The Monitor

October, 2008

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, October 15, 2008
GINO SASSINI - FROM HOBBY TO BUSINESS
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!

An era has ended. I have decided that AOL was a pain in the you know where. I knew it was slow, and frustrating, hence the sticky on the ledge over our desk that says "AOL Sucks". What I didn't know was that the McAfee Security Suite I paid for was not protecting my email, and I had 6 trojan horse files, which are gone now. So I went to our default email provider, RoadRunner, and got a new browser...and it's amazing how FAST things load! I also got a refund from McAfee and installed AVG.

So where does all this babbling lead up too? I have a new email address...

luvcatz7@tampabay.rr.com.

The website links to me have been changed over to the new address, and in an update, I can PROUDLY say that AOL is completely off of my computer!

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.

In a final note...please keep my Mom in your prayers. October 22nd she will have a minor surgical procedure done for an angiogram and a stent in her renal artery. She will be awake through the procedure and will remain overnight in the hospital. Thanks!!

Ciao,
Carrie

Doreen's Column

Hi there~~~

*****Our scavenger hunt went well last month. Everyone seemed to have a good time looking at everything. It just so happened that my team won with the most points and I wasn't even keeping score. On one sheet I noticed my name under wild mammals (woo-woo). An extra 50 points was awarded for originality. Most of the group went to Applebee's which is always fun.

*****The Florida Reptile Show was September 27 & 28, 2008 at the Fairgrounds. John Soto sold us a red foot tortoise for $50 that we raffled off. We also sold snake bags, magazines and trinkets, not so much of the trinkets. Sales were down all around, but we did make $302. A few memberships were included in that, but I haven't had a chance to separate it yet.

*****Pete made a lot of contacts at the show. We went around and talked to a few people about new ideas, plans for 2009 and basically shooting the breeze with a few of the vendors. Some things in the works will be a picnic sponsored by Reptile Supply. This will probably be in January when it is a little cooler and to be held at Anderson Park in Tarpon Springs. We also kicked around the idea of having a sister club that would meet in Pasco county. This is still in the germ stage and we would welcome any ideas. I know that traveling to Clearwater is far for people (even though Carrie and Alice drive every month from Citrus County so there is no excuse). We are looking into Starkey Park as a meeting location. Gino also mentioned he would like to see something happen in the Tampa area and he would be willing to help make that happen.

These are all great ideas and I support them, but without help they will not get off the ground. I personally do not have an interest in starting something in Hillsborough County since I don't live there, but if there is enough interest and people willing to do the leg work, the Suncoast Herp Society will back it all the way.

*****Next month Gino Sassini will be speaking. His topic is "Snakes~~ From Hobby to Business". He will be giving successful tips on making the transition and some pitfalls to avoid. Even if you aren't planning on going into the reptile business, this should be a great informational talk. Besides, Gino is always entertaining.

*****Sunday, October 12, 2008 (9:00 am) Wildlife Biologist and Environmental Educator George L. Heinrich will introduce the fascinating world of the gopher tortoise during a two-hour, family-oriented hike. Free of charge with preserve admission. Space is limited; please call the preserve at (727) 893-7326 to sign up.

*****Again, please keep me in your prayers. I will be having foot surgery on October 28 and will be immobilized for two weeks (and in extreme pain, which leads to extreme pain medication), so I will be loopier than ever. I plan to have all my reptile stuff done before then, so I won't have to think about anything and just enjoy the ride.

*****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

October 17 ~ Michele Patton
October 24 ~ Chad Snellgrove
October 30 ~ Wayne Hill
November 9 ~ AJ Morales
November 15 ~ Mike Henry

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.

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

Speaker Recap By Carrie

Again, no speaker recap, because last month we had a SUCCESSFUL Scavenger Hunt! Our team won, but that may be because we had a lot of people, and most were willing to look in dark holes. Highlights of the hunt were two alligators going after each other in the lake. Actually, it was two glowing eyes going after another pair of glowing eyes with a big splash. Then one of them came over to us to see what we were doing. There were also lots of cute little bats flying around. We saw a spider spinning her web, which was interesting, and an armadillo nosing around for food. He didn't seem to mind that there was a bunch of flashlights shining down on him. You could tell homeowners from non-homeowners with the comments. The non-homeowners were excited and talking about how cute the armadillo was, and the homeowners were complaining about how much they dig around. One of them, and I won't mention names (hint: look at the list of the board, under President) said that he had a few recipes for them! Our final animal almost became a victim. We were walking up to the building and there was a toad who almost got stepped on by Melissa. I'm glad that the little guy survived. He was kind of cute, and he was frozen in all the lights shining on him. Poor thing. Had he been squished, I doubt that Doreen would've let us count him. We also saw a racoon. We knew they were out there. There were tracks everywhere.

