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, April 29 2022
Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Let's celebrate in the mighty southwest beauty of the Rock Rattlesnake here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Janne ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Thursday, April 28 2022
How adorable is this Newt in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user plagueguitarist ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Wednesday, April 27 2022
This blood python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jsignorettiis stunning! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Tuesday, April 26 2022
Two for Tuesday with this totes adorbs pair of Caiman Lizards in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user stingray ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Monday, April 25 2022
This is a female Kaznakov's Viper.
When Louis Porras told me he had a pair of Kaznakov’s Vipers for sale, I jumped at the opportunity to acquire them. For years this small, heavy bodied viper, Vipera kaznakovii, had been a dream species. But now the dream was to become a reality.
A woodland viper of the Caucasus (Turkey, Georgia and southwestern Russia), it had been seldom imported. In its homeland it is reportedly found near rocky upthrusts and associated scree deposits in rather open hardwood forestland.
The pair received, a black male and a black and orange female, were exactly what I had hoped them to be. At about 20 inches in length, the female was a bit larger than the male. They proved hardy, both feeding readily and steadily on small, thawed, mice.
During their second winter with me I cooled them noticeably but did not hibernate them. Meals then consisted of smaller mice and feedings were further apart. In early winter I noticed breeding behavior and by early April the female was obviously gravid.
All of the above comments are from a memory flawed by time. The computerized records disappeared when the harddrive of the computer I was then using burped and then whirled itself into nonrepairable deterioration. The truth is that computers and I are not in the least compatible.
But at least I have photos of these beautiful vipers and their progeny to share with you. Thanks, Jeff, for the opportunity.
Continue reading "Kaznakov’s Viper"
This crested gecko certainly has his eye on you in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BryanD ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Friday, April 22 2022
It is both Rattlesnake Friday and Earth Day. This copperhead in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user AlexNevgloski reminds us to only leave footprints when out in the field! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Remember, we give a spotlight to all our venomous animals on Fridays to help raise awareness of their importance to our world.
Thursday, April 21 2022
What a fantastic close up of a Schneider's Smooth-Fronted Caimen in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cpipes ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Wednesday, April 20 2022
 Gallery Photo by user liamsherps
According to Stew Peters film ‘Watch the Water’ he makes the outrageous claim COVID-19 is snake venom.
"COVID-19 is a synthetic version of “snake venom” that evil forces are spreading through remdesivir, the COVID-19 vaccines and drinking water to “make you a hybrid of Satan.”
Seriously people. I don't even know where to begin with this but I will try.
COVID-19 is a VIRUS, specifically one of the family of Coronaviruses. It attacks the respiratory system and is spread by person to person contact.
Snake venom is a TOXIN. It is a toxin that contains different levels of hemotoxins, which destroy tissue and cells, and neurotoxins which attack the nervous system. They can only be transmitted through direct contact with tissues, usually via snakebite.
Toxins and viruses operate completely differently in the human body, both can make you ill, or even kill you,
but neither will make you a "hybrid of Satan". Whatever that is.
Read more here. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/19/watch-water/stew-peters-film-watch-water-ridiculously-claims-c/
I can't believe I even have to address this.
Welcome to the world little one! This Mexican Conehead Lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user all2human takes it's first breaths of life! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Tuesday, April 19 2022
What more can we say but AMAZING! This is such a beautiful shot of a Desert Horned Lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Brockn ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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Monday, April 18 2022
This male veiled is hanging on tight for whatever is in store for him in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user GECKOPERSON ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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The Eastern Spadefoot, Scaphiopus holbrookii, is not a big anuran. It is adult at a length of about 2 inches, sometimes a bit smaller, sometimes a bit bigger. But for its size it does have a pretty-big voice. I’ve heard the vocalization likened to a burp. And at times it sounds like that to me. But I had to rethink the sounds of the spadefoot chorus being voiced in our flooded yard last July. Those calls reminded me more of abrupt purrs than of burps. But the calls apparently sounded just right to the females, for even before full darkness had fallen on that rainy day most males were amplexing visiting females. Even before morning light only the water and the eggs remained.
Our backyard used to be a railbed. Over the rails ran the local Gainesville to Gulf trains, a company now as extinct as the dodo. But the sunken bed, now devoid of rails, ties, and most spikes, remains, and at the lower end temporary flooding is common. We leave it as it is because the treefrogs, narrowmouths, and spadefoots breed there annually. These used to be called Eastern Spadefoot Toads, but today just Eastern Spadefoot will do. They are actually in an entirely different family than the toads. Eastern Spadefoots have almost smooth skin and tend to be a brownish color with a lyre shaped lighter dorsal marking. They have only a single digging spur (but they are very efficient and dedicated burrowers), lack or have very small parotoid glands, and have vertical pupils.
Now we’ll scoot ahead about 14 days. Some of the water had soaked in, but enough was left to allow several hundred tadpoles to grow and metamorphose into tiny spadefootlets. Our yard was temporarily untreadable as the hundreds of wee ones sought refuge well away from the railbed. To walk was to crush, so we kept to the front yard for a few days. But the inconvenience was well worthwhile, for now on humid summer and autumn nights the spadefoots, a burrowing species, emerge and seek repast. This is a cycle we and our neighbors enjoy.
An Eastern Spadefoots dorsal marking is in the shape of an hourglass.
Continue reading "The Eastern Spadefoot Toad"
Friday, April 15 2022
We love everything that rattles, but today we give the spotlight to this baby timber rattlesnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Thursday, April 14 2022
If this axolotl in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tadpoleo doesn't make you smile, I am not sure what will! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

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