Steve Timmons was pretty new to the area, he knew there were plenty of crocs in the river and that they were dangerous, but he didn’t know much about them. And he wasn’t prepared for his first meeting with Casey.

We’ll let Steve continue the story.

The island itself is long and narrow, the living area is only 50 metres at best from the river and that’s in the dry season. In the wet season the water floods the kitchen. There is a resident saltie on this island named Casey, a name given to her by the owners of the island. She, because she’s a pretty croc. Anyway, Casey is used to being around humans in fact, I think she likes them.

One night, as I was cooking dinner by myself, I noticed this croc hanging around at the back of the kitchen. Hmm! Not a large croc, only about three metres, but definitely a saltie. I don’t know whether this is the one I was told about or not, we were never introduced.

I was inside, it was outside and we were both curious. I continued to cook dinner thinking I could take a photo later.

Well, this croc wasn’t having any of this. “If you ignore me, I’ll just come in.” As I turned away from the stove, I saw this bloody lizard, crawl into the kitchen. It just lay there looking at me like I was dinner. So here I was, caught between a croc and a hot place, with this walking handbag blocking the only exit. I must admit that the camp oven smelt good, but the ever-strengthening smell of methane was blowing my cool. We just stood there looking at each other waiting to see who would make the first move.

If I climbed onto the bench, I would have to turn my back on the croc and even if I made it onto the bench, a three metre croc could easily get me. I thought of grabbing a knife and doing a Crocodile Dundee turnout, you know, do a western roll, whipping out the bowie knife in mid-air and stabbing it in the brain. This, by the way is the only way to kill a croc outright, right between the eyes five centimetres back. But a croc’s head is one-sixth of its total length and I was in no position to get past those jaws; and a butter knife does not instil confidence.

Where the hell is Steve Irwin when you need him. He could jump on its back and distract it. Did I think of that? No bloody way.

The croc just lay there, legs cocked ready to pounce, even if I could jump high enough to miss those massive jaws the ceiling fan would get me. I’ve got a gun, but it’s on the table behind the croc. You idiot! We both just stood our ground waiting for the first move. Then for some reason the croc relaxed its haunches and lowered it’s head to the floor, but stayed put.

Hmmm, it must be hungry. There’s a barra carcass on the bench and the fillets are in the camp oven. It’s bloody amazing what you think of when you are expecting pain. I grabbed the carcass and with an almighty heave, it was the worst throw of all time, the barra landed a metre away from me! The croc lunged forward at a such rate that I didn’t have time to move, picked up the carcass, chomped it a couple of times, broke it in half, picked up the head, crushed it with those massive jaws, gave me a wink and then just turned away and left.

By this time I had lost my appetite.

This, apparently, was Casey. I’m very glad it wasn’t a mean one! Casey became a regular at my back door during meal times. I found a bowl and put food in it every night – yes she eats out of a bowl. Some say I should have shot her, some say that I’m crazy to feed her, but it did stop her from coming in. She became a sideshow for visitors. Do I trust a crocodile? Not a chance!

Then there was a caretaker named Paul. A large, strapping bloke with a voice that roared. He would thump around the place, cursing and yelling. I think the vibrations he gave off actually attracted Casey. She would follow him around the island.

Sometimes she would hide in the long grass near the generator, which needed to be refuelled regularly, and would bolt out and say “hi ya bloke!” She was always somewhere around the island.

One day Paul was working on the outboard, bent over, head near the water, she surfaced to say hello. This of course, gave him a big scare – as it would. Paul yelled and cursed like a bullock teamster, Casey just stayed there and smiled.

Paul and Casey spent a lot of time around each other, balmy nights sitting under a palm tree at the back of the kitchen with a bottle of rum to get the chitchat started. Paul discovered that Casey would chomp on anything that he threw at her, some things she liked, some things she didn’t but she would always have a go. This was a great way to crush beer cans, but she worked out quickly that they were not food and became annoyed.

One night Casey came up to feed, the pantry was bare, except for some spuds. Not wanting a hungry croc on his hands, Paul sliced the spuds thickly and fried them in the camp oven. By the time the spuds were cool the lizard was getting toey, so he threw a couple at her – she loved them. From then on it was vegetarian crocodile, a little gravy, a few leftover peas in the bowl and everything was Humpty Doo. I was told that she liked TV snacks. Yeah? And I’m gunna believe that!

Anyway! We had a mob of local bird watchers out for the weekend, they called themselves the Scrub Fowls, which actually suits them. “G’day Denise.” They brought everything that was nice to eat including chocolate mud cake. Casey had finished dinner, I thought we might like desert.

Now, a croc, usually, just chomps and swallows. Casey, picked up the mud cake and left her mouth open while the cake dissolved, then actually seemed to savour the taste and swallow it gently. If a croc’s tongue wasn’t welded to its lower jaw, I’m sure she would have licked her lips. TV snacks get the same reaction, plus they’re easier to keep.

So! You’re thinking Wot-a-Croc.

I’m say’n, “well yeah. She is!” You don’t believe me do you? Well I have photos. During his time on the island Steve became quite attached to Casey, and in true bushy-style he even wrote a poem about her.

Copyright by Club Marine Limited.

A Croc Called Casey is a post from: Cool Companions

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Alabama is home to one of the richest and most diverse herpetofauna in the United States, especially in regards to turtle species. Not counting sea turtles, at least 22 species of chelonians reside in the Heart of Dixie.

Three species – the black-nobbed “sawback” or map turtle (Graptemys nigrinoda), the flattened musk turtle (Sternotherus depressus) and the Alabama red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys alabamensis) – are endemic to the state.

The Alabama red-bellied has the most limited distribution of the endemics. It’s restricted to the rivers and swamps of coastal Alabama (near Mobile) and possibly adjoining southeastern Mississippi. It is one of the least-studied emydid turtles in North America. Until recently, little was known about its biology and ecology. Not until the 1990s, when it finally became apparent to both state and federal agencies that this species was not only endangered but rapidly heading toward extinction, did significant funding become available for in-depth research.

Description

Red-bellies are large: Adult females attain carapace lengths of 12 inches and weigh 2 to 4 pounds. Males are slightly smaller with carapaces around 10 inches. The skin and carapace are a dark olive green or brown. The carapace is oval, high doomed and usually has serrations toward the rear edge.

The species is named for its usually reddish plastron, although there is considerable variability in this color, especially between the sexes and between adults and juveniles. The plastrons of female turtles tend to be duller and more yellowish, especially in older animals. This may be the result of abrasions from sandy soils acquired during nesting season. Male and juvenile red-bellied turtles display the more intense red or reddish-orange coloration.

Plastral markings in both sexes vary widely from plain to ornate dark bars or spots. Bars, spots and mottling on the plastron are most common in hatchling and juvenile turtles and least common in adult females.

The Alabama red-bellied turtle exhibits a variety of other sexually dimorphic features, including longer front claws and more concave plastrons in the males.

The toothlike notch or mandibular cusp, on the anterior of the upper jaw, is one of the more distinctive characteristics that distinguishes these turtles from others in the region. This feature is apparent in hatchlings and adults and tends to be more pronounced in males.

Taxonomic Quandary

The mandibular cusp and red plastron are obvious features of these turtles, but these are not sufficient to convince all scientists that Pseudemys alabamensis deserves full species status.

The actual taxonomic status of P. alabamensis has been the subject of ongoing debate among herpetologists for years. Many believe it is just a a subspecies of the Florida red-belly turtle (P. nelsoni) or P. floridana (itself recently relegated to subspecies status – P. concina floridana – by Seidel, 1994). Others argue it is distinctive enough and isolated enough from Florida red-bellies to warrant designation as a separate species. The argument is likely to continue until the respective DNA can be compared.

Many Benefactors

The Alabama red-bellied turtle has the dubious distinction of being one of the most endangered turtle in the United States. It has been listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services since 1987. In recent years, the USFWS, the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program have funded research studies on behalf of the Alabama red-bellied turtle to better understand its basic biology, habitat requirements, distribution and estimated populations.

Dr. James Dobie, a retired professor of zoology at Auburn University, studied this species for many years and was the first to identify the primary nesting site, population distribution and precipitous decline. Dobie’s research provided the basic information used by the USFWS in designating the Alabama red-belly turtle as endangered.

This research also provided the foundation upon which David Nelson, with the University of South Alabama, built his own work. From 1994 until 2000, Nelson and numerous graduate and undergraduate students conducted extensive research on red-bellied turtle movements, population and age structure, habitat and diets.

Alabama’s Amazon

The preferred habitat of the Alabama red-bellied turtle are shallow, backwater areas off of the main river channels and smaller bays adjacent to Mobile Bay. They are especially abundant in the area known locally as the “Delta.” The Delta is a huge complex of largely undisturbed wetlands stretching from the northern edge of Mobile Bay to the convergence of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers.

This Alabama “Amazon” is comprised of over 250,000 acres of swamps, marshes, rivers and oxbow lakes. The majority of Alabama red-bellied turtles appear to be found around the Tensaw, Blakely and Apalachee rivers in the central part of the Delta and around the Causeway, an artificial land bridge that runs across the northern edge of Mobile Bay.

These fresh and mildly brackish water environments provide an abundance of both submergent and emergent vegetation that turtles utilize for escape, cover and food. Nelson’s studies indicate that red-bellies rarely venture into salt marshes, brackish waters (e.g., the lower portion of Mobile Bay) or small freshwater streams that are not adjacent to Mobile Bay. Apparently, these environments do not provide the dense associations of aquatic vegetation red-bellies prefer for feeding and hiding from predators.

Nelson’s radio telemetry studies of 44 Alabama red-bellied turtles documented that they move more extensively within their known geographic range than previously thought. Some animals moved more than 11 miles from where they were captured and outfitted with transmitters.

Nelson’s research has also documented a noticeable retraction of the Alabama red-belly turtle’s earlier presumed range, at least in Alabama. Dobie found red-bellies as far north as Claude D. Kelly State Park, along the lower Alabama River. Extensive trapping by Nelson and his students in the lower Alabama River and northern Delta found virtually no Alabama red-bellied turtles and none were captured at the state park site.

The majority of turtles captured by Nelson and his team were in southern Delta and northern Mobile Bay areas, including the Mobile, Tensaw, Apalachee and Blakely rivers. This species appears to be especially abundant around the Causeway, possibly because of the dense mats of floating and submerged vegetation present there. A few animals have been captured in the southern reaches of Mobile Bay and adjacent bays, but appear to be rare in these areas.

Although this species’ geographic distribution appears to have shrunk in Alabama, the discovery of a possible population in the Pascagoula River and the Back Bay of the Biloxi River in southeastern Mississippi provides some solace.

For decades it’s been assumed that Pseudemys alabamensis was endemic to the lower Mobile Bay drainage basin, and that it was primarily a freshwater turtle. If the turtles found in Mississippi do indeed represent another population of P. alabamensis, it would extend the range west by about 60 miles and into two new drainage basins. These animals primarily inhabit brackish water environments, unlike their Alabama counterparts, which prefer mostly freshwater habitats.