The last weekend in September was the Tampa show. We had a lot of fun. Pete, Jason, A.J., Trevor, Michele and I were there to man the table and watch the doors. Pete did a lot of talking to different people and plugged the club quite a bit. Our table was in the middle between John Soto's and Dana Dewitt's . . . so we had a lot of fun with them. It was a little weird on Saturday, because Doreen wasn't there. I discovered that she forgot to get A.J. and Trevor name badges. When I went to ask for them, Alex called me a D.I.T. Doreen in Training!! I got the name badges though. And I proudly wear my D.I.T. badge with honor! I also discovered a nasty snapper on the loose when we first came in on Saturday. He was right by the door. The guy who let us in carried it to the back, and Alex found a box to put him in. I don't know if the owner of the snapper was found.

A table near us had a "coati mundie" (I think that's the correct spelling), which is basically a South American racoon. He was a cute little guy . . . only 6-months old, and FULL of energy. His little nose moved up and down, and he loved to play with hair bands and shiny objects. I tried to talk Mom into taking him home, but she was dead set against it. She just has no sense of adventure.

Michele did a "Carrie" with crickets (last show I bought a thousand super worms for one bearded dragon). She HAD asked for a dozen, I think they gave her 12 dozen!! We emptied the box outside into a garbage bag. The escapees jumped around happily until the anoles and geckos started coming out of the wood works. I have pictures of a couple of not-so-lucky crickets in the mouths of a couple of very lucky anoles. We watched the anoles chase them around. The rest of the night and day we were chasing crickets around her apartment. It was quite amusing. They are all gone now, the crickets. They were either eaten, thrown out for the anoles, or died and became maggot food. I think Michele is relieved that they are gone!

On Sunday, Doreen was back with a cooler, doughnuts, and bananas! Then Pete brought doughnuts so we had plenty to go around. The tortoise that we were auctioning off was very happy with the bananas. I think between two feedings he ate at least one. And he was cute doing it too. Never knew that such a small animal had such a big mouth.

The winner of the tortoise was in the building at the time we called her name (she was riding a camel). Jose brought up a boy who said that he was the winner . . . didn't really work (nice try Jose!).

I did go home with a couple of presents for my Mom. I bought her a rattlesnake coffee mug from Bill Love. The body was the mug, the tail the handle, and inside was the head with the mouth open, exposing fangs! Knowing how much she LOVES snakes, I thought it would be funny. She actually thought it was unusual and liked it. She didn't like the second thing I brought home for her. A sucker with a real mealworm inside from Armstrong Crickets. I brought home two, and asked her to choose her color. She chose the white one, which was tequila-flavored, so even if there wasn't a worm inside it, she wouldn't have liked it because she doesn't like tequila!

I almost forgot to mention that they had camel rides. It popped into my head for a second . . . and then quickly out. I really don't want to do that to a camel. And besides, with my luck, I'd fall off of him, and while I'm writhing in pain on the cement floor, the camel would lower his head and spit on me. But I did take pictures of them.

All in all it was a great weekend.

Michele's Musings

Buying a Captive-Bred Reptile vs. Wild-Caught

There are two main sources of pet reptiles: wild- caught and captive- bred reptiles. Wild-caught reptiles are defined as those that were born in their native environment to non-captive parents, and then taken into captivity. Captive-bred reptiles are those that are born in captivity to captive bred parents. This is also called "domestic bred". Though some people do own wild-caught reptiles, it is much better to purchase captive- bred for a variety of reasons.

Overall, captive-bred reptiles are much healthier and will live out their full life span with proper care. Wild-caught reptiles are normally stressed out from inhumane conditions, and are loaded with parasites that can be costly to treat. Even if the reptile is treated, they do not always survive the stress. Most wild-caught reptiles do not adjust to captivity well and are difficult to handle. Prolonged stress causes very serious health issues in reptiles, and it is estimated that up to 90% of wild-caught reptiles will succumb to stress-related illness and death within the first year of captivity.

