Two thieves in a Chevrolet Pickup Truck attempted to steal
this adult Galapagos tortoise from Gerry Fife's breeding facility in Arizona
At 2:30a.m this morning two thieves attempted to steal an adult Galapagos Tortoise from the tortoise breeding facility in Arizona run by long time tortoise breeder Jerry Fife. The breeder sized female tortoise, a critically endangered species, was severely injured in the process and the decision was made to humanely euthanize her. A reward is now being offered to bring the two thieves to justice and video of the attempt is available on Jerry's facebook page. It is hoped that between the herp community and the law enforcement community the miscreants can be identified and arrested. This is a devastating loss for Jerry who is one of the few successful private breeders of the species in the United States. Captive Galapagos tortoises, natives of the Galapagos Islands, can live up to 177 years in captivity and are the largest species of tortoise in existence. Some may weigh over 900lbs.

This is just one of a number of recent reptile thefts in the United States from outdoor captive reptile breeding facilities, causing many of those facilities to tighten their security.

For the first time since launching in February of 1997 kingsnake.com's servers were knocked offline several times for long periods during last weeks polar vortex. The servers, located in Austin Texas, were victims of state mandated rolling blackouts that impacted many areas of Texas. Though the servers were backed up by a large uninterruptible power supply and a commercial generator system, those systems themselves eventually ran out of power. Additionally upstream internet switches also failed due to power issues thus causing a double-whammy, so when power was restored the servers were still unreachable. Those systems have all been restored for several days now and operations are mostly back to normal. Kingsnake.com will be totaling up the downtime and offering our advertisers credit to their accounts once we have determined the extent the outage. We apologize for not being able to provide you the level of service that you have come to expect for the last 24 years, but the situation was beyond our control.

That being said over the last 2 months kingsnake.com has been upgrading to a new set of Dell PowerEdge servers that are bigger, faster, and more capable than our old fleet of PowerEdge servers. For the first time our servers will be "viitualized", utilizing the multiple cores that the more current generation of Intel processors offers. This has required us to upgrade the core software that runs our servers several generations at once, causing a few bugs here and there that need to be squashed. We have gotten most of them but every once in a while a new one unexpectedly crops up. If you hit one of those bugs please let us know by using our contact form.

This weekend we will be upgrading our classified ad server and you can expect brief periods of down time on Sunday, as well as a few bugs going forward. Next weekend we will be upgrading the main site including the blog, events system, business directories as well as other features. We have already upgraded the servers for the forums, forum archives, photo gallery, and banner ad system. We hope to have all our server upgrades completed by March 15.

It should be no surprise to the reptile and amphibian community that we would be impacted by the COVID-19 virus shutdowns. We will do our best to keep the herp community informed, here, on this post with the latest meeting and event cancellations. Most of these event cancellations have been mandated by state or local agencies and the event promoters had no say in the cancellations. In all cases it is best to check with the event promoter to check the status of individual events as some may not be listed here. If you are event or meeting promoter that needs to list a cancellation or postponement please send us an email at jeffb@kingsnake.com

List updated 04/20/20

• All Maryland Reptile Show - Havre De Grace, MD - 03/14/20
  
• North American Reptile Breeders Conference - Tinley Park, Il. - 03/14/20-03/15/20
  
• Repticon Birmingham, Irondale, AL., - 03/21/20-03/22/20
  
• ReptiDay Port Charlotte, Port Charlotte, FL., - 03/21/20
  
• Richmond Reptile Expo - Richmond, Va - 03/21/20
  
• Reptiles At The York Expo Center, York, PA 03/28/20
  
• East Coast Rept9le Super Expo - Oaks, PA - 03/28/20
  
• Repticon Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, SC,- 03/28/20-03/29/20
  