Green Diet

Pseudemys alabamensis is a strict vegetarian. Stomach analyses have found that red-bellies feed almost exclusively on submerged aquatic vegetation, such as coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum), wild celery (Vallisineria americana) and hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata).

Hydrilla, an exotic plant that was introduced by the aquarium trade in the 1950s, seems to be especially favored by Alabama red-bellies. Nelson’s research found hydrilla to be the single most prevalent plant in their diets, even in areas where other aquatic plants were more abundant.

Under Siege

Nesting activity typically begins in April, and most nests are laid between May and August. The peak nesting period seems to be in June and July. The average incubation period is about 90 days, and hatchling usually takes place between September and November. Nelson confirmed that some eggs, probably those laid late in the nesting season, “overwinter” and hatch around March or April of the following year.

Clutch size may be as large as 20 eggs but averages about 13. Pseudemys alabamensis appears to lay more than one clutch of eggs (double clutching) during nesting season. Females captured immediately after laying a clutch have been X-rayed and found to still contain eggs.

Most Alabama red-bellied turtle habitat is affected by tidal influences. Nesting females typically select sites above the high-tide level, although nest sites occasionally flood during hurricanes and other periods of heavy rain.

The most commonly used nesting areas appear to be spoils islands constructed from the sediment dredged from the ship channels in the Delta and Mobile Bay. Alabama red-bellies also appear to prefer nest sites that are at least partially vegetated. This may be to help disguise both nests and the movements of female turtles from possible predators. Nest predation appears to be higher in areas devoid of vegetation.

Prior to Nelson’s research, over 90 percent of all Alabama red-bellied turtle nest sites were believed to be on just one spoils island in the Tensaw River. Such a large concentration of the nest sites in one small area makes P. alabamensis very susceptible to a wide variety of nest predators, as well as natural disasters like storms and floods. Happily, Nelson found Alabama red-belly turtle nests on several other spoils islands as well.

Nelson and Dobie both documented the incredible level of nest predation faced by red-bellied turtles. Systematic surveys by Nelson during a two year period failed to discover even  one intact nest. Feral hogs, raccoons, fire ants, opossums and fish crows all prey on P. alabamensis eggs, resulting in an estimated nest loss of over 90 percent a year.

Especially destructive are fish crows (Corvus ossifragus), which are known to watch female turtles lay and cover their eggs and then dig up the nests as soon as the turtles leave. If turtles manage to hatch, then they have to contend with the previously mentioned nest predators, plus alligators, large snapping turtles, large-mouth bass and alligator gar.

Alligator populations have increased dramatically in the Delta in recent years. In high-density alligator areas, red-bellies are scarce or absent, either because the turtles avoid these areas or because they don’t last long if they wander into them. Adult alligators are probably the only serious potential  predators of adult red-bellies – alligator tooth scars on many carapace indicate indicate this.

Human activities also exact a serious toll. Crab traps and boat props undoubtedly kill turtles, although no one really knows how many. But there is one area of human-induced mortality for which there is data: automobile-related deaths. Nowhere is this more evident than along the Causeway stretch of U.S. Highway 98.

During 2001, Nelson conducted bicycle surveys of the Causeway to look for signs of road-killed turtles. He documented 70 dead Alabama red-bellied turtles between April and November. Ten were adult females (five were carrying eggs), one was a juvenile and 59 were hatchlings. This is a tremendous loss of animals.

Glimmer of Hope

The State of Alabama has purchased Gravine Island and also owns Big Island and Meather State Park (on the Causeway), which protects much of P. alabamensis critical nesting habitat.

The next step is to increase both nesting success and survivability. Dobie proposes controlling fish crows and feral hogs to reduce nest predation. Nelson used predator-excluder covers on a trial bases and gave at least 91 turtles a fighting chance to hatch. He proposes the wider use of excluders as part of a head-start program, similar to those uses in many areas for sea turtles.

Nelson recommends installing a low fence along sections of the Causeway to prevent hatchlings and adults from wandering onto the highway. He also favors getting rid or rip-rap (large rocks used to control soil erosion along the lower Delta). Hatchlings often become trapped in spaces between the rocks.

Although no captive-breeding program is currently in place, one may have to be instituted if other measures fail to bring this species back from the brink of extinction.

Conclusion

In 1990, the Alabama Legislature bestowed upon the Alabama red-bellied turtle the auspicious title of State Reptile. This designation has done little to stop the red-belly’s decline, but it has perhaps increased public awareness of its plight. Both federal and state agencies have funded research into the biology and ecology of this species, but much remains to be learned. Strides have been made, and there is now a better understanding of red-belly reproductive success (or lack thereof), movements, habitat preferences and food habits. But sound research awaits, as not enough is known about hatchling mortality, and the status and distribution of the Mississippi population needs to be addressed.

Scientists and natural resource managers are faced with the daunting task of helping Pseudemys alabamensis numbers recover while increasing public awareness. Without decisive action, questions concerning the Alabama red-bellied turtle’s taxonomic status, biology and ecology will be moot, as Alabama’s state reptile becomes extinct.

The Alabama Red-bellied Turtle is a post from: Cool Companions

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In the fall of 1995, I was browsing at a local pet store that had a rather large selection of reptiles (for small town in Mississippi, that is). There were iguanas, bearded dragons, various common geckos, savannah monitors and large constrictors, but one lizard seemed to beg for my attention. It literally came to the front of the enclosure as if to say, “Please buy me.” It was an interesting lizard, with a roosterlike crest, half inch spines running from the top of the head to almost the end of the stub tail, big eyes and puffy jowls. This was the first time I’d ever seen the magnificent Asian water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus).

The lizard’s color was a light olive green with hints of emerald and blue. It was an adult male that was stunted from being raised in too small an enclosure. I did not purchase the dragon at that time, however; I already had a 3 1/2-foot green iguana that was becoming quite the handful.

First Steps

A couple of months later, while opening Christmas presents, I began to shake a box that I was just handed.

“Don’t shake that one!” yelped my mother.

And that was I received my first water dragon. Now named Ziggy, he was the exact dragon that I saw at the pet shop. My mother had been secretly keeping him at her apartment for 2 weeks.

Now I was faced with the task of properly feeding and housing my new friend. I quickly acquired every book I could find and read them from cover to cover, more than once.

Physignathus cocincinus hails from the dense forests of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and South China. Commonly called the Asian water dragon, it’s also known as the Chinese or green water dragon (aptly so, as the normally imported specimens are very green indeed).

Asian water dragons can reach a length  of 24 inches in one year when raised properly, to a total length of approximately 36 inches (this being mostly tail). They react to stress and cool temperatures by darkening their colors, and they can turn almost black when seriously stressed. They can live 10 to 12 years.

While the Asian water dragon is by far the more readily available species in the pet trade, there is another type of water dragon: the Australian Water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii). It is sometimes available and typically costs more than the green dragon.

It appeared that water dragons were simple to take care of and quite personable. What was required was a large water pan, a moderately sized enclosure and a few dusted crickets. Of course, as with all diurnal lizards, a good heat lamp was necessary. The books were never very clear on the need for ultraviolet (UV) lights. Asian water dragons are not the sun lovers one might expect; they spend most of their days in densely forested areas on the edge of rivers, ponds an lakes (later, much to my surprise, when I built a large outdoor enclosure for my water dragons, they hid from the sun diligently).

Every book I read seemed to encourage breeding water dragons as a conservation effort to discourage collection of this species in the wild. Some provided detailed instructions. A very noble endeavor indeed, and I thought it would be fun to have some tiny little dragons bouncing around.

Initial Steps

Ziggy was a male, so I was to breed water dragons, obviously my first step was to procure a a healthy female. This led to the discovery of the classifieds section in Reptiles Magazine. I found a breeder who could deliver the goods: Jeff “Buzz” Ross of Fort Davis, Texas. I told him I needed an adult female Asian water dragon to pair with my male. I also discovered that he had blue Asian water dragons. Buzz explained that he had received a colony of them from Europe a few years back, and they all were turning blue every year. They sounded fantastic, and it was one of these that I decided to purchase.

I sent Buzz a money order, and a couple weeks later a package arrived. I opened the cloth bag inside, and there was the bluest creature I had ever seen! It was powder-blue aquamarine from head to toe. I was amazed to say the least. This dragon was in tip-top shape. It was almost twice as long as Ziggy with a perfectly shaped, whiplike tail.

I called Buzz to thank him and tell him how impressed I was with the lizard. During the conversation, I happened to mention the large spikes on its head, and that was when Buzz realized he had accidentally mixed up his shipments. He sent me a male that someone else had ordered. Luckily, Buzz had other blue dragons and said he could send a female to match the male I had received by mistake. We straightened things out, and soon another stunning blue dragon arrived – female – and I quickly reserved the next available female to round out my breeding trio.

I believe that the blue dragons are axanthic (loss of yellow pigment), much like the blue-morph White’s tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) that are now being bred in abundance. These creatures are normally green also.

The Water Dragon Enclosure

A good-sized arboreal-oriented enclosure (taller than it is wide) that is opaque on the front and sides (mesh can be used for this_ or heavily outfitted with vines, plants and perches will provide a stress-free living space for water dragons. A minimum cage size would be 36 to 48 inches long, 16 to 24 inches deep and 48 inches to 72 inches tall.

If you plan to use an aquarium, a 55-gallon (or larger) enclosure (equaling 12 cubic feet or more) for adults, and  a 30-gallon tank for subadults and hatchlings, will work. Stunting may occur if young lizards are not moved to larger enclosures as they mature.

Custom-built cages made of glass, Plexiglas, soft mesh and/or smooth wood are also available. Building your own custom lizard vivarium can be fun. If you have the time and patience.

Use vertical and horizontal tree limbs, plastic vines and plants to create a tropical paradise. Live plants are nice but will soon be trashed by healthy water dragons. Sterilized tree limbs and treated lumber (such as 2 by 2s) make excellent perches. Tree limbs can be sterilized by soaking in a mild bleach solution for 20 minutes and then rinsing well.

Substrate can be newspaper, lizard litter (do not use cat litter), orchid bark, cypress mulch, peat moss, a mixture of sand and soil, or reptile carpets (beware of loose threads that can snag water dragon toes).

A 100-watt incandescent light bulb is a sufficient heat source for most water dragon enclosures in the 30-gallon-and-up size range. Maintain the cage temperature between 80 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Use a light timer to regulate the day/night cycle at 12 to 14 hours of daylight, depending on the season (shorter during the winter). Nightime temperatures can drop to 70 to 75 degrees. Growing dragons should have access to full-spectrum UVA/UVB light.

Water dragons sometimes suffer rostral damage as a result of rubbing their noses against enclosure walls. Affected areas can be treated with Sporine sauve applied topically. It is best to apply this after the dragon has gone to sleep at night. Visual barriers, such as wide strips of cardboard along the bottom of the enclosure, are the easiest way to prevent this behavior-induced affliction.

