After many years with our current server farm, they are closing and we will be moving our servers to a new provider this weekend. This will result in about a half a day to a full day of time being offline. We are working closely with our server providers to make this as smooth of a transition as possible.

Thank you for being a loyal kingsnake.com member!

It's hard to believe it's been 18 years, but domain registrations don't lie -- today is kingsnake.com's 18th birthday!

On February 8, 1997, kingsnake.com first appeared on the Internet; it's been 6,574 days, or 157, 776 hours, or 9,466,560 minutes, since our servers first went active and the kingsnake.com community launched. Since then, our reptile and amphibian community has been visited by millions of people from around the world who have posted millions of photos and messages about their pets. Yahoo and Amazon.com are older, but Google, YouTube, and Facebook are still our juniors.

When kingsnake.com first started, few reptile people had even seen the Internet. Now, the Internet is so ingrained in our daily lives, in our community, and in our industry, we would be unable to function without it. Along the way, kingsnake.com has documented much of it, good and bad, and stored in its archives is essentially an almost two decade history of the reptile community. Wading through it brings back a lot of memories of great animals, events, experiences, and many friends who have moved away, moved on, or passed.

We want to thank the many users, advertisers, sponsors, volunteers, and staffers who have made kingsnake.com what it is today: the largest, most relevant, and most popular reptile community on the Internet. - Jeff Barringer and the kingsnake.com staff

Click below to see images of kingsnake.com throughout the years...

On Monday, kingsnake.com launched a new vendor profile system in the classifieds, allowing all classified account holders to have a permanent presence for their business in the classifieds, even if they don't have any classified ads running at the time.

Available to both standard and enhanced account holders, the new vendor profile is an all-in-one marketing tool for reptile businesses, allowing them to maintain and re-list classified ads, link to their websiite and all their social media profiles, link to USARK and PIJAC, list upcoming trade show appearances, receive customer endorsements, and more.

Check out the huge list of features below:

The new vendor profile system allows you to:

- add a physical address and map
- add a store/shop image that pops up to a larger size when clicked
- add a large background image
- list all your classified ads
- list all the shows/expos you will attend (if in the kingsnake events database)
- display shipping options and package trackers
- display payment options
- add a lengthy business description
- add a FAQ/Terms sheet
- receive recommendations from kingsnake.com registered users
- link to your website
- link to your social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn)
- display your years on-site (if more than one year)
- display your business verification button/info
- display info for multiple physical locations
- allow you to run a special offer/coupon in your vendor profile
- display your enhanced account banner (if applicable)
- view traffic stats on vendor profile visitors
- display a membership button for USARK and PIJAC
- display an embedded video
- search engine friendly URL (http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/lllreptile, etc.)

The vendor profile system works whether you have a standard or enhanced classified account, and as long as your account stays active, the profile is visible and can be linked to from your own website, banner ads, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

Purchasing or renewing a 1-year account guarantees your profile is active year round, so even if you don't have or maintain active classified ads your business can still have a presence in kingsnake.com's popular classified advertising system.

To see sample classified vendor profiles, please visit
http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/lllreptile
or http://market.kingsnake.com/vendors/RodentPro.com.

To update and view your own classified vendor profile,
please log in at http://market.kingsnake.com/account.

To purchase or renew an existing standard or enhanced classified account, please visit http://www.kingsnake.com/shared/services/classified.php

kingsnake.com has completely rebuilt its reptile breeders and business directory, launching it not only on the main site, but also as a standalone website called ReptileBusinessGuide.com.

Businesses listed in kingsnake.com's current business directory system will be listed there as well as being listed on the new ReptileBusinessGuide.com site for the same flat annual fee, but with a new platform that will allow us to expand the feature sets available to businesses and hobbyists. Currently, the system allows a user to have not only a link to their website, but a map link if they have a retail location, links to a their Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages, as well as the ability to post a description and searchable keywords.

Both ReptileBusinessGuide.com and kingsnake.com's business directories are geographically oriented, with a click map interface, a zip/postal code search, as well as a keyword search. State-by-state listings also include links to upcoming local events, and localized classified ads.

ReptileBusinessGuide.com also uses kingsnake.com's standard banner sizes and rotations, including the brand new, low-cost, high visibility "Banner Pool" system.

As part of our "Sweet Sixteen" celebration event, listings are on sale through Saturday, Feb. 9, at midnight Central Time for only $50 each, a $50 savings over their regular price. What's more, now that it gets your event listed on two websites for the price of one, it's twice the deal.

To order a reptile and amphibian business directory listing for only $50 a year, click here!

