The Monitor

January, 2009

From the Editor's Desk

Newsletter Material

This is YOUR club. The more you give into it, the more you will get out of it. Your opinions, suggesions and submissions are welcome. You may submit articles by the Monday or Tuesday THE WEEK BEFORE a meeting to luvcatz7@tampabay.rr.com

President: Peter Richardson
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
Administrative Assistant Alexander Peters

NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Xan Peters on Dinosaurs
7:00 p.m.
Moccasin Lake Nature Park
Clearwater, FL 727-462-6024
~~~~~~~~DON'T MISS IT~~~~~~~~

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

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

If you would like to receive updates on the website via email, please scroll down to the bottom of the home page and join Yahoo! Groups. Choose to receive email or daily digest. I send out an email to the list every time a change is made.

If you have photos you would like added to the "Club Photos" page, please email Carrie to have them added. *The Club Photos page is still up, but I haven't put any recent photographs up because I'm trying to come up with a more conveinent way of displaying the photos*

Carrie's Notes

Hidey Ho fellow herpers!

I have a new email address...luvcatz7@tampabay.rr.com.

RED-EARED SLIDERS: No more permits are being issued to own red-eared sliders. The state is encouraging euthanasia. HOWEVER, thanks to Pete Richardson, there is a place where they can be shipped. This is from The Turtle and Tortoise Club's July Issue: "Stacey Vajanyi and I (Marvin Bennett) have been collecting red-eared sliders from pet owners who could not or choose not to keep them anymore. These pet owners have paid us a small fee to ship these turtles to Oklahoma, ‘their home range,'. It is good to see the previous owners doing the right thing instead of dropping them in their local lakes. This is a program set up by myself and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission." If you have or know of someone who is wanting a new home for their red-eared slider, please contact Marvin Bennett at 407-851-0198 or Stacey Vajanyi 321-961-0050.

Senator Bill Nelson is coming down on the side of the people who would like to ban large pythons. He has taken the USGS map to heart and is in the process of contacting the other states where "Burmese pythons can live" together with the ban. Please feel free to write or e-mail Senator Nelson, as I have done!

HOWEVER, there has been a new study done on the potential range of the Burmese python. Released in August, the new study, done by Alex Pyron and other City University of New York researchers suggests that the Burmese is unlikely to spread beyond Southern Florida. Both this study and the USGS study used climate data from India and Southeast Asia and global warming, but the new study factored in more variables than the USGS study's two variables. The new study used 19 variables measuring climatic extremes, averages and seasonal variation. The results show that the USGS models were excessively broad and didn't represent an accurate picture (ya think?). I haven't checked out the site yet, but you can find it on www.plosone.org.

Forwarded to me from Doreen:
Do any members raise Eastern Hermann's or Homes Hingeback Tortoies? Kirk Burness would like to buy or partially trade for one or both - baby, juvenile or adult. You can contact him at kirkburness@hotmail.com.

Ciao,
Carrie

Doreen's Column

Hi there~~

*****December 17, 2008 was our annual Christmas Party. We did not have as many people as I expected and had a lot of food left over. I took the leftovers to my church because I was helping with a funeral on Thursday. The church gave us a check for $25 which as about half of what I spent on the food. So that worked out well for us. I had a flat screen TV for the raffle. We just about made our money back with a couple of IOUs in the mix. Hopefully, the checks are in the mail. Bill Murray was the big winner of the TV. Congrats.

****Xan Peters will speak in January 2009 about dinosaurs which should be real exciting. I am looking forward to that. Keep an eye out for the announcement I already faxed it to the St. Pete Times. It should be in the "Out and About" section either Tuesday or Wednesday.

****When you see me this month, I will be in sneakers, but my foot is still swelling and I still get irritable because of it. (Beware)!

*****February, 2009 will be our BIG auction. This is where we will have ALL kinds of items. This would be the time to go through your reptile room and get rid of anything that you are not using THAT IS IN GOOD condition. Please don't bring junk. If it is broke, throw it out. If it is an electrical appliance that is not UL approved or made before 1752, please put it in your garage sale instead.

