Author at St. Augustine Alligator Farm getting the Ultimate Experience photo shoot, the closest to acting irresponsibly she had in her photos. - credit Cindy Steinle

In what the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) calls "groundbreaking research study" it has been determined that alligators are not the aggressors in the attacks that occur on humans but rather risky human behavior that cause the attacks.

Color us herpers SHOCKED! Absolutely STUNNED! Yes, that is sarcasm. Anywho, from the study:

Our ranking system indicated that 96% (26% low risk, 48% moderate risk, 22% high risk) of the recorded human–alligator incidents reviewed were caused by some level of human inattention in the form of risky behaviors, often while participating in recreational water activities. These results highlight the need for increased and targeted public education concerning safe and responsible human activities in areas inhabited by alligators. By making a conscious effort to implement proactive and preventative safety measures, human injury and death as well as the needless destruction of alligators can be reduced.

You can read the full study here and their blog post about it here.

Despite my sarcasm, this can lead to better efforts in helping protect our wild populations putting the blame rather than on the animal, directly on the person. This can also lead to better public education efforts on how to approach waterways and share our world with our cold blooded friends, not only our alligators but also other reptiles. If we can educate respect at one level, we can work out way down through the food chain! Hopefully this study helps with that for future generations.

Late last session, Rep Betty McCollum (MN) introcuded a bill to " “To amend the Animal Welfare Act to include cold-blooded species as animals, and for other purposes.” That bill died with the close of the last session, but this week she reintroduced as HR2976 and we can only guess that it will have the same wording.

The nitty gritty from the USARK Web Alert is:

This bill, which should be identical to last session’s introduction, adds reptiles, amphibians, fish, and cephalopods as “animals” under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), meaning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must develop new regulations. Basically, the USDA would now be required to license and inspect facilities and breeders with these animals. Businesses would need to comply with the new USDA regulations. The USDA began inspecting and licensing aviculturists (bird breeders) in 2024 (for new licensees). The bill has been assigned to the House Agriculture Committee. We will post more information when available.

You can find the wording of the original bill here. While we are unsure of the wording exactly of the new bill, this gives a good guess as to what will come. As always, you know there is strength in numbers, so be sure to join and keep up with our friends at USARK.

As humans expand into natural areas that snakes inhabit, relocation of many species often occurs. Great care is taken to find what is felt to be suitable habitat, but is that the answer? Do snakes actually adjust? Do the snakes reestablish and thrive?

That is a question lead ANU Associate Professor Gavin Smith in Australia to embark on a long term study with the venomous Eastern Brown. In 2021 Canberra Snake Tracking Project was hatched to look at the impact of translocation on snakes in urban areas.

The project has tracked snakes that have been caught in homes and backyards in Canberra and then relocated into reserves, as well as snakes which already call those reserves home.

This approach allows the team to compare differences in movement activity and survivorship, and changes in body condition over time between individuals in the two groups.

The initial findings show the translocated snakes move in more erratic and unpredictable ways, and are exposed to a much higher burden of risk as a result of being moved out of their home ranges where they possess an acute awareness of the location of key resources.

To read more about this very interesting study click here.

There is an update to the proposed South Carolina Venomous Ban. The meeting is being held next week. This is a proposed STATEWIDE ban. From the USARK update:

This bill is scheduled to be heard by the Wildlife Subcommittee on Wednesday, March 19th at 12:30 PM. The location is: Blatt Building Room 409, 1105 Pendleton St, Columbia, SC 29201. Written testimony should be emailed to EllieHayes@schouse.gov. You can also email to register to speak. Send another comment even if you have already done so, and any stakeholders should attend the hearing to oppose in person. Read the agenda at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/agendas/126h15107.pdf

Just a reminder that they are including a grandfather clause for current owners who can register their animals and receive permits within 90 days of the law going into effect. There are exemptions included for research facilities and zoos as well.

