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.
Sunday, August 9 2015
 Dumping unwanted reptile pets will just lead to more intrusive laws regulating keeping them.
From the Long Island Press:
A “very aggressive” three-foot-long crocodile was found inside a cardboard box left in the parking lot of a Melville office building Tuesday, officials said.
The unusual discovery was made at about 11 a.m. at 25 Melville Park Road following an anonymous call to the Town of Huntington Animal Shelter, according to Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross.
The worker who took the call was suspicious at first, Gross said, because hoaxes are not uncommon in their experience. But when the shelter employee went to investigate the box in the parking lot of the industrial area, it had a crocodile inside it.
Gross noted the crocodile was feisty, and difficult at first to corral. But the crocodile was safely captured and transported to the animal shelter before it was turned over to the Suffolk SPCA.
Read more...
Saturday, August 8 2015

Reptile collector Gerard Kruse plead guilty in a New York Federal Court to 13 violations of the Lacey Act for his role in illegally collecting and transporting native snakes.
Arrested as part of a sting dubbed "Operation Kingsnake" Kruse admitted to the illegal collection, transport and receipt of 59 snakes that were collected from and protected by various states, such as New Jersey, California and Oregon.
“All of our protected species, including reptiles, are important to our ecosystems and must be shielded from such illegal trafficking. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously support efforts against domestic wildlife trafficking.” - Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden
According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will seek 13 months of home confinement with electronic monitoring. In addition, Kruse has agreed to be placed on probation and subject to special conditions such as forfeiture of his snakes and being banned from the collection, sale and trade of reptiles and amphibians.
To read the full news release from the U.S. Department of Justice click here.
Gallery Photo by DeanAlessandrini
Friday, August 7 2015
 Although many frogs and toads are known to be poisonous, i.e. deadly if their toxins are ingested, two frogs from Brazil are now known to be venomous as well, delivering their toxins through spines and spikes on their heads, a first for the four legged amphibians. Scientists that made the discovery said calculations suggest that a single gram of the venom from the more toxic species, Aparasphenodon brunoi, could kill more than 300,000 mice or about 80 humans.
The strength of toxicity of the skin secretions is remarkable, and to say we were surprised by that is an understatement," Brodie said. "Amphibians have a wide array of skin toxins that have been well-studied, but this sort of mechanism — transmitting the toxin as a venom — has not been found before. It moves the study of amphibian defenses to a new level.
Although their venom packs a wallop, scientists are convinced it is only used as a defensive mechanism as opposed to using it to hunt their prey. Since neither frog has any known predators, that is certainly a likely scenario.
To read more, check out the full article on LiveScience
Photo: Carlos Jared/Butantan Institute
Thursday, August 6 2015
 The community of Chilliwack has constructed an amphibian tunnel to stave off deaths of frogs and toads during periods of mass migration.
From the Chilliwack Progress:
There's a spot on Elk View Road where tiny toadlets no bigger than a dime were getting crushed by vehicles as they tried to migrate across the road.
A new amphibian tunnel completed in June in the hills above Chilliwack should help.
"One of the really neat aspects is this is a solution that other communities can implement as well," said Joanne Neilson, executive director of Fraser Valley Conservancy.
There's province-wide concern about declining amphibian species in areas where development is spring up around wetlands, so the tunnel structure is being touted as a potential model for others to follow to reduce mortalities.
B.C. communities might one day look at culvert replacement in a more toad-friendly way.
Last month special fencing was used to guide the toads and frogs through the newly built culvert for the first time.
Read more...
Wednesday, August 5 2015
 More than 600 sea turtle babies were released near Boca Raton, Florida, after almost missing their one chance at survival.
From the Fort Myers News-Press:
With the odds against them — only about 1 in 1,000 sea turtles survive to adulthood — the hatchlings had missed their instinctual dash to the ocean and had been collected after routine beach nest inspections by the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.
Stored in several plastic bins and cramped on top of each other as when they first hatch, the tiny turtles about 3 inches long were brought on board by members of the Coast Guard.
Most of the hatchlings were baby loggerhead sea turtles, but four young sea turtles that had been rehabilitated at the nature center also made their way back into the ocean.
Read more...
Tuesday, August 4 2015
 Fear of the Caiman runs high in the fishing waters of Colombia. But conservationists are working to preserve the species and end the hunting of the endangered species, and trafficking in their skins.
From the City Paper Bogota:
Even though crocodile attacks are fewer are further between these days, local fishing communities still remain fearful of coming into contact with the grey-skinned reptile and which feeds on prey and in the same mangroves where fishermen gather molluscs and fish.
In the Bay of Cispatá, near San Antero, Sucre, marine biologists have been studying the Magdalena Caiman to be able to give this creature a fighting chance for survival. Last February, a team of international biologists visited the fresh- water lagoon to see first hand how a 10 year-long project by the Asociación de Caimaneros de Cispatá, Asocaimán, has farmed 3,000 eggs and returned to the wild some 4000 baby crocs.
Part of the responsibilities of Asocaimán is to work closely with local communities to dissuade them from hunting the endangered creature in order to sell their skins on the global black market.
Colombia is one of the world’s leading exporters of exotic leathers and legal exports of local crocodile skins totaled USD $12 million in 2014. According to the Colombian Association of Zoo Farms, Azoocol, some 600,000 alligator skins are sold every year to luxury brands, especially in Asia where demand for legally-farmed alligator handbags and accessories remains high.
Read more...
Monday, August 3 2015
 It's not often you get to see a snake swallowing a lizard, but photographer Nicolas Cegalerba got some beautiful shots of just that.
From The Daily Mail:
These incredible photos capture the stomach-churning moment a snake sneaks up on a lizard and swallows it whole.
The white-spotted cat snake, measuring about 1.8m in length, spent around half an hour consuming the lizard after slithering up on it as it slept.
The chameleon forest dragon, also known as a Javan humphead lizard, usually sleeps at the ends of branches which makes it an easy target for predatory snakes.
The unlucky reptile, which was around 25cm long, was resting on a branch 3m off the ground in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in South Sumatra, Indonesia.
See the rest of the amazing photos here...
|