Issue #1 - November 2019 by Herp Magazine

Herpetoculturemagazine.com

erpetoculture agazine Issue #1 - November 2019

Mastering Bredl's Pythons Getting Into Venomous!

A Quick Guide to Knob-Tailed Geckos Herping Greece! Mad Hogs: Keeping Giant Hognoses

Industry Spotlight: Joe Phelan, Port City Pythons!

Palmetto Coast

Exotics

-- On the Cover -Unquestionable Quality Justin Smith Colubrids - Chondros - & More fb.com/ld50photography

This Issue... Page 4

Page 21

Page 7

Page 27 Page 13 Page 16

Page 32

Copyright © 2019 by Herpetoculture Magazine all rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. First Edition www.herpetoculturemagazine.com

Contributors Justin Smith - Publisher -

Billy Hunt - Publisher -

Phil Wolf - Executive Contributor -

Nipper Read - Executive Contributor -

Eric Burke - Contributor -

Nate Weatherman - Contributor -

Riley Jimison - Contributor -

Casey Cannon - Contributor -

Joe Phelan - Contributor -

From The Publishers’ Desk If you're reading this then WELCOME! We're proud to bring you the first issue of Herpetoculture Magazine. With this publication we hope to bring a wealth of information from some of the best people in the community. Not only will we cover various species and how they're kept but we also want to provide other practical information in other aspects of the hobby. As this project progresses, we'll be improving it and striving to bring the highest quality content we can find and focusing on species that both the novice and the veteran hobbyist can appreciate and get something out of! We created this magazine out of a desire for a publication that had more to offer than the "bread and butter" species that we often see in other publications. We also wanted it to cover more than just species care and to put more emphasis on the people and businesses in the hobby that help make it what it is today. Sit back. Grab a snake. Enjoy!

Justin Smith & Billy Hunt -Publishers-

Herpetoculture Magazine

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THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO KEEPING

VENOMOUS SNAKES BY NATE WEATHERMAN

So, you think you’re ready to keep venomous snakes? Well before you take the plunge into this exciting and rewarding corner of the hobby there are some things you should know. This is NOT a hobby for the faint of heart and can be dangerous. In this article I will go over the steps you will need to take to get started. It is always important to do your research on your state and local laws and if possible find a mentor. With so many beautiful species to choose from, picking the best beginner species that fits you can be a challenging task. You will also need to know the tools required to keep you and your animal safe. Let’s get started.

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One of the most important things you will need to know starting off is your state and local laws. I can not stress enough how important it is to do your research on this! Each state and even city or county has different regulations when it comes to keeping venomous snakes. Some states require you to have a mentor before you can legally begin keeping venomous snakes. I always recommend you start with a mentor even if it is not required by law. When I was starting out in the hobby I joined as many Facebook groups and forums as I possibly could. Joining these groups and asking around to see if there is anyone in your area that would be willing to take you on as an apprentice or intern is a good start. As with any entry level position, you may start off by just observing or helping clean cages. Just be patient and learn as much as you can. If a mentor is unavailable to you there are still many resources you can learn from. Take in as much information as possible through videos and in books or online forums. Most of all, don’t be afraid to ask questions! One of the most frequent questions I am asked is what is the best beginner species? Opinions vary from person to person on this matter. Depending on your state laws (some states do not allow you to keep native snakes) I always recommend that you keep something that is native to your area. The reasoning behind this is that if there are any accidents your local hospital will most likely have antivenom on hand and let’s face it, we are only human

"Depending on your state laws (some states do not allow you to keep native snakes) I always recommend that you keep something that is native to your area." and mistakes happen. If you do decide to go the exotic route, my suggestion is to find someone who keeps the species you are interested in and learn from them. It is very important to know what you are getting into so that you will be prepared when you bring your animal home. Alright, so you’ve done your research and decided which species of venomous snake you want to keep. Let’s talk about the tools you will need to handle and house your animal safely. Hooks are your number one tool so always have one (multiple is ideal). I personally have several different hooks in all shapes and sizes. You will need to consider the size and weight of your snake when choosing your hook. I have small ones I use for neonates and longer more sturdy hooks for my bigger and faster snakes. It is important to keep a safe distance between you and your animal. Hooks are available for purchase at most reptile expos or online through different sources. Caging is a vital part of keeping venomous snakes. Snakes are notorious escape artists and the last thing you want is a venomous snake on the loose. I recommend using bite proof and escape proof caging to prevent accidents. It is also imperative to keep all cages containing venomous snakes labeled and locked for your safety and the safety of others.