The proposed banned list is:

Venomous reptiles banned, including hybrids: families Elapidae, Crotalidae, Viperidae, and Hydrophiidae; all reptiles in the genus Heloderma; all reptiles in the family Colubridae belonging to the genera: Rhabdophis, Balanophis, Macropisthodon, Boiga, Dispholidus, Thelotornis, and Thrasops, and all reptiles in the family Atractaspididae.

USARK has supplied sample letters as well as all the contact information in their action alert which can be found here.

Ball pythons in a huddle, with white arrows to indicate their heads.Credit...Noam Miller and Morgan Skinner/Wilfrid Laurier University
We have learned that a variety of snakes from rattlesnakes to some colubrid species have social lives in the wild and now a recent study is showing that pythons are social creatures too! Morgan Skinner, a quantitative ecologist who studied at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario created an environment with 4 hides and set to work with several different ball pythons to see exactly what happened. He published his results in Behavior Ecology and Sociobiology in November.

Because ball pythons lay eggs and don’t have live births and have no need to hibernate, they seemed like the perfect study candidate. In 2020, Dr. Skinner and his colleague Tamara Kumpan placed a mixed-sex group of six pythons for 10 days in a large enclosure — one with enough plastic shelters for each snake — and left a camera running.

To Dr. Skinner’s shock, all six snakes quickly squeezed together in the same shelter and spent over 60 percent of their time together. Assuming that all of the snakes had simply liked something about that specific shelter, the team removed it. But after some initial confusion, the snakes eventually chose another home base in which to curl up together.

To read the full article and see the video, be sure to visit the New York Times here. There is a link to the study in the article.

In 2016 the US Fish and Wildlife Service published a temporary rule on 201 Salamander species and as of this January that rule is finalized. The 201 species covering 16 genre are now listed as injurious under the Lacey Act meaning they no longer can be imported into the country or transport or sold across state lines in the US. From the USARK Alert:

The interim rule applies to all species in these 16 genera: Ambystoma, Andrias, Aneides, Aquiloeurycea, Calotriton, Chiropterotriton, Cryptobranchus, Desmognathus, Ensatina, Eurycea, Laotriton, Ommatotriton, Pachytriton, Proteus, Pseudobranchus, and Pseudotriton.
...
Comments on the interim rule regarding newly added species can be made after January 10, 2025, for 60 days (deadline March 11) at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2024-31203/injurious-wildlife-species-listing-salamanders-due-to-risk-of-salamander-chytrid-fungus.

Find the original Salamander Rule species list (201 species in 20 genera) at https://www.fws.gov/page/list-of-salamanders-designated-as-injurious.

You can read the full action alert here on USARKs page.

A cat death in Oregon being linked back to the raw cat food made by Northwest Naturals, they are issuing a voluntary recall of their 2 lb raw turkey meals. I know many people often will use these premade diets in a rotation for some of their lizard species, so I did want to make sure reptile owners are aware. From Newsweek:

Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said in a press release on Tuesday that his organization is "confident" the pet cat contracted the bird flu by eating Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food.
"This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other," Scholz said.

The full press release can be seen after the jump or you can visit Northwest Naturals website here.

Inset photo by Jeff Barringer of my first Western Diamondback ever seen in the wild. Animal was seen at an event hosted in Sanderson Texas called Snake Days which was a conservation and educational event that brought reptile people from all over the world. I used this photo to respect the nat geo copywrites. They have amazing shots in the article!

Rattlesnakes are one of the most demonized animals on the planet. Deeply beloved by their fans and often hated by others. National Geographic author Elizabeth Royte spent a great deal of time traveling the country and looking into how to change the perceptions of rattlesnakes. She learned a bit about them in nature along the way and a bit about our battle as those who love rattlesnakes on changing perceptions.