• Repticon Denver, Aurora, CO,- 03/28/20-03/29/20
  
• Repticon New Port Richey, Port Richey, FL, - 03/28/20-03/29/20
  
• Long Island Reptile Expo - Brentwood, NY - 03/29/20
  
• All Maryland Reptile Show, Havre de Grace, Md. 04/04/20
  
• Repticon Atlanta, Lawrenceville, GA, - 04/04/20-04/05/20
  
• ReptiDay Cocoa Beach, Cocoa Beach, FL, - 04/04/20
  
• ReptiDay Port Charlotte,Port Charlotte, FL, - 04/05/20
  
• New England Reptile Expo, Manchester, NH, - 04/05/20
  
• ReptiDay Columbus, Columbus, GA, - 04/11/20
  
• Northern Virginia Reptile Expo, Manassas, VA, - 04/11/20
  
• ReptiDay Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL - 04/11/20
  
• Repticon Montgomery, Montgomery, AL - 04/18/20-04/26/20
  
• New York Metro Reptile Expo, White Plains, NY - 04/19/20
  
• Repticon Tulsa, Kellyville, OK - 04/18/20-04/26/20
  
• Repticon Chattanooga, East Ridge, TN - 04/25/20-04/26/20
  
• Repticon Hickory, Hickory, NC - 04/25/20-04/26/20
  
• All Maryland Reptile Show - Havre De Grace, MD - 05/02/20
  
• Reptiles At The York Expo Center, York, PA 05/16/20
  
• Reptiles At The York Expo Center, York, PA 06/27/20
  
• New York Metro Reptile Expo, White Plains, NY - 07/12/20
  
• 
  

kingsnake.com gallery photo
Police say a woman has been found dead with an 8-foot-long python wrapped around her neck at a snake-laden home 20 miles northwest of Lafayette. Details are sketchy at the moment and police have yet to point the blame at the Reticulated Python in question. The woman’s cause of death remains under investigation, with an autopsy scheduled Friday. About 140 snakes were found in the home, the woman owned about 20 of them and had visited the home about twice a week.

The reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is native to South and Southeast Asia, including India, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The worlds longest constricting snake, some specimens are known to exceed 20 ft. in length. An ambush hunter, it waits until prey wanders within strike range before seizing it in its coils and killing by constriction. Its natural diet includes mammals and occasionally birds. Small specimens eat mainly rodents such as rats, whereas larger individuals switch to larger prey including deer and pigs weighing more than 130 lb.

A popular species among reptile hobbyists Reticulated Pythons are common in captivity and have been bred in many different color varieties.

Human fatalities attributed to large constrictors are exceedingly rare but do happen. kingsnake.com wants to emphasize that people working with large or venomous species should always work with a partner to avoid mishaps and injury. No matter how well you think you know an animal it only takes one mistake to have disastrous and sometimes fatal consequences.

For more information on this story please check out https://fox8.com/2019/10/31/indiana-woman-found-dead-with-8-foot-python-around-her-neck/.

It is with much sadness that kingsnake.com has learned of the passing of reptile industry pioneer Don Hamper.

I first heard Don Hamper's name mentioned by John Hollister in the late 80s while taking a roadside break while hunting for reptiles out near Langtry Texas. It was all "Hamper had those" or "Hamper bred those" or "Hamper can get those". In the days before the internet word passed from herper to herper about other reptile people across the country(and around the world). Don Hamper's name was prominent among them and it seemed that in some way all herp roads led to Don Hamper. I finally actually met Don Hamper at an International Herp Symposium in the early 90s, where most of the reptile illuminati would gather to listen to lectures and compare keeping and breeding notes. By then Don was famous for hosting one of the few regular reptile expos, the All Ohio Reptile Show, as well as for his pioneering work captive breeding many of the species commonly found in the trade today, and through his work introduced literally thousands of midwesterners to the reptile hobby. Don's pioneering work both in reptile breeding and reptile expos dramatically helped expand the hobby into a true industry and his impact can still be seen in the many reptile breeders that sprouted up in America's heartland in the 90s and early 2000s, many of which are still active to this day.

I would run into Don many times over the next 3 decades at symposiums and expos across the country and each time he greeted me like we were long lost brothers. kingsnake.com ended up hosting his web site for many years as well as helping him spread the word about his expos.

I will miss Don and his everpresent smile and kind word. He was a true gentleman and will be missed greatly by all that knew him. Kigsnake.com's prayers go out to the Hamper family and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts.

- Jeff Barringer

In what may be the most sweeping attempt yet to curb the growing spread of the invasive Burmese Python, President Donald Trump signed an executive order today authorizing the National Park Service to begin construction of a massive snake proof wall around Everglades National Park.

Taking to his Twitter Account the President tweeted;

"Have you seen what they did to the 13th tee at Mar-a-Lago? Very bad. This kind of thing has to be stopped. I saw "Anaconda", with Jennifer Lopez. So sad. What's next? These pythons. They're everywhere. "

"We're going to build a snake proof wall around the Everglades. It will be great. It's going to be the greatest snake proof wall anyone's ever seen. All the other countries are going to be so jealous of our snake proof wall. And we're gonna make Burma pay for it. Believe me. It will create so many jobs. It will be great. Really."

President Trump has directed Ryan Zink, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, to immediately begin taking bids on the design and development of a 30 foot tall barrier around the 1.5 million acre park. The Department of the Interior published two requests for proposals late Friday, which included the specifications it expects for a barrier meant to deliver on President Donald Trump's promise to build a "snake proof wall."

The agency provided 11 threshold requirements for the wall, which it says "shall be physically imposing in height." The wall needs to be 30 feet tall — although "heights of at least 18 feet may be acceptable" — and it should prevent tunneling by going at least 6 feet below ground.

The wall, it adds, should be difficult for getting over and offer features that prevent "sophisticated climbing techniques," though it did not define what that means. Prototypes will also need to prove that they aren't susceptible to a "physical breach"

The federal government expects proposals to be delivered by April 29 and will award a contract based on a prototype that contractors would build around the Mar-a-Lago golf course and club house.

click to see larger image
Fallout from two highly publicized cobra escapes in Florida is leading to changes in Florida venomous snake regulations in 2016.