The pioneers of our hobby like Bill Haast, had no guidelines and had to learn by trial and error. We now have an abundance of information at our fingertips so make sure you take full advantage of it! Remember this is not a hobby you should just jump into without being prepared. It could cost you your life but if you take all the proper steps it can change your life. I hope you have found this article helpful as you begin your journey!

Disclaimer: Nothing written, in this magazine is to be construed as encouraging you, or convincing you to act in any manner, to perform any action, or reaction. You as a reader are totally responsible for your actions taken as a result of reading information provided here.

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Keeping Bredl's Pythons Like a Pro! By Casey Cannon

Bredli breeder extraordinaire, Casey Cannon tells us all there is to know about keeping these underrated Morelia!

Overview A Bredl’s Python (Morelia bredli) is the prettier, calmer and hardier cousin to the Carpet Pythons (Morelia spilota ssp). At least in my very biased opinion. This species is known for its orange to brick red base-color, moderate size of 5 to 8 feet and placid nature. Many members of this species have a color gradient that runs from a red head to a jet-black tail, in some individuals this becomes very pronounced at maturity with the first third of the body being red with the back two thirds being deep black. They also have thin cream-colored stripes that run across the entire body.

It is not uncommon for day and night temperatures to have a 30+ degree temperature difference year-round. Rain is very seasonal in this part of the world with the winter being much drier than the summer. A brutally hot and dry desert surrounds the Western MacDonnell Mountains which makes it virtually impassable to pythons. This makes this habitat essentially an island in the middle of a sea of sand, with many animals only existing in the mountain ranges.

Bredl’s Pythons are also well known for being extremely calm adults. As with most snake species hatchlings can be very defensive for the first few months of their lives but almost all calm down with age. I have had children and inexperienced snake handlers handle my adult Bredl’s and they have always commented on how gentle these snakes are. Care does need to be taken when feeding though because they have an extremely high feed response. Bredl’s Pythons come from the Western MacDonnell Mountains in the Northern Territory of Australia, near the town of Alice Springs. This arid region might be the harshest habitat of any python species. Alice Springs routinely experiences daytime highs in the summer time over 100F while night time lows in the winter can be several degrees below freezing.

Housing Bredl’s Pythons can be maintained in a typical python room (constant 78-82F ambient) with no issues. Personally, I do not believe that this is the best way to maintain this species given their natural history. I keep my animals in a room that has an ambient between 66-74F. I provide my animals with over-head heat (except for hatchlings that get belly heat) using either a radiant heat panel connected to a thermostat or a 65-watt spotlight depending on the cage. This gives me a good daytime temperature gradient of 78-85F in the cage with the small area directly under the heat at 88-95F. In the summer my day timers are on for 13 hours and in the winter my timers are on for 8 hours. During the night, no supplemental heat is provided, and the temperatures drop to the ambient temperature of the room. I believe it is beneficial to bredli behavior to provide this species with day-time lighting. My animals are very inactive when the lights are on preferring to bask and hide. While at night they become very active and prefer to climb and hunt. There is anecdotal evidence of the coloration of wild Bredl’s Pythons becoming duller when brought into captivity, one theory for this is less exposure to UV lighting. I have given a few of my Bredl’s Pythons artificial UV light but personally did not notice a difference in color. A Bredl’s python would provide an excellent display snake in a large desert vivarium if their needs are met. I know many people that keep them in naturalistic enclosures and the snakes thrive in them. I keep my hatchling Bredl’s pythons in a rack system in 12 1/4" L x 7 1/4" W x 4" H tubs with belly heat on the back set to 88F. These tubs have small perches added into them to allow the hatchlings to climb and a small piece of PVC pipe to allow them to hide. When the snakes are about five months-old I move them into 24” L x 18” W x 16” H PVC cages with an over head radiant heat panel and an LED bulb for light. I have ledges and perches in these enclosures as well as two hides made from plastic pots.I keep my adult males in 36” L x 24” W x 18” H cages with ledges, a perch and also heated with an over head radiant heat panel. I have noticed my males, which I keep smaller, seem to enjoy climbing and perching much more than my females.I keep my adult females in 48” L x 24” W x 24” H cages. I provide a basking spot using a 65-watt spotlight in these enclosures. Females have a large nest box that doubles as a shelf in these set ups. I have not noticed much climbing behavior in my females as they seem to prefer moving on the ground, possibly due to them being a larger size, so I don’t give them as many ledges.

A hypo Bredl's.

