My very first bulk cricket order was from Jurassic Snacks in the early 90's.This was well before the internet, we herpers were still working on long distance calls and mail order lists. Everyone has that story, especially us old timers. After lamenting my issues of fitting the square box full of crickets into the rectangle aquarium to a friend, he let me in on the trash bag trick. This tale from a twitter user had tears coming from my eyes.

This tale from a new bearded dragon owner in Minnesota might very well be the funniest thing you have read this week.

Having never ordered internet crickets before, I naively assumed that I’d open up the box and find the crickets in some sort of sealed bag or other contraption to facilitate easy transfer to their final storage place. I also assumed that given the near-zero temperatures we were experiencing that morning, any crickets in the box would be groggy and disoriented and easy to manage.

I was wrong on both counts.

I have not lived in the home I received my first cricket order since 2000, but I am convinced the house still has crickets roaming the halls. To read the full story, I strongly suggest you click here.
Inset photo of post feeding beardie courtesy of TazziesMommy

Photo of one of the alligator ponds at St. Augustine provided by Cindy Steinle

St. Augustine Alligator Farm is a fantastic place to visit, but only during open hours. Recently a man in Florida felt it was a good idea to break in to the farm after hours and that is when the shenanigans began. Several exhibits were damaged but so was the trespasser. When workers arrived the next morning, they found the damage to the exhibits, a lot of blood, a pair of shorts and a "croc" shoe. The man was found wandering the neighborhood in only his boxers and covered with blood.

To read the full story and view the video, visit Fox 13.

kingsnake.com's Cindy Steinle is live blogging the 2018 Herp Law Symposium in Maryland today and tomorrow (she is also slated as a moderator for one of the panels). This event, sponsored by PIJAC, USARK, kingsnake.com, and a number of other businesses and organizations in the herp community, brings the voices of many different facets of the reptile world together to discuss regulatory issues, conservation issues, and trending disease issues such as the Chytrid fungus that is decimating amphibian populations worldwide. Below is her live blog transcript from the first day:

---

HR6362 has been introduced and is titled the “Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2018.” The bill was introduced by Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and with no co-sponsors. This

USARK broke down the bill and what it intends to do in plain english for us:

Makes illegal the transportation of injurious species between states: “it is unlawful for any person… to import into the United States or transport between States any wildlife designated as an injurious wildlife…”
Creates a list of species which are “not in trade” and those species cannot be imported or transported between states unless or until they are reviewed by the Secretary;
Ambiguously defines “not in trade” species as those non-native species that are not “widely” imported or transported between states (i.e. no definition for the word widely) within the past year;
Within three years from the effective date, a list of all ‘‘wildlife not in trade to the United States’’ must be compiled and that list reviewed to see if any of those species should be designated as injurious;
Allows for an immediately effective emergency rule to add species as injurious;
Requires the establishment of an electronic database for imports of all wildlife which identifies injurious species;
States that the Secretary of the Interior possesses authority to regulate wildlife pathogens and parasites (i.e. Bsal) which currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA);
Makes less burdensome (easier) the listing of species as injurious;
Creates the “Injurious Wildlife Prevention Fund” funded by a new “user fee” (i.e., tax) on wildlife imports.

For more information, visit the USARK notice here.

Poised and watch, what a stunning Mangrove in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.



Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!

This female Kimberly Rock Monitor is just hanging out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bob! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!




Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!