Ninth Annual Chat Week at kingsnake.com:
February 25-March 3, 2007

Please join noted herpetologists and herpetoculturists in the world's longest running online reptile symposium.

Sunday February 25

Danté Fenolio
Amphibians
Sunday, February 26, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Danté Fenolio has always loved field work and particularly has enjoyed amphibians. A Ph.D. Candidate with the University of Miami, Department of Biology - Coral Gables, he holds degrees Environmental Studies, Biology, and Zoology. His studies have ranged from Ozark blind cave salamander ecology to the herpetofauna of termite mounds in Brazil to canopy dwelling amphibians of Madagascar's northeastern rainforests. His primary area of research involves the ecology of challenging microhabitats. Dante is also a known field photographer having traveled extensively through the Americas working in the field as well as taking some amazing shots. He has also worked in East Africa and Madagascar. Danté is joining us this evening to discuss amphibians in general, with emphasis on the upper Amazon Basin region.
View transcript here.

Charles "Botar" Black
The care and keeping of invertebrates
Sunday, February 25, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Charles "Botar" Black was born and raised in Springfield, MO. He attended the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. He has kept a wide variety of animals and invertebrates since childhood, and began selling captive bred invertebrates in 2001. Botar has amassed one of the largest collections in the US, producing thousands of captive bred spiderlings per year. He will be joining us tonight, in a joint chat with InsectHobbyist.com, to discuss the care and keeping of invertebrates.
View transcript here.

Monday February 26

Kevin Mc Curley, Brian Barczyk, Brian Potter
Ball Python Panel
Monday, February 26, 9-11 PM Eastern in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
NERD's Kevin McCurley first focused his breeding efforts on Pituophis and other large colubrids, and over the course of time the collection grew along with an interest in pythons, particularly retics and ball pythons. During the past ten years, that focus has brought myriad color morphs and combinations to the NERD collection, many of which were first bred at his facility. Brian Potter first got heavily involved with reptiles while still a US Marine. Brian began hanging out at Reptile Haven in California and was bitten by the herp bug. Seeing some similarity in running the Chicago Reptile House (with Co-Owner Jeff Lodico)and the Marine Corps, he made his dream a reality. Brian is a well known name to all Chicagoland herpers for his store. It is the "IT" place for area enthusiasts. Now Brian is known nationally for being one of the organizers of the NARBC shows. Brian Barczyk started breeding reptiles when he was fifteen years old. He started with cornsnakes, and then Burmese Pythons. In 1989 he became a full time breeder of many species. Brian looks forward to every egg hatching and is excited for what the future holds in this ever expanding hobby.
View transcript here.

Tuesday February 27

Bob Clark
Large Pythons
Tuesday, February 27, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
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."
View transcript here.

Don Soderberg
Cornsnakes
Tuesday, February 27, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Don Soderberg of South Mountain Reptiles studied biology and herpetology at Austin State University, and is the producer of over 100 different corn and other colubrid snake morphs. Don will be answering questions about all aspects of keeping and breeding corn snakes.
View transcript here.

Wednesday February 28

Kara Glasgow
Blood Pythons
Wednesday, February 28, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Kara Glasgow of NERD has been into snakes all her life, and a serious breeder for the last decade. "I was a boa snob until I saw the light with bloods," she says, adding, "Still love my boas though." She is currently working with a selection of blood and short-tail color and pattern morphs, with more on the way. She is currently working with a selection of blood and short-tail color and pattern morphs, with more on the way. So it's no surprise that her topic will be blood pythons. Also, don't miss Kara's chat on "Picking and Caring for Your First Bird" on Thursday at 9 PM ET in The Aviary!
View transcript here.

Adam Britton, Crocodilian Specialist, Big Gecko
Crocodilians
Wednesday, February 28, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Adam Britton's long-standing interest and research on crocodilians has provided many adventures in the wilds of northern Australia, many of which feature in the numerous documentaries Adam has appeared in over the past decade. Adam now runs a consultancy business specialising on crocodilian research, conservation management and documentary filming. He is also co-authoring a book on crocodilian husbandry (with Chris Dieter). Adam will answer questions on any aspect of crocodilians, whether it's biology and behaviour, keeping crocs in captivity, or working in the field with crocs and film crews. You can visit Adam's website at crocodilian.com.
View transcript here.

Dr. Jennifer Periat
Exotic Animal Health
Wednesday, February 28, at 10 PM Eastern, in ExoticHobbyist.com's Chat Room
Dr. Jennifer Periat graduated from MSU (DVM and BS in zoology). Having grown up owning a variety of pets and being quite active in 4-H, she knew she wanted to be a veterinarian from a young age. Dr. Periat enjoys all types of animals and shares her home with many. Dr. Periat is still usually surrounded by animals, spending a lot of time doing public education about the care and conservation of exotic species, taking classes with her dogs and doing rescue work. She has been a very active member of the Michigan Society of Herpetologists, and now serves on the Board of Directors and as secretary.
View transcript here.

Thursday March 1

Doug Hotle, General Curator, Abilene ZOOlogical Gardens
Working in a Zoo
Thursday, March 1, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
As General Curator of the Abilene Zoo, Doug has his hands in a variety of wildlife ventures from daily animal care issues to global conservation programs. Doug has a passion for all nature and is at home around his elephants, jaguars, raptors and a host of others that make up his zoo, yet it is the belly-crawlers that are his true infatuation. In 1993, Doug piloted Indiana’s Timber rattlesnake conservation program where he then spent the next number of years studying these remarkable snakes in the deep forests of Southern Indiana. “I’m a fairly old fashioned type of guy. Just give me a snake hook and an audience and we can change some attitudes. I’m certainly not much of the salamander on a treadmill or lab coat kind of curator.”
View transcript here.

Peter Brazaitis
Lifetime of Herpetology
Thursday, March 1, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Author of the book, You Belong in a Zoo!: Tales from a Lifetime Spent with Cobras, Crocs, and Other Extraordinary Creatures, Peter Brazaitis was Superintendent of Reptiles at the Bronx Zoo until 1988 and then Curator of Animals at the Central Park Zoo until 1997. Although now retired, he continues to work as a forensic consultant in Herpetology and has an appointment as a Curatorial Affiliate, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, CT. Tonight he will talk of his time at the New York zoos, working in the field, and his work as a forensic consultant.
View transcript here.

Friday March 2

Rescue Panel
Friday, March 2, from 9-11 PM Eastern, in the Auditorium
A panel discussion with a number of rescue groups for a wide variety of species, including representatives from Small Scale Reptile Rescue and Mid Michigan Herp Rescue. Other guests include those involved in dog, cat, wildlife, bird, horse, and exotic/small pet rescue, including TLC Lab Rescue, Wisconsin Chinchilla Rescue, Adopt a Husky Rescue, and Specialty Purebred Cat Rescue.
View transcript here.

Jeff Ronne
Boas
Friday, March 2, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
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!"
View transcript here.

Ron Tremper
Leopard Geckos
Friday, March 2, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Ron Tremper brings to our chatroom his 50 years of experience as private hobbyist, zoo professional and commercial breeder having pioneered the establishment of bearded dragons, argentine horned frogs, veiled and panther chameleons for the hobbyist community and pet trade. He is recognized worldwide as the leading authority on leopard gecko genetics and creation of new morphs.
View transcript here.

Saturday March 3

Brian Grieg Frey
Captive management of venomous reptiles
Saturday, March 3, at 8 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Dr. Fry heads a laboratory at the Department of Biochemistry in the Bio21 Institute of the University of Melbourne that specialises in the research of animal venoms. Bryan has been an incredible asset to our venomous community, having been one of our frequent guest chatters. His life in his own words - " My name is Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry and I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people alive. I get to travel the globe catching snakes with my lovely wife Alexia! Ever since I was a small child, all I have ever wanted to do is play with venomous animals for a living. Its quite a satisfying feeling to have this childhood obsession come true. It makes my mum feel a bit better about the myriad of strange, unusual and often dangerous animals that took up residence in our household during my years at home!"
Read transcript here.

Daniel Bennet
Captive care for monitors
Saturday, March 3, at 9 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Daniel Bennett is a conservation biologist with a special interest in monitor lizards. His research interests are focused mainly on developing non-destructive and non-intrusive survey methods for neglected taxa such as reptiles, amphibians and bats in countries that include Turkmenistan, India, Madagascar and the Philippines. His recent work has concentrated on the frugivorous monitor lizards of the Philippines. Daniel is also well known for his work with MAMPAM Conservation (www.mampam.com). He lives with his daughter in the town he was born in and eats enormous quantities of chocolate.
Read transcript here.

Jeff Barringer, CEO, OnlineHobbyist.com; founder, kingsnake.com
Video and kingsnake.com
Saturday, March 3, at 10 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
The founder of kingsnake.com, Jeff Barringer is a former webmaster and international network engineer for Compaq Computers (now H-P) Networking Products Division, where he helped design and develop some of the computer giant's first websites. In 1994, Jeff, an avid field herpetologist, launched an internet technology demonstrator called The Alterna Page, which is recognized today as one of the first pet-oriented websites. Based on the popularity of this test site, in 1997 Jeff left Compaq and with little more than his last paycheck launched what turned out to be one of the first and most successful pet communities on the internet, kingsnake.com. In years to come this expanded to include a family of pet websites under the PetHobbyist.com umbrella, and also in 2006, its alternative music and culture site, Club Kingsnake. Jeff will discuss the future of video on kingsnake.com, including both kingsnake-produced and user-produced video.
Read transcript here.