Water and Misting

Water dragons like water. A mini kitty litter tray makes an ideal water pan. Bigger pans can be cumbersome to clean, and clean water is key to your water dragon’s health. Nine times out of 10, they will defecate in the water, which actually makes for a very clean overall enclosure. Once a day, empty the water pan and clean it with 5 percent bleach/water solution. Rinse it well, and refill it about halfway with tap water or well water that is fit for human consumption.

Most tap water contains a certain amount of chlorine, and its effect on water dragons has not been properly studied. You can dechlorinate it by letting the water sit in an open container for 24 hours. If you want to set up waterfalls, filter systems, bubble rocks and fog systems, be sure to clean their affiliated equipment every other day. Ask yourself: Would you drink the water in your dragon’s cage? If not, clean it.

Water dragons enjoy a daily misting immensely, but don’t overdo it. Jungle rot or blisters could occur if their enclosures are kept too moist. This can be corrected by keeping them dry and warm. Apply Betadine to blisters to cull infection.

Preferred Food Items

Crickets, mealworms, super worms, wax worms, earth worms, and high-grade canned chicken cat food (make sure there’s real chicken in it) are all relished. My adult lizards love chicken cat food; most juveniles will only eat insects. Recently, I have experienced great success with fruit-flavored dry lizard and bird pellets. I recommend supplementing the diet with either of these. Red and white grapes, soft pears, figs (native fruit for them) and bananas make up the noninsect portion of my dragon’s food pyramid.

I alternate these food items to achieve a balanced variety. All foods should be pesticide free. Feed your dragons each day, though missing a day won’t cause any harm. Dust crickets two or three times weekly with top-quality vitamin and mineral supplements that are high in calcium. Gut-loading crickets or worms by feeding them a commercial gut-loading formula or a mash of assorted vegetables an hour before offering them to your dragons will ensure happy, healthy dragons.

Clear, bright eyes are the sign of a healthy water dragon.

Breeding

Once you have acquired a healthy pair or trio of water dragons, it is highly recommended that you have them checked by a veterinarian. A simple deworming can do wonders for your breed in success rate (not to mention overall dragon health).

They will mate once mature without any temperature/light cycling. Females may lay eggs without ever breeding as well. I’ve received calls about stressed-out lone females, and the reason for their stress usually turns out to be the lack of a proper eggbox in which to lay their eggs.

Female water dragons mature at about 1 year of age; males mature at around 8 months. A mature male will do a lot of head bobbing and chase the females. Eventually, he will grasp a female firmly by the nape of her neck, twist his tail around her and insert one of his hemipenes. Copulation usually lasts about two minutes.

Within one or two months of copulation, the female will appear plump and begin looking for a suitable egg-laying site. Provide her with a large (16 inches long by 10 inches wide by 16 inches deep) tub or pot of damp peat moss. She will dig a hole then deposit her eggs. She may also dig a “decoy” hole.

Remove eggs – a clutch could number 6 to 15 (my personal record) – and place them in a small container (I use Sterilite containers or plastic shoeboxes) with 1 inch of damp sphagnum moss. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap; a few air holes should be punched into the cover.

Place the egg container in a suitable incubator with a temperature set at 82 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit. For an incubator, I use a 3- to 4-foot long beverage cooler. I place a 12- to 16-inch-wide, plastic-coated refrigerator rack inside, positioned above 4 inches of heated water. Egg containers are placed on the racks. Incubator temperature is regulated by a 50- to 70-watt aquarium heater with a built-in thermostat that is placed in the water. Be sure to keep a thermometer in the incubator so you can gauge the temperature.

After 60 to 65 days, you should have 6-inch water dragons hatching out. Place them in their own enclosure and offer them small amounts of quarter-inch crickets twice daily. Place some pelleted lizard food (iguana food works fine) in the enclosure so stray crickets have something to eat, but don’t put in so many crickets that many go uneaten. Mist young dragons daily, and provide them with vertical and horizontal climbing perches.

I hope this article helps everyone interested in the care and breeding of these fantastic pet dragons! Good luck if you decide to try breeding them yourself – the results are well worth the effort!

Mike Spears is the owner of Sapphire Dragon Ranch and has kept many different types of herps over the past 25 years. He began working with them professionally in 1995.

The Wonderful World of Water Dragons is a post from: Cool Companions

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Tree frogs can offer entertainment and enjoyment – and, of course, challenge.

From the dry Gran Chaco region of South America to the icy waters of Alaska, frogs and toads have been found in nearly every environment. With nearly 4,000 species – more than 10 times the number of salamander and newt species – anurans are by far the most successful group of the amphibians.

The reason behind this success is that amphibians are the primary vertebrate consumers of invertebrates in many freshwater and moist terrestrial environments (Stebbins and Cohen, 1995). Although salamanders and caecilians also fall within this description, they are not able to survive in the variety of environments that anurans can. For instance, not many have adapted to arboreal environments. Only the climbing salamanders (Aniedes spp.) of North America and the palm salamanders (Bolitoglossa spp.) of tropical Central and South America have done so. The fact that more than 600 anuran species have successfully adapted to arboreal environments accounts for a portion of the vast discrepancy between the numbers of frogs versus the number of salamanders.

Tree frogs have many unique adaptations that have allowed them to become successful in their lofty environment. These adaptations include forms of predator evasion, pursuance of and capture of food, and reproduction. There are many tree frogs (family Hylidae) found around the world.

Old World tree frogs include gliding tree frogs, such as the Chinese gliding tree frog (Rhacophorus dennysi), as well as various members of the family Hylidae. The subfamily Peloryadinae is found in Australia and Indonesia, and it includes species such as White’s tree frog (Litoria caerulea).

The New World is also home to many unique members of the family Hylidae. Their numbers include the Phyllomedusines, which are know for the photogenic red-eyed leaf frog (Agalychnis callidryas), the bizarre casque-headed tree frogs (Trachycephalus, Triprion and the monotypic genus Pternohyla) and the marsupial frogs (Gastrotheca and Hemiphractus spp.) as well as many of the typical Hyline tree frogs.

The number and variety of tree frogs found in the pet industry has increased dramatically in the last few years, and many unusual frogs have been bred under captive conditions. Hopefully this trend will continue, and captive reproduction will promote the future success of this fascinating group of amphibians.

Captive Care

Maintenance of captive amphibians is inherently different from that of the reptiles. Because amphibians’ skin does not prevent the loss of water, a controlled humidity level inside the enclosure is central to their survival. Also, amphibian skin is very permeable, so providing a captive environment that is free of harmful pathogens and chemicals is vital.

Failure to adhere to strict measures of cleanliness frequently results in shortened life spans for captive amphibians. Tree frogs are best kept in cages that are easy to clean. They enjoy tall vivaria that allow them to roost high above the cage floor during the day. A screened lid will help with ventilation, and a secure lid is vital. If frog escapes from its cage, it quickly falls victim to desiccation, perhaps in less than a day, for it is rare that a frog is able to find a place humid enough to allow for its survival.

If you locate an escaped frog but it has become desiccated, place the animal in a shallow bowl of spring water, tipping it slightly so that the head of the frog is not immersed. With a little luck, the animal will still have the strength to reabsorb the water it has lost and will survive. Do not rush to conclusions about the likelihood of survival; we have had a desiccated frog lie motionless in a bowl of water for more than a n hour and still make a full recovery.

Caging Options

Amphibian keepers often use naturalistic vivaria because they are aesthetically pleasing. However, cleaning a naturalistic cage is much more problematic than maintaining frogs under more sterile conditions. We use very simple caging with damp paper towels as a substrate. Paper towels allow a cage to be monitored easily for waste build-up. We recommend unbleached paper towels for captive maintenance of amphibians, but have used white paper towels for many years without problems. White paper towels will also allow you to easily gauge the cleanliness of an enclosure.

Place three layers of paper towels on the base of the cage, then saturate them with spring water. Avoid distilled water completely. When distilled water is concentrated on the outside of an animal whose internal structure contains various compounds (minerals, electrolytes and such), simple diffusion, or osmosis, results in a lethal level of bloating. Spring water does not create this difference in water concentration.

We place a living plant in the cage with several of our tree frogs to provide hiding place. Keep the plant in a planter so you can easily remove it to wipe down the leaves and the outside of the planter, to remove feces or other debris. Once you have cleaned the enclosure and added new paper toweling, return the plant. A branch or a length of PVC pipe can also be placed in the cage, on which the larger frogs can roost during the day. This also can be washed when the enclosure is cleaned.

Temperature

In general, frogs require lower enclosure temperatures compared to reptiles. We usually maintain a background temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit for our anurans. Our temperate tree frogs are maintained at room temperature with no supplemental heating. Tropical species are provided with an undertank heater in order to ensure that they have optimal humidity and a slightly higher temperature. Using heat tapes requires much more careful monitoring of the cage substrate to ensure that it does not become too dry.

Some animals, such as Chacoan monkey tree frogs (Phyllomedusa sauvagii) and African gray tree frogs (Chiromantis xerampelina), should be provided with a heat lamp for basking. The basking site should reach an optimal temperature of 90 degrees. We have found that if frogs are kept too cool they do not digest their food properly and slowly lose body mass.

Lighting

The use of full-spectrum lighting over the top of the cage may be beneficial to tree frogs. In the wild, these animals bask occasionally, sitting atop the substrate or plants in which they generally hide. At the very least, full-spectrum lighting keeps the plants healthy and also brings out the best color in animals.

We have used several different full-spectrum fluorescent lights with good results. These light also do not generate the heat of an incandescent light and o not accelerate the loss of moisture in the cage.

Feeding

Feeding tree frogs is usually very easy. Frogs are cued to feed on anything that moves, and tree frogs are no exception. Many tree frog species have a high metabolic rate and have to eat several times weekly to maintain proper body mass. Failure to feed the frog enough will result in dramatic weight loss and, eventually, death.

We offer our frogs a cricket-based diet. The crickets are approximately the same length as the width of the frog’s head. Any larger and our frog experience difficulties during feeding. Before we feed them to our amphibians, our crickets are “super charged” on a diet of a monkey chow, orange slices and various vegetables, including potatoes, red-leaf lettuce and carrots.

We also dust the crickets with a calcium/mineral supplement once or twice weekly. Crickets are placed into a large plastic cup with supplement in the bottom. We leave the crickets in this cup for several minutes so that they pick up some of the powder on their bodies, then place the crickets in feeding bowls. Although feeding bowls prevent the crickets from soiling the paper toweling, if not properly maintained they can be a health risk to the frogs. Wash the bowl after feeding to prevent buildup of supplement on the bottom of the container, which may allow the frogs to absorb an excess vitamins and minerals. This directly affects the kidneys and, ultimately their ability to metabolize.

We occasionally offer other food items, as well. Silk moth larvae are a wonderful alternative. Because these larvae feed on mulberry feeds, which are naturally high in calcium, they provide an excellent source of this vital nutrient. Silk moth larvae are easy to rear and are offered for sale by several companies around the country. They range in size from approximately pinhead-cricket size up to the mass of about 100 adult crickets.