Is there a reptile show coming to town, but you don't know when or where or even how to get there? That's why we've launched ReptileShowGuide.com!

kingsnake.com has completely rebuilt its reptile events system, launching it both on the main site and as a standalone site. Reptile shows, meetings, and other events listed in kingsnake.com's current event listing system will be listed there, as well as being listed on the new ReptileShowGuide.com site with the same flat per-show fee for commercial events -- and still free for non-profit events!

The new events platform allows us to expand the feature sets available to show promoters who list with the service. Currently, the system allows a user to have not only a link to an events web site, but a map link to the event site, and links to their Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. We plan on adding more features, as well as making listing user-manageable shortly.

Both ReptileShowGuide.com and kingsnake.com's revised events systems are geographically oriented, with a click map interface and a zip/postal code search. State-by-state listings also include links to local reptile businesses, and localized classified ads.

ReptileShowGuide.com also uses kingsnake.com's standard banner sizes and rotations, including the brand new, low-cost, high visibility "Banner Pool" system.

As part of our "Sweet Sixteen" celebration event, listings are on sale through Saturday, Feb. 9, at midnight Central Time for only $50 each, a $50 savings over their regular price. What's more, now that it gets your event listed on two websites for the price of one, it's twice the deal.

To order a reptile and amphibian event listing for only $50, click here!

This week, kingsnake.com is celebrating its sixteenth birthday, so we're rolling back the clock to 1997 and having a sale!

As part of our birthday festivities, we've put kingsnake.com business directory listings on sale for an incredible one-time only $50 a year -- that's $100 off our normal price! We've also put kingsnake.com's event listings on sale for only $50 each, which is $50 off our normal price!

Along with this week's launch of the low-cost, high-visibilty banner pool program, this is a great way for a reptile show or breeder to get a year's worth of listings and a full display ad package for a fraction of our normal costs. (Some of the banner pool locations are limited by availability, so act now before the biggest and best ads sell out.)

To get in on these 16th birthday specials, go to http://kingsnake.com/sweetsixteen.

We'll also be celebrating our 16th birthday all year at a variety of reptile and amphibian events, including this month's NARBC expo in Arlington Texas. Please stop by our booth to check out the "ZombieHunter" snake hunting machine, pick up a free kingsnake.com window sticker or bumper sticker, and let us know how long you have been reading kingsnake.com!

I want to thank everyone who has done so much over the years to make kingsnake.com most popular reptile community on the Internet. I'm looking forward to 2013, and to seeing everyone on the road - Jeff Barringer

Click below to see images of kingsnake.com throughout the years...

Ever wanted to run a banner on kingsnake.com, but were stopped by the cost? Help is here!

Buying display based advertising on the Internet industry per-view (known as "CPM") basis is cost-prohibitive for most small reptile and amphibian businesses and hobbyists. You buy $100 worth of views, and they run out before you even see your own banner. To address both of these issues and create ultra-low-cost display advertising opportunities, kingsnake.com has developed a new "Banner Pool" program where, for one very low price, you can get big name display advertising presence for a fraction of what traditional banners cost.

Here is how it works: kingsnake.com has categorized a number of its existing banner locations, and created new ones, as being part of a "banner pool." Anyone wishing to add their banner to the pool will pay a low fixed fee, and their banner will be displayed equally along with other members of the banner pool. The number of views your banner receives will be based on the day's visitor traffic divided by the number of banners in the pool.

Some special things about the pool banners: Unlike in our standard banner locations, we will not be using the pool banner locations for Google or Amazon advertising. Nor will we use them for kingsnake.com's own "house" advertising.

That means you won't be competing with third party or in-house ads. Only advertisers who have paid to be in the pool will be in the pool. * Additionally, membership in each pool will be limited so that each pool member will get a fair and appropriate amount of advertising for their purchase, with no less than 1000 views per day being the cutoff. Most will receive far in excess of that number.

How much does it cost to jump into the banner pool? There are a number of options based on display ad size and location, the most expensive being the large 300 x25 rectangle that appears on our index and other pages (the second display ad in the right column) for only $100.00 per year -- 27 cents a day!

Other options include a full size (468x60) pool banner for $50 a year that will appear primarily in the footer as well as in classified ads and forum posts, and a half banner for $30 (234 x 60) that currently only appears in the footer but may see other locations added.

Finally, we're offering a quarter-sized (120 x 60) banner that appears in the middle of most of our indexes, as well as the footer of every page on kingsnake.com. This is our best value, delivering hundreds of thousands of views daily. The cost for a banner in this pool is only $25 a year!

For more information on how to add your banner to the pool, or to purchase your banner pool slot, please go to http://www.kingsnake.com/services/bannerpool.html. Space in the pool is limited and selling fast, so grab a towel and head to the banner pool today!

