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, July 12 2019
 An Oklahoma couple were arrested while in possession of a stolen vehicle, weapons, whiskey and a rattlesnake, oh yeah and a container of radioactive uranium?! Trust me, we checked, this isn't The Onion! It is real life.
From Oklahoma's New 4:
The traffic stop was made at 11 a.m. in a Guthrie neighborhood because the tag was expired. Jennings was in the driver's seat, Rivera in the passenger seat, and in the backseat, a pet Timber rattlesnake in a terrarium.
At about the same time Jennings told officers he had a gun in console, police learned the Ford they were driving was reported stolen.
"So now he's got a rattlesnake, a stolen vehicle, firearm, and somebody under arrest," said Guthrie Police Sgt. Anthony Gibbs.
Oddly enough, the rattlesnake was legal as Jennings had a valid fishing license at the time. No charges as of yet on the uranium.
To read the full story, click here.
lead photo of timber rattlesnake. credit and thanks to John Kirinovic.
Wednesday, July 3 2019

When you have to put a turtle shell back together sometimes you need to get creative and that is exactly what the folks at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue did!
To stabilize the shell pieces and help them stay in place, they superglue the bra clasps to the shell to help offer additional support to the cracked shell pieces! As can see in the photo, it is brilliant!
To read more about the story, click here. And if you happen to have a few old bras laying around that are past their prime, consider checking with your local wildlife rehab group to see if they can use them!
Tuesday, June 18 2019

The Smithsonian's Reptile Discovery Center recently hatched it's first Chinese Water Dragon from an unfertilized egg. For the species, it was the first recorded parthenogenetic birth. It is not unusual to see unfertilized eggs from a variety of species, just ask any Iguana or bearded dragon owner! Lauren Augustine, a keeper at the Reptile Discovery Center, decided to hold and incubate all eggs from virgin females. What happened next is quite honestly history, and documented at that!
After two weeks of incubation, Reptile Discovery Center keepers candled the eggs; that is, they held them up to a light. The candling process revealed veins—a tell-tale that the eggs were fertile and the embryos were developing. After looking through our Asian water dragon’s records, I immediately suspected parthenogenesis. Before reaching sexual maturity, she was housed either by herself or with other females.
They have actually collected more than 1 fertile egg, however only 1 has hatched. This year the baby is of breeding age, so the team will be monitoring her eggs as well as mom's. They are still looking at the embryos that did not survive to hatching to determine the genetics as well. For more on this fascinating story, visit the Smithsonian Blog here.
lead photo courtesy of Smithsonian Blog
Monday, May 27 2019
Aquarium Biologist Tori Babson holds one of the two juvenile anacondas while talking with members of the media.
photo via www.neaq.org
Two Anacondas were recently born at the New England Aquarium from their all female exhibit. It was determined via DNA testing that the babies are the product of parthenogenesis, which means the female was able to reproduce without a male. This was only the second recorded parthenogenesis in Anacondas, the first in 2014 in the UK.
From the New England Aquarium Blog:
Earlier this past winter, the newborn snakes were unexpectedly discovered by Aquarium staff in the rainforest exhibit. Biologists discovered in January that 8-year-old Anna, a 10-foot adult anaconda weighing about 30 pounds, was still in the process of delivering more young, most of which were stillborn, which is quite common in parthenogenesis among vertebrate species. Initially, three babies survived, but one died of within a couple of days. Since then, the other two juveniles have thrived.
To read the entire story, visit The New England Aquarium blog here.
Aquarium Biologist Tori Babson holds one of the two juvenile anacondas while talking with members of the media.
photo via www.neaq.org
Two Anacondas were recently born at the New England Aquarium from their all female exhibit. It was determined via DNA testing that the babies are the product of parthenogenesis, which means the female was able to reproduce without a male. This was only the second recorded parthenogenesis in Anacondas, the first in 2014 in the UK.
From the New England Aquarium Blog:
Earlier this past winter, the newborn snakes were unexpectedly discovered by Aquarium staff in the rainforest exhibit. Biologists discovered in January that 8-year-old Anna, a 10-foot adult anaconda weighing about 30 pounds, was still in the process of delivering more young, most of which were stillborn, which is quite common in parthenogenesis among vertebrate species. Initially, three babies survived, but one died of within a couple of days. Since then, the other two juveniles have thrived.
To read the entire story, visit The New England Aquarium blog here.
Friday, May 10 2019
inset photo Mr. Fowler and Peter Gros in 2002. (Nati Harnik/AP)
I never met Jim Fowler in my entire life, but I can attribute a lot of who I am to our weekend mornings spent in my childhood. My breakfast bowl of Apple Jacks, cross legged on the floor of my living room, I would stare at the TV with rapt attention waiting to learn about the animals in our world. He inspired me to learn and read more about animals. He along with his long time co-host, Marlon Perkins, taught me about conservation. They taught me that beauty was simple to find and hard to hold on to.
Jim's message on nature was simple and I hope he knew this difference it made in so many lives.
"What we have to do is ask ourselves, 'What's in it for me?' Only then will we realize that the continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is ultimately important to the quality of life of humans."
To learn a bit more about Jim's life and hear why the environment is so very important to protect, pop over to The Washington Post obituary here.
Thank you Jim for inspiring a little girl who dreamed of going to see alligators in the wild, she did that and so much more. You inspired me to learn more about our natural world and gave me the desire to help protect it.
Thursday, February 14 2019
Meet Juliet, a Sehuencas water frog recently collected from the Bolivian cloud forest. (Robin Moore, Global Wildlife Conservation)
A year ago, Romeo was trolling match.com looking for another just like him. The staff at Bolivia’s Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny in Cochabamba put an ad up on the dating site to help bring awareness and funding to help locate another Sehuencas water frog. They didn't find him a "date" on the site, but they gained the funding needed to locate 5 frogs, including an adult female who has been named Juliet.
Close to a waterfall, however, expedition leader Teresa Camacho Badani saw a frog jump.
“When I pulled it out, I saw an orange belly and suddenly realized I had in my hands the long-awaited Sehuencas water frog,” Badani, who works for the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d’Orbigny in Cochabamba, tells Carrington. “My first reaction was to yell ‘I found one!’ and the team came running over to help me and pull the frog to safety. It was an incredible feeling.”
Researchers are still looking for more of the cricitcally endangered frogs to build an assurance population. Read more about this awesome expedition at Smithsonianmag.com.
Friday, January 4 2019