At a time when populations of animal species globally have declined by an average of nearly 70 percent, wanton disregard for life—in the absence of imminent threat to humans—bothers Texas A&M University herpetologist Lee Fitzgerald. “The roundups do send a twisted message,” he says. “They’re not helping the way we think about biodiversity. We care about polar bears, but these snakes are worthless?”
...
“I’m blue in the face from teaching people that snakes aren’t out to get you,” Matt Goode said as we hummed through Stone Canyon. “But I don’t know how much progress we’ve made.” Throughout much of the South and Southwest, it’s legal to kill many rattlesnake species. And some people kill a whole lot.

From working with field researchers to a visit to the hell that is the Sweetwater round-up, this is an amazing read. The hardest part to saving these species is changing perceptions on the animal itself. For the full article, visit Nat Geo here.

In a move that will shock no one, the first what we can assume will be many laws relating to the Leibowitz/Taipan bite case has happened. Florence, S.C. has released new proposed exotics laws that impact more than reptile owners. From the USARK Action alert the proposed banned reptile portion is:

Crocodilians twelve (12) inches or larger;
Large, dangerous, or potentially invasive constricting snakes including reticulated pythons, python reticulatus;
urmese/Indian rock pythons, python molurus; rock pythons, python sebae, and anacondas, eunectes murinus (green anacondas);
Venomous/poisonous reptiles, amphibians, or serpents;

You can read the full action alert on USARK's page here.
Now one thing of note is the snake law is somewhat vague and can be easily adjusted to include any larger snake unfortunately. Simply using the wording large, dangerous OR rather than AND is hugely problematic from someone who has worked in animal control and seen how people will twist those words, but that is just my opinion and experience. I would expect to see far more of these laws popup in South Carolina over the next year. The damage one person can do to our hobby is immense.

Tadpoles and adults of the extinct frog species Notobatrachus degiustoi (illustrated) lived in temporary ponds in what is the Patagonia region of Argentina today.
Illustration by Gabriel Lío

While searching for dinosaurs in the sediment and soft ash, Palentoligist Federico Agnolín and his colleagues kept stumbling across frogs at their site at Estancia La Matilde in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina. They were finding all adult Notobatrachus degiustoi, which is an extinct species. They believed that the frogs at the time did not have a tadpole stage, but they were about to learn otherwise in a very exciting discovery!

The researchers who described the fossil in Nature today estimate it to be between 161 to 168 million years old, beating the previous record holder by around 30 million years. The find provides solid evidence frogs have had a tadpole stage for at least that long. “It’s a beautiful confirmation of what many experts had suspected,” says herpetologist Alexander Haas of the Leibniz Institute in Bonn, Germany. Reconstructing tadpole evolution based on their diversity today, Haas and others previously predicted that tadpoles would have existed this early on.

The tadpole was surprisingly similar to modern tadpoles! To read the full story, visit National Geographic here!

Photo of Lil Crusher and I in August at an educational event. He is well on his way to being healthy here.

When I got the text about the alligator that was found by Lake Michigan in November I never realized how attached to him I would become, but ya know, I should have. When the grizzled shelter manager tells me I need to come in because he is worried about the alligator, I should have figured that I would fall head over heels for an animal that I never would live with. He is named Lil Crusher, after Reginald "The Crusher" Lisowski a famous wrestler from our area and if you know me it makes even more sense that this guy is one of my special ones.

On that cold November day, 3 South Milwaukee police officers made waves in our local media when they found an American Alligator in a park in Milwaukee WI on the shores of Lake Michigan, the local media went RAMPANT with stories. We had just had the flamingos blown off course by a hurricane, did the alligator come that way too! Did it maybe swim up here? The stories were simply ridiculous.

Have you heard of Project RattleCam? It is a livestream of a Prairie Rattlesnake Rookery in Colorado at an undisclosed location and it runs 24/7 from May to October. You can watch and share interesting obeservations with the team directly through their contacts or just spend your time watching rattlesnakes be rattlesnakes! What a better way to celebrate Rattlesnake Friday! Check it out!

