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.
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.
Friday, March 25 2022
Wednesday, March 16 2022
Through massive conservation efforts, the wild population of Jamaican Iguanas may have a chance at becoming established once again!
Through work with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Jamaican Iguana Recovery Programme, they hope to release 1,000 of the endangered iguanas back into the wild by 2026. Working with in-situ efforts such as predator management and nesting site management as well as the ex-situ headstart program.
Read more about this amazing recovery effort of a once believe extinct animal https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/nepa-plans-release-1000-iguanas-hellshire-hills!
Inset Photo: A Jamaican Iguana labelled for tracking in its natural habitat in the Hellshire Hills of St Catherine. (Photo: NEPA)
Tuesday, March 15 2022

kingsnake.com has been hosting reptile businesses from around the world for over 25 years and for a number of years Bion Terrarium Center has been one of those businesses. Located in Kyiv Ukraine Bion has been the source for many unique specimens found in breeding facilities and zoos around the world, as well as supplying reptile keepers in Ukraine with feeders and supplies. With the Russian invasion of the Ukraine the company and it's employees are in dire need of support from the reptile community. If you are looking for someplace in the Ukraine to support with your donations we recommend that you reach out to Bion and offer them what assistance you can. Below is a message from Dmitri Tkachev, owner of the Bion Terrarium Center.
Dear Colleagues, Friends and Partners of BION all over the world,
As a result of unprecedented invasion of Ukraine from Russian Federation, BION’s activities have been paralyzed for an indefinite period of time and we lost all sources of subsistence.
BION Terrarium Center possesses a unique collection of animals (consisting of 2000 heads of breeding stock only), a number of successful long-term and promising breeding programs for many rare species, as well as a team of 30 employees; many of them have been working for more than 15 years. We would be grateful for any support you can provide!
Pls share this info as much as possible!
Please transfer your donations to:
BENEFICIARY: LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS
BENEFICIARY’s ADDRESS: 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA
Bank: KeyBank (branch #0164)
Bank address: 353 NE Northgate Way
Seattle, WA 98125
Account #: 471641010460
ABA: 125000574
SWIFT: KEYBUS33
or Pay Pal
leogolbrokers@gmail.com
with a note: Support to BION Terrarium Center due to extreme situation in Ukraine.
Dmitri Tkachev,
On behalf of BION team
P.S. LEOGOL ANIMAL BROKERS, 315 N 64th St Seattle, WA 98103, USA is our reliable partner since 1995!
Monday, March 14 2022
 kingsnake.com's Cindy Steinle gets up close and personal with a tortoise at Rapid City's Reptile Gardens
Reptile Gardens in Rapid City is celebrating 85 years of introducing the South Dakotans to reptile species from around the world. Founded by Earl Brockelsby in 1937 it continues to be run by family members, including his nephew, Joe Maierhauser.
Located south of Rapid City, South Dakota, on the road to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. the zoo attracts over a million visitors from around the world every year
The park is open the first Saturday in March through November 30 each year. Reptile Gardens was cited in the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest reptile zoo.
Read the full article here https://www.keloland.com/news/eye-on-keloland/85-years-at-reptile-gardens/ or visit the Reptile Gardens web site at https://www.reptilegardens.com/
Tuesday, February 1 2022
USARK recently caught a few amendments being hidden in the 2000 page plus America COMPETES Act of 2022.
This brief run down of what could be impacted can be found on USARK's page.
1. Provide that the Lacey Act bans the interstate transport of species listed as injurious. Specifically, it replaces Lacey’s current language ‘‘shipment between the continental United States’’ with ‘‘transport between the States.”
2. Create a “white list” of species that can be imported. This means that any animal (reptile, amphibian, fish, bird, mammal, invertebrate) that is not on the white list is by default treated as an injurious species and is banned from importation.
3. Create a new authority allowing FWS to use an “emergency designation” that becomes effective immediately after being published in the Federal Register unless an extension of no more than 60 days is allowed. That means no due process, public input, hearings, advanced notice, etc. for injurious listings.
4. Permit FWS to not allow importation if a species has not been imported in “minimal quantities” (to be defined) in the year prior to the enactment of this Act.
The effective date would be one year after the enactment of this Act.
This can and will impact more than just reptiles, so reach out to your friends and family that own things other than your normal dog and cat. If a species can survive in Florida, it may be targeted. Once a species is listed as injurious crossing state lines with the animal becomes illegal, even if it is for you to move OR going to a veterinarian! You will still be able to own it. However this also can impact our trade as well. This is is far more restrictive than the originally proposed "Big 5" that USARK was able to overturn with a lawsuit.
What can you do? USARK has given us everything we need! From their action alert:
Through Feb. 2, contact the House Rules Committee and your federal Representatives. Remember to be civil and professional at all times. Please personalize/edit your letters, if possible. If the bill passes the House with the amendments, then attention must turn to the Senate.
1. Call your Representatives’ offices (link below) and the Rules Committee at (202)-225-9091;
2. Email Representatives (link below);
3. Fax letters to (202)-226-9191 and your Representatives;
4. SHARE this and encourage others to complete the Alert!!!
The page also includes ways to find out who your representatives are as well as a form letter that you can copy and paste. You can find the action alert here.
Monday, June 7 2021
 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.
Continue reading "Theives try to steal adult Galapagos Tortoise, maim it instead."
Monday, April 19 2021
During a recent research survey, a new species of marsupial frog in the Cordilleras de Colan National Sanctuary in Northern Peru.
The new species belongs to the Gastrotheca genus of tailless frogs found in South and Central America.
...
"This new species is distinguished by having a thick granular skin on the back, a green dorsal coloration without a pattern, turquoise iris and a belly without spots, specks or dots," said SERNANP.
To read more visit phys.org here.
Monday, February 22 2021