We also offer wax moths and their larvae. These must be offered only as part of a varied diet because they are high in fat. Frogs will quickly become obese if they are fed too many wax moth larvae. Our smaller anurans are also fed wingless fruit flies (Drosophila). Fruit trees are easily obtainable and are important because they are swallowed easily and can be eaten in large quantities.

Health Concerns

Frogs are susceptible to many different diseases and pathogens. Because of their delicate skin, frogs need to be maintained at the utmost level of cleanliness. Because amphibians do not have the disease-resistant skin of a reptile (or you, for that matter), a frog can be invaded easily by pathogens. This is a double-edged sword when it comes to medicating frogs.

Although medications can be placed on the surface of the skin and absorbed by the frog, dosage can be problematic. This may not be a serious problem with less-deleterious drugs. When an accurate dosage is required, it is better to place the medication directly in the frog’s gullet. This is accomplished with the aid of a tuberculin syringe for larger frogs and a feeding tube for smaller, more delicate frogs.

Internal parasites are found in many captive frogs, especially if the animals are wild caught. The recommended treatment for internal protozoans is metronidazole (Flagella). Fenbendazole (Panacur) is recognized as the best treatment for nematodes. As with any sick animal, assistance from a qualified veterinarian is helpful for successful treatment of a parasitized frog.

Cage Cleaning

Again, cleanliness is crucial. Usually, we completely clean our frog terrariums every two to three weeks. We spot clean for feces between complete cage cleanings. How thoroughly we clean the enclosures depends entirely on two things: the number of frogs in the cage and how dirty certain animals are. Some species foul their areas more quickly than others. One soon learns how often cages need attention. Because most tree frogs climb the sides of the terrarium, the entire cage must be scrubbed and rinsed thoroughly.

When Cleaning, frogs can be handled safely by using latex gloves moistened with spring water. This will prevent any pathogens form entering the frogs by way of human skin to frog skin contact. Then the frogs are placed in sterile holding containers so that they are not restrained for any length of time. These containers are usually half-gallon, properly ventilated plastic jars. These holding containers are cleaned after each use.

Overall, the handling of frogs should be kept to a minimum to prevent unnecessary exposure to disease and stress, as well as injury that could result from frogs hopping out of their caretakers’ hands.

North American Tree Frogs

The name “tree frog” is applied to a wide variety of species found worldwide. Many of these forms are found in pet stores or on the tables of many vendors at the various reptile and amphibian shows around the country.

The United States is home to many beautiful and interesting types of of tree frogs. Most of these species belong to one of the two genera: Hyla and Pseudacris. Pseudacris is rarely seen in pet trade. Some of the most common varieties of North American tree frogs offered for sale include the green tree frog  (Hyla cinerea), the gray tree frog (H. versicolor) and the barking tree frog (H. gratiosa).

We have maintained these three common species for many years on a very simple caging and feeding regime. We keep our more common North American tree frogs in simplistic enclosures. We use caging that is taller than those used for some of our other amphibians, with damp paper towels as substrate. Plants, such as Pothos, can be placed in these cages to provide the animals perch sites and cover. These frogs will climb the sides of their terrariums and sleep on the glass if no plants are provided.

Their diet is cricket-based, but occasionally supplemented by silk moth larvae. Our North American tree frogs are fed every third day. Each animal is fed 3 to 5 crickets that are approximately the same length as the width of the frog’s mouth or smaller.

Although the green, gray and barking tree frogs are the most common North American tree frogs seen in pet trade. we have also had great success with some of the less frequently seen tree frogs, such as the Pacific tree frog (Hyla regilla), the California tree frog (H. cadaverina) and the mountain tree frog (H. eximia), using the strategies mentioned above.

Central and South American Tree Frogs

Central and South America are home to nearly 44 percent of anuran species (Cohen and Stebbins, 1995). Many tree frogs inhabit this region, and some are truly exquisite. Numerous species from several genera, including Hyla, Phyllomedusa, Agalychnis and Smilisca, are often offered for sale, including many captive-bred specimens.

We maintain several varieties of tropical Hyline frogs and Phyllomedusine frogs in 10-, 15-, or 20-gallon tall enclosures. We supply many of our tropical tree frogs with undercage heating by placing a heating element beneath a small portion of their cages. This is important to properly maintain temperatures to aid proper digestion. Ensure that the substrate in the cage does not dry out because of this additional heat source; you may need to moisten the paper towel substrate once or twice a day. We also keep a shallow dish of spring water in some cages to allow the animals to rehydrate should the need arise.

Many of our smaller frogs, such as the orange-sided monkey frog (Phyllomedusa hypocondrialis) and the tiger-striped leaf frog (P. tomopterna), are provided perching and hiding sited via hydroponically grown Pothos. We usually feed them every third day, as we do with our North American tree frogs. Because many of these animals are quite large, such as the giant monkey tree frog (P. bicolor), they can be fed larger food items. We feed our adult giant monkey tree frogs 5 to 6 adult crickets or 3 large silk moth larvae per meal. Supplementation is provided to these frogs on the same regimen as previously mentioned.

Many of the Central and South American tree frogs make outstanding candidates for naturalistic cages. the red-eyed tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) and several varieties of the monkey frogs (Phyllomedusa spp.) make superior display animals in a nicely planted enclosure adorned with tropical plants. If you decided to try a naturalistic approach, be sure to use wide-spectrum lighting not only for the animals, but for the plants as well.

Some monkey tree frogs, such as the Chacoan monkey frog (Phyllomedusa sauvaugii), will benefit from exposure to the sun for a few hours once a week. Use a screen cage (not glass) and ensure that the animal has access to water and shade should it become overheated. This type of frog actually basks in the sun; it has the ability to produce a lipid which it smears over its body to prevent desiccation. This is a necessary adaptation for survival in the arid Gran Chaco region of South America.

Old World And Australian Tree Frogs

Numerous tree frog species found in other parts of the world are frequently offered for sale. Perhaps the most common is White’s tree frog (Litoria caerulea). These natives of Indonesia and Australia have been bred under captive conditions for many generations, and many of the bright green or blue animals attain lengths of up to 5 inches. These frogs can eat a lot and may become obese if permitted to do so. They do well in either a simple cage or a naturalistic enclosure. We prefer to keep our White’s tree frogs in fairly large enclosures to encourage exercise, thus reducing the likelihood of obesity.

Interesting frogs found in other regions of the world include some of the gliding tree frogs of the genus Rhacophorus. We have worked with two varieties of these animals over the years, including the blue-webbed gliding tree frog (Rhacophorus reinwardtii) and the Chinese gliding tree frog (R. denysi). They do exceptionally well and have on occasion been captively bred. Gliding tree frogs are quite large. They have the ability to “parachute” or glide, so it is imperative to provide them with tall, spacious enclosures. They should be fed crickets as the base diet. Larger frogs can be fed up to 5 adult crickets per meal every third day. As with all the frogs mentioned in this article, food items should be dusted with a calcium and vitamin supplement once a week before offering it.

Frogs In Your Future?

Frogs are both beautiful and interesting; however, they tend to be fairly time-consuming as terrariumn pets go. Also, if they become ill or simply never thrive, it can be difficult to diagnose the problem. On the other hand, healthy frogs can become long-term captives. Some of ours have been in captivity for more than 10 years. Those frogs hatched in captivity tend to do comparatively better than wild-caught individuals. However, once de-parasitized and de-stressed, wild-caught individuals can also live many years in a collection.

For the person who enjoys caring for the frogs, nothing is more spectacular than walking into a room occupied by these dazzling creatures, no matter their origins. Sitting or lying in bed in the evening listening to the chorus of the males transports the fortunate listener to a far-away land.

References:

Cohen, Nathan W. and Robert C. Stebbins. 1995. A Natural History of Amphibians. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Try Some Tree Frogs is a post from: Cool Companions

Related posts:

1. Enchanting Green Tree Frogs As Pets
2. Magnificent Tree Frog
3. Blue Mountains Tree Frog

Carpet Pythons In The Wild
by Charles Acheson

Australian carpet pythons are unquestionably popular pythons among the general public, and most Australians have at some stage seen one of them in the wild. Usually, these people can recollect seeing one while on holiday – often, unfortunately, as roadkill. Throughout much of Australia, people in the countryside report seeing carpet pythons on ceiling beams in old sheds, in chicken roosts or even draped over their balconies.

As a “Sydneysider”, I regularly get calls from people in the suburbs adjoining bushland, asking me to remove diamond pythons (Morelia spilota) from their dwellings. I’ve found carpets under residents’ roofs and even basking at poolside, enjoying the morning sun. Ironically, the majority of herpetologists who live in diamond python areas have seen relatively few in the wild. Like the eastern  blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides), these pythons are more often seen on the fringes of suburbia than they are when purposely sought in the wild.

Carpet pythons are usually seen in the wild, either basking during the cooler months in an attempt to get warm, or at night during the summer. It is quite common to see carpet pythons in Northern Australia basking in “windows” of sunlight on the forest floor, or with a few coils hanging out of a tree hollow.

Types Of Carpet Pythons

Several species of carpet python have been identified across Australia, including Morelia spilota, M. macdowelli, M. variegata, M. cheynei, M. imbricata, M. metcalfei and M. bredli. The “type species” in the carpet python is actually the diamond python; this is due to its having been first described rather than to any revolutionary theory.

Morelia spilota has a limited range on the coast of New South Wales (NSW), from Port Macquarie on the midcoast to the border of Victoria in the south. Considered by some to be one of the most beautiful pythons in the world, the diamond python varies considerably throughout its range. It inhabits dry and wet sclerophyll forests and sandstone escarpments throughout its range.

In general, it exhibits less patterning in the south, with increasing degrees of mottled pattern as it reaches its northern extralimital range. The juvenile diamond is colored like the carpet python as a neonate and develops its “diamond” pattern as it reaches maturity. Around the midcoast of NSW, the carpet/diamond distinction becomes vague. Often the animals are clearly a mixture of both forms, ranging from predominantly carpet to mostly diamond. This coastal area is officially known to have natural populations of hybrids. These animals are fertile and reproduce readily in captivity.

Morelia macdowelli inhabits southeast Queensland and finds its way down into NSW, to the “hybrid” area of the mid-coast. The “coastal carpet” is the biggest of the carpet python species, occasionally reaching lengths nearing 10 feet and regularly attaining about 8 feet. It is common within its range and does not appear to be secretive like the diamond python. It exhibits a dark, mottled mustard, brown and black pattern, in general, which is an extremely effective camouflage. Once again, these snakes inhabit forested areas.

Morelia variegata, the top-end carpet python, is the most widespread of the carpet pythons, ranging from Cape York in the north of Queensland to the Kimberley Ranges of northern Western Australia. The types of forest that these animals can be found in is variable. Within their range they can be found marauding in most habitat areas. This species’ coloration is often lighter and more colorful than its southeastern relative’s.