Several Cane Toads remind us that necessity is the mother of invention as they found a novel way to get out of an area being flooded by an overflowing dam. They hitched a Lyft, wait make that lift on the back of a local python named Monty. It is Australia after all, pythons just wander the streets there I hear!
"I went out and the lake had overflowed," he says, and realised the toads, who nested around its edge, were fleeing the rising waters.
"Thousands of toads were all trying to find somewhere to go," he says. "And then I saw Monty our local python with a bunch of hitchhikers on his back."
A variety of theories abound from it being staged to male toads with a little romantic confusion, but we just think it is a cool story! Check out the full story and video here!
Photo courtesy of Paul and Andrew Mock, originally shared at https://tinyurl.com/y8dzldea
Thursday, January 3 2019

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
Wednesday, November 7 2018
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.
Friday, November 2 2018

A woman in Pennsylvania is hissing mad because someone sold her 17 year old son a 4 foot alligator at a local reptile show. The alligator, which now resides at a reptile rescue, had no comment.
While many states regulate the sales of crocodilians Pennsylvania does not and the operator of the rescue is urging people to contact their state legislators to stop the "Pannsylvania alligator invasion" and outlaw their sales to children. To read the full article click here.
Wednesday, October 31 2018

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:
Continue reading "2018 Herp Symposium Live blog Day 1"
Friday, October 12 2018
 Mottled Rock Rattlesnake gallery photo by Tom Lott
Is the bite of of baby venomous snake more dangerous than an adult? Can a decapitated snake still bite? And does the "red and yellow kill a fellow" rhyme ring true? With answers by State herpetologist Paul Crump of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Elda Sánchez, director of the National Natural Toxins Research Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, this article from the Dallas Morning News helps explain and explore some of the myths and facts about venomous snakes in Texas. The article also talks about the medical uses of venom, and discusses the various types of snake venom common to Texas snakes, as well as a host of other interesting facts. Check out the article on the Dallas Morning News web site!.
Saturday, October 6 2018
 Green Mamba kingsnake gallery photo uploaded by fangfatale
A Green Mamba that bit it's owner has been located and caught in a tree after an escape following the envenomation in Prague Czechoslovakia. According to the BBC the woman, who was found unconscious by paramedics, had not registered the highly venomous snake, and is in an induced coma at a city hospital after receiving an antidote.
To read the full story check out the article on the BBC web site.
Tuesday, March 27 2018
A wild python had eyes bigger than his belly recently in Australia when he swallowed a slipper from the home he snuck into. Now I am kinda jealous of someone who has to worry about carpet pythons just wandering into their house, but the poor python was just looking for food. Emergency surgery was done and the snake is stable. And I bet after a quick wash, that slipper will be too! You can check the video out here. To read more, click here.
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