Wild-caught reptiles carry a heavy parasite load. Parasites that are present in native environments often have little effect on reptiles because they live in a natural balance with their hosts. However, if you take a wild reptile and put him into a captive environment, previously harmless parasites can become very deadly as they multiply past safety levels. Wild-caught reptiles can also spread parasites to any other reptiles that you own. Captive-bred reptiles have no immunity to a wild reptile's parasites.

Leopard geckos, bearded dragons, veiled chameleons, and water dragons are some of the captive-bred and born lizards. Corn snakes, ball pythons, king snakes, red tail boas, and Burmese pythons are just a few of the snakes that are captive-bred.

Ball pythons are a good example of the benefits of captive breeding. Wild-caught ball pythons are loaded with parasites and are extremely prey specific. They do not always adjust well in captivity. Captive-bred ball pythons are preferred because they accept pre-killed rodents readily.

Captive-bred reptiles, as long as they receive proper care, are much hardier. Also with a captive- bred reptile, you will know how old the reptile is, who the parents are, how it is feeding, its overall health, and the breeder is available to answer any questions you may have. Captive-bred reptiles are carefully bred and raised with proper nutrition and housing. With wild caught reptiles, there are no guarantees and their history is unknown. They may never have seen pre-killed prey and they could be dealing with a serious illness that is not yet apparent.

Many iguanas sold in the pet trade are "farm-bred", meaning that they were hatched of eggs laid by captive bred females. Most however are "farmed", meaning that they were hatched from eggs laid by wild caught females and then the female is released after laying, or the eggs are dug up in the wild and brought to the farm for incubation. In some areas, the eggs are cruelly sliced out of the female, then she is sewn back up and released with the assumption she will survive to lay again. This is the main reason that iguanas are on the CITIES II (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Appendix II: Threatened).

The "aggressive" pet store iguanas are iguanas that still have some strength to fight back, while the "tame" ones are just too weak to fight back. There is fierce competition among the iguanas in the same tank, they will fight over for prime heat space and whatever food that is offered. (Normally its poor quality lettuce.)

The iguana is not acting aggressive to be mean; it's just a normal wild animal reacting to feeling threatened. Iguanas that are put on a proper diet, once their thyroid begins to function normally, are in less pain and will start to act like they would in the untamed wild.

Legal & Ethical Issues

There are also legal and ethical issues with the capture of wild-caught animals. In many states, it is illegal to remove any wild animal from their natural habitat, and those who do need a special permit. However, most people don't bother to get one, and in addition to being harmful, their actions are also criminal.

Harvesting wild reptiles is harmful because it has a serious effect on the natural balance in the environment. It decimates reptile and amphibian populations, especially those that take a long time to mature and reproduce. Also because the number of animals removed, exceeds the reproductive capacity of the population. The methods used to collect wild reptiles often destroy dens and other native plant and animal habitats. Wild capture collections are one of the top reasons that reptile & amphibian populations around the world are declining at an alarming rate.

Although captive-bred reptiles are more expensive than wild caught, the investment is well worth it. You may spend more at the time of purchase, but you will end up with a healthy and well cared for reptile. By choosing to purchase a captive-bred reptile, you are helping to protect native reptile & amphibian populations, and you are not supporting the unethical practice of reptile harvesting. Whenever you buy a reptile from a pet store or breeder, ask where the reptile came from. By refusing to purchase wild-caught reptiles and amphibians and urging others to do the same, you can make a difference.

Important Note!

Just as it is harmful to take a reptile out of the wild, the same is true for releasing a captive bred reptile into the wild. Releasing a pet into the wild can have just as much negative impact on native populations as removing reptiles can be.

You need to be a responsible reptile owner, if you are no longer able to care for the reptile or amphibian; you need to search for people that will adopt your pet.

References:
Exoticpets - www.exoticpets.about.com
Reptile Room - www.aquaticcritter.com/Reptile
Pet University - www.petuniversity.com
Melissa Kaplan - www.anapsid.org/iguana/farmed.html
Doctor Foster & Smith - www.drsfostersmith.com
Reptile Channel - www.reptilechannel.com

Until Next Month!

Ciao!

Carrie