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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.
Monday, August 31 2015Climate change lethal to baby lizards According to scientists at Arizona State University, climate change will be very hard on many species of lizards, driving many species to, or over, the brink of extinction. Biologists led by ASU investigators determined that lizard embryos die when subjected to high temperatures(110 degrees F) even for a few minutes. “Lizards put all of their eggs in one basket, so a single heat wave can kill an entire group of eggs,” Ofir Levy - lead investigator Embryonic lizards are immobile in their eggs and cannot seek shade or cool off when their surrounding soil becomes hot. Given the potential impacts of climate change on embryos, many more places in the United States could become uninhabitable for existing lizard populations than previously expected. To read more check out the article on the ASU News site. Gallery photo by stevereecy Deccan Banded Gecko: My first memorable reptile. It was my first herping adventure and one of the best memories in my herpetology career. I am a snake-researcher but I also have to accept the fact that I belong to the society of herpetologists and also need to accept whatever Mother Nature throws at me. The Deccan banded Gecko or Deccan Ground Gecko Cyrtodactylus deccanensis was one of the gifts of Mother Nature which I happily and enthusiastically accepted.  This reptile is commonly found in out-skirts of my area. Looking at the pictures of these creatures one couldn’t but stop themselves to admire the unique beauty of these lizards. The color pattern of these geckos is simply amazing, the body is reddish-brown with thin yellowish white bands and the average size of this gecko is 2.25cm.Whenever you set out for herping adventure, you never know what you are going to encounter, sometimes your wishes are fulfilled and sometimes you return empty. As it was my first herping trip I was expecting to see some snakes but I ended up finding just a lizard, a beautiful lizard, and the best part was that I found something new. Photo: saleel gharpure Herp Photo of the Day: Kingsnake
The West Alpine locality momma is holding tight to those new eggs in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user oursnakes ! Be sure to tell oursnakes you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Friday, August 28 2015Herp Photo of the Day: Rattlesnake Friday!
Happy Ratttlesnake Friday! THis Crotalus tigris, found and photographed in AZ, is keeping her eye on you in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd ! Be sure to tell kevinjudd you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Tortoise adopters needed in Arizona The Arizona Game & Fish Department is planning a large adoption event Sept. 5th to help find new homes for about 60 desert tortoises. They've had about 300 tortoises end up at their center over the past year, so many that they don't have names, but rather numbers to keep track of them all. To help make room, Game and Fish started an adoption program for the tortoises. "We've been having an issue with people breeding in their homes or people need to surrender their tortoise, and they have nowhere to go," Tegan Wolf - Tortoise Adoption Specialist There is no fee, but there is an application and certain requirements you have to meet, including having an appropriate habitat and burrow. Starting in December it's going to be illegal for captive desert tortoises to be bred in the home. For more info, click here to read the story at KPHO kingsnake.com gallery photo by TonyC130 Round-tailed horned lizards at last! "There' one!" I slammed on the brakes, pulled a 180, and sped back to--to another rock. Another 180 and we were moving westward again. The last "turn" had brought the false sightings up to Five. Five times we had thought we had sighted a round-tailed horned lizard, Phrynosoma modestum, basking on the pavement and five times it had been a rock or a piece of flattened vegetation. I had about brought the old car back up to 65 mph when Jake screamed again. This time I didn't turn, I merely stopped at roadside and told Jake "Go get it." He hopped out, ran back a couple of hundred feet, and stooped to pick up another "rock." But unless he was taunting me he usually didn't pick up rocks. Maybe--just maybe... By the time Jake had returned to the car he was grinning from ear to ear. That last "rock" actually was the horned lizard we (and especially he) had wanted so badly to see. We had failed to find a round-tail on the first 10 of the 12 days allocated to this 2015 trip to the Big Bend and had begun to wonder whether 2015 would replicate 2014's trip when we had not found the species. We no longer had to wonder. Success, finally! Now to find my camera. More photos under the jump... Continue reading "Round-tailed horned lizards at last!" Thursday, August 27 2015The Leopard Gecko Most of the time during my herping trips if I spot lizards I usually tend to ignore them, but if it is some unique or beautiful lizard I make sure to mention them in my blogs. So today I present you one of the most beautiful reptiles from India, the Leopard Gecko Eublepharis macularis. The Leopard Gecko is a ground dwelling lizard found in India and also in Pakistan, Afghanistan and some parts of Iran. Leopard Geckos spend most of their time in burrows during the day. They become active at dawn and dusk when the temperature is favorable, so they are mostly nocturnal. These geckos are called leopard geckos because of their coloration, an adult leopard gecko having spots on its body like a leopard. I find the juveniles more beautiful than the adults, having a black body with thick yellow and white bands on it. These geckos primarily feed on crickets and earthworms and the size varies from 20-27cm. I always prefer to maintain a distance from lizards because I am a bit scared of them but if there are such beautiful species like leopard gecko, they always fascinate me. Photo: Saleel Gharpure Herp Photo of the Day: Box Turtle