Feeding I feed my Bredl’s pythons a primarily rodent-based diet with the occasional chicken. I plan on eventually doing some experiments with alternative prey items but so far this has worked well for me.When babies first hatch out I start them on hopper mice. Once they are eating consistently I feed them every 5 days for the first 2-3 months of their life. I then switch them over to eating every week to two weeks. I would like for my Bredl’s pythons to be eating large adult mice when they are about a year old and then I switch them over to weanling rats a month or so later.

"I’ve never had an issue switching this species between prey items, typically they will take rats or chicks the first time they are offered."

I’ve never had an issue switching this species between prey items, typically they will take rats or chicks the first time they are offered.I try to have my adult males at 800 grams by the time they are about 2.5 years old. I consider them adults at this size and switch them over to a cycle of one small rat or adult mouse a month. Extremely large males are often fat and don’t want to move or breed, so I think keeping them small and lean is best for keeping and breeding. I keep my females on a diet of one medium to large rat every two to six weeks. I allow them to get larger and a little fatter than my males. I consider them adults at 3.5 years old. I’ve considered switching my larger adult females over to a diet of one small rabbit every month but have not done this yet. SIDE NOTES: I collected data on a clutch for five months by weighing them before every meal and then after they have digested the meal. My results gave me a good estimation about the growth rate of hatchlings in this species and showed me that they turn about 39% percent of mouse weight into snake weight. This means on average if a hatchling Bredl’s Python eats a 10-gram mouse the snake will be a little less than 4 grams heavier after the meal. I’ve only done a few data collections on subadult Bredl’s pythons eating rats, but the results were still similar.

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Breeding Breeding this species is pretty simple but a bit different from a typical python. Age is an important factor with males normally wanting to breed in their third year and females sometimes not wanting to breed until they are four or five years old. Occasionally a Bredl’s Python will want to breed younger than that, but this is not common. To get consistent results they require night temperatures to drop into at least the low 60’s for at least two weeks. Daytime temperatures should be kept the same as they are for all other parts of the year, so the snakes can have a few hours to warm back up. I live in northern Georgia, so it can be hard to get my snake room to these temperatures. What I do to breed mine is take the pairs I would like to breed out of their enclosures at night and put them into locked plastic bins. I place these bins up against a cracked window, which allows the snakes to be in the mid to upper 50’s at night. In the mornings I move them out of the bins and place them back into their normal cages to let them bask and warm back up during the day. I do this from the first of November into mid-December and then set the day timer back to 13 hours over the course of January. Normally, I give them an adult mouse to restart their digestive systems in January ( I stop feeding in late September to early October) and then begin feeding the females larger meals again. Breeding activity will take place over the spring and eggs will be laid in the summer. I incubate the eggs between 86-89F and they hatch out in about 55 days.

Conclusion This was the species that really got the fire for snake keeping started. I saw a picture of one online and read about how calm they were, and I knew I wanted some. The thing that gets me excited now is the potential this species has. Their cousins the Carpet Pythons have been selectively bred for intense yellows and perfect dorsal stripes that far surpass any of their wild ancestors.

If Jungle Carpet Pythons can be taken from light tan and black snakes and turned into neon yellow and jet-black snakes in a few generations, imagine how bright red or orange a Bredl’s Python could be with the same careful breeding over a few generations. I like to imagine one day having a six-foot Bredl’s Python the color of a tangerine. It will take another generation or two but I think the future of these amazing pythons in US keepers hands is very bright!

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Where

To Start With

Knob-Tailed Geckos By Phil Wolf

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A rewarding group of geckos gaining popularity in the U.S. herpetoculture scene are Knob-Tailed Geckos. Knob-taileds are members of the family Carphodactylidae, a unique group of geckos endemic to the continent of Australia. Oftentimes referred to by their genus name, Nephrurus, (which means “kidney-tail”) Knob-taileds have a stigma of being difficult and fragile. This has kept most keepers at bay when selecting a new gecko species to keep.

Because of the strict import and export laws of Australia very few, if any,Knob-tails have been exported from Australia over the last several decades. This has made them a commodity, coveted and oftentimes very expensive species to acquire.

A 10 gallon glass aquarium works great for one gecko, while a 30 gallon breeder aquarium wouldbe suitable for three geckos. Nephrurus also do quite well in rack systems, providing thetub is deep enough to dig and proper ventilation can be achieved.

