The Monitor

April, 2011

From the Editor's Desk

President: Melissa Coakley
Vice-President: Michele Patton
Secretary: Carrie Gardner Treasurer: Doreen E. Saccardo
Chairman of the Board: John Soto
Editor: Carrie Gardner
Co-Editor: Doreen Saccardo
Field Trip Chair: Doreen Saccardo
Webmaster: Carrie Gardner
Membership Chair: Dennis Beeker Field Trip Chair: Bill Murray

NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
John Coakley on Turtles and Tortoises
Moccasin Lake Nature Park
2750 Park Trail Lane
Clearwater, FL
727-462-2976

~~~~~~~~DON'T MISS IT~~~~~~~~

WE ARE ON FACEBOOK NOW! Please come and see us at www.facebook.com/suncoastherpsociety

Alton of Smelt Feed and Pet Supply is donating a $15.00 gift certificate every month for our raffle. His store is located at 4116 East 7th Avenue, Tampa, FL 33605, 813-248-2359

Herp Hobby Shop is celebrating their 20th Anniversay!! Please go and visit them at 103 Douglas Road, Unit E, Oldsmar, FL 34677, or give them a call at 813-925-0041! They provide the highest quality in captive-bred and imported reptiles and a full line of reptile supplies.

Web Page info: Calendar page is updated all the time as is Adoptions and Advertisements.

If you have photos you would like added to the "Club Photos" page, please email Carrie to have them added. YES, WE HAVE A PHOTO ALBUM THAT IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

Carrie's Notes

I, on behalf of the Board, would like to THANK Dennis Beeker for all that he does for the club. He is always coming up with great and new ideas.

We are now on Facebook! Please sign up at www.facebook.com/SuncoastHerpSociety, and click on "Like". Doreen, Melissa, Michele, and myself are the administrators, so if you're wondering who's behind the posts, you know who it is!

Last month we started a contest for members. If you refer 5 people in a 12 month period, you get your membership free for 1 year. If you refer 10 people in a 12 month period, you get a free 1 year membership and a $20.00 Gift Card.

Last month Dennis was contacted by Juli Shaw and Charles Batdorf invited Chris and Mason Miller...so Dennis and Charles are neck to neck!!

A big welcome to Juli, Chris and Mason too! It was great to meet you!

Last month was the Reptile Show, and of course, it was great. All of our tables were together and we had Juli Shaw and Ed Bennett come out to help. Melissa and Juli did a great job of asking vendors for stuff to donate for our auction. It sounds like we're pulling in quite a few things too!

I added a whole bunch of photos on the website, and we're posting photographs on Facebook too, so come and take a look.

Please, join www.usark.org's mailing list to see what you can do to help with the increasing number of proposed bills that are coming. Become a member or donate some money. All money donated is matched by ZooMed.

Ciao,
Carrie

Doreen's Column

Hi there~~

*****Last Month our guest speaker was Dennis Beeker. He did a fabulous job explaining the way he has his reptile room set up. His concern for safety was evident and his way of using normal household items to make things work for him was enlightening. You don't have to go out and buy all these expensive gadgets. Dennis also has a focus on education and takes his snakes to the schools. He has grandsons who he is training to be responsible pet owners. See Carrie's recap.

***** Our auction is this month. We will be starting at 6:00 PM. I will bring lite food and non alcoholic beverages. Melissa and Michele did a great job in soliciting items at the reptile show a few weeks ago. I will be bringing a truck load of items. Don't forget to look through your "stuff" and bring things that usable and in good shape. Please, no broken or junk items.

*****We had a good turn out at the reptile show in March. We made about $325. We also got 2 new members. Thanks to everyone who manned (or womanned the table). Carrie, Melissa, Juli, Michele, Ed, John, and Bill.

*****Our field trip organizer, Bill Murray, planned a trip to Sawgrass Park in St. Petersburg last Sunday. I was working a bird show and could not make it. Whoever attended that, please be prepared to talk about it a little at this meeting.

*****John Coakley will be our guest speaker for May. Bill will make sure John gives me a title for his talk. I know it will be on turtles.

***** I just wanted everyone to know that I am back selling Reptiles Magazine two years for the one year price of $24. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

I want to continually thank Carrie for doing all she does for the club. She keeps up with the newsletter and the website. I also want to thank Alice for keeping up with the member list and my monthly reminder call.

Happy Birthday to:

April 14 ~~ Trevor Sawyer
May 8 ~~ Ed Osborne
May 30 ~~Garth LaFave

If your name is not on the birthday list, let me know and I will add it, (Either I don't have it or I forgot).

*****Thank you to all who do their part for this club. That is what makes our society the GREATEST in Florida.

*****Have a herpy day!! Doreen~~

SPEAKER RECAP BY CARRIE

Last month, Dennis Beeker spoke to us on how he keeps his boas and the volunteer work he does at his grandsons' school. Dennis' grandson Dylan was on hand to help Grandpa operate the PowerPoint and walk around with his boa, Rocky.