According to a memo released by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (see above), the state is banning the use of melamine/particle board enclosures due to their tendency to be warped or damaged by moisture. Venomous Permit holders in Florida have until February 28th, 2016 to bring their caging into compliance.

Also, the Florida is moving ahead with the revision of it's venomous regulations, a process begun last year, before the escapes, with a series of public meetings that began in December of 2014. Based on the input from those 8 meetings, FWC staff is reviewing the recommendations and is preparing draft rules and options for stakeholder input.

If you have questions about either memo, please contact the FWC Captive Wildlife Office at 850-488-6253

In the end it was probably the sign.

There is a right way to run a reptile education program, and then there are other ways.

The first thing any reptile educator needs to do is check to make sure they are not violating either state and local laws, unless they want to get a rather unpleasant education of their own.

Erstwhile reptile educator Jeremy Phillips in Louisville, KY learned this lesson the hard way, when on Tuesday, Louisville Metro Animal Services came and took his four venomous snakes away. Animal Services says that while Kentucky law allows those snakes, a Metro Louisville ordinance does not and the local ordinance supersedes the state law. Phillips says someone snaked him out and reported it to authorities, but he now wants a change in the Metro Louisville ordinance. Phillips will face a judge for his arraignment next month and his case is the first of its kind in Louisville.

He had been putting on free snake shows, but recently was asking for five dollars to cover costs of snake food and electricity to keep them warm. No one has paid for the shows. Phillips said he just put up a sign advertising his $5 snake shows, which he thinks may have gotten him in trouble.

Read more and watch the video at WDRB.com

Just days after capturing the once-missing king cobra from a local garage, Florida wildlife officials on Friday confirmed their intent to revoke the owner's license to own the venomous snake in a revocation letter, sent a day before the king cobra was captured.

"Allowing you to continue to possess your venomous reptiles after three escapes would send a message that there will be no consequences for serious rule violations,"

The owner of the cobra has held permits to keep various exotic and potentially deadly animals for years, but records show numerous violations for not properly containing the animals including being cited in 2001 after another king cobra escaped from a house in the College Park area of Orlando, and in 2004 when an albino diamondback rattlesnake escaped and ended up in a neighbor's yard.

Read more at the Orlando Sentinel

In what is likely to be the first of a number of reptilian additions the Black Pine Snake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi, has been added to the USFWS Threatened and Endangered Species List. Found in southwestern Alabama through southeastern Mississippi into eastern Louisiana, Black Pine Snakes are the only melanistic pine snake, ranging in coloration from an overall black and brown banded snake to a nearly jet-black animal. A threatened designation means a species is at risk of becoming endangered within the foreseeable future. The snake’s threatened status allows the USFWS to include exemptions allowing certain management activities to continue to occur with protection from the loss, injury or harassment.

“We crafted the exemptions to provide landowners flexibility to manage for their objectives while still affording conservation benefits to the black pinesnake,” - Cindy Dohner, USFWS Southeast Regional Director.

The Black Pine Snake’s decline is primarily attributed to the loss and degradation of the longleaf pine ecosystem because of habitat fragmentation, fire suppression, conversion of natural pine forests to densely stocked pine plantations, and agricultural and urban development. Other threats to the snake’s survival include road mortality and killing by humans.

The Black Pine Snake was added to the US Fish and Wildlife Services list of candidates for federal protection in 1999, and the Service published a proposed rule to list the black pinesnake as threatened on October 7, 2014. The black pinesnake final listing becomes effective on November 5, 2015 which is 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register on October 6, 2015. The decision is part of the Service’s effort to implement a court-approved settlement under an agreement aimed at significantly reducing it's current litigation-driven workload.

To read the USFWS Press Release click here. Gallery photo by user noMad627

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is initiating status reviews for 14 petitions that presented substantial information that the species may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act . The Service will initiate a review of the status of each of the reptile and amphibian species listed below. To ensure that these reviews are comprehensive, the Service is requesting scientific and commercial data and other information for each species. Based on the status reviews, the Service will address whether the petitioned action is warranted.

To see the listing and the information request, click on a species link below.

Cascade torrent salamander Columbia torrent salamander Inyo Mountains salamander Kern Plateau salamander Lesser slender salamander Limestone salamander Peaks of Otter salamander

Shasta salamander Florida pine snake Short-tailed snake Southern rubber boa Panamint alligator lizard Yuman desert fringe-toed Lizard Wood turtle

The official notice was published in the Federal Register on September 18, 2015, and is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection by clicking on the 2015 Notices link under Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Information can be submitted on species for which a status review is being initiated, using the specified docket number, beginning upon publication in the Federal Register, for 60 days until November 17, 2015.

kingsnake.com gallery photo by Leo

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

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

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