However, over the past decade or so, more captive breeders in the US have taken the time to study and breed these wonderful geckos in larger volumes. This has allowed more people access to the genus and the price per gecko to become more reasonable for the average keeper. Of the 14 species of Nephrurus, one species has become the most available tothe beginner knob-tail keeper, Nephrurus wheeleri cinctus. These “banded knob-tails”are not only hearty geckos to keep, but also very alert, active, and don’t mind humaninteraction as much as other species in the genus. Banded Knob-tails can be kept alone or ingroups (only one male per group) in a relatively easy, and inexpensive enclosure.

Banded Knob-taileds like to hide and dig tunnels. Multiple hiding spots should be provided to give the geckos a choice of what they feel is the safest hide. A substrate of 2/3 sand, 1/3 organic soil works great for adults and juveniles. Hatchling geckos should be kept on thick paper towels for the first few months of their life. Paper towels will prevent baby geckos from consuming too much sand as they learn to hunt. Knob-taileds typically don’t drink from a water dish, instead they lap up dew beads off of rocks and plants. Spraying your enclosure 2-3 times a week will allow the gecko to be hydrated as well as dampen the substrate for better digging. Being nocturnal, Banded Knob-tails don’t require UVB lighting, however, a powder supplement of multivitamin with calcium and D3 should be dusted on prey items 2 times a week. Knobtails are arid desert geckos, so higher temperatures are a must during the day. A hot side of 85F (29.4C) and a cool side of 76F (24.4C) is perfect for during the day. At night, the temperature can drop dramatically like it does in the desert. Normal room temperature of 71-75F (21-23.8C) is perfect for nighttime hours. A healthy, hatching gecko can be purchased from a breeder for around $150 while adults can range in price from $250-$500 depending on pattern and color. It’s important when shopping for a Knob-tail, that the gecko be acquired from a reputable breeder to ensure a healthy and happy specimen. And although Nephrurus aren’t necessarily for the beginner herpetoculturist, with education and care, everyone can enjoy these wonderful geckos.

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Industry Spotlight

Joe Phelan of Port City Pet 16

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely seen Joe Phelan of Port City Pet on Youtube, Facebook or Instagram. Their podcast From The Ground Up is (in my opinion) one of the most influential podcasts, outside of MPR, for inspiring more people to create shows of their own. This issue we asked Joe a few questions about the evolution of FTGU and Port City Pythons over the years.

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HM: What has it been like watching Port City Pet grow and become what it has today as a result of the podcast (From the Ground Up) and Youtube? JP: I’m extremely grateful for all the support we have gotten and our growth. That being said, it is hard to "see the forest from the trees" as they say. I just focus on staying committed, motivated, and moving forward. HM: I’m sure you’ve answered this question a lot but what made you want to start the podcast initially? JP: I was a pretty early adopter to the podcast scene. I really love podcasts, which made it a no brainer. I had been listening to reptile and business podcasts for at least 6 years before I got up the courage to actually make my own. I started a podcast simply because I love podcasts. HM: When and why did you decide to take breeding seriously? JP: In 2013, I became privy to what was going on in ball pythons in particular. I had gone to shows growing up and kept my fair share of reptiles but never really thought about breeding as a profession. I saw that there was a viable industry and people were actually making money at this. In 2014, I dropped out of college and proceeded on a mission to make breeding my full-time gig. I started taking it very seriously but damn... breeding never goes exactly according to plan. That's the beautiful thing about breeding. It's a constant learning experience. HM: Is PCP where you wanted it to be a few years ago? JP: Not exactly. From a metrics perspective, my first year goal with YouTube was 10,000 subscribers. Here I am 3 years later and I am just about to hit that milestone. However, in every other way my expectations have been exceeded. It may not be as glamorous as I envisioned in my head, but the community and incredible animals we get to work with is beyond all expectations. The latter is why I do this. Forget the numbers.

"It may not be as glamorous as I envisioned in my head, but the community and incredible animals we get to work with is beyond all expectations."

HM: What’s your advice for anyone wanting to take that next step into breeding as a side business or wanting to also start from the ground up themselves? JP: It is all focus and commitment. Find out what animals you like to work with and don't get distracted. Too many people start with a species, get distracted, and sell off their 2-3 years of work. Keep a small collection of a few different species, raise them from babies, and find out what you like and dislike. Once you find a species you love, never look back. Chances are there will be other species in the same genus that you can branch out to as well. HM: What’s the goal for Port City Pythons going into the next 5 or 10 years? JP: Not many specific or tangible goals. I want every single project we work with to be the best. Right now, I believe we breed the best honey (caramel sunkissed) corn snakes in the world. I want to be able to say that about every animal that we breed. This may take 20 years but that's what keeps us going. I also want to have the most diverse collection of Louisiana pine snakes (P. ruthveni). I would love to produce them in good numbers and gift them to educators. They are a great physical representation of why conservation is so important. Less than 4% of the longleaf pine forests in the U.S. remain. The small percent that has survived is heavily fragmented and in poor health.