Over the weekend Vans dropped their new ad featuring their new Cult X Diamonback BMX shoes with a very emaciated ball python. The Reptile Community was outraged and rightfully so. The animal was in poor condition. By Tuesday however, I had a very hard time locating the advertisement anywhere other than social media sites. Rather than adding to the millions of shares, I instead reached out to Vans to inquire if they pulled it and if so to thank them. I also offered to arrange for them to get a photo shoot with an actual diamondback. Today when I clicked the link via email and anywhere else I could find that would directly link it to Vans and the original ad, this is what I saw.

They heard us loud and clear. While I don't expect Vans to know what a healthy snake looks like, I would expect their photographer and ad agency to know and to do better. I sincerely hope they hire a different team in the future and never use this one again. They heard us loud and clear. I'm quite sure it will be a few days before I hear back if ever, I am quite sure they have been inundated with messages from our community. I would love to see a statement from them. Hello Vans? Ya Got one?

Photo Credit: ©WCS A head-started female Siamese crocodile nesting in the wild

In a huge win for conservation, the first ever nesting behavior has been observed by reintroduced female Siamese crocodile that resulted in two hatchlings! The hatchlings are now being headstarted by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The authors note: “While collecting eggs for incubation in May 2022, we were able to identify a unique series of notched tail scutes on a female C. siamensis as she aggressively defended a nest.

“From these markings we determined the female was hatched on 11 August 2012 (age = 9.75 years) and released in March 2014. A camera-trap placed at the nest on 11 May 2022 and recovered on 5 July 2022 recorded 1724 images.

“These images indicated the female remained in attendance at the nest throughout the monitoring period. Camera-trap imagery captured eight nest repair events and two nest defense events; during the later the female defended the nest from village dogs.”

They have managed to reduce the mortality with their headstart program by an amazing 90%! To read the paper and full story, click here.

USGS biologist holds an endangered yellow-legged frog recovered from a fire-ravaged stretch of Little Rock Creek, just off Angeles Crest Highway 2 near Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

For over 500 species of frogs, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or more easily BD has been devastating. It has decimated populations worldwide and lead to extinctions of of 90 possible species threatening more world-wide. Scientists have been struggling to come up with a cure of any sort and have started to look at the possibility of infecting the fungus with a virus.

Meet BdDV-1, a viral fragment discovered by scientists whose paper was recently published by the journal Current Biology. The researchers found it in much the same way that one disentangles a knot, by pulling on individual threads to see where they lead. While examining the BD fungus to learn about weaknesses, they discovered a single-stranded DNA virus trapped within the genome of the fungus. Although this only applied to certain strains, when infected they produced fewer spores than the uninfected fungi. Now the next step is to see if researchers can clone and engineer this virus so that it kills BD and saves the frogs.

That will not be the easiest task to accomplish, however, for a big reason: Currently the virus makes the fungus more deadly to the frogs, rather than less so.

Now the question remains if they can reenginer the virus to change how it impacts the virus. To read more about the process, visit Salon here.

This is me, in all my Tinley Glory. If you need me, just grab me. I will always be there for you.

The best part about reptile shows is we can be ourselves. We are with our tribe. People who love the same things we do and it should be a fun and safe environment for all of us. The hard reality is that there are bad people everywhere in this world, no matter where you look.

This is going to be a very different post Tinley wrap and bear with me, it is going to probably be long but I promise reptile pictures from the show to lighten the mood that are not ball pythons or crested geckos at the end. Something happened that I felt needed to be addressed and shared even as vague as I intend on sharing. Let's just say, someone was naughty. 

Photo of female reticulated Gila from our photo gallery by user Kevin_Hunt and not animal in question

The autopsy report for the man who died after being bitten by his pet Gila Monster has been released and it lists three factors that resulted in his death. The report lists complications from envenomation of the Gila Monster, basically listed as an injury, but also listed an enlarged heart and a fatty liver as "significant contributing factors" in his death.