Morelia cheynei, or the jungle carpet python as it is more commonly know, is a very distinctive creature not only because of its striking coloration, but also because of its nature. The jungle carpet comes in two main color phases: the cream and brown phase (less well known) and the spectacular and popular gold and black phase. These animals predominate in the Atherton Tablelands behind Cairns in Queensland, making their way in some areas to the coast. Within most of its range the winter overnight temperatures can be in the low-30-degree Fahrenheit range. Strangely, they are occasionally seen in undulating farmland, as these areas were once regal stands of rain forest. Along with its striking coloration, the jungle carpet is also known for its secretive, sometimes “snappy” nature. Herpetologists have found this snake to be an occasionally finicky feeder, particularly straight out of the wild.

Morelia imbricata, or the southwestern carpet, has, as its name implies an imbricated pattern (that is, its scales appear to overlap, like roof tiles). It is found in Western Australia to the south and on some islands off the southern Australian coast.

Morelia metcalfei, the Murray/Darling carpet, is named after the two rivers that transect the region in which it is found. This species inhabits areas adjacent to these rivers in Victoria, NSW and South Australia. It is a smallish python, rarely exceeding 6 feet, and is known for its good temperament. Its creamy mottled pattern, particularly around the head, is clearly different from its counterparts. This creamy gray coloration continues down the dorsal surface in blotches.

Morelia bredli is a striking python, distinctly different in its coloration. Isolated by thousands of miles of desert and not commonly seen, it inhabits rocky areas and dry riverbeds of central Australia, where it lives in hollows or rock crevices. This snake exhibits some magnificent shades of red and is favourite of many herpetologists.

All the carpet python species eat a variety of food items, including mammals, birds and bats, as well as lizards. Neonates in captivity prefer to eat small lizards, although they can be coaxed into eating pinkies quite readily.

Winter In The Wild

In general, carpet pythons seek north-facing rocky outcrops, tree hollows or fallen timbers in which to spend the winter months. During the overnight drop in temperature they will withdraw into their crevice or hole to retain their body heat as possible.

A common way to see carpet pythons in Queensland is to walk along the “windrows.” These are stands of trees that have been felled by property owners in the process of clearing lands. These trees are then bulldozed into rows ready burning. Often, windrows are left untouched for years and become microhabitats for many snakes and other animals.

During winter, one might discover the coils of a carpet python extending out of a burrow within the windrows, soaking up some sun. This lends itself to effective thermoregulation as the snake can simply maneuver itself around from time to time to maintain its exposure and vulnerability. These areas are also a haven for rodents and other mammals that provide food for carpet pythons and a multitude of other predators.

Old barns are another wintertime “hangout” for carpets. In Australia, corrugated iron is still a primary roofing material. Carpet pythons regularly inhabit the roofs of barns where they use the sheet iron as a sort of radiant thermal pad. Many times, I have entered an old shed to see loosely wrapped coils of carpet pythons draped over beams. Usually, these farm sheds are quiet places and harbor a ready supply of rats and bats as food items. Even on an overcast winter day in the Atherton Tablelands of northern Queensland, when the daytime temperature may be only 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, it only takes a few minutes of sun on some sheet iron roofing to allow a carpet python to warm up markedly.

In warmer areas – for example, Darwin, in the top of the Northern Territory, where the overnight lows during winter may only drop to the high 60s and the days may still be over 80 degrees – carpet pythons are more likely to be seen loosely coiled on the forest floor or in hollows.

In spring, most readily found carpet pythons are male, due to their tendency to patrol the forest floor looking for mates during breeding season. Sub-adult specimens are often mobile and easily discovered, as they are yet to establish territories. Females are more sessile in nature, although they will move to various habitats throughout the year to facilitate thermoregulation and egg laying.

Females usually lay eggs on the floor or in hollows and then carefully guard them for the duration of the incubation process. A female may release herself from the clutch in the early morning to bask and then return to her eggs. Depending on the species and the size of the individual, a clutch may number as few as six (in the case of young adult M. cheynei) or more than 20 eggs. While coiled around the eggs, the female can “shiver up” her body temperature above ambient to maintain an optimal temperature for the eggs (as mentioned in the captive care section).

There have been sightings of aggregations of diamond pythons in the spring, where numerous males will collect around a single female in an attempt to mate with her. According to those who have witnessed such spectacles, it can come as quite surprise to an unsuspecting bushwalker, although I must stress that this is not commonly seen.

Generally hardy in captivity, the carpet python is the species that’s most commonly kept by Australian hobbyists.

Carpet Pythons In Captivity
by Bob Clark

Carpet pythons are slender, medium-sized pythons with prehensile tails. They have proportionately large heads and narrow necks. Carpet pythons have an extensive range across Australia and in neighboring New Guinea and Irian Jaya. Adults range from 4 to 9 feet or more, depending on type. There is also considerable variation in color and pattern among the different varieties and within each type. They make great captives and have become very popular in recent years.

Popular Python

A major reason for their popularity is the carpet pythons seem especially well suited to life in captivity. The very large number of this species currently being kept and bred in this country is a testament to this. I got my first pair of carpet pythons in 1980, but before that time, I’d never seen a live one!

Although most of the non-native reptiles that became established in captivity were, and continue to be, imported in large numbers, this is not true for the carpet pythons. Australia has not allowed the export of its wildlife since the 1960s. The animals in captivity in this country today are descended from only a very few animals that have found their way to America, probably as imports from other countries. The fairly recent availability of the Irian Jaya carpet pythons is more typical of the way new types of pythons become established in captivity. First a few are imported, followed by increasing numbers as the buying public becomes familiar with them. Eventually, some of the animals acclimate well enough to breed and these form the basis for the captive-produced population.

Part of my job as a breeder and seller of snakes is to answer questions and give advice on how to care for animals I sell. I noticed recently that even though I deal with many species of boas and pythons, the information I gave was remarkably similar for all of them. Most members of the family Boidae thrive in captivity under fairly similar conditions. Carpet pythons can be maintained under the same conditions that are suitable for most other boas and pythons.

Enclosure Basics

Let’s start with the snake’s cage. The enclosure serves several purposes. First, and most obvious, is to keep the snake confined. Second, the cage must comprise an environment suitable for the snake. The enclosure must also allow easy viewing of its inhabitant. As long as the cage fulfills these requirements, the specifics of its construction are not important.

I favor some of the plastic cages with sliding glass fronts. These cages are easy to clean, readily available – and someone else has made them already! I’m not especially handy, so the ready-made aspect really appeals to me. Those with ability in this area can construct enclosures from plywood. Paint the wood and seal the joints to help maintain humidity. Allow for ventilation, but be aware that too much ventilation will make it difficult to maintain a proper environment inside.

I like to have a couple of small vents in the sides of the cage, as vents place on the top of the cage can cause the cage to lose heat unnecessarily. Adding additional heat not only wastes energy, but it also dries the cage’s interior. Glass aquaria are adequate if they are fitted with a solid top; screen tops are generally not suitable because they do not retain moisture.

Act Natural

We keep snakes because we like them. We are interested in their behavior and all aspects of their lives. For this reason, I like enclosures with a large viewing area. The snake’s perspective on this, however, may differ a little. In the wild, a snake may not spend much of its time out in the open during daylight. This exposes the animal to predators and makes its search for food less effective. Although our captive snakes are not in the wild, they are still programmed by instinct to behave in and react in certain ways. Departures from a snake’s expectations or “programming” may stress the animal and ultimately interfere with its health.

A large viewing area is great for us; for the snake, however, the loss of privacy may be a source of excessive stress. Providing the snake with a place to conceal itself is a compromise that can work for both parties. A snake that feels secure in its cage will be more likely to exhibit normal behaviour, including feeding and even breeding, if given the opportunity. Many husbandry and acclimation problems can be traced back to improper caging.

How Big Is Big Enough?

The size of the cage depends on the size of the snake. But contrary to popular opinion, bigger isn’t always better. I start my baby carpets in plastic containers measuring 13 inches by 7 inches by 3 inches. It is easier to maintain a warm, humid environment for the little snakes in small enclosures, and it’s more likely that they will have frequent contact with food items during their first few feedings. Larger snakes will require larger cages, of course. Most adult carpets will be comfortable in a cage measuring 48 inches by 24 inches by 18 inches.

As a commercial producer of reptiles, I have objectives different from most snake keepers’, but as long as the minimum requirements are met, the snakes do well. At my facility, accommodations are fairly Spartan. Enclosures are the minimum acceptable size and sparsely furnished to say the least: Each size has a water bowl and a hide box, and that’s all. Even under these conditions, the snakes will thrive and breed.

Temperature and Humidity

Carpet pythons, like most boas and pythons, are from tropical areas. They require conditions of temperature and humidity that are higher than most of us would consider comfortable in our homes. To keep them successfully in captivity, we need to provide them with the proper conditions. This will, in most cases, require supplemental heat in the enclosure. Cages can be heated by a variety of means, including light bulbs, heat pads or tape, or ceramic heaters. As long as the proper temperatures are provided, the heating method doesn’t really matter.

In the wild, snakes can choose a desired temperature. A snake seeking warmth can bask, for example. A snake that wants to cool off can retreat to the shade or to a burrow. We can give captive snakes some choices as well. By placing the heat source on one end of the enclosure it is possible to provide the snake with the maximum thermal gradient. The snake can choose a position near the heat source if it wants to be cooler. A temperature range of 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit is optimal.

In some cases, the heat source itself will be much warmer than 90 degrees. The temperature directly over a heat pad or under a light bulb may be much warmer. As long as the snakes can retreat to a cooler place, there is benefit in making the choice available.

Although we must, at minimum, reproduce the essential aspects of a snake’s habitat to be successful in maintaining it, reproducing some of the non-essentials might enhance the captive experience for both the keeper and the kept. Carpet pythons will utilize a cage’s vertical dimension if given opportunity. Providing branches for climbing makes watching the snakes more enjoyable, and I like to think that the snakes think it’s a good thing as well. variously sized branches, logs for hiding and artificial foliage might serve to make the snake’s environment more attractive, but they make it more difficult to service the enclosure and keep it clean. Naturally planted vivaria with soil and live plants are nearly impossible to maintain for snakes the size of carpet pythons.

Feeding and Breeding

Captive carpet pythons eat the full range of available warm-blooded food items. Baby carpets can be started on pinkie or fuzzy mice. As the snakes grow, they will eventually take adult mice, small rats and eventually large rats. Some of the larger individuals will take small rabbits.

Generally, if a baby carpet can eat a couple of pinkies it can easily take a fuzzy mouse. If it can eat more than one fuzzy mice it can probably take a weanling mouse and so on, until you are offering the largest rat. I don’t worry much about trying larger and larger food items. It it’s too big, the snake won’t it eat, and no harm done.

Often the snakes don’t know either and try to eat something that is too big for them. We all learn as we go.

Breeding carpets is simple and straightforward. As with most boids, they respond well to a slight drop in temperature at night in the fall. Copulation occurs between sexually mature animals throughout the winter. In my facility, carpets lay eggs in April and May; the eggs hatch in June or July. Clutch size varies from 6 eggs to 25 or more. Incubation time is relatively short for pythons, lasting 55 days or less. Carpet pythons are what we humans would classify as “good mothers.” Females coil around their eggs during the entire incubation period, leaving only occasionally to bask.