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"Too many people start with a species, get distracted, and sell off their 2-3 years of work."

Specializing in Morelia & Old World Ratsnakes.

uwabamireptiles.com @uwabamireptiles

Herping

Greece

With Nipper Read

Field herping, looks great eh? All those amazing pictures on insta, the tales of adventure and mishap on podcasts, drunken chats after reptile shows, who wouldn't wanna get into field herping? what could be easier or more fun, right? Yeah… Sooo let me tell you the real stuff. Remember no one posts the subpar stuff on Facebook or the crap pictures on insta, social media is a place of joy, where lips are always pouted and field herping is so easy ball python breeders could do it… 21

So who am I to go on about field herping, right?? So, I’ve been herping for 25 years plus, I’ve herped in around thirty countries, and numerous islands… I am the top British lister for Euro species, having only around six species left to photograph in situ, in the wild. I’ve herped in Asia, the Caribbean, Middle East, Australasia and Europe..and the good old U.S. of A (USA ! USA! USA! Boorah! pry my gun from my cold dead hands, etc) Now I’ve explained that I had done the odd trip, rather than keyboard safari in the comfort of my mums basement, let me tell you about one of my recent trips to illustrate my point.

Getting to Greece A trip to the lovely Pindos mountains in Greece, then on to an uninhabited Greek island… I had two major targets for the trip, the newly split Vipera graeca, formally Vipera ursinii graeca. A snake as sexy as a weasel in a cashmere tracksuit. Stripy and venomous, what’s not to love? Secondly, the Pori island wall lizard, Pordacis levendis, not pretty, in fact just a little brown lizard around six inches long including the tail but cool in its own right, as its entire distribution is less than the size of the field on which you ‘Mericans play the ridiculous game you mistakenly call football (nobody pads up in Rugby, just sayin)!

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So I left home for the two hour drive to the airport at 0200 (that’s eight hours before most of you get out of your pits..) After the usual post-9/11 security fun, I boarded the five hour flight to Athens, the capital of Greece for all you homeschooled kids. More security fun followed getting out of the airport and I had an eight hour wait for my internal flight. What sensible people would do is sleep.. I am not sensible, I am a herper, so I took some local transport and began herping at the Parthenon, a big ancient temple. Temps were about 35 degrees Celcius and herps were quickly found like Ocellated skinks, Chalcides ocellatus, and Hermann’s tortoises, Testudo hermanni, along with geckos and an unidentified snake. Sadly, it was time to rejoin the tourist masses as I headed back to the airport. A quick internal flight later and I had landed close to the Pindos mountains. At this point I had had no sleep for around 32 hours so I may not have been the most pleasant to be around. I met the rest of the team, a well respected Ducth herper, Bobby, only the third person ever to see all euro species in situ, Thomas, a very proficient Swiss herper and Matejes, a Dutch birder After the usual hugs and hair ruffles we set off for our accommodation. Basic is good when herping. There’s no point paying for towels folded into swans when your only going to spend minimal time in your room. After a beautiful four hours of sleep we were up and heading into the mountains. The area of the Pindos we were in was not the picturesque, chocolate box mountains, these are steep, sloping hills, devoid of any vegetation except thorn bushes. For the next eight hours, we scanned the slopes in 40 degree Celcius exposed heat, ankles taken a battering on loose boulders, shredded by thorns and eaten alive by horse flies as big as the aircraft I flew in on. At no time were we on level ground, always on a steep slope, so calves were soon aching. As darkness fell we had seen exactly zero herps so we headed back to the four by four and drove heads down, stinking, sweaty , bitten and scratched to our accommodation. It was dark, we could eat, find a nice restaurant maybe, and sleep for a blissful eight hours until sun up or we could not be snowflakes, put on our big boy pants and go out to look for geckos and the rear fanged, gecko feeding, Telescopus cat snakes.

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After four hours, some trek bars, and shit coffee, we gave up. A few geckos found but no snakes.We returned back to home base and had a blissfully decadent four hour sleep. This process was repeated for three days.. same heat same flies, same thorn bushes, same sleep deprivation.. no herps to be seen. On the fourth day, we were stirred by Matajes shouting he could see an eagle with a snake in its talon.. that was the highpoint of the trip so far and a long ethical debate followed on whether we could count a sighting of a snake through binoculars clasped in an eagles’ claw as a tick. As the day drew to a close, I was bitten by a horsefly so large I swear it drained a couple of pints of blood from me! My leg started to balloon, and soon I couldn’t bend it at the knee, not fun when trying to climb up and down rocky slopes. We decided to give it one more hour then cut our losses, leave the mountains and move to the island.