One more day to the weekend when you can go out and dine with friends. Until then, the Box Turtles will save you a spot at their trough in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user boxienuts ! Be sure to tell boxienuts you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Wednesday, August 26 2015Snake selfie takes toll on California man A California man may lose his hand after an attempt to take a 'selfie" with a rattlesnake went wrong. Alex Gomez, 36, spotted the four-foot snake in a field by his family’s ranch. Alex’s nephew, Ronnie, who was with him says the reptile gave plenty of warning. “It was really thick and had ten rattles on it, it was rattling,” “It was pretty mad.” - Ronnie After being bitten, Gomez experienced excruciating pain, his hand swelled up and his body started to tingle. To read more check out the story and video at kcal9 Photo: kcal9 Herp Photo of the Day: Rainbow Boa
The best assest of any Rainbow Boa is their iridescent sheen, which is captured wonderfully in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user curaniel ! Be sure to tell curaniel you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Tuesday, August 25 2015Salamander in amber is a first Scientists at Oregon State University are currently studying a baby salamander encased in an amber sample found in an amber mine in the Dominican Republic. There are no salamanders living on islands in the Caribbean today, but the amber-coated amphibian found shows there once were. "There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber," - OSU Professor Emeritus George Poinar, Jr. The sample containing the salamander hatchling measures under an inch in length is an extinct, and the amphibian is a previously undiscovered species, now named Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae, that dates back to between 20 million and 30 million years. For more details check out the paper published online in the journal Palaeodiversity. Photo: George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University An aberrant long-nosed snake It had been a very long day in West Texas, and it was past time to call it quits. Jake and I had just driven almost non-stop from our Florida homes and following an hour of shuteye had hit the road for a little r&r (herping). We had done pretty well, photographing a pretty male Baird's rat snake at road edge and an equally pretty mottled rock rattler on a roadcut before changing venues. Now, at 3 in the morning, we had decided to call it a night and had headed back for the motel when a ring-tailed "cat" at roadside caught our attention. I slowed to watch the little mammal and was just speeding up when we saw a solfugid (sun spider) on the yellow center line. Photo time. As I stepped from the car I noticed a small snake that was lying quietly on the center line only a few feet from the solfugid. Immediately recognizable as a long-nose, Rhinocheilus lecontei, the little snake was as obviously different as it was recognizable -- it lacked even a vestige of the red pigmentation so typical of the species. It was merely black and white, anerythristic if you prefer. What a great find at the end of a long and busy day. More photos under the jump... Continue reading "An aberrant long-nosed snake" Herp Photo of the Day: Red Eft
This Eastern Red Spotted Newt is a bundle of cuteness in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user DeanAlessandrini ! Be sure to tell DeanAlessandrini you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! Monday, August 24 2015Herp Photo of the Day: Corn Snake
All that stripey creamy goodness can only start our week off right! Such a beautiful corn snake take center stage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user draybar ! Be sure to tell draybar you liked it here!
 Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! The dark side of Nagpanchami Nagpanchami, an Indian festival very true to its name, is celebrated to worship the Nagas, or Cobras, as these creatures have a great significance in Indian mythology. Strange but true, as a part of the worship ceremonies, cobras are offered milk, as well as a variety of spices, which is not food for cobras, in fact any snake in the world. At times, devotees are seen pouring bowls of milk over the snake’s head, and sprinkling the head with haldi (turmeric), kumkum (saffron) and other powdered spices that form the worship rituals. The milk and the different spices enter through nostrils into lungs often causing a slow and painful death. These religious ceremonies are difficult to stop because people have been following them for centuries, even though they have been outlawed.It's my feeling that people don’t worship them because of the spiritual connection, they worship it out of fear, the fear of getting bitten by Nag. Photo: saleel gharpure |
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