Carpets are able to increase their body temperature during incubation. The process of shivering thermogenesis is similar to shivering humans: Small muscle contractions generate heat that is used to incubate the eggs. Carpet pythons may also bask during the incubation period, absorbing heat from the sun and then transferring it to eggs.

Even though they are cold-blooded animals, female carpet pythons can keep their eggs at a fairly constant temperature throughout incubation. Alternately, eggs can be incubated artificially in damp water vermiculite at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Good results can be obtained with either method. If the necessary temperature and humidity requirements are met, the eggs will hatch. Hatchling carpets are about 15 inches long.

Carpet pythons are interesting and attractive animals. They make great captive subjects and are becoming increasingly available in the pet trade. Carpets can be obtained in reptile specialty stores or from any of the many breeders of the species.

Carpet Pythons in Captivity and Nature is a post from: Cool Companions

Related posts:

1. Coastal Carpet Python
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3. Diamond Python

Long considered your best bet if you’re a beginner, bearded dragons and leopard geckos remain favorite pets.

Younger readers of reptiles may be surprised to know that few captive-bred lizards have been available in the recent past. While there are far more species and specimens available now than there ever have been, those species, that have been with us the longest are still among the best pet reptiles.

Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) and bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) rank among the most popular pet reptiles. Both species are easy to care for, personable, and readily available. Leopard geckos are often the choice for a first pet reptile. Their popularity  as a starter herp is due primarily to their inexpensive nature and because they do not require much in the way of equipment to be properly maintained.

Bearded dragons are more expensive and require larger,  more elaborate enclosures; however, beardies tend to reward their owners with a much higher degree of interaction.

LEOPARD GECKOS

By a large margin, more leopard geckos are captive bred in the United States than any other reptilian species.

In addition, for reasons already given, leopards enjoy mass appeal, in part because they come in a wide variety of color and pattern morphs. Some of these are selectively bred, such as high-yellows, tangerines, and melanistics. Other morphs are genetic mutations, including albinos, patternless, blizzards and jungles. Combinations of all the above are also produced.

All leopard gecko genetic mutations are thought to be single gene traits that breed true, but there are multiple strains of albinos that will produce normals when bred together. This is a relatively new area in gecko production and certainly more surprises are on the horizon. Regardless of appearance, all of these geckos have the same captive-care requirements.

The range of leopard geckos encompasses Pakistan, Afghanistan and western India. Almost all animals available today are captive bred, and imports should be avoided by novices. In their native environment, leopards frequent arid areas and are thought to live in loose colonies with considerable cover.

There are several options available for acquiring geckos, including pet shops, breeders and reptile expos. First-time buyers should search for a gecko locally so they can see what they are buying. When selecting a gecko, choose an animal that is alert, active and with a full tail. The tail should expand past the base; geckos with a thin tail may be in poor health.

Hatchling-sized geckos are less expensive and more commonly available. However, they tend to be high-strung and fragile. Until they put on some size, hatchlings should be rarely handled. Sub-adults are very sturdy and are ideal to start with, but they will be more expensive.

If you maintain multiple reptiles, you should always quarantine new arrivals away from existing collection, service them last and use separate equipment. Three months is a reasonable quarantine time; however, some breeders quarantine for up to a year.

Housing Leopards

Housing for leopard geckos can range from plastic shoeboxes to large, elaborate vivariums. Single animals do well in a 10-gallon tank, while a trio can easily be housed in a standard 20-gallon, “long” aquarium. A secure lid is essential. While leopard geckos don’t climb glass, they can climb furnishings quite well, and household pets, (such as cats) would love to eat them. Leopard gecko breeders often house there geckos in plastic sweater boxes in rack systems.

The specifics of the cage are not critical, as long as the animal’s needs can be properly met. Multiple geckos can be kept together, but do not keep more than one mature male to a cage. Males will fight and can have been known to kill one another.

The substrate is an important consideration. Newspaper is an excellent choice, albeit aesthetically displeasing. Other options include calcium or silica based sand with a fine consistency, mulch, bark chips or cage carpet. It has been said that sand can cause impactions, but if the geckos’ nutritional needs are met they are not likely to ingest sand to cause a problem. Small bark chips can become impacted, but using large-chip substrate eliminates this risk. Cage carpets must not have any loose strands because these tend to wrap around gecko feet or legs and can lead to necrosis.

Thermal Gradients

As for all ectotherms, a proper thermal gradient is essential for leopard geckos. They are nocturnal, hence a basking lamp is completely inappropriate. An under-tank heating pad designed for reptiles is the best option. If placed at one end of the cage, this creates a thermal gradient from one end of the cage to the other.

If you use newspaper as a substrate, use caution when using a heating pad; some brands need a deeper substrate to disperse heat, and thermal burns are likely if the enclosure glass gets too hot. We don’t recommend heat rocks because they do not provide a gradient.

Ideal leopard gecko cage temperatures are about 95 degrees Fahrenheit at the warm end and the low 80s at the cooler end.

Hide and Seek

Hide areas are important fixtures for any gecko cage. Rock caves, cork hollows, or plastic shoeboxes are all options. These should be provided at both the warm and cool ends of the enclosure, Hide areas need to be large enough to encompass a heat gradient. Use caution when creating a hide area from rocks, as geckos tend to dig and can collapse rock piles with fatal consequences. If you have a natural vivarium, the structures should be siliconed in place.

Hide boxes may also be used to provide a high-humidity area. While leopard geckos come from arid areas, they are still thought to inhabit high-humidity microclimates in their burrows. Even in Florida, captive leopard geckos may experience dry sheds if kept without a humid hide box. Damp vermiculite or sphagnum moss works well to raise the humidity inside a hide box.

Diet and Nutrition

For the reptile enthusiast with snake experience, gecko nutrition is a whole new challenge. They are insectivores and must have a high-quality diet if they are to thrive. Geckos do well on a diet of mealworms, and can also be given crickets, superworms, wax worms, and pinky mice. Offer your pet leopards as much variety as possible.

Feeder insects must also be fed a quality diet before being fed to your geckos. Lizards receive much of the nutrition from the gut content of their prey. There are many quality commercial insect foods available; these should be supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies for added moisture. Additionally, your geckos’ prey should be dusted with a vitamin and mineral supplement several times a week for juveniles, less often for adults. The supplement should contain calcium and phosphorous in at least a 2-1 ratio, high levels of vitamin A, high amounts of D3 and a wide range of other vitamins.

Geckos can be given free access to mealworms. Because loose mealworms will dig into the substrate, place them in a bowl they cannot escape from. Any supplements on the worms will fall off after a couple of hours, so the bowl should contain a shallow layer of food (not enough to cover the worms) to keep their digestive tracts full. Not all geckos will readily accept mealworms, so you will have to monitor the condition of the geckos.

Crickets are also a good dietary component. Hatchling geckos can be fed crickets daily, while sub-adults and adults can be fed every other day. Don’t feed any geckos more than they will eat overnight — squads of uneaten crickets have been known to chew holes in leopard geckos. The crickets should be dusted with a supplement at every feeding for hatchlings and once a week for adults.

Many geckos will also accept superworms as a regular part of their diet. Wax worms are another good supplement but very fatty and should be used sparingly. Pinky mice are another good supplement, but again they should be offered in moderation.

Fresh water must always be available. Hatchling geckos may not drink from bowls and are very prone to dehydration, so they must be sprayed down a couple of times a day until they are drinking on their own.

Breeding Leopards

Many hobbyists who keep leopard geckos eventually become interested in breeding them. Geckos can be bred in a 1-1 ratio up to (at least) a 1-20 ratio of males to females. Remember, only one male per cage.

The first step in any successful breeding endeavor is to make sure that your two breeders are indeed a pair. Adult males are easily identified by their hemipenal bulges, immediately caudal to the cloaca, and the V-shaped row of pre-anal pores just cranial to the cloaca. These can be seen in juvenile geckos but are not well developed until maturity is reached.

Maturity is a function of size, not age, in leopard geckos. A safe breeding size 1.4 ounces, but if raised in mixed-sex cages leopards will breed when they’re as small as 0.7 ounces. This frequently leads to serious health problems for the females, however, so growing animals should be separated by sex. Most leopard geckos will reach breeding size when they’re about 1 year old.

Many breeders put their geckos through a winter cooling period. This is recommended but not required, with a minor cooling period not lower than 70 degrees Fahrenheit for one to three months. Food should be made available, and the geckos’ consumption will decrease over time. During cool-down, males can be kept in breeding groups or separately.

In the springtime, raise the temperature to initiate breeding activity, and reintroduce the males to the females. Breeding generally occurs shortly after they have warmed up.

Females lay clutches of two eggs in a damp nest box at approximately 30-day intervals for around six months. This is a stressful time for females, and they must be closely monitored to make sure they are keeping adequate body weight. This is a good time to add wax worms or pinkies to their diet.

Eggs should be incubated in plastic boxes with a damp medium and little airflow. Vermiculite or perlite in a 1-1 ratio with water (measure by weight) works well as an incubation medium. Incubation temperatures often determine the sex of the offspring and also may impact adult behavior. Temperatures in the low 80s will yield a mix of sexes in the hatchlings. At these temperatures, the eggs should hatch in about 45 days.

Neonates will shed and be ready to start feeding in a day or two. Potential health problems to be wary of include dry sheds, abscesses, injury from cage-mates, nutritional imbalances and internal parasites.

It is important to work with a knowledgeable reptile veterinarian, as reptile medicine is a new and frequently changing discipline. The Association of Reptile and Veterinarians (www.arav.org) is a good source for locating knowledgeable vets. Due to the low cost of leopard geckos, many people tend to view them as disposable pets and refuse to provide proper veterinary care. If this is your attitude, please do not purchase a leopard gecko.

BEARDED DRAGONS

Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) are Australian agamids. They are a relatively recent addition to the United States pet trade and have become well established due to their hardiness, social behaviors and prolific breeding habits.

Bearded dragons come from very hot, arid areas of Australia, living in social groups where there is lots of cover available. They can be found in natural, wild habitats and have also adapted well to living near human habitation. All animals seen in the pet trade are captive born, as Australia has a long history of prohibiting animal exportation.

Bearded dragons are also available in a wide variety of color morphs. A few of these are single-gene mutations, such as the recently hatched albinos and an established leucistic line. High-yellow, orange and red morphs are all available, with many different names (such as Sandfires). In selecting a good color morph, buy from a reputable breeder, and try to see pictures of the adults if possible.

Like leopard geckos. “beardies” can easily be acquired through reputable pet stores, breeders, and expos. Again, it is a good idea for first-time buyers to buy locally. In addition, bearded dragons are relatively fragile during their first month of life and react poorly to shipping. Purchase animals that are at least 1 month old. They should be active, bright-eyed and feed readily. Avoid any dragons with visibly protruding hip bones or eyes that appear to shrunken in.