As I was thinking of heading back to the car I heard Thomas scream! Unusual as being Swiss he is quite emotionless. I hobbled up to him, some two meters above me, not easy as my leg was now discoloured, grotesquely swollen and as painful as a slug filled viv. I eventually reached Thomas and there at his feet was a stunning female greaca .. such a beautiful snake and my last venomous species to tick off the list in Europe. After the usual bottom slapping and congratulations an epic photo shoot ensued. Back in the car, in pain, dehydrated, sweaty and stinking, we drove four hours to our next destination, stopping briefly en route to photograph the endemic rock lizard, Hellenolacerta graeca and wall lizards, Podarcis peleponnesiacus in a little gorge. We boarded a ferry and sailed to the island of Kythira.

- Moving on to Kythira At our coastal destination on Kythira, we checked into our room. We then went in search of our guide, that after months of emails, had agreed on a boat hire that would undertake the journey to the uninhabited island of Pori. Getting to the island is about an hour journey in a fast boat at around 30 knots. Getting onto the island was a different matter…

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As with all well planned herp trips, plans fall apart like a prom queens dreams as the guide was nowhere to be found. Not answering calls, no one had any knowledge of him. We had traveled thousands of miles to get to this island and it looked like we would fall at the first hurdle. We decided we needed food and beer to help us think, adapt and overcome. The village we were in was a tiny place, built around the harbour. We ordered our food and a lot of beer, to help rehydrate and began talking to the locals. A few hours later, we managed to find a fisherman with a fast boat that for the bargain price of 1000 Euros, would deposit us on the little piece of rock in the ocean. So with pants properly pulled down, we went to bed. After six hours of sleep and lots of self applied first aid on my swollen leg, we met at first light in the harbour. We were joined by Kevin, a notable UK herper and his lovely wife Suzanne. We boarded the boat and were soon speeding over the waves to the island, after an hour of wave surfing we arrived greeted by sheer walls, and Elonoras falcons. It took some time for the boatman to find a spot onto which we could jump onto shore and scramble up the cliff sides. We had two hours on this little speck of rock that is home to the endemic Pori wall lizard which we found in abundance. It wasn’t difficult on bare rock with sloping flat topped areas, but due to the bite on my leg, I was walking like a long haired blonde boy on his first morning after his first night in prison. We were lucky enough to see a gecko as well. All too soon the boat returned and holding photo kits above our heads, we waded/swam back to the boat. We made landfall back on Kythira glowing in the knowledge that we were some of the very few people ever to see levendis, in fact I think I am the first Brit to see it in situ! Beers and scoffs followed. We slept and eventually the Dutch and Swiss gang left for their respective homes. I stayed an extra day on Kythira with Kevin and Suzanne, finding the grass snake Natrix natrix, whip snakes, Hierophis gemonensis and geckos, Crytopodian and Hemidactylus. Kevin dropped me at the airport, I flew to Athens and then home. I lost 8 pounds and it was two weeks before my leg was back to normal... Still fancy field herping??? All joking aside, it’s the company and thrill of beating the odds that keep us going back.. who’s up for the next trip?

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Species Profile Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake Leioheterodon madagascariensis By Riley Jimison

A species in the hobby few have kept let alone bred in captivity, Riley Jimison tells us about his journey with this interesting and unique species! 27 Herpetoculturemagazine.com

With thousands of reptiles in our hobby, the rudimentary and popular animals tend to drive folks out into left field in search of a unique and lesser known species or subspecies in order to spice up their lives. The morph craze can leave many people dizzy and looking back to the basics of simply finding a species they enjoy for its personality and unusual attributes.

Leioheterodon brings all of that to the table with a sassy slap of a wake-up call. Of the three species of Hognose Snakes found in Madagascar, the Malagasy or Madagascar Giant Hognose Snakes (Leioheterodon madagascariensis) provide this awakening to those who stumble through the tornado of mainstream looking for something with enough attitude to catch the attention of even venomous keepers and others looking for a challenge. These snakes leave an impression on those fortunate enough to have even the briefest of encounters with one. Obscurity is often followed by an absence of information or little and contradictory details by those few who maintain the oddball reptile in their population. The Madagascar Giant Hognose Snakes have thus far been reputed to be a difficult species to breed with very little published information available to people quick enough to snag an imported specimen, as is what is typically all that is available. Despite some very minimal breeding around the world, a lack of concrete methodology to this propagation is available to those looking to push this species into the hobby with any sort of emphasis. It is my intent here to detail my methods and observations to break down these barriers in order to give this bold group of colubrids their spot in the limelight.