The first thing Dennis mentioned, which is very important to the entire reptile industry, is to get involved in USARK. They are a grassroots group who represents reptile keepers and breeders in Federal and State legislation. You can go to www.usark.org and become a member, donate money, or sign up for their email mailing list. They will keep you apprised of all that is going on as far as what bills are being passed, etc.

Dennis has kept snakes for many years. Before boas, he kept venomous snakes, ball pythons, California kingsnakes, ratsnakes, cornsnakes, etc. He said about the only thing he never kept was the ROC snake species, because they would just be too difficult to handle when they got older and larger. He finally fell in love with boas and that is what he keeps and breeds now. And they are about as big as he wants to get, as far as size goes.

He carries a Class III permit for reptiles and amphibians, with the exception of venomous or ROC species. This allows him to not only sell his animals, but to exhibit them. Exhibiting meaning using them in talks. Technically you cannot display reptiles or use them in a presentation without this permit. If you're with someone who has a permit, you can do it under them. It only costs $50.00 a year. I keep one, as a safe guard. Fish and Wildlife require people who have permits to have detailed escape plans for natural disasters and keep on record an emergency contact and the vet information. That information can help my animals, if I can't get to them to help.

Before I get started on Dennis' set up, I would like to mention that Dennis' main concern in keeping his boas is SAFETY. He keeps each individual cage locked, and the workshop where they're kept padlocked when he isn't in there. This not only protects his grandchildren from going in and grabbing a snake, but it keeps the snakes where they belong, and not out where they can hurt someone. Remember that the media LOVES to pounce on stories of large constrictor snakes getting loose and causing damage. First and foremost, he wants the snakes secure and people around protected, and he doesn't want to end up on page one of the newspapers either. An escapee or an irresponsible reptile owner can ruin things for the whole reptile industry. It is a part of the responsibility of owning a pet, ANY pet, that you keep it safe and secure.

Another thing to remember when handling reptiles and having your children handle them is to encourage them to WASH THEIR HANDS! This is very important.

Now on to his set-ups . . . and these are really cool set-ups. He builds his own cages with plywood, resin, and fiberglass. They are fixed with plexiglass sliding doors that are secured with a cabinet lock. This is his own design and costs around $100.00 to build. He has heat tape underneath the tank and keeps it at around 83 degrees. There's a box in the corner of the cage made of aluminum and stainless steel where he can fit in a dome light fixture if it is cold and they need extra heat. It is very easy for him to go in and change the bulbs. He prefers to use the red heat lamps because you can do a visual and see that they are working. Ceramic heaters can stop working and you won't know it until something happens to the snake. The cages are easy to clean, and he uses newspaper as a substrate. In tanks, he puts a piece of pest strip in a plastic baby food container with little holes drilled in and staples it in. There are many differing opinions on this, but it works for him. The way it is set up, it does not come into direct contact with the snake and doesn't hurt it. This will keep unwanted six and eight legged critters from getting in to bite the snakes. He keeps the thermostat right in the middle of the tank, though the snakes do have a cool and warm side to thermoregulate.

He has his electrical cords plugged into a surge protector, with corresponding numbers to the cage in case he needs to unplug. Along with the cords there, he keeps dimmer switches, incase he has to adjust the level of light or heat inside an individual tank (I have these too, and they are great). And other more complicated electrical outlets, but all nicely organized and labeled. He also uses thermostats that keep the cages at a constant temperature.

For humidity control he sprays the cages down, and keeps a gold fish in a tank in the workshop that has an air stone and tube in it. I find this very intriguing and am wondering if just putting a cup full of water, an air stone, and tube connected to an air pump in the tank will do the same thing? Something I think I'm going to try.

When his snakes go into the blue phase just prior to shedding (John Soto would call this the opaque phase - as he did the last time I called it the "blue phase" ), Dennis puts a blue piece of tape on the cage that tells him that the snake is going to need a little more humidity and misting. When done, the sign of a healthy snake that had proper humidity should be a shed of the whole body without pieces, and rolled up into a doughnut shape.

Keeping cages clean is an important part to having healthy snakes. Dennis cleans the snakes' cages with chlorhexadrine. (I think I spelled that right). It is safe on your skin, and won't hurt the snakes. He also uses it to clean out the water dishes (along with a scrubber). Once a week, he takes all the water dishes to the sink outside his workshop and bleaches them. For the plexiglass, he uses his own solution of alcohol, vinegar, and liquid soap (get with him to get the exact recipe). This doesn't hurt the plexiglass at all, and again, is safe for the snakes.