(kingsnake.com has donated pool banners to the USARK, PIJAC, and NRAAC organizations, and banners for these organizations appear in some, though not all, pools.)

Yet another kingsnake.com system has undergone an overhaul. This time, it's the reptile and amphibian events system that's had a winter makeover.

No longer just displayed as a long, linking list of events, reptile and amphibian event listings are now searchable by state and province, as well as zip and postal code. A new detailed listing section includes a phone number, the street address of the event, and a map link to help herpers find their way to the event venue.

Further upgrades to the reptile and amphibian events system in 2013 will allow event promoters to manage and edit their listings, as well as add more information about their event. Event listings are still displayed in the old format as well, on the events page, in numerous tabbed locations throughout kingsnake.com, and in the news scroll in the header.

The events system is already chock full of 2013 reptile and amphibian expos and events, so click here and give it a try, and see when the next reptile show is coming near you!

If you have a reptile or amphibian event in 2013 and need to get the word out, listing it in kingsnake.com's event locator system is the best way to reach herpers across the globe. With a 15+ year history of reptile event listings, kingsnake.com is the first place most herpers go to find out where the shows are.

To find out more about how you can list your upcoming reptile and amphibian event, check out the events page at http://kingsnake.com/events.

kingsnake.com and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) are partnering to launch a reptile and amphibian veterinary locator service to help people locate local medical services and treatment for their cold-blooded pets.

The full system will be available in 2013, but the current beta version offers links and contact information on reptile and amphibian vets who are members of the ARAV in the United States and Canada. Under the new locator system, herp veterinarians may be located by state or province, or by zip or postal code. Plans for the final release include code that will allow anyone to add the reptile vet locator to their website or page.

"I am looking forward to this very sensible and powerful collaboration." said ARAV webmaster Dr. Katie Heinz-Taheny "The 'portable' search on your page looks good, and will reach an even greater number of herp owners."

The vet locator is one of the many projects in the works stemming from conversations at the September NRAAC Reptile Law Symposium and Workshop in Houston. More collaborative projects are expected to be announced in the coming year between many of the participating companies and organizations. Plans for the 2013 NRAAC conference at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. are scheduled to be announced later this week.

To try out the beta Reptile and Amphibian Vet Locator, visit http://kingsnake.com/vets.html. The full version will be released in January.

Who doesn't like going to the zoo? For many, their first experience with reptiles and amphibians was at the zoo. I still remember when I was a kid visiting the Cincinnati and Indianapolis Zoos, where the giant tortoises were among my favorites. It left a lasting impression on me and growing up, I never turned down a trip to the zoo.

Now that I'm an adult, when I'm traveling I still like to try to visit the local zoo or aquarium. Over time, I've managed to visit dozens here in the States and in Europe. As an out of towner, however, I often find it difficult to find basic information on the zoo and its location, and without relying on a cab to get there. Sometimes I've found myself lost in a foreign city, wandering about in a rental car asking locals for directions.

kingsnake.com's newest feature, a zoo, aquarium, and wildlife park locator, should help resolve a lot of those issues. This new resource lists AZA-accredited facilities in the United States and Canada by state or province, as well as by zip and postal codes. The locator provides the street address, phone number, website link, and a map link for each facility, to help making your next trip to the zoo a better experience. Check out it out at http://kingsnake.com/zoos.html!

Fifteen years is a looong time.

On February 8, 1997 kingsnake.com first appeared on the internet; It has been 5,478 days, or 137,952 hours, or 8,277,120 minutes from when our servers first went active. Since then our reptile and amphibian community has been visited by millions of people from around the world who have posted millions of photos and messages about their pets. Yahoo and Amazon.com may be older, but Google, YouTube, and of course Facebook are still our junior.

When I first started this web site few reptile people had even seen the internet, now the internet is so ingrained in our daily lives, in our community, and in our industry, we wonder how we were able to function without it. Along the way kingsnake.com has documented much of it, good and bad, and stored in it's archives is essentially a history of the reptile communities last decade and a half. Wading through it brings back a lot of memories of great animals, events, experiences, and friends that have long past. It will be interesting to see what changes the next 15 years bring.

kingsnake.com will be celebrating it's 15th anniversary all year at a variety of Reptile and Amphibian events, including this weekends NARBC expo in Arlington Texas. Please stop by our booth, pick up a free kingsnake.com window sticker and let us know how long you have been reading kingsnake.com! If you can't make it to this weekends show then tune in here for updates from the expo floor.

I want to thank the many users, advertisers, sponsors, volunteers, and staffers who have made kingsnake.com what it is today: the largest, most relevant, and most popular reptile community on the internet. - Jeff Barringer

Click below to see images of kingsnake.com throughout the years...