Photo >> Frank Vassen

During my research I came across in-situ research findings detailing communal nest guarding behavior and an overall island-wide abundance of Madagascar Giant Hognose. The island boasts various elevations, two prominent seasons (wet and dry), and a significant temperature swing. If these snakes are found throughout nearly 90% of the island as has been deduced, they seem to be very hardy animals. But if keepers have reported difficulty in reproducing them, what factors would be holding them back?

The range of giants

They appear to tolerate day-time highs and lows like what our North American colubrids endure. Although they find themselves in a much more humid climate, they appear to tolerate whatever is thrown at them. So why are they not more frequently reproduced in captivity? It is my sincere belief that the misguided and regurgitated taboo of cohabitation binds keepers’ minds from the success they seek. These snakes are documented to share burrows and nest dens. They are prominent throughout the island. They are even listed by the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species) as “least concern” and otherwise stable. If nature has them dialed in and they can withstand severe deforestation and human encroachment, why can devoted reptile keepers with access to the internet and revolutionary reptile keeping technology not figure them out? In my experience keeping these giants, they seem to be more comfortable and less stressed by external stimuli when housed communally. Our regurgitation of what he said and what she said has blindfolded us to using the ultimate tool we have always had even before the invention of the internet; our brains. After scanning what few research publications exist on the species, a light went off. They live communally! They are abundant. They share dens. They eat anything. They defy everything your local keyboard warrior has ever proclaimed. So, I went ahead and did exactly that; I tossed a group together in an enclosure and began to replicate the dual seasonal approach to humidity and food abundance. I also left them undisturbed quite a bit more than any other animals in my collection. What I observed was amazing; less flighty, more apt to feed, more inquisitive animals that tolerated everything in their lives much more than when housed separately. In the end, I succeeded in producing true US Captive born and bred Madagascar Giant Hognose Snakes.

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I provide my adult group a hot spot of around 88 degrees Fahrenheit. They regularly experience temps in the low 80’s on average around the island as seasonal highs. On the other hand, in the cooler drier season they can experience temperature swings down to the 40’s as well. Their use of insulated dens and burrows that likely hold better temperatures prevent them from prolonged exposure to such harsh temperatures. I allowed them to experience a seasonal “winter” decrease in temps to bring the hot spot down to the mid 70’s at night and a slightly lower day-time high during that season. In addition to the temperature variation, I allowed their substrate to dry out slightly more to emulate a less humid environment that was provided during their simulated “wet” season. These two variable seasons accompanied a dietary cycle that went from large abundant food during their wet season to a more sparse and smaller prey variety during their cooler months. Beyond that, I let them have their space, checked them several times per week, ensured fresh water was in supply, and watched my smaller female cycle physically up to parturition. Although I only received a small clutch of eggs (not surprising as my female is not as large as they have been reported to reach), I ended up with three fertile eggs, two of which hatched full-term as healthy babies. The fecundity leaves more to be desired, but the bottom line remains; these snakes need a seasonal cycle, a food cycle, and a keeper who is willing to let them be communal more than other snakes and simply pay attention from a distance.

"I let them have their space, checked them several times per week, ensured fresh water was in supply, and watched my smaller female cycle physically up to parturition. " Herpetoculture Magazine

These snakes have attitude and will quickly and easily stress out when their space is invaded. They seem to thrive with what succulent plant keepers refer to as “benign neglect.” Until we can get several generations into captive bred animals, these snakes will continue to need some slightly different care than other colubrids, but I am confident with a few generations of captive breeding anyone with attention to detail can make more of these wonderful animals. In my opinion, food cycling, seasonal cycling, patience, and space are a keepers’ best friends when attempting to breed Madagascar Giant Hognose Snakes. Depending on the size of your group, appropriate enclosure space should be provided as these animals tend to be rather messy and active about their enclosures. They really take a keeper who is willing to “feel them out” and tune themselves into their animals.