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.
Sunday, February 21 2021
We have an urgent action alert from USARK regarding the return of the "animal program ban" that has returned in Illinois. As it is written, it could end even the most common of after school educational programs. From USARK:
This bill bans much more than lions jumping through rings of fire. It is a ban on taking a Greek tortoise into a classroom for an educational program about reptiles. It is a ban on taking a ball python, a red-eyed tree frog, a parakeet, and a hedgehog into a library for an educational show discussing the differences between reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. It is a ban on llamas and any other non-traditional livestock at the State Fair or county 4-H fairs. Basically, if an animal non-native to Illinois is placed into a vehicle and taken to any location where someone will see it, other than a veterinarian in a private room, then it would become an illegal activity, and you a criminal. You could receive a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for taking a leopard gecko into your child’s classroom for a presentation.
The Chicago Herpetological Society hosts the largest and oldest hands-on reptile exhibit in the country. It reaches tens of thousands of people annually and this bill could destroy it. It could end programs coming to your child's school, day care or scouting program. The impact to the reptile community in Illinois would be devastating.
USARK has detailed instructions for reaching out to representatives and what we as a community can do here.
Wednesday, December 30 2020
Do you ever have an issue explaining why you love your pet snakes so very much to friends? Have you ever had problems putting into words your love of those cold blooded pets that share your world? Never fear, we all have!
A recent opinion piece in the New York Times puts our love of snakes into a special light.
The snake is as much symbol as animal, and this oversaturation of meaning prevents us from seeing the snake clearly. In reality, they are gentle, healthful to the environment, “more scared of you than you are of it,” a sort of tragic hero of the ecosystem that is, when gazed upon without malice, beautiful.
To read the whole article, click here.
BTW, a hearty congrats to WooHoo for reaching 25 years old!
Friday, December 4 2020
 On December 1, 2020 House Bill 6455 (HB6455) was introduced in Michigan that could impact many reptiles keepers. The reptile portion of the bill does primarily impact ownership of venomous, crocodilians and some monitor species. While it is not an outright ban and offers provisions for owners to keep their pets, it can have very far reaching implications.
The reptiles impacted by the Bill are:
“Dangerous reptiles” per HB6455:
(I) A member of the order Crocodilia, including, but not limited to, an alligator, crocodile, gharial, or caiman.
(ii) A member of the family Atractaspidae.
(iii) A member of the species Dispholidus typus of the family Colubridae.
(iv) A member of the family Elapidae, including, but not limited to, a cobra, mamba, krait, coral snake, or Australian tiger snake.
(v) A member of the family Hydrophiidae, including, but not limited to, a sea snake.
(vi) A water monitor or crocodile monitor.
(vii) A member of the family Viperidae, including, but not limited to, a rattlesnake, cottonmouth, bushmaster, puff adder, or gaboon viper.
Our friends at USARK have made it easy to speak out to your representatives. Please visit the USARK page here for the full action alert.
Monday, November 16 2020

If you are up in Canada, chances are you know Stacey Laurin. Stacey is known for both her ball pythons but also her willingness to work with others to help spread the reptile love. She is always there to help people, especially beginners to get set on the right path.
Now it is our turn to help. Stacey has been battling a very aggressive ovarian cancer for 4 years and has recently come back with a vengeance. Now Stacey could use a little help from the community she has helped for so long.
From the GoFundMe
"Stacey is currently at a medical facility receiving pain management medications and treatments. Unfortunately alternative cancer treatments are quite costly and a hard burden to bear. She is now in the fight for her life, if Stacey has ever touched your life, please consider donating to her cancer treatment, or simply sharing this fundraiser."
There are two big ways you can help Stacey. The obvious answer is donate, but if you can not donate, please share this around.
Please check the GoFundMe out here.
Monday, November 2 2020
A male Voeltzkow's chameleon in Madagascar. Photo courtesy CNN
After nearly a century of being elusive, the rare Voeltzkow's chameleon was recently rediscovered on an expedition of scientists from Germany and Madagascar.
"Our planet is probably facing the beginning of an enormous extinction of species, often referred to as the 'sixth mass extinction', the 'Holocene extinction' or the 'Anthropocene extinction'," researchers wrote.
"Rediscoveries of 'lost' species are very important as they provide crucial data for conservation measures and also bring some hope amidst the biodiversity crisis."
To read more and see the video, click here.
Friday, September 4 2020
There was some great news regarding the regulation changes for Florida; including Tegus, Iguanas and a selection of large constrictors.
This is the announcement from USARKFL:
We have some news... good news. The judge agreed with USARK FL and found that SB1414 is in fact unconstitutional! We will post full details soon but the judge granted our motion for summary judgment and now we just await his formal order stating the same. Thank you to everyone who supported us. Please keep the donations coming! We must still pay for this lawsuit and future actions. What a win!
NOTE: This will take a few days to all be finalized and for FWC to rescind their Executive Order. We also do not know if FWC will appeal. Also, by "unconstitutional" we mean the Florida Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution. This is a state lawsuit against a state agency, not a federal lawsuit.
Please stay tuned to both USARK and USARKFL to follow updates and please continue to support USARK. They are getting things done!
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