored several articles in Reptiles magazine on tortoise husbandry and frequently speaks on the topic to the many turtle and tortoise societies in the Southern California region where he resides. Ed’s always open to any good discussion on the topics of husbandry, conservation, and the politics involved in the keeping of these fascinating critters. For Transcript: Ed Pirog
Richard Bartlett
Herping in Peru
Friday, December 13, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Author, photographer, and columnist, Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For Transcript: Richard Bartlett
Jim Pether
Herp Travel
Saturday, December 14, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Jim Pether has spent many hours in the field, herping in Africa, South,
Central and North America,and the South Pacific. A noted herpetologist,
author,and photgrapher, he currently runs a private zoological park in
the Canary Islands, Reptilandia. There he works with Komodo Dragons, as
well as working at the government-funded Alajeró breeding center in La
Gomera, where he has been instrumental in developing the captive
breeding plan of the endangered Gomera Giant Lizards in Valle Gran Rey.
Jim is well versed in the trials and travails of moving herpers,
animals, and equipment to and from exotic locations around the world.
This is a great chat to prepare yourself for your next herp adventure. For Transcript: Jim Pether
Bill Love
Herp Photography in the Field
Saturday, December 14, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
Bill has always enjoyed seeking herps in nature, and recording them on film in their natural haunts is one of his true passions, whether he's in Madagascar, Baja, or just near home in Florida's Everglades. Join him for an hour of chatting about the trials and tribulations of trying to get great herp images in the field. For Transcript: Bill Love
Aa145.jpg) Tracy Barker
Saturday, December 14, at 11 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's MainRoom
One of the leading women in herpetoculture today, Tracy Barker and her husband Dave are both noted authors and photographers. As well as acheiving notoriety breeding many species and color morphs of boas and pythons, Tracy has spent many hours in the working with a variety of other herp species. Tracy, along with Dave, operate Vida Preciosa, Inc., a reptile breeding facility as well as an online magazine. For Transcript: Tracy Barker
How to Attend
These events will be held in chat rooms listed above. There are two ways to access the chat rooms. The first is simply to follow the link as given. There is no registration required and there is nothing to download or install. The room does require you to have java enabled in your browser settings. We strongly suggest you access the room before the chat, so you have time to address any access difficulties you might have. You might want to drop by one of our regular nightly chats as a test run.
If you don't have java enabled in your browser, or aren't sure but find you cannot access the room, you can access the chats by downloading and installing any program that enables you to use Internet Relay Chat. The two most common programs are mIRC for PCs and IRCle for Macs. You can find more information on how to access our room using those programs here: ChatFAQ.
More Information
There is information about chats on other species available at the links in the right hand column. Simply click on the species in which you are interested for a more detailed listing. Some of the chats even have free email reminders you can sign up for!
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