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Reptile & Amphibian
News Blog Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
Friday, February 10 2012What's your problem with calling them 'pets'? Webster defines a pet as "a domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility." So why does the reptile community have such an issue with the word "pet"?Me, I have an issue with using the word "collections" to describe our animals. I collect comic books, but my reptiles are my pets. I provide their daily needs -- food, water and a clean enclosure. I give them enrichment items and interact with them daily. I keep them because they give me pleasure. That doesn't change because breeding them and making money doing it; you are still gaining pleasure from those animals that you are raising in your home. You gain personal joy from doing it, you network with others keeping reptiles, and you build our community. Before you complain our animals are not domesticated, check again. According to Webster, our reptiles are in fact domesticated. Domesticate: "To adapt (an animal or plant) to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans." So tell me, why is saying you have a "pet snake" so wrong? Thursday, February 9 2012One man working to reverse amphibian decline in India Amphibians are nature's barometer. When their populations are stable and healthy, their environment is, too:"Amphibians were the first land animals and have a 350-million-year history. They are an environmental barometer and we can analyse the quality of our environment by studying them. We cannot imagine life without frogs. If there are no frogs, it would not be possible to grow anything in our fields," (researcher Dr. Sathyabhama Das) Biju says. To read the full article, click here. Wednesday, February 8 2012kingsnake.com turns 15 years old! Fifteen years is a looong time. On February 8, 1997 kingsnake.com first appeared on the internet; It has been 5,478 days, or 137,952 hours, or 8,277,120 minutes from when our servers first went active. Since then our reptile and amphibian community has been visited by millions of people from around the world who have posted millions of photos and messages about their pets. Yahoo and Amazon.com may be older, but Google, YouTube, and of course Facebook are still our junior. When I first started this web site few reptile people had even seen the internet, now the internet is so ingrained in our daily lives, in our community, and in our industry, we wonder how we were able to function without it. Along the way kingsnake.com has documented much of it, good and bad, and stored in it's archives is essentially a history of the reptile communities last decade and a half. Wading through it brings back a lot of memories of great animals, events, experiences, and friends that have long past. It will be interesting to see what changes the next 15 years bring. kingsnake.com will be celebrating it's 15th anniversary all year at a variety of Reptile and Amphibian events, including this weekends NARBC expo in Arlington Texas. Please stop by our booth, pick up a free kingsnake.com window sticker and let us know how long you have been reading kingsnake.com! If you can't make it to this weekends show then tune in here for updates from the expo floor. I want to thank the many users, advertisers, sponsors, volunteers, and staffers who have made kingsnake.com what it is today: the largest, most relevant, and most popular reptile community on the internet. - Jeff Barringer Click below to see images of kingsnake.com throughout the years... Continue reading "kingsnake.com turns 15 years old!" Monday, February 6 2012Saturday, February 4 2012Kerry King talks carpet pythons, python laws, and Slayer If there is a cool Carpet Python in North America Kerry King and his Psychotic Exotics probably owns it, or it's one he hatched. California based Carpet Python breeder Kerry King is the first guest of 2012 for kingsnake.com's web radio season and todays interview is now available for download. Kerry and I had a great time talking about what morphs he bred this year, what morphs he plans to breed next year, and what the thinks about the new federal python listing. Kerry and his company Psychotic Exotics are frequent trade show exhibitors at west coast reptile shows when they don't conflict with Slayers tour shedule, so we talked a little about his reptile show plans this year. Will he make it to Arlington or Tinley? And whats the deal with shelf liner? Tune in and you might find out. And we didn't want to leave you Slayer fans out. We talked about Slayer's one of gig in Austin last year, the plans for this years Mayhem Festival, hitting the European festivals. We also talked about the new albums release date and the possibility of a Slayer U.S. tour in the fall/winter. To download or stream the interview click here http://kingsnake.com/radio/kfk2012a.mp3 Illinois proposes Dangerous Animals Act SB3264 Yet another state, Illinois, has proposed a law on "Dangerous Animals" that includes constrictor snakes. The Illinois Dangerous Animals Act of 2012, Senate Bill SB3264, introduced by Sen. Heather A. Steans on Wednesday identifies a class of animals that qualify as dangerous animals, requires that a person must hold a Dangerous Animal Permit or a Limited Entry Permit to possess a dangerous animal in the State and sets forth requirements that must be met before the Department of Natural Resources may issue a Dangerous Animal Permit or a Limited Entry Permit, among other things.According to the bill as proposed reptiles and amphibians impacted by this legislation include: (14) Venomous reptiles, regardless of whether they have been surgically altered, including, but not limited to, venomous species of the following families or genera of the order Squamata: Helodermatidae, such as gila monsters and beaded lizards; Elapidae, such as cobras and coral snakes; Hydrophiidae, such as sea snakes; Viperidae and Crotalinae, such as vipers and pit vipers; Atractaspididae, such as burrowing