Kingsnake.com Blog - Feature Blogger

Build in the Public Update!

(Jon Poff) — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 15:26:00 -0600

Build in the Public Update
You now know our mission statement.
Ready to see what we've been working on??

We heard you loud and clear. You want a better mobile experience from Kingsnake. This is our first and top priority.
Our development team beautifully stated,

“We are rebuilding Kingsnake with a new, responsive look that displays properly on a desktop, tablet or mobile device”

Read more about what is coming next and see for yourself what we have been working on Continue reading "Build in the Public Update!"

Kingsnake Update

(Jon Poff) — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:58:00 -0600

Kingsnake has been under new ownership for just shy of 4 weeks and what a ride it’s been.

Spencer gave us feedback to "Build in the Public" during the Next Gen Retics Podcast. Great idea! You will begin seeing regular updates from us about what we're working on to make kingsnake the best it can be for you, the community.

Today we'll share the Mission Statement that's been guiding us:

KINGSNAKE is for EVERYONE.
KINGSNAKE makes us SMARTER.

Kingsnake started as a central hub of the community. With Kingsnake being for EVERYONE it allows for diverse questions and a plethora of answers. With limited censoring and filtering, each of us are forced to think for ourselves, consider the information provided, and then make our own decisions. With this comes personal growth, community development and the overall betterment of the glorious animals we care for and love.

Thanks for being with us on this journey.

Tragic fire breaks out at Reptile Gardens

(Cindy Steinle) — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 19:11:00 -0600

The "Wrestle a Gator" educational show at Reptile Gardens from when Cindy visited. Herper Approved.

Reptile Gardens had a tragic overnight fire in one of their off display buildings that impacted all of their American Alligators from their educational program as well as their African Spur Thigh Tortoises and their Red Foot Tortoises, their other giant tortoises are houses in a different building for winter and are safe. Long time members of the site might remember that Reptile Gardens hosts me for a week several years back for an amazing behind the scenes experience that I was able to share with all of you, including sharing their tortoises and alligators and their show. You can see the photos here.

Our hearts at kingsnake are with the entire team at Reptile Gardens, most of all currator of animals Terry Phillip. You can feel the love he has for the animals he cares for in his statement. We have included it after the bump. Continue reading "Tragic fire breaks out at Reptile Gardens"

KANSAS! USARK Wants YOU!

(Cindy Steinle) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 10:05:00 -0600

Each Sunday USARK is reaching out to a new state and this week it is Kansas! They are trying to spread awareness about the organization and what work they do. From their post!

If you have a pet store, veterinary office, or public exhibit that works with reptiles or amphibians in Kansas, USARK will send you a FREE business package that includes brochures, stickers, and possibly more. Please tag any businesses that might be interested! Email vanessa@usark.org with your company name and address if you are in this week’s state and want to assist.
We will randomly draw a new state every Sunday. Please feel free to comment and show your support as a member, advocate, fan, or herp owner.

Get ahold of Vanessa and represent! You can view the original post here.

New study shows how snakes learn

(Cindy Steinle) — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 09:10:00 -0600

Many people talk about how snakes live a primal existence driven by instinct, but those of us who work with them know they do have the ability to learn routines and people in some sense, but exactly how does that work?

A recent study using corn snakes sheds some light on that!

In this study, corn snakes (Elaphe guttata guttata) successfully learned to navigate mazes and consistently found the correct route to reach shelter or prey. They also avoided areas where they had previously encountered stress, demonstrating their ability to store and recall experiences. This memory is not emotional or social, as seen in mammals, but functional; it allows snakes to adapt their behaviour to avoid threats, locate resources, and navigate their environment efficiently. Such findings challenge outdated assumptions about reptile cognition and highlight their evolutionary intelligence.

Im telling ya, this was a cool article with a link to the study. Take a little time this weekend with your coffee and check it out here!

10 cutest snakes as determined by TEH INTERWEBS

(Cindy Steinle) — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:46:00 -0600

Matt Jeppson / Shutterstock

Typically I would share REAL news here, but when I was doing a news search, in between the stories of the most infestest lakes or river and the largest and most deadly and scary stories, there was a click bait article that stood out.

10 Cutest Snake Species That Have Us Squeeing

I know a good batch of you are cringing right now but you know what? These pages help our cause. They make our animals seem less scary to those who have fears. They make them more approachable. They bring down the mystery, the danger and the scary level. This is important. This is something we need. While the world outside of us is still going crazy USARK is still fighting laws every day that restricts our pets and it's the little things like that that help us.

It's clickbait, so if you don't want to go, to the site, the full list is after the bump, or you can go here to see it too! Continue reading "10 cutest snakes as determined by TEH INTERWEBS"

Need Help? Just ask!

(Cindy Steinle) — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:20:00 -0600

I have had a lot of people reaching out who have forgotten their passwords or even usernames! I know it has been a while for some of you and with the changes, you aren't sure who to reach out to!

If you need help recovering your account right now, please feel free to reach out to me at cindyatkingsnake @ gmail.com (remove spaces obvs) and I will be happy to get all things squared away for you! Remember, we are still working through the transition and rebuild so everything is still "classic" Kingsnake at the moment. As time goes on you will start to see changes, but for now enjoy the classic.

kingsnake.com to close on October 31

(Jeff Barringer) — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 01:28:00 -0500

In 1995 I, along with some other reptile enthusiasts (Joe Forks,Gerry Salmon, Troy Hibbitts, and others) created a web page for gray-banded kingsnake hobbyists called The Alterna Page. By 1997 one thing led to another and it had morphed into what today is kingsnake.com.

That marks 30 years building and maintaining web communities for reptile hobbyists around the world. That is almost half my life. But all good things eventually must come to an end and after discussing it with our sponsors and staff I have concluded it is time for me to retire to pursue other things in my life, and for kingsnake.com to retire as well.

I want to thank kingsnake.com's primary sponsors, LLLReptile.com and RodentPro.com, along with the staff, Cindy Steinle, Melody Golubski, Mark Kennedy, Gerry Freymann, Dick Bartlett, and Ted Hatfield who volunteered his time looking after our servers. Special thanks go to Christie Keith. It is because of their dedication that kingsnake.com has lasted so long. As well there are literally thousands of other advertisers and community members that made kingsnake.com the place to be for herpetologists and herpetoculturists during its great years, from 1999-2016, when some would say the reptile culture was at it's peak. I met many of these thousands of people at countless reptile expos and consider many of them my friends.

Along the way kingsnake.com pioneered many new things for the reptile community and industry, such as topic/species based message boards (forums), live chat symposiums, reptile blogs, podcasts, and video interviews. Many of the fights in the forums were epic.

Most remembered will be kingsnake.com's classifieds, for many years the Internets most popular reptile and amphibian sales tool. It helped turn a random group of like minded hobbyists into a real industry. At it's peak there were over 2200 active classified accounts.

Officially kingsnake.com will close down on October 31,2025. If you have your pictures on the site, or forum posts or other content that you want to save, please do so now, they will not be available on our systems after October 31. If you have a paid classified or other advertising account your account services will still be functional until October 31, or when your contract runs out if sooner.

If you would like to continue to post classified ads until the close date of October 31,2025 please feel free to register for a free classified account and post away. We will be disconnecting our advertising purchase system this week.
Though we are closing we are not filing bankruptcy. We go out clean, all our debts settled and all our bills paid. And if someone is interested in continuing kingsnake.com's legacy I will entertain offers until October 31

This has been a very hard decision, but it is the right one, and it is the right time. I will miss being an integral part of the reptile hobby and culture.

- Jeff Barringer