Big Houses

Housing for bearded dragons must be spacious. While a juvenile can get by in a 20-gallon, long aquarium, a single adult should have at least 4 square feet of floor space. A trio should have at least 6 square feet. As always, a secure lid is a must. Glass aquariums are not your only option, provided alternatives have enough space and plenty of ventilation. With bearded dragons, floor space requirements are of greater importance than height requirements.

As with geckos, substrate is an important consideration. Newspaper, fine calcium or silica-based sand, mulch, bark chips or cage carpet are all acceptable substrates. Bear in mind that the amount of sand required for a large cage tends weigh quite a bit. As a result, any bearded enclosure and stand must be sturdy enough to support this added weight. Because of their voraciousness, bearded dragons may ingest loose cage carpet fibers, so be sure to check synthetic carpets for loose strands and remove any that you discover. Periodically checking for loose fibers won’t hurt, either. Upon entering your dragon’s system these carpet strands can cause health problems.

Bearded dragons like the hot spot in their enclosures to be very hot. They are diurnal basking lizards, so a heat lamp is the most appropriate way to provide the extreme temperatures preferred by these hardy lizards. Temperatures around 110 degrees Fahrenheit are perfectly acceptable to bearded dragons. However, the cage should not be this warm. Once again, create a thermal gradient by placing a basking spotlight at one end of the cage and provide good ventilation. The cool end of the cage should be in the mid 80s. If you can’t provide this kind of gradient, consider a larger cage, If nighttime lows fall below the mid 70s, then an under-tank heater should be used to provide supplemental heat at night.

Furnishings for bearded dragons should include warm and cool hide areas as well as basking spots. If you are keeping multiple dragons together, make sure the basking spots are large enough for all of them. Large rocks or bricks make good basking spots because they hold heat well. Many dragons, especially juveniles, will also use sturdy branches as basking spots. Make sure all fixtures are firmly in place, as dragons will dig a lot and can undermine furnishings, thus creating potential hazards.

Omnivorous Beardies

Bearded Dragons are omnivores, and they need as much variety in their diet as possible. Insects, especially crickets, provide a good staple diet. They must be properly gut loaded and supplemented. Dragons also relish mealworms, superworms wax worms roaches, pinky mice and anything else that moves and will fit in their mouths. Small dragons are prone to mealworm impactions, so wait until the lizards are a couple of months old before offering mealworms.

Vegetables are an important component of the bearded dragon diet. They should receive a wide variety of leafy greens, such as mustard, collard and turnip greens, spinach, kale, and romaine and real-leaf lettuce. Again, the more variety you offer then the healthier your dragons will be. In addition to leafy greens, provide other chopped vegetables such as squash, zucchini, peas, carrots, tomatoes, string beans and peppers.

Commercial bearded dragon foods are also available and make good addition to any dragon’s diet (but still offer other foods for variety).

A good feeding schedule for young dragons is a salad mixture every morning and insects every afternoon. Young dragons have ravenous appetites and must be fed daily. Adult dragons should be fed salad three or four times a week and offered insects on a similar schedule. For larger dragons, a bowl of mealworms or superworms can also be made available at all times.

Vitamins and Supplements

Vitamin and mineral supplementation is very important. A high-calcium, high-D3 supplement should be used several times a week for juvenile dragons and breeding females, less often for older non-reproductive animals. Vitamin supplements are less important if a good variety of vegetables is offered, but should  still be provided at least once a week.

Like leopard geckos, juvenile beardies don’t often drink from bowls and should be sprayed with water several times per day. This is especially important as many hatchling dragons are reluctant vegetable eaters (apparently they have something in common with human children). Larger animals usually will drink from a bowl and eat their vegetables, so misting them is not usually necessary.

Breeding

Bearded dragons are easily bred in captivity. Using multiple females with one male spreads the male’s attention around and prevents any one female from getting too run-down. Multiple males can be used, but subdominant males will have to be removed periodically.

Sexing dragons is not quite as easy as with leopard geckos, but with practice it is not too difficult. Mature males will have hemipenal bulges caudal to their vents. These extend further back than a leopard gecko’s and are positioned closer to the sides of the tail. A split down the middle of this bulge is a good indication that the lizard is a male. In addition, males tend to be larger, have broader heads and necks, and as not as heavyset as females. Femoral pores are also more pronounced in males. Examining the hemipenal bulges is a more reliable sexing indicator than are the femoral pores, which hare a good secondary indicator.

Bearded dragons should weigh between 7.9 and 9.6 ounces before breeding. They will breed if they’re smaller than this, but are more likely to experience dystocias (difficult birth), so separate your sexes until they are ready to breed. Most dragons will reach adequate breeding size between 9 and 15 months of age.

Virgin females are generally not cycled, although older animals usually go through a cooling period. Breeders use many different cycling techniques, including length of cooling. Dragons can take temperatures in the mid 50s during their brumation, although most breeders prefer temperatures in the 60s or low 70s. If your dragons are going to be cooled below 70 degrees, make sure they have at least a week without food to purge their gut content. Length of brumation can last from one to three months.

Most breeders also manipulate day and night cycles, giving the dragons anywhere from zero to eight hours of light during brumation, and 12/12 cycles during breeding season.

When your dragons warm up, they will be ready to eat immediately. If you introduce the males at this time, you should observe courtship behavior taking place almost instantaneously. The males will bob their heads vigorously. Females will often respond with hand waving. Eventually, when females are receptive, breeding will occur.

Taking Care of Mom

Gravid females can be difficult to identify. watch for digging activity. When the female is digging, add a pile of damp sand or move her to another deep bin with damp sand. She will generally lay her eggs within a few days.

Eggs should be removed and set up for incubation in the same manner described for leopard gecko eggs. Incubation temperatures in the low 80s are appropriate for bearded dragon eggs. The eggs usually will hatch after about 60 days.

Bear in mind that females that are not bred may still cycle and lay infertile eggs. This can lead to a significant dystocia risk, so owners of unbred female bearded dragons may want to explore having them sprayed.

With proper care, health problems are rare. However, dragons are prone to dystocia, nutritional imbalances, impactions, and internal parasites. Be sure to work with a competent reptile veterinarian when dealing with these problems.

There are now many options available when choosing a pet lizard. As mentioned, two of the best captive-bred choices are still leopard geckos and bearded dragons. Evaluate the needs of these lizards and decide which one is the best choice for you. If you give your pet the care it requires, you will have a happy and healthy leopard or beardie for a long time to come.

Leopards and Beardies is a post from: Cool Companions

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2. Bearded Dragon: An Interesting Pet Lizard
3. Peninsula Dragon

Most Top End’s venomous snakes are not considered deadly.

But the northern half of Australia is home to many species whose bite requires medical treatment – so it is wise to steer clear.

Secretive Snake: Cryptophis pallideceps

Description: Head slightly distinct from neck, moderately slender body. Dorsal coloration is blackish, often with a paler head. The ventral surface can be creamish to pink.

Its maximum length is about 630 mm. It is found in the Top End of the Northern Territory.

Remarks: The secretive snake is a nocturnal species that shelters beneath rocks, logs, and other debris. It is probably a live-bearer. It mainly feeds on small lizards but will occasionally take frogs. It is not considered dangerous to humans, but a bite from a large specimen may require medical treatment.

Little Spotted Snake: Denisonia punctata

Description: Head depressed, slightly distinct from neck, moderately slender body. Dorsal coloration is light to reddish brown, often with a darker spot on each scale. The head and neck have prominent dark blotches. Ventral surface is white or creamish.

Maximum length is about 520 mm.

It is found in Northern Australia, with the exception of eastern Queensland.

Remarks: The little spotted snake is a nocturnal species usually associated with red desert areas. It is a live-bearer. One litter of five has been recorded.

It preys mainly on small lizards, but has also been recorded feeding on blind snakes.

Although it is not considered dangerous, its bite can be painful.

Black Whip Snake: Demansia atra

Description: Head deep and narrow, distinct from the neck, long slender body. Dorsal coloration is black, becoming reddish. The head is dark coppery brown. Dark posterior blotching may be present. The lips, chin, throat and undertail can be pinkish to whitish.

The maximum length is 1.8 mm.

It is found on the coast and adjacent areas of northern Australia, from the East Kimberleys Western Australia through the top end of the Northern Territory to central eastern Queensland. It is also found in Papua New Guinea.

Remarks: The black whip snake is an active diurnal species, which is occasionally semi-nocturnal on warm nights. Considered to be Australia’s fastest moving snake, it is nervous and retiring. It will not bite unless provoked. It is an egg layer and may produce up to 20 eggs in clutch. It feed on small reptiles, frogs, mammals and insects. Although the exact potency of its venom is unknown, bites from large specimen are regarded as potentially dangerous to man.

Demansia papuensis:

This species, which is similar to the black whip snake, may be distinguished by its higher ventral and subcaudal scale counts, spotted head and its anterior ventrals not being black edged.

Yellow-face Whip Snake: Demansia Psammophis reticulata

Description: Head barely distinct from neck, elongate body. Dorsal coloration is greenish grey merging to coppery brown. Each body scale has prominent black edging, giving a distinctive reticulated appearance. The head is olive green or coppery brown, with a pale edged dark line running from the rostral to the eyes, where it meets a pale-edged, narrow comma-shaped marking surrounding the eye. The throat is yellow and the remainder of the ventral surface is yellowish white.

Its maximum length is about 900 mm.

It is found in all of Western Australia, apart from the far south and far north, southern Northern Territory and northern South Australia.

Remarks: The yellow-face whip snake is a fast moving, diurnal species which feeds on small reptiles and frogs. It is an egg layer, but there are no records of clutch size. Although it is venomous, it is not regarded as dangerous to man.

Curl or Myall Snake: Suta suta

Description: Depressed head distinct from neck, robust body. Dorsal coloration may be any shade of brown, occasionally olive green, often with dark tips on the scales, giving a reticulated appearance. The head and nape are dark brown to black. A dark line extends from below the eyes to the snout. This line is bordered by white scales. These marking are barely discernible or completely absent in aged specimens. The under-surface is white or cream.

Its maximum length is about 900 mm.

It is found in most of South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory, extending into eastern Western Australia. It is also found in the north-west corner of Victoria.

Remarks: This nocturnal, terrestrial species ranges through a variety of habitats, but is most common in dry arid areas. It shelters in earth cracks or under logs and other ground debris. It is a live bearer and may produce about six in a litter.

It feeds on lizards, frogs, and small mammals. Of unpredictable nature, this snake derives its vernacular name from its threat display, which consists of flattening the body, curling tightly, then lashing from side to side. Although it was not previously regarded as dangerous, the toxicity of its mainly neurotoxic venom is not fully known and bites from large specimens may require medical treatment.

Venomous Snakes: Steer Clear is a post from: Cool Companions

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Moira Lakes upstream from Echuca, along the big bend of the Murray crawls with snakes.

Only droughts knock their numbers back and even these natural disasters serve merely as temporary checks.

I first came across this ‘snakiest’ place in all Australia in 1926 as a wandering kid on a push bike marveling at first of the river swamps and their mighty flocks of birds.