asps; as well as colubrids such as the: Alsophis, such as the West Indian racers; Boiga, such as boigas and mangrove snakes; Conophis such as road guarders; Dispholidus, such as Boomslang; Hydrodynastes, such as false water cobras; Hemirhagerrhis, such as bark snakes; Macropisthodon, such as varied or hooded keelbacks; Madagascarophis, such as Madagascar common snakes; Malpolon, such as Montpellier snakes; Mimophis, such as Mahafaly sand snakes; Phalotris, such as collared snakes; Philodryas, such as palm snakes or green racers; Psammophis, such as sand snakes or racers; Psammophylax, such as skaapstekers; Rhabdophis, such as keelbacks; Rhamphiophis, such as beaked snakes; Tachymenis, such as slender snakes or false vipers; Thelotornis, such as Twig snakes; Thrasops, such as black tree snakes; Tomodon, such as Pampas snakes; Waglerophis, such as Wagler's snakes; Xenodon, such as false fer-de-lances; Boiga irregularis, including specimens or eggs of the brown tree snake; and any others that the Department designates, by administrative rule, as outlined or deemed medically significant. (15) All members of the Boidae family, such as boas, pythons, and anacondas as provided by the Department by administrative rule. (16) All members of the order Crocodilia, such as crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gavials; members of the Varanidae family, such as Nile, water, and crocodile monitors as well as Komodo dragons. (17) Medically significant poisonous amphibians capable of causing bodily harm to humans or animals, including, but not limited to, Bufo marinus, such as cane or marine toads, and Bufo alvarius, such as Colorado River toads. Just for good measure they have also included a variety of spiders and scorpions as well. Thanks to Jeff West for bringing this to my attention. To read the full text of the bill as introduced, please continue reading... Continue reading "Illinois proposes Dangerous Animals Act SB3264" Thursday, February 2 2012Wednesday, February 1 2012When people ask why you keep reptiles, tell them Every reptile keeper is familiar with it: Total incomprehension on the part of non-herpers as to why we keep the pets we do.While others are off in Washington doing their work fighting this battle on the legislative front, the rest of us have our own battles to fight. I issued a challenge to the members of the reptile community in December to do education in libraries, schools, and public events like pet fairs, but we also need to do one-on-one education about the beauty and wonder of our chosen species. Start by sharing with skeptical members of the public how beautiful you find animals like snakes. Their fluid movements, grace, and beauty enthrall me each and every day I am with them. Their bodies are amazing mechanically; their muscle movements enchant me. We need to help people understand that yes, we have relationships with our snakes. I talk to each one that lives with me, calling then by name even though they never answer back. These are beautiful, low maintenance pets who make me smile each day; what could be wrong with that? My lizards are much more personable. Osama answers to his name and is clearly my favorite. He greets me with a series of headbobs communicating his mood, much like a dog does with his tail. I train my dogs, and I've also trained my lizards. Using treats to reward the behavior I want, I have successfully trained Osama to go where I want him to and remain hands free if I wish. He responds to my voice, not in the same way as my dogs, but in his own way. It's clear he recognizes my voice. He also responds to my touch and often reaches out to be held. No, my reptiles don't follow me around the house like my dogs. They don't share scraps off my plate or cuddle with me on the couch -- but neither does my cat. You may think you shouldn't have to explain to people that your pets are great animals and that you aren't a "freak" for keeping them. You're right; in a perfect world, that would be true. But in case you haven't noticed, this isn't a perfect world, and the more we get average pet-owners to understand that we love, respect and admire our reptile pets, the easier it will be to get them to oppose laws that would take our pets away or irrationally restrict our right to keep them, or to share this wonderful hobby with another generation of herpers. So the next time you tell someone you keep snakes and they say, "Euwww," don't argue with them; educate them. Start today. Photo of me and Osama Binguana, my beloved Grand Cayman Hybrid Iguana. Virginia tables one exotic animal bill til 2013, leaves another active According to a PIJAC Pet Alert released this morning, one of the proposed bills to prohibit ownership of various species of animals in Virginia has been put on hold while the sponsor, Delegate Chris Peace (R), considers a number of changes. HB 1242, as originally written, would have prohibited the possession, sale, transfer, or breeding of certain listed species, subject to some statutory exceptions. Species subject to the proposed ban included:
No further action will occur on HB 1242 this legislative session, but the bill will remain in committee for further consideration during the second year of the session (2013). "PIJAC will continue working with the sponsor concerning objections to this legislation. Please note that Senate Bill 477, which also bans possession of certain species of animals, remains active at this time. The bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation & Natural Resources. PIJAC is working with interested parties on addressing concerns about this legislation as well. PIJAC will publish an updated PetAlert when there is any change in status on either of these bills. For additional information on these bills, or other legislation impacting the keeping, breeding or selling of pets, please feel free to contact PIJAC’s Michael Maddox at 202-452-1525, ext. 106, or via email at michael@pijac.org with questions or concerns. " |
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