Around 11:45 p.m. Feb. 12, someone called 911 to report an animal bite, according to Lakewood Police. It was later determined to be a Gila monster bite.

The victim was taken to the hospital and died four days later. According to the autopsy report, the man suffered a "four-minute venomous Gila monster bite to the right hand."

He sought treatment about 2 hours after the bite. For more on the story, click here. The last known death from a Gila bite was in 1930 and the person may have had liver damage due to cirrhosis.

Caecilians are amphibians that look superficially like very large earthworms. New research suggests that at least one species of caecilian also produces "milk" for its hatchlings.Photo by Carlos Jared

Most people look at caecilians and think EWW. They are worm-like amphibians and although they have very adorable faces they are a more secretive animal and are often overlooked. Marta Antoniazzi, a biologist at the Instituto Butantan, in Sao Paulo, Brazil has been working with Siphonops annulatus for quite some time now. They noticed that while the babies fed on the mothers shed skin weekly, they were too active for that to be their sole source of nutrition. So they did what anyone would do. Set up a camera and waited.

"The babies prefer to go to the tail of the mother," he says.

And that's when they saw it. A secretion coming from the tail: "A kind of substance, like milk."

Upon further study, the team found that the milk contained lipids and sugars similar to mammalian milk. It was essentially providing the same function.

"It's a very unusual form of nutrition" for an egg-laying animal, says Mailho-Fontana.

Is it really milk? Well, that is up in the air for now, but it is a nutrition source for the babies provided by mom. For the full story as well as a link to the study, click here!

Some people have all the luck, really they do! It took me 3 trips to Texas to see my first rattlesnake. When Milan Watt came out of work and met her boyfriend at her car and they went to get in, he saw a tongue and that's when they saw it. That was also when they got out of the car and said NOPE!

Watt’s boyfriend came to meet up with her when he noticed something moving in her car.

“He turns around and he sees a tongue,” Watt said.

After they both got out of the car, Watt called 911.

“They told me they could not help because it was not a life-threatening emergency,” Watt told Arizona’s Family.

There are however many 24 hour services available that will come out to help and it is disappointing that the emergency services did not mention these. An encounter with a diamondback by someone unfamiliar is definitely a life-threatening emergency, especially when it is a diamondback trapped in a car! For us herpers however, that is just easy pickings! To see the video and full story, click here!

Botflies perch on the head of a northern green anaconda in Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. A recent study revealed that the green anaconda is two distinct species, more genetically diverse than humans and chimpanzees. (Karine Aigner/Naturepl.com)

Thanks to Will Smith, we now have two different Green Anacondas. Researchers used genetic data to determine that the Green Anaconda not one but two very distinct species, a southern and northern type. They were in the Amazon filming Smith's show "Pole to Pole with Will Smith" with Dr. Bryan G. Fry, an old friend of kingsnake.com as well a biologist at University of Queensland in Australia, when the differences were notice. Research ensued!

The Northern and Southern species show a 5.5% genetic difference from each other, which is huge considering humans only differ from chimpanzees by 2% difference.

The Amazon is made up of two separate basins — the large southern Amazon basin and the "much smaller" northern Orinoco basin.

"The southern green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is found across a vast range spanning Brazil, Bolivia, Perú and parts of French Guiana," he said.

"By contrast, our newly described northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima) is restricted to Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad, Venezuela and parts of French Guiana."

To read more about the new anacondas, click here!