For feeding his snakes, he thaws out the rats in a basket placed in a container of warm water that is heated with a heating pad. He has a thermometer in the water to make sure it stays at 83 degrees. When thawed, they are fed to the snakes wet, using a long stick with a clothes pin on the end to hold the tail. It is strong enough to hold the rat, but the snake can easily grab it. One of these sticks is 42 inches long, since his grandkids help with feeding too. He doesn't take his snakes out of their cages to feed them because in his situation, he simply can't. When he sticks his hands in their cages, he places his hand on their heads to let them know that it is him, not a rodent, and that they better not bite him. But, he said if you can feed them in a separate container, it is better to do it that way.

There were many cool pictures of his snakes eating, but my favorite had to be the picture of what a good snake poop looks like! And I thought it was even funnier when his wife expressed concern over showing that picture. It was okay to see a snake chow down on a rat, but a little offensive to show a picture of snake poop. And the perfect snake poop should be solid urates and stool. None of it runny.

In his workshop, he has heaters and air conditioners to try and keep an ambient temperature of 82-84 degrees. He also has a Hot Shots big pest strip that he uses for the workshop that will kill anything. In fact, you can only be in the same room with for so many hours.

Dennis is very meticulous in his record keeping. He records when finds urates, poop, when the shed starts, shed skin, what he's given them to eat, when they ate it, when he breeds snakes, how long they bred, etc. It makes it easier to go back and look for any indications of something that may be wrong. For example, he had a female that gave birth to a number of slugs (unfertilized eggs) and still borns. Looking back on his records, he thought he took the male out too soon and there wasn't enough sperm. Now it could have been a number of things, but because he had the records, he was able to logically conclude what the problem was.

Breeding season begins with a caress, and pretty soon the snakes are entwined with their tails connected. Once the female is gravid, Dennis will feed her tiny meals to give her the extra strength and nutrition that she needs. Those babies deplete her of a lot. Boas give "live births" . . . technically speaking, the eggs grow inside of the female, without any placental connection. They have a thin membrane, so when she goes to "lay" her eggs, they babies pop out and are born live.

He has about a rack that holds about 70 shoe boxes. They have heat rope at the far end (he likes to keep the babies a little warmer), with a paper towel that easily fits in the shoe boxes, and a water dish, filled only a little bit. He does this for two reasons . . . number one, the babies often like to soak in their dishes and their bodies displace the water, soaking up the shoe box. And number two, they knock over their water dishes and soak the shoe box. When the babies are born, they have all the boxes ready and Dennis hands them over to his wife who places them in the box, etc.

And there's nothing more exciting than waiting for a female to deliver her babies. He described it as how you feel when you have kids. The anticipation is incredible as the miracle of life makes his or her way into the world. I would love to experience this with my own snakes, but I have a sneaky suspicion that I would want to keep all the babies.

Each of his grandkids has a snake of their own. Dylan brought his with him. He is a beautiful male named Rocky. Rocky grew up with Dylan taking him out every day and holding him while watching TV. He is a very docile snake. And Dylan was the perfect educator while walking around with him. My friend Amanda had never held a snake, but Dylan made her feel comfortable enough that she held Rocky for quite awhile.

Now onto a very important part of his talk. EDUCATION!! This is something that the club has been lacking in lately. Everyone works and has busy lives, but everyone can take one day off to participate in the All American Teach In in November. Dennis has done that longer than he's been in the club, and he loves talking to elementary children about Rocky.

These kids are our ambassadors of our future. And those minds are little sponges. They love to see snakes and lizards, and participating in helping them learn that snakes and lizards aren't creepy, slimy animals but important members of our environment is crucial. And there are other ways you can help out too. We have bookmarks and post cards to hand out to area libraries and businesses. Call your local library and see if they'd be willing to have you come on a weekend to talk to some kids. And there's nothing more sweet than seeing how excited they get when they see snakes and lizards. And you could always volunteer at our table at Repticon. Interacting with people who come by is one of the best things of working the shows.

Dennis gave some guidelines for doing a talk with small children. The main emphasis is on keeping it simple. Those little brains may be like sponges, but they also get bored fast. Start by introducing yourself and your pet. Ask the kids if they have any pets, and what they have. They are always excited to talk about the animals they keep. Briefly tell them about the snake - how the eyes, tongue, sense of smell work, what they eat. Stress the responsibility of taking care of and loving the pets they have and how much you take care of your animal. Also be sure to stress not to pick up a wild snake - or bother any wild animal for that matter - and to run and get an adult if they come across one. And if they do come across a snake or other animal, not to hurt it. Teach them that snakes have every right to live, just like us. Then comes pet the snake time. Make sure they sanitize their hands before and after and KEEP THE HEAD AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN. Don't let them hold the snake . . . just let them touch it. You may trust your snake not to bite you, but a child may have a pet rat at home and the snake smells that and thinks it's food and bites. When showing off your animals, realize that they have a mind of their own and don't always agree with you on how they should behave.