*****March 7 and 8, 2009 The Tampa Reptile Mania Show will take place at the Fairgrounds. We always get a table at this show. Try to be there some part of the weekend. We get our table free by volunteering for Alex and Brett. This is well worth it because you get to see the show, talk to the vendors and try to make the best deals. Let me know if you plan to attend and what days so I can have a rough idea of scheduling.

*****Kirk Burness is looking to acquire a Chinese Box Turtle (Yellowed Margined Box Turtle) so if any member have any adults or your for sale or trade, let him know.

Also, he has acquired a 50 pound (OMG)! {his words, not mine} of Purina Aqua Max which is supposedly ideal for box turtles and aquatics in general. He would love to sell it off cheap to members to offset the cost. Please contact him by email at kirkburness@hotmail.com on either of the above two points.

*****I was speaking to someone who wants to rescue a couple of ball pythons. If anyone has any they would like to find a good home for, let me know and I will give you his phone number.

*****March 27 to 29, 2009 in Gainesville will be the 32nd Annual Herpetological Conference and the 6th Annual Southeastern Ecology and Evolution Conference. There are always a lot of excellent speakers at these conferences. Check out their website for details.

*****I just want to add continuing thanks to Carrie for keeping up with the website, I know that takes a lot of work with many frustrations. But she does an excellent job and it shows. Thanks Carrie.

>January 7 ~~ Frank Matzelle

Happy Birthday to you!

*****I know we have new people attending our meetings, but I have not received any new birthdays. You can drop me an email iguanadoreen@hotmail.com and let me know so I can add the list.

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

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

Speaker Recap By Carrie

I am proud to announce that there is a photo page up on the website. It is a web-based photo page (Photobucket), and you can get there through the website, or by typing in www.photobucket.com/shsphotos! I believe everyone will enjoy the photos I took at Lowry Park Zoo of the Komodo Dragons mating!

Michele's Musings

The Green Anole-Part 2

Anoles require basking daytime temps 85 – 90F. The overall thermal gradient for days 75 – 80F, and for night 65 – 75F. The ambient enclosure humidity should be around 60 -70%; humid but not wet rainforest conditions. Spray plants with purified water a few times a day or set up a mister system.

In the wild, anoles lap water off leaves. In captivity, you cannot assume that they will know what a water bowl is, so you will need to spray leaves for them. You can set up a dripper bottle into a shallow bowl. It is the sight and sound of dripping water that will get their attention.

Their diet should be as close to their wild diet as possible. Anoles may be scared of prey that is too large for them to handle. Wild caught bugs will be accepted eagerly, just make sure the insects that are collected are pesticide free and are from areas not heavily saturated with auto exhaust. Stay away from bugs you are not certain of and ones known to be toxic, like fireflies. Anoles have a rapid metabolic rate and spend most of their day hunting down prey. You should offer your anole soft-bodied insects, like crickets. Try to pick insects that have just recently shed, as they are more easily digestible.

Since anoles are primarily wild caught lizards, highly stressed from the capture and lack of adequate care, and often inhumane conditions of the pet trade, they are generally dehydrated, moderately to severely emaciated, and riddled with parasites. A dehydrated reptile will not eat, or will not eat very much, as digestion requires considerable quantities of fluids.

A sign of an anole that is dehydrated is any significant folds of skin, or the eyes are sunken. If 24 hours of higher than normal humidity does not resolve it; the anole should be taken to a reptile vet to be assessed for other fluids. If there are persistent black spots behind the eyes, it is an indication that the anole is seriously ill.

When anoles have proper heat, light, fed & housed, they are fairly hardy lizards. The life span for an anole averages around 4 years, although they can live longer up to 8 or more years if well cared for. Depending on age when they are bought/caught, the older ones may not settle in as well as younger anoles. Wild anoles reach a size of 10 – 12 inches, 9 inches in captivity is considered big. This is possibly due to the fact that they are not generally cared for properly in captivity, and so do not grow as well and die earlier than in the wild.