I am quite sure when they wrote this article it really was not a tourism guide, but they also are not people like us, you know, herpers. World Atlas gave us a perfect guide for field herping however, listing the lakes and species you might find there. I was somewhat impressed with the article because despite the fact that the word "infested" is a constant in the article giving a negative feel, they talk about what brings the snakes there and how most of the species are harmless and important. They also have fairly decent identification photos. At the end of the article they even include this little part about safety:

Water snakes and semi-aquatic snakes enjoy the lakes in Arkansas. In particular, Greers Ferry Lake, Lake Ouachita, and Lake Fayetteville are popular spots for snakes. Despite the abundance of snakes, these Arkansas spots are still worth a visit. For outdoor enthusiasts, these lakes offer many activities to enjoy, from camping and hiking to fishing and kayaking. Visiting these spots is comforting because water snakes are usually harmless to humans. While semi-aquatic snakes can be venomous, identifying them can help you stay safe in snake territory.

In case you are interested, the three most "infested" according to the article are Lake Ouachita, Lake Fayetteville, and Greers Ferry Lake so book your trip now. You can check out the full article here. A warning to some, is an invitation to others! Just another place to add to your herping lists!

USARK has issued an absolutely terrifying action alert for Arizona that all animal owners need to be aware of. Please spread the word far and wide. There are almost two identical senate bills being introduces which allow for warrentless search of private property and immediate seizure of animals without cause. What does that mean? USARK explains:

Remember, warrants protect us from unreasonable governmental intrusion. As if that is not bad enough, the bills would make it so that, “The formal rules of evidence do not apply and reliable hearsay is admissible in the postseizure hearing.” Please read that last sentence again! “The formal rules of evidence do not apply and reliable hearsay is admissible…”

First, the formal court rules are tossed out the window. This means that the due process that typically exists in court does not apply. Additionally, hearsay is generally inadmissible in court unless a special exception is provided because it is not considered reliable or trustworthy. If this bill passes, hearsay will be good enough for the seizure and State possession of animals in Arizona. Needless to say, this goes against our constitutional rights as Americans.

We know from what we have seen in Florida what happens when government has too much power, healthy innocent animals that could be relocated and rehomed die violently on video for all to see. SB1204 has a hearing on Thursday, February 15 with the Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee. Please share this with everyone you know in Arizona. Visit USARK page HERE to learn more and keep up to date. Also JOIN USARK. Membership matters. Our numbers count! We will keep you up to date here as well!

Alterna crew in Del Rio, Photo by Jeff Barringer -

While looking for the photo of the day today, I came across this old gem. See kingsnake.com turns 25 today. I have heard the story many times of how Jeff tried to sell this whole website to people 25 plus years ago on herping trips and everyone thought he was crazy! See you have to realize the internet and the tech world we know it is new. We old fogies used to actually talk to people. I know! We would CALL people on the phone and we would answer phones not knowing who was calling! It was insanity! Forums lost their flair when social media hit because people liked that instant gratification. Our archives however is the history of our world. The who's who of the reptile community really and well worth the time to look back. We learned how to make things better back then and you can watch how the reptile community grew to where it is now. We were also closer.

This photo is the early days. Well before kingsnake.com started in West Texas the old Alterna crew days. Many of these people are still around, some aren't. How many can you recognize?

Sydney Sylvain Dubey

In Australia, venomous snakes are everywhere and killing them is quite common. One professor is attempting to change that mentality explaining how they can actually benefit the farmers who kill them.

New research by myself and colleagues estimated the magnitude of that benefit. We found adult eastern brown snakes can collectively remove thousands of mice per square kilometre of farmland each year, which substantially increases farm productivity.
Our study suggests the benefits of snake populations on agricultural land far outweigh the potential costs, and farmers should tolerate rather than kill them.
.....
Agricultural productivity gains are not the only benefits of tolerating brown snakes on farmland.

It would also allow a reduction in the use of chemical methods for rodent control, which can be expensive and ineffective. The chemicals can also threaten the health of humans, livestock, scavenging wildlife and pets.

Tolerating brown snakes might also reduce the incidence of snake bite. Most snake bites are inflicted when people are trying to catch or kill the reptile.

Its a pretty refreshing article that attempts to change the minds of people on venomous animals. Here's to hoping he changes a mind or two. To read the full article and attached study, click here.