Dennis gave a wonderful talk. It was interesting and entertaining. And, as our new membership chair, he is an asset to Suncoast Herpetological Society!

Michele's Musings

This article is not reptile related directly, however it effects the environment that are native reptiles & amphibians live in.

Southeast Forests: Pine Away No More

Restoring longleaf pine habitat provides both ecological & economic benefits

Once blanketing more than 90 million acres across 8 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states, longleaf pine forests have been reduced to just 3% of their historic range – eliminating vital habitat for a wealth of wildlife, from red-cockaded woodpeckers to gopher tortoises. Restoring the forests would provide much-needed assistance to these & other struggling native species. According to a recent NWF (National Wildlife Federation) report, it would also provide a boost to the economy of the Southeast and help the region cope with the effects of global warming.

The report, Standing Tall: How Restoring the Longleaf Pine Can Help Prepare the Southeast for Global Warming, was drafted in collaboration with the conservation groups America's Longleaf and The Longleaf Alliance. It summarizes the latest scientific findings on global warming's expected impact on the Southeast – specifically how it threatens southern forests. These forests not only will become hotter, and thus more prone to insect and disease outbreaks, they are likely to experience increased drought, floods, fires & hurricane damage. The report notes that the region's dwindling longleaf pines are far more resistant to such stresses than are plantations of fast-growing loblolly & slash pine, and they are more efficient at capturing from the atmosphere the carbon pollution that causes global warming.

"A substantial part of America's environmental future is tied to this one species," writes Harvard University professor emeritus Edward O. Wilson in the foreword to the report. "The longleaf also holds the key to an important part of the future economy of the southeastern United States." Economic opportunities provided by longleaf forests include products such as pine straw and habitat for recreational hunting.

Given their importance, the report calls for a national-level commitment to restore longleaf pine forests, an effort on par with current restoration initiatives in the Everglades and the Chesapeake Bay. "We badly need new tools to deal with the effects of climate change in the south," explains Eric Palola, senior director of NWF's Forests for Wildlife Program. "The good news is that bringing back the iconic longleaf pine ecosystem is one of the best tools available."

To download a copy of the report, go to www.nwf.org/longleafpine.

Article from: National Wildlife magazine April/May 2010 issue.

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I found this article in last Friday's TBT. In the very last line of this article, "This might be a chemical of concern in the next few years." Duh, I think this Chlorothalonil is a chemical of concern NOW.

Fungicide Makes For Great Frogicide, Too
By Craig Pittman

The chemical widely used in Florida could harm humans too, directly and through the food chain.

Two years ago some University of South Florida researchers began studying the effects of the most widely used fungicide in the country to see if it might kill more than just fungus. Turns out it's also a pretty effective frogicide.

"We were completely surprised to see it basically killed everything," said Taegan McMahon, the lead researcher on the study, which was published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Frogs on farms with treated fields, frogs in ponds on golf courses, frogs in the back yard – the fungicide could be lethal to any of them, researchers said.

"We don't know what the effect on humans could be," she added. "And we use it heavily in Florida."

Chlorothalonil, sold as Bravo, Echo, and Daconil, is also an ingredient in mold-suppressing paint. It's part of the same chemical family, organophosphates, as the banned pesticide DDT. It can cause severe eye and skin irritation if handled improperly.

Chlorothalonil kills mold & fungus by disrupting the respiratory functions of the cells, said study co-author Jason Rohr, an assistant professor who heads up USF's Rohr Ecology Lab. The researchers don't know if that's how it kills frogs too, he said. They just know it is lethal.

"We've previously studied a variety of other pesticides, such as atrazine, as well as herbicides and insecticides," Rohr said. "We haven't seen one with nearly the mortality that we've seen with Chlorothalonil."

Frogs and other amphibians play an important role in the food chain, which is why scientists began sounding the alarms in the early 1990s when they noticed many disappearing.

An estimated one-third of the world's 6,300 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, with blame placed on climate change, loss of habitat, chemical use by humans and a spreading fungus – just the sort of thing a fungicide would kill.

The USF researchers experimented on hundreds of tadpoles, from southern leopard frogs, Cuban tree frogs, green tree frogs and squirrel tree frogs. Chlorothalonil's label says not to spray it directly on waterways, so they used a federally approved formula that calculates how much of a concentration would run off a field and wash into a nearby waterway.

It killed nearly 90% of all the frogs, McMahon said. At a doubled dose, it killed 100%. Weaker concentrations harmed the frog's immune & liver systems, and may have altered stress hormone levels.

Now that the frog study is done, Rohr said his group is studying the effects on other species, such as snails, insects and plankton. Given what has turned up so far, he said, "This might be a chemical of concern in the next few years."

This article was in Friday April 8th 2011 issue of TBT, Tampa Bay Times.

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Until Next Month,
Carrie

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