Those days, local Aborigines had not been pushed into settlements but hunted happily as of yore. They speared cod from hollowed out redgum craft and lived in humpies.

Bu the Tiger Snakes, then as now, dominated the scene — a fact forcibly noticeable when the snow waters flooded down in October, isolating box ridges and the higher river banks for weeks or even  months at a time.

Then, if so inclined, you didn’t need to go on a binge at Barmah Pub to get the horrors.

Landings on flood-girt high spots in the morning sun began an all-pervading series of slitherers, accompanied by the incredible spectacle of the Tigers by the score racing into piled up debris.

Less fortunate snakes sun-basked three, six, 10 or 13 metres above water level in and about the loose bark of ancient isolated eucalypts.

No wonder in later days of antivenene work, we could amass 80 to 100 ‘milkers’ in a morning’s work.

One evening, by the camp fire with snake bags full and tied and passing night herons attempting to croak above the mighty roar of amorous frogs, my mate speculated about Burke and Wills.

In their desperate need for some form of sustenance, had they ever  considered snake as food? That did it, for, tough as we reckoned we were, we’d never tested such a possibility ourselves.

Next morning, a passing Tiger was killed, beheaded, skinned and cleaned.

The fact that our victim carried parasitic nematode worms packed in its stomach almost halted the culinary experiment, but curiosity triumphed and the carcass was then boiled for 15 minutes in salty water.

Finally we fried our quarry in butter and sat on a log for breakfast.

Still not quite convinced we’d removed the very potent venom by decapitation, my mate said his only grace before a meal for the entire trip!

However, almost immediately his apprehensions vanished like the mists of morning.

That fat old Tiger was delicious – a kind of cross flavour between fish, eel and chicken.

It was completely consumed and we didn’t even begin to hiss.

Considering that canned Rattlesnake sells from the shelves in USA and crocodile meat has its devotees, why not Tiger Snake fillets or Mulga munchies for Australian gourmets?

What a marvelous idea for the money-spinning entrepreneurs of Surfer’s Paradise!

The Biter Bit For A Bush Breakfast is a post from: Cool Companions

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Story by Liz Johnswood
Pictures by Peter Watkins

If you discover a snake at the bottom of your garden and you live in Alice Springs, don’t panic – just send for the snake-catchers of the Alice. There’s Bruce Munday, an incredibly laid-back, fiercely mustached chap who will come to the rescue as quick as a flicker of fang. Or there are the rangers of the Northern Territory Conservation Commission (NTCC), big willing fellows who’d rather face a snake any day than a nasty bush litterer.

Bruce, an animal keeper at Alice Reptile World, and Greg Fyfe, head ranger stationed just out of town at the historic Telegraph Station, filled us in on the reasons behind the creepy service they offer residents.

“We’re really more interested in protecting the snakes than the people,” Greg explained dealing a blow to the human ego/ “It’s illegal to kill snakes in the Territory, but if they’re found within 100 metres of your home, that law doesn’t apply. It’s considered a life-threatening situation, so frightened people start whacking.”

Bruce agreed. “You have to get there in a hurry or it’s curtains for the snake. I had one hysterical woman screaming at me as I approached, ” Hurry up or I’ll dong it!” It was just a baby western brown, but a chap was there fending the poor little devil off with a broom.

“Another chap walked into the reptile house one day clutching a small, dead legless lizard that looked as if it had been run over by a Sherman tank. He’d seen a lot of them around the place and wanted it identified.

“The trouble is, with most people anything that hasn’t got legs is a deadly king brown or a death adder out to get them,” he said.

They can “get” them, too. Like most Australian snakes, the snakes of the Centre are highly venomous — death adders, eastern and western browns, vicious tiger snakes and a few others.

“It’s safer for people to call in a snake expert than tackle them themselves,” Greg said. “You can’t be too gung-ho about it, either. I’ve been almost bitten by an eastern brown because of carelessness.

“Anyone trying to kill one of these fellows could be in trouble. They’re big, nasty and very fast. They stand their ground, up in a typical aggressive S-bend, mouth agape, hissing like mad.

“We use a snake stick to pin them down while we grab them and I’ve had an angry eastern brown coming up the stick at me. They are the crankiest snakes I’ve ever handled.

“Most people call us or Bruce or the wildlife people. We place an advertisement in the local newspaper every now and again, telling people to get in touch. It’s better than taking risks.”

Most of the captured snakes are taken well out into the bush and let go. A few are kept for educational purposes. “Sometimes we get an interesting snake and keep it for a while to do talks to kids at schools. We let them pat the snakes and teach them that they’re not slimy creatures,” Greg explained.

Bruce keeps a few “magnificent specimens” to add to the reptile house and uses them in talks to groups on the correct method of treating snakebite.

“There are two basic principles,” he said. ” First you put pressure on the skin over the bite by binding it up and splinting it to keep the limb perfectly still. Then you get a doctor as fast as possible. Don’t do ant barn-dances on the way and save the whisky for after the cure. If a bite is treated this way, it can take at least seven hours for it to be fatal.”

In the Territory as a whole, Greg says, the rangers get about 800 call-outs a year. Some of these are to tend injured birds or animals, but the majority of calls are to remove snakes.

“You get snakes in the house, in swimming pools and in gardens,” he said. “You even get them in the street.”

Not infrequently, the troublemakers are snakes which have been kept illegally as pets. “We picked up one 3-metre olive python that must have come illegally from Queensland,” Greg explained. “The suspicious large bulge in his belly turned out to be the caller’s prize duck. However, we never did catch the snake’s owner.”

Poultry yards and bird cages are favourite restaurants for snakes. They track down their prey by picking up scent particles in the air, home in, have a feed and can’t get out because they’re fatter than when they slid in.

Both Bruce and Greg are snake buffs from way back. As a youngster, Bruce delighted in catching copperheads on a golf course near where he lived in Tasmania, and scaring his mother silly. Greg was doing pretty much the same on the mainland.

Trainee ranger Peter Mckenzie, who works with Greg, got his training in courage and cunning by pinching crocodile eggs around Darwin, so snakes don’t scare him. “We’d take the eggs from nests that were likely to be flooded and the eggs lost, then incubate them,” Peter said.

Catching snakes or pinching croc eggs — it’s a sure thing not too many will be trying to take the jobs from these intrepid fellows!

Snakes Alive! (No wonder Alice Springs) is a post from: Cool Companions

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It’s hard for many of us to look back on the invention of septic tanks, sewerage farms and reticulated water without shedding a few tears for auld lang syne and a few for old green tree frogs.

For there, among the galvanized clutter of overflow drains, slimy tank stands, thunderboxes, stink pipes and dripping taps, dozed the king of croakers, the mighty green tree frog, undisputed lord of the outside loo.

And it was in the rainwater tanks, at the very end of the dry season, when frogs and water were down to the last rung, that their thunderous booming welcomed in the first of the summer deluges. The effect of a good reverberating tankful of bullroarers was then measured on the Ritcher scale and the potential of the approaching wet season predicted.

Likewise, in the humble little outhouses, a prodigious cohort of clammy green cockroach gobblers patrolled by night.

Everyone from that aromatic era knows that no respectable backyard lav was ever equipped with an electric light. The darkness was faced head-on with a collection of old weeping candles and half-dead torch batteries.

Our privy was as black as a caved-in coal-pit; our exhausted blobs of candlewax were always beyond ignition and our torch hadn’t seen new batteries since the first set died, haemorrhaged and digested everything around them.

this meant that each nocturnal outhouse operation that required illumination had to be performed to the flicker of a judiciously struck match.  In retrospect this system probably differed little from family to family. In fact, in those days the accomplishment of normal, healthy childhood toilet training relied on the proven horror-of-the-dark, burning-of-the-fingers technique.

But running high on the list of consuming night-time terrors was the worry that if the match ran out enroute to the dunny, a big, cold, spongy green frog would have materialised in the darkness, either on the door knob, or directly, underfoot, or right in the opening path of the shuddering door.

While it was always impossible to tell who got the biggest shock — frog, child, parents or neighbors — it was never hard to tell who screamed the loudest.

Those green frogs let out a crackling shriek like a string of tom-thumbs going off, and so unexpected and ear-splitting was the screech that whatever had constituted the purpose of the visit was gladly aborted in favor of a soul-restoring nip of brandy administered by a sympathetic mum back in the kitchen. It’s a wonder we weren’t alcoholics before puberty!

But black nights were quickly used for black comedy when uninitiated dinner guests were compelled to visit the lean-to.

For this dubious cause, brotherly talents were combined to grab an old dependable frog from in or near the letter-box and plant him inside the outhouse. This way, if a visitor’s hand wasn’t ravaged by the black hen which nested in the sawdust-box, the hand inevitably fingered the frog lying camouflaged in the soft green apple papers nailed to one of the throne-room noggings.

It is an ironic twist of homeopathic proportions, that the high blood pressure generated by these loo-lurking detonators was later to be medically controlled by a substance called caerulein, which was isolated from the protective slime on the green tree frog’s back. However, anything other than small, medically supervised doses of caerulein can do such unspeakably horrendous things to the human gut wall and gall bladder that green garnishes of frogskin are a definite no-no in Aussie camp-fire cuisine and are side-stepped by all bush cooks happy to be pink and not green around the gills.

With the demise of domestic tanks and backyard dunnies the future became grim for these slimy springers. But against swamp reclamation, insecticides and the aggressive competition of introduced cane-toads, the future of green tree frogs on the domestic urban scene is decidedly bleak.

This prognosis may actually please the faint-hearted, whose appreciation of green skin and webbed feet begins and ends with the Muppets. But to others, who as youngsters fell asleep to the sound of a friendly old grandpa frog going “gar-ork, gar-ork” outside in the meter-box, no amount of felt puppets or television can replace a quality of life that is slipping through our fingers as quickly as a handful of tadpoles.

Not too long after the Point Lookout Hotel was built, a large amphibious party of freeloaders decided to try out 20th century technology and sprung into the flash new septic ablution block. Here the frogs chose to camp out of sight inside the shiny new pedestals, tucking themselves in under the flushing lip, just below the seat.

Like sticky green sandbags, their clogging effect not only gummed up the hydrodynamics of the ultra-fashionable flush. But when suspicious guests gazed into the abnormally churning maelstrom, what they beheld either sent them packing or looking for a doctor, depending on what they’d been drinking for lunch.

The poor frogs who had been born and bred in the backwaters of swamps and rainwater tanks thought that every flushing cascade was a fresh summer downpour and cause enough to clamber out and go a-wooing. So many guest preoccupied with lid closing came close to a coronary when old Jeremy Fisher, or one of his offspringers, spread their glutinous digits over the seat and hoisted themselves up out of the porcelain like the creature from the Black Lagoon coming up for air.

The frogs were eventually moved on to less disruptive pastures and their grand plans to leap along with modern technology unfortunately amounted to no more than a flash in the pan.

King Of The Croakers is a post from: Cool Companions

Related posts:

1. Magnificent Tree Frog
2. Enchanting Green Tree Frogs As Pets
3. Blue Mountains Tree Frog