The typical coloration for a green anole ranges from the richest and brightest green to the darkest of browns, with little variation in between. There are a few exceptions; however which are caused when a lack in one of the pigment genes occurs. There are 3 layers of pigment cells, (chromatophores that make up the green anole color spectrum), the xanthophores, responsible for the yellow pigmentation; the cyanophores, responsible for the blue pigmentation, and melanophores, responsible for the brown and black pigmentation. The combination of the xanthophores and cyanophores are what make up the green color. The melanophores are responsible for the brown and black pigmentation when the anole is cold or stressed.

When there is a lack of one of these pigments, color mutations also called "phases" can occur. In particular, this can lead to the occurrence of the rare and beautiful blue-phased green anole. The blue phase is extremely rare and only occurs 1 out of 20,000 babies each year in the wild. Other color phases can also occur, such as the yellow phased anole. They are not as vibrant in color as the green or blue. Colonies of these rare color phased anole have been reported, but anoles with these color mutations rarely live long, since the green anole relies upon its green color for camouflage to hunt down prey and hide from would be predators.

References:
* Melissa Kaplan's – Herp Care Collection "Anoles"
* Carolina Anole – from the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on-line
* Caribbean Anoles – by Ralf Heselhaus & Matthias Schmidt
* Green Anoles, selection care & breeding – by Ray Hunziker

Article on Glass Lizards

What is the difference between a snake and a legless lizard?

A legless lizard? Wouldn't that be called a snake?

Nope -- they're two entirely different animals from separate evolutionary lines. Legless lizards evolved from the legged lizards with which most of us are familiar; legless snakes evolved from four-legged snakes that most of us have never seen.

But the two do look an awful lot alike. Both have long, slender, cylindrical bodies; forked tongues; scaly exteriors and can often be found slithering through sand. And then, of course, there's the leglessness. It's tough for the casual observer to tell them apart. It's not impossible, though.

So what makes a legless lizard a lizard instead of a snake? Why is it often called a "glass lizard," and how you might be able to distinguish this lizard from a snake the next time you find yourself looking at a long, slithery, legless reptile?

Legless lizards live all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica, and can thrive in all sorts of climates -- cool, hot, wet and dry. They're pretty widespread throughout the United States, especially in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, Texas and California.

It's very understandable if you see a legless lizard and assume you're looking at a snake. The two are similar animals, not only in appearance, but also in behavior. Both lay eggs that mature outside the body, both slither along the ground in a roughly S-like fashion, and both eat some of the same things, like mice and bird eggs. Glass lizards also enjoy beetles, grasshoppers, snails and spiders.

They tend to go for the smaller prey. This is because a major physical trait that distinguishes them from snakes: Glass lizards have inflexible jaws. Unlike snakes, they can't "unlock" their jaws to swallow a whole rabbit. A legless lizard has to stick to prey that's smaller than its own head.

There are other differences that are easier to spot. Glass lizards have moveable eyelids; snakes have no eyelids at all. Glass lizards also have ear openings, while snakes don't. And then there's the trait that earned the creature the "glass" moniker. Legless lizards, like most other lizards, can detach their tail when they need to. When threatened by a predator, one of the legless lizard's main defensive mechanisms is to separate its body from its tail. It leaves the tail behind -- still wriggling -- to distract whatever predator is after it, and then runs away. When the tail breaks off, it often breaks into more than one piece, appearing to shatter like glass. The lizard can only regenerate the tail one time, though, and regeneration can take several months to a year or two.

The tail-drop is a very effective defense mechanism, even if it only has limited use. Most of a legless lizard's length (up to two-thirds) is tail. A snake has the opposite proportions. If you pick up a legless lizard, you'll notice that it doesn't feel quite like a snake, and that's in part because of this difference in body-to-tail proportion. Since the tail is stiffer than the body, a snake feels more supple than a glass lizard.

