Chat Week on Kingsnake.com
Saturday, December 14, 2002
Jim Pether
Herp Travel

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jimpether: Good evening

PHWyvern: Jim, welcome and thank you for joining us tonight.

AskJim: Good evening and welcome to the FINAL night of chat week 2002

jimpether: your welcome even though it is 1am here

AskJim: Our guest tonight is world renowned author, photographer and adventurer Jim Pether

AskJim: who is chatting with us from off the coast of Africa in the Canary Islands

AskJim: Jim has traveled to many places in search of interesting herps

AskJim: and is an expert field guide in a number of areas

AskJim: as well as a captive breeder and zookeeper of reknown

AskJim: good evening jim

AskJim: ;)

jimpether: hi

AskJim: NWFLHerper Jim, What are you doing in the canaries?

jimpether: I own a reprile park here in Grancanaria

AskJim: MaNgRoVe what do you keep/breed? Any monitors?

PHWyvern: Jim, to help jeff know when you are finished answering someones question and are ready for the next one you can type 'go' or 'next'

jimpether: I keep quite a few monitors, including Komodo dragons, who are courting as we speak

jimpether: the only ones i have breed at the moment are ackies next

AskJim: How did you get started doing this?

jimpether: I think I was born that way, loved reptiles and travel since I was a kid. next

AskJim: Jim do you own any tortoises?

jimpether: yes I have quite a few different sp of tortoises, next

AskJim: do you keep any indonesian species?

jimpether: species of what kind, next

AskJim: indo species of monitors

jimpether: only the Komodos, the climate here is not to good for pure tropical species, I mainly keep all my animals outside. next

AskJim: How did you choose where you wanted to have your reptile park?

jimpether: well, I looked at an atlas, and tried to find somewhere I could keep my animals outside in the sun, and also make a living at the same time, the canary islands were the perfect palce. next

AskJim: What is your favorite beer?

jimpether: any warm beer will do. next

AskJim: Do you keep any venomous?

jimpether: yes I have few gilas and beaded lizards plus a few sp of rattlesnakes and vipers

jimpether: next

AskJim: ever been to indonesia? If so how was it? I'm looking to go somewhere really neat this summer in seach of herps.

jimpether: yes I have been to Indonesia, it is a great place to visit, although recent events have made travelling there something that need to looked at. next

AskJim: Where is your favorite place to herp?

jimpether: I think the best place to herp is Central America, you will always see lot of herps there. although I really enjoy the sahara desert also. next

AskJim: How many animals do you have in your reptile park?

jimpether: I am not quite sure, it depends on the season and if I have babies, but around 500 animals

jimpether: next

AskJim: How expensive is it to run your park?

jimpether: it is quite expensive, there are always bills to be paid, plus wages, water is expensive here also. next

AskJim: What are some of the books and magazine articles you have worked on

jimpether: well I have co authored a book on the reptiles of the western sahara, and I have a couple of articles on the Cape verde islands and Macrosincus out soon in Reptiles magazine. next

AskJim: what is your worst herp travel relasted airport experience

AskJim: related

jimpether: oh god there have ben so many, I supose getting stuck in corn Island off the coast of CA for 3 days, with only one light airplane a day flying out, also flying out of Cuba into a hurracan was fun, next

AskJim: Do you enjoy writing and find it easy to do?

jimpether: I do enjoy it, but i do not find it easy, I never was a good writer at school, and still canī spell, as you might have already noticed, in was the invention of computers that saves me, next

AskJim: what would be the best place to go in seach of monitor lizards....differen't kinds all in one place

jimpether: without a doubt, Australia, that is mecca for monitors. next

AskJim: Jim, you were supposed to do a talk at GeckoNight at the Daytona NRBE show on geckos of the Canary Islands, what geckos are from the Canary Islands?

jimpether: for some reason I never make that talk, been trying for two years now, and in fact, the talk is about tarentola gigas from the Cape Verde Islands, not the cananries, although we do have 5 or 6 Sp of Tarentolas here, next

AskJim: What is your academic backround?

jimpether: none, i left school at 15 to start work and chase women, was not intereted in studing, big mistake. Next

AskJim: How difficult are komodo dragons to work with/around ?

jimpether: Komodos are all different, some are a joy to work with, others you have to be on your toes, but I do not find them hard to work with, it fact it is prvilige to do so.. next

AskJim: What was the biggest snake youv'e ever come across and how big?

jimpether: In the wild, the biggest snake I have found was a 7 foot Boa, and I consider that one of my best find, it great to find something like that in the wild. next

AskJim: Have the komodos bred for you yet?

jimpether: This is my first breeding season with them, the male is very eager, but the female not so, but she does look like she in ovulating, so I am hopful I will get eggs this year, december is normaly the month. next

AskJim: What type of camera do you use for your photography?

jimpether: until recenly I used a Nikon 8008s, but drowned that in shapoo ( donī ask) I now have a nikon F80. next

AskJim: Have you ever been bitten by a venomous snake/lizard, if so, what type was it.

jimpether: No, there are two kinds of venomous keepers, those who have been bit and those who are gona get bit, I donī count the baby Gila bite as I got no reaction. next

AskJim: What is your favorite type of snake and favorite type of lizard?

jimpether: I am mainly a lizard guy, and i like tham all, but I think the Komodos have to be my favorites. next

AskJim: what is your favorite lens to use on the camera?

jimpether: I like to use a 90mm Nikon macro.

AskJim: what is the most unusual herp you have encountered in the wild?

jimpether: I think it must be a Trogonophis from Morocco, a weird worm like lizard.

PHWyvern: Jim, we are up on the time. On behalf of JeffB, kingsnake.com and the pethobbyist staff I would like to thank you for the time you took out of your busy schedule to be with us tonight.

jimpether: thank you and good night.

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