Conclusion So, what does the future for Leioheterodon hold? Given the current hobby trends and the fact that these large colubrids are in fact a rear-fanged mildly venomous species, they will likely never be a hobby mainstay. I foresee them claiming a hold on the reptile hobby in the same way that Scrub Pythons, Locality Boas, and the Mangrove Snakes have in recent years. With how fickle the importation availability is out of Madagascar, we as a community better hope more folks take them seriously and work towards reproducing more at home or we may lose them to the hobby entirely. “Mad Hogs,” as I affectionately refer to them as, are some of the more unique and exciting snakes that I have had the pleasure of working with and now adding to my resume of species I have produced in captivity. Overall, I consider these snakes a relatively easy species to breed and hatch if you know what to pay attention to and how to read your snakes. It will take devoted keepers to push that opinion into reality. The other two species are just as amazing and beautiful as these giants and I hope, upon reading this lengthy diatribe, you give them a moment of your curiosity and time. Variety is the spice of life and these large colubrids are spicy to say the least! But I am just a python guy, so what do I know?...

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Morelia Spotlight: Julatten Jungles By Eric Burke Admittedly I am a carpet python addict. And when an opportunity comes along to have a locality carpet python, you jump on it. I acquired a pair of Julatten locality carpets from Europe in 2014. I raised them and was able to produce a clutch in 2018. That year I was able to travel to Australia and find them in the wild and what a rush it was to see them in their environment, doing what wild pythons do. Then to come back home and see them pipping out of an egg in my incubator, well, let's say it was mind blowing. Julatten is a town in the Shire of Mareeba, QLD, on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tableland. They are usually the locality people associate with black and white jungle carpets, but they also have this greenish hue in the saddles. The other cool thing about this breeding project is not only could you breed for the black and white, but you could also breed for striping. My 2018 clutch had a lot of the typical patterns you see for striping in carpet pythons. Look at some of the carpet python breeders in Australia, and you will see the potential of this locality. Breeding was pretty straight forward. Start to cool them down in November to about 70 degrees. Introduce them, and you will usually see eggs around May and babies hatching out around July. I found two Julatten jungles on the same road, on the same night not that far from one another. The sun had just set, and it was dark out, the temperature was around 74 degrees, with the humidity around 75%. They were both found along the side of the road cruising through the grass, possibly looking for a meal. They were about 3 feet long, and if I had to guess, I would say maybe 1-2 years old.

It was a fantastic experience to be able to be in the environment and feel the temperature, humidity, and see what these snakes do in the wild. It made me take a look at how I could better keep these beautiful snakes in captivity. If you want to get into carpet pythons and you're looking for something different than the norm, I would suggest taking a look at Julatten Jungle Carpet Pythons!

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Herp Book Review

Green Tree Pythons: Natural History & Captive Maintenance By Terry Phillip & Justin Julander

Review by Justin Smith

It seems there are species in the hobby that don’t get paid much attention to in both the private sector and the scientific community. But every so often we see a book that completely rewrites the rules on how we have kept a species for decades. Naturally, these kinds of publications cause a division of sorts between hobbyists; ones that refuse the new information and ones that wholeheartedly stand by the new “gospel”. If you have kept or looked into keeping Green Tree Pythons then there are two books that were more than likely recommended to you. Green Tree Pythons: Natural History and Captive Maintenance by Terry Phillip and Justin Julander and/or The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell. Both of these books were published more than a decade apart with Maxwells’ book being the original. With a gap that large, obviously things are going to have changed a bit! But this review is about Green Tree Pythons: Natural History and Captive Maintenance. Personally, I think this book was a game changer and made a big splash in the chondro community because it took a large majority of the information we thought to be the “guidelines” and threw it out the door. The book outlines what we’ve been doing wrong in keeping Green Trees (keeping them too wet, too hot, and too fat) but then explains these issues and solutions. Both Phillip and

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Julander take information from the species native range like rainfall, temps, and field studies, paired it with data that Rico Walder of Signal Herp collected and essentially proved that we are, in fact, keeping these animals too hot, too wet, and too fat! So if you’re looking for a great book that outlines all this information as well as the natural history of the species, this is a GREAT book to add to your herp library and a resource chondro keeper find themselves going back to again and again.

Herp Room Jams Drab Majesty's

The Demonstration The last few years have seen a resurgence of the 80’s New Wave sound. If you grew up in that era then maybe you’ve had enough of that for one lifetime but if you’re like me then it’s a nice change up from the popular music of today. One album that I find myself “spinning” in the snake room while cleaning and feeding is The Demonstration by Drab Majesty. 15 songs of dark but gorgeous synth with some goth vibes as well. If you’re into this kind of thing then definitely find this album and give it a listen!

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In The Incubator...

- Cave Geckos! - Building Trust with Heloderma - Tamaulipas Boas

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