A legless lizard's comparatively limited range of motion isn't just about its proportions. Whereas a snake can use its sides and its belly scales to push itself along the ground, a legless lizard can only use its sides. Its motion is only side-to-side, which is a serious drawback in terms of survival. It does just fine when it has objects to push up against, but if it ends up on a totally flat surface, like a paved road, it can't move at all. So whereas a snake can move across a roadway before a car hits it, a legless lizard is just a sitting duck. With more and more development infringing on their habitat, legless lizards increasingly find themselves falling short of their typical 8-to-9 year lifespan.

Even with all of these differences, glass lizards and snakes appear to come from similar beginnings. In 2007, scientists discovered a 95-million-year-old fossil that's the oldest known proof of the lizard's evolution to a legless state. This new fossil, called Adriosaurus microbrachis, has tiny, non-functioning front legs, but still-functioning and normal-sized hind legs. The fossil is the same approximate age as snake fossils that have similar vestigial front legs, leading to the conclusion that snakes and lizards lost their legs around the same time. This new creature is believed to be the closest relative to whatever spawned both snakes and lizards.

Legless lizard adults are plainly colored, mostly brown or green and like all lizards it can drop its tail, which is 50 inches. They live in burrows under leafs, twigs, bushes, and occasionally trash. The optimal temperature ranges 70 - 85 degrees F.

There are more than 4 species of Legless Lizards:
(Apodus sheltopusik) grass lizards are found in the Balkans, through Turkey, Syria, and Caucasus to central Asia and may live up to 20 years and grow to be 1.4 meters or 4.5 feet.
(Adopus attenatus) Slender grass lizards are found in Southern and central U.S. and grow up to be 3.3 feet or 1 meter with a body length of 11 inches.
(Adopus koellikeri) Glass lizards are found in Northwestern Africa and grow up to be 16 inches and live in swamp-like areas.
(Adopus ventralis) Eastern grass lizards are found in Southeastern U.S. and grow up to be 3.3 feet or 1 meter and are found in damp meadows.

Fun Facts from Michele

The importance of Alligators to the Florida environment

During the gators inactive period in the colder months of the year, a gator can stay beneath the water for a considerable length of time, even days. Gators often dig dens and "hole up" along the banks of rivers and lakes during the colder months.

In the northern parts of the gator's range, where the surface of ponds and rivers freeze over during the winter, gators have sometimes been found completely immobile with their snouts protruding upward through the ice.

Winter is the dry season in the Everglades, and water levels fall drastically. The Everglades along with other lakes in Florida dry up. The harsh effect of this seasonal change on the native creatures is softened by the presence of alligators. Gators find natural depressions in the limestone bedrock and clear out the damp mud with their feet and snouts as they wallow down deeper and deeper. In this way, small ponds are formed, typically 10 to 20 feet across and a few feet deep. In addition to being moist habitats for gators, these little pondlets provide life giving water for a variety of animals including shrimp, small fish, snails, turtles, snakes, frogs and lizards. The presence of these aquatic animals attracts many waterbirds which come to feed, along with raccoons, otters and bobcats that also visit the water holes for drinking. The gators take the opportunity to dine a few of these guests, but most coexist with the gators and thus survive the dry season.

Gators wander during the wet season, but they often return to the same holes in the winter, cleaning them out to prevent slit from piling up. Gators are a vital link in the life cycle of the Everglades and other areas in Florida. Gator holes have been compared to the oasis water holes found on the plains of Africa, as they bring both predators and prey together in search of life-giving water.

The meaning of the word "Herp". Just in case you wanted to know. . . .

"Herps" - The only English word that refers to both reptiles and amphibians is "herptile" - often shortened to "herp". These terms do not appear in most dictionaries, but the word "herpetologist" does. Herpeton in Greek means "creeping thing". A herpetologist is a person who specializes in the study of reptiles or amphibians.

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES