Herpetoculturemagazine.com
erpetoculture agazine Issue #15 - January 2021
The S3D Fishbone Perch! The A Brief History Highlands & Islands of the Woma Conservatory
Python!
Breeding bredli: A Visual Guide
Spider Reproduction
Palmetto Coast
Exotics
-- On the Cover -Unquestionable Quality Nathan Jordan Photography Colubrids - Chondros - & More fb.com/nathanjordanphotos
This Issue... Page 5
Page 23
Page 12
Page 28 Page 13 Page 22
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Copyright Š 2021 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. Fifthteenth Edition www.herpetoculturemagazine.com
Contributors Justin Smith - Publisher -
Billy Hunt - Publisher -
Phil Wolf - Executive Contributor -
Nipper Read - Executive Contributor -
Eric Burke - Contributor -
Paul Donovan - Contributor -
Kasey Schultz - Contributor -
Casey Cannon - Contributor -
Geoff Obst - Contributor -
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Justin Elden - Contributor -
From The Publishers’ Desk It’s a new year and I think we all have higher hopes for 2021! I really think 2020 was a renaissance in the hobby when it comes to content creators. We saw a boom of podcasts where we once had few, now have many. As a podcaster, it’s great to see folks taking the plunge and putting themselves out there. I think we also see (and continue to see) a shift in the hobby with people starting to diversify their collections and explore other genres and species. If there is anything to be learned with our collections or content, it is that you have to stick with it and keep working at it before throwing in the towel. This magazine, the podcasts, the live shows, all of these start out from nothing but over time grow. It’s very easy to get discouraged when you don’t see these things gaining traction but we just have to push forward. So we hope everyone has a great year and we look forward to continuing to bring you awesome herp content each month! Enjoy. - Justin
Justin Smith & Billy Hunt -Publishers-
Herpetoculture Magazine
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CAGES & RACK SYSTEMS
2021
HAPPY NEW YEAR! @BLACKBOXCAGES
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Herp Room Must-Haves With Geoff Obst & Kendra Westy of Temp Gun This is a must have for any reptile room big or small. We utilize this tool almost daily. It’s Important to keep your animals comfortable and to make sure temps throughout the enclosure are where they need to be. Temp guns are fairly inexpensive and makes it easy to quickly read temps throughout an enclosure. While thermostats are reliable, there is always a chance a piece of equipment can fail so that’s why we always say “Trust but verify”.
Security Cameras Having a camera inside your reptile room is an important tool not just for big breeders but for hobbyists as well. We utilize ours for not just keeping track of who is entering and exiting the room but we’ve also found it useful for when particular reptiles want to play hide-andseek with us. We currently use both the Blink cameras for their ability to have temp alerts but also the Wyze cameras for their motion tracking ability.
utility Cart This is a must have as a space saving hack. Not everyone can have a dedicated closet or storage area for supplies. So having a dedicated utility cart acts as a mobile storage unit that can be used throughout your reptile room.
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Shop Vac
This has been a huge time saving tool for us when it comes to cleaning days, particularly when you deal with any sort of substrate. We have most of our collection on substrate and it seems that no matter how careful we are, we always end up with it on the floor. These vacs have a larger canister capacity and are more powerful than your average home vacuum making cleaning a breeze.
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Door Sweep
Door sweeps not only help keep warmth in a room but also potential escapees! You’d be surprised how far a reptile can get once out of the enclosure. You can have the best locks on your enclosures, the best security cameras, and the cleanest reptile room, but all of these things are useless if an animal can escape the room. We can’t stress this enough but ESCAPE PROOF YOUR ROOM!
Herpetoculture Magazine 4
A Deeper Look at
Woma Pythons 5
By Kasey Schultz of Zion Hill Exotics
Whenever I am asked about my favorite species of snake, my answer is consistently the Woma Python. Not only are they physically impressive, but they are also unique from other pythons in a variety of ways and, in my opinion, have a bit of anonymity surrounding some of their history, natural environment and captive care. Rather than give an overview of their general husbandry, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss some of their unique characteristics, recent research and questions regarding their taxonomy, environment and behavior. Herpetoculture Magazine 6
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lthough I wouldn’t consider them to be rare in collections, they certainly aren’t at the forefront of herpetoculture, as it seems we are still learning about them in both the United States and in Australia. I wanted to share some of the more uncommon information on woma pythons in an effort to help us improve the way we discuss and keep these animals in captivity. I am by no means an expert on this subject matter, but I have had the opportunity to keep woma pythons for many years and hope that the following information encourages others to study and discuss woma pythons more in the future.
History & Taxonomy To start at the beginning, the genus Aspidites was founded by Gerard Krefft, one of Australia’s first zoologists, with the species Aspidites melanocephalus, or the Black-Headed Python. Aspidites translates to “shield bearer” in reference to the symmetrical scales on their head. William Macleay first described woma pythons in 1882 when he cited Edward Pierson Ramsay, an Australian zoologist, sending his brother, James Ramsay, two new specimens of snakes that were found in Fort Bourke; Diemenia ferox, known today as Oxyuranus microlepidotus, or inland taipan, and Aspidites ramsayi, still recognized today as the woma python (Macleay 881). The species was briefly mentioned again in 1913 by Herber A. Longman as Aspidites collaris, found near Cunnamulla, Queensland (Longman 40).
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Raymond T. Hoser, in a series of studies written about Australian pythons, first noted the genus Aspidites in 1981 with subsequent papers in 2000 and 2009. He used their distribution throughout Australia to determine the different “races’’ or subspecies of Aspidites. Within his studies he describes the subspecies as Aspidites ramsayi ramsayi, the eastern woma originally discussed by both Macleay and Longman, Aspidites ramsayi panoptes, the southwestern woma and Aspidites ramsayi richardjonesii, found on the western edge of the Great Sandy Desert and named after New South Wales member of parliament, Richard Jones (Hoser 10). In 2009 he mentions an additional subspecies, Aspidites ramsayi neildavieii, found in central Australia and differing from the other races in characteristics such as behavior, size and color (Hoser 29). To this day, all of the above mentioned subspecies are not accepted or scientifically recognized since Hoser based them solely off of distribution and distinguishing characteristics. The criticism of his work has been documented multiple times, most notably in the Herpetological Review in 2013 where the authors state that between 2000 and 2012, Hoser’s new names ``constitute 76% of genera and subgenera and 16% of species and subspecies newly proposed for snakes over that time period” (Kaiser et al. 16). Many disapprove of his work since his journal was self-published with no peer review and his classifications were based on non-scientific evidence. They stress the importance of appropriate naming so herpetologists can accurately track and maintain the various populations of these reptiles.
Populations & Natural Environment Woma pythons, Aspidites ramsayi, also known as Ramsay’s python or sand pythons, are a species of python endemic to Australia with the majority of their populations found in Western and Central Australia. They are frequently found in arid, sandy regions, but also reside in some subtropical and semi-arid environments. During the hot parts of the day, they take shelter in burrows, hollow logs and spinifex. If they need to travel during the day, they will actually lift parts of their body off the ground as they move to avoid being burned by the hot sand. They are somewhat uncommon to spot in their natural habitat since they are able to blend in well with their surroundings, are nocturnal and generally only come into sight when moving between shelter sites, and often inhabit locations with small human populations (Bruton 313). The current number of woma pythons in Australia has been in rapid decline with the population in southwestern Australia nearly depleted. Woma pythons in New South Wales are considered a vulnerable population, and are even considered endangered in some parts of Queensland. Land clearing, predation by cats and foxes, introduction of other predators into their habitats and extinction.
“Both species of snake in the genus Aspidites, the woma and black-headed python, lack thermoreceptive pits, or heat-sensing pits, on their labial scales. This is most likely an evolutionary trait due to the fact that they spend the majority of their time hunting prey in underground burrows.”
Hunting & Shelter Woma pythons have distinct characteristics that make them unique from other pythons. Both species of snake in the genus Aspidites, the woma and black-headed python, lack thermoreceptive pits, or heat-sensing pits, on their labial scales. This is most likely an evolutionary trait due to the fact that they spend the majority of their time hunting prey in underground burrows. Although they lack heat pits, they have a vomeronasal organ, also known as the Jacobson’s organ, in their nasal chamber that allows them to smell their prey while hunting in dark burrows at night. They mainly occupy existing burrows made by rabbits, mice, and other desert-dwelling animals (Bruton 314). They display ambush hunting methods as well as a unique strategy where they crush their prey against the walls of confined burrow spaces. They have also been observed using their head to shovel sand to excavate burrows for both hunting and shelter and will wiggle the ends of their tails to attract prey. Woma pythons are typically regarded as terrestrial and burrowing pythons, but a recent study from 2013 described the first accounts of arboreal behavior. The study tracked twelve adult woma pythons in southern Queensland for a year, over which period they observed the pythons up to 10 meters high in trees stalking and eating prey such as bearded dragons. All observed encounters took place at night during warm weather. It seems that all woma pythons have the ability to climb, but it has only been observed in the eastern pythons since the environment has trees unlike some of the other regions they are found in (Bruton 321).
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Research regarding the stomach contents of woma pythons in Australia has shown evidence of them consuming prey such as Ring-Tailed Dragons, bearded dragons, sand goannas, blue tongue skinks, rabbits, mice, hares and a variety of other geckos, snakes, lizards and small mammals, with a larger percentage of reptiles to mammals being found (Bruton 314). Woma pythons are also highly prone to cannibalism both in captivity and in the wild and it is believed that they have an immunity to snake venom and can consume venomous species of snakes. On the contrary, there are studies that claim they may be affected by the bites of mulga,or king brown snakes.
Conclusion Although this article was based heavily on studies in the field of herpetology, I hope some of the information, such as the evidence of arboreal behavior and burrow excavation, are included in future discussions related to the woma python. These are one of the most interesting species to work with and I believe there is still a lot to be uncovered about them. I am by no means a professional on the subject matter, but I am extremely passionate about this species and hope we can learn more about their somewhat elusive behavior in the future. I am interested to see what else will be discovered and look forward to the opportunity to meet and talk with more individuals who are working with them.
References Bruton, Melissa. “Arboreality, Excavation, and Active Foraging: Novel Observations of Radiotracked Woma Pythons Aspidites Ramsayi.” Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:323311
Hoser, Raymond. “A Revision of the Australasian Pythons.” Ophidia Review, vol. 1, 2000, pp. 7–11., www.researchgate.net/publication/325544311_A_revision_of_the_Australasian_ Pythons_Including_formal_description_of_Leiopython_hoserae_Hoser_2000.
Hoser, Raymond. “Creationism and Contrived Science: A Review of Recent Python Systematics Papers and the Resolution of Issues of Taxonomy and Nomenclature.” Australasian Journal of Herpetology, vol. 2, 2009, pp. 1–34., www.researchgate.net/ publication/325543510_Creationism_and_contrived_science_A_review_of_recent_python_ systematics_papers_and_the_resolution_of_issues_of_taxonomy_and_nomenclature.
Kaiser, Hinrich, et al. “In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology Are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review.” Herpetological Review, vol. 44, no. 1, 2013, www.researchgate.net/publication/235944780_ Best_practices_In_the_21st_century_taxonomic_decisions_in_herpetology_are_acceptable_ only_when_supported_by_a_body_of_evidence_and_published_via_peer_review.
Longman, Herber. “Herpetological Notes. Part I. Systematic.” Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, vol. 2, 1913, pp. 40–40, www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52001198#page/7/ mode/1up.
Macleay, William. “Description of Two New Species of Snakes.” Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. 6, 1882, pp. 811–812, www. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3343925#page/5/mode/1up.
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Herpetoculturemagazine.com
Review By Casey Cannon
Herp Book Review
In Search of Lost Frogs by Dr. Robin Moore When most think of extinction they tend to think of the large, charismatic animals lost to time. The eight-ton woolly mammoth or the forty-foot-long Tyrannosaurus. Right now, the Earth is believed to be going through a mass extinction event where thousands of species are predicted to be lost in the next hundred years. The book In Search of Lost Frogs by Dr. Robin Moore focuses on the extinction and conservation efforts to protect the world’s amphibians. The first half of the book reads a lot like a global true crime story. In the 80s’ through the 2000’s, scientists in remote corners of the world, sometimes in completely untouched forests, were watching frog populations go from plentiful to completely gone in a span of only a few years. New amphibians were being discovered and then never seen alive again at such a rapid rate some herpetologists started thinking of themselves as paleontologists. No one knew why this was happening at the time. Some thought it was El Niño, climate change or pollution. None of these could fully account for why species that had existed for millions of years, were disappearing from protected Costa Rican cloud forests to the Australian rainforest at roughly the same time. The major culprit was eventually found to be a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or “chytrid” for short. This fungus grows on the skin of many amphibian species and essentially suffocates them. It spread through spores and appeared to be moving through Central America at a predictable pace. Efforts were made to collect some frogs in the path of the fungus, but the ones left in the wild were virtually wiped out. The second half of the book is more of a personal collection of stories. They focus on the quest of the author and a larger group of scientists to search for the survivors of chytrid in the early 2010’s. There were populations of amphibians that lived in remote areas that had not been seen for decades or more. Many of these amphibians were believed to be extinct but habitats were so inaccessible, it was entirely possible a few holdouts remained. Dr. Moore travels to remote parts of Columbia, Haiti, Israel, and India in search of extinct amphibians while also telling firsthand accounts of the
human events in those areas. He writes about how Haiti had just been devastated by a massive earthquake, Columbian jungles were full of armed guerrillas and revolutionaries and even experiencing roadside bombs being detonated in Israel. In these remote and dangerous places, there was hope for the frogs. Some of the “extinct” species were found to still exist in small, isolated pockets. One was even rediscovered in a camp rubbish bin after missing for 30 years. Just as exciting, new species were being found while searching for the lost ones. Dr. Moore has an interesting perspective on conservation. In modern conservation, large, charismatic animals like pandas, tigers and elephants get the bulk of worldwide funds and efforts. While hundreds of amphibian species are virtually ignored. Conservation can be heavily driven by emotion; it’s easy for people to see videos of cute baby pandas or “crying” elephants and get them to donate money. It is a lot more difficult to convince people to put effort into a little brown frog in Haiti. Books like this are important because it gives these animals a story that lets people relate to them. I personally got excited by the story of a frog that had been missing since the 1950’s was rediscovered by a man who made a bet he would find it in a year. It’s good to hear that there is hope in conservation stories that help build intrigue that, maybe, we don’t know what is left in the world. There are still little pockets of mystery and discovery in the world despite the realities of habitat destruction and urbanization. I think books like this are important for herptoculturist to read. I believe a lot of times we as a group focus so much on our animals in boxes, we forget about the ones in the wild fulfilling their niche. It’s easy for us to read about reptiles and amphibians going extinct and think to ourselves “This is why they need to let us have all of them” while ignoring that there are causes we could possibly help stop when it comes to endangered wild herps.
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Photo >> Stephen Hocking
The Arachnophiles’ Guide T0 Spider Reproduction By Paul Donovan
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Herpetoculturemagazine.com
In last month’s edition of Herpetoculture Magazine, I covered the intricacies of scorpion reproduction. As the spider hobby is bigger than the scorpion one, and many keepers aspire to breed their animals, I thought it only pertinent to cover spider reproduction in a similar light. Courtship and reproduction is as complex in spiders, as it is for scorpions and insects, and shares many similarities, none less-so than the male often being significantly smaller than the female, and the chance of being viewed as food, rather than a prospective mate, is high. For a successful mating to take place, the male spider must give specific signals to the female. These signals form the basis of a number of functions: A) To inform the female that he is of the same species. B) To indicate his intention to mate. C) To stimulate and arouse her so that she will, hopefully, co-operate. Many of the courtship rituals undertaken by the male are complex and elaborate involving sound, movement, vibrations, pheromones, etc. While these behavioural mechanisms are designed to suppress the females desire to eat him, some males resort to more brutal tactics. Crab spiders, for example, are ruthless lovers and seldom bother about preliminary courtship rituals – they simply jump onto the females back, and mate. Other spiders exhibit bondage tendencies. After ‘sweet-talking’ the female, the male ties her down with flimsy strands of silk. Although the silk is not strong enough to hold her down for any length of time, it does appear to induce a calming effect giving the male sufficient time to do his deed. I will come back to courtship in a moment, but let’s first look at the male and female reproductive organs.
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Male Genitalia
Male spiders have two testes located in the abdomen which open to the surface via the epigastric furrow. The testes are organized in a complex tubular arrangement and produce the sperm cells needed for fertilisation. During the release of sperm from the body and taken up by the male into his palps, the sperm cells remain gathered together in small packets rendering them immobile. It is only once the packet is inside the female does the outer coating dissolve and the sperm cells become mobile. Male spiders have no external genitalia with which to impregnate the female. Instead, they have a specialised organ called the embolus, located at the tips of the pedipalps - sometimes simply referred to as ‘palps’. This organ can vary in structure from a simple tube to a complex configuration. The male spins a sperm web, on which he deposits a globule of sperm. This is then sucked up by capillary action into the expandable emboli. When fully ‘charged’ the tips of the palps appear swollen, and bulbous, and the male is ready to mate. The sperm cells are stored inside ducts. However, it is unclear how the sperm is expelled, as there appears to be no increase in hemolymph pressure. During mating, the male inserts his embolus into the female’s genital opening where it enters a coiled duct leading to the spermatheca. Here, the sperm is deposited, and remains until required for egg fertilisation. The emboli in many species can be quite long, sometimes exceeding the body length. During mating and the introduction of the palps into the female, the emboli may break off and remain inside the female. It appears that this occurs with regularity in species such as Widow Spiders in the Latrodectus genus. Why this should be is still unclear, but it does not suggest that neither sex can mate again, for they can. Males with damaged emboli are capable of fertilising females, just as females are capable of receiving sperm.
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Female Genitalia
The females genitals are located within a fold of skin called the epigastric furrow. This is positioned at the front, on the underside of the opisthosoma resembling a slit, and leads to the egg producing ovaries. The ovaries are paired, elongated structures positioned ventrally in the abdomen with the oocytes projecting into the abdominal cavity. The number of eggs produced by a female can be truly massive. Female Salmon Pink Bird Eaters, Lasiodora parahybana, can produce up to 3000 eggs per sac; but these are also big spiders. The yolk within the egg sustains the developing embryo, not only during the development phase, but right up until the spider catches its first meal. The epigyne or epigynum, is the female sex organ, and depending on the species, females can have a single opening used for both impregnation and egg laying or, three openings; two to accommodate the palps and a third for egg laying. The epigyne is quite a complex structure and has a direct relationship with the structure of the male’s embolus. The two can be comparable to a lock and key; the embolus is the key, and the epigyne the lock. This prevents sexes from different species mating with one another; although it is very unlikely that an unrelated species in the wild would get this far into the act anyway.
Females of most species have the ability to store sperm, meaning they can continue to produce viable eggs for some considerable time after being mated. However, as the spermatheca are shed along with the rest of the skin, a recently mated female will effectively become a “virgin” again, and have to be re-mate in order to produce viable eggs. Females will continuously produce eggs which, if unfertilised, will be reabsorbed into the body. However in some instances, unfertilised eggs may be laid, and the female guard the egg sac as though it were viable. These eggs will not hatch, and eventually she will eat them.
“The individual strands of a female’s web, are overlaid with pheromones which triggers the male into specific courtship responses. These involve identifying himself to the female, and that he is interested in mating her.”
Herpetoculture Magazine 16
Attracting A Mate The world is a big place for the spider, so techniques must be employed to attract a mate. One of these is the use of pheromones. Pheromones are widely used in the animal kingdom to bring the sexes together. In fact, it is the primary means of communication in many animal groups, such as snakes, and much reliance is placed upon it. With spiders, it is often accompanied by other signalling techniques. The individual strands of a female’s web, are overlaid with pheromones which triggers the male into specific courtship responses. These involve identifying himself to the female, and that he is interested in mating her. Females of other species of spiders, in particular the Orb-webs of the Nephila genus, actively release pheromones into the air in order to advertise her presence to a male. However, it is believed that these pheromones can only be detected over very short distances of around a metre or so. Unfortunately, these species-specific pheromones are short lived, but they do help the male avoid chasing the wrong species and potentially ending up being a meal. They also prevent him from wasting time pursuing a female who has abandoned her web. The release of pheromones by the female is an obvious stimulant for the male to seek her out and instigate mating. There is some evidence, showing that female Latrodectus can also detect pheromones males release onto their webs. Active hunting spiders such as Wolf spiders and Tarantulas, who do not construct webs in order to catch food, may lay down specialised trip-lines which they coat with pheromones or, release pheromones into the air to attract mates.
Web Plucking & Leg Displays Web plucking is a typical courtship response by the male of web-spinning spiders. Once the male is sure he has detected the female of his species, he serenades her by plucking the web ‘strings’. Some of the best exponents of web plucking are the Orb-Weaver spiders Nephila and Argiope. However, two extremes can be seen here. While the male of some species pluck the web and then launch themselves towards the female, others are a little more reserved, enticing the female to come to them. The male attaches a short mating thread to the web
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“Many females lace their webs with pheromones” and then begins plucking it. Interested females pickup these vibrations, and then move towards this thread. Once she is on it, mating takes place. Visual displays play an important role in courtship for many spider species. Two groups where this is displayed to the greatest effect, are the wolf spiders in the genus Lycosa and Jumping spiders of the Salticidae family. These spiders drum their palps on the ground and wave their legs in the air. This display is all the more spectacular in Salticidae, as they are some of the most colourful of all the spiders. The legs of male Jumping spiders are much more robust than those of the female, and adorned with brightly coloured iridescent hairs. As the male waves his legs, the female responds by waving her legs or palps, and approaches the male. This response brings about an energetic dance by the male, and mating takes place when the female signals her willingness to mate by reaching out and touching him. It is a truly mesmerising spectacle to watch. Leg displays are also practiced by tarantulas. When in proximity to a female, the male tarantula begins to tap the ground. The specific rhythm the male makes, signals to the female that he is not only of the same species, but is in breeding condition. These tapping sounds are audible to the human ear.
Gifts & other tactics Coercing a female into mating with the allure of a gift, is not uncommon in the spider world. One spider known to use this technique, is the male European Nursery-Web spider, Pisaura mirabilis. Once his interest has been stimulated by pheromones on drag-lines let out by the female, he jumps on the first insect which happens to pass by. Swathing it in silk, he holds the insect aloft in his fangs as he goes in search of a female. A receptive female accepts the gift by grabbing it with her fangs, during which time the male darts beneath her and mates her. Spider courtship can sometimes be brutal. The European spider, Drassodes lapidosus, actually resorts to raping females. A sexually mature male will go in search of an immature female, and then snuggles down besides her. As soon as she undergoes her final moult he pounces and mates her. As her new exoskeleton is still soft, she is unable to move and defend herself. Before the male has a chance to mate, he must first disable the female’s fangs. I touched on how the male European NurseryWeb spider does this by offering the female a gift. The gift is not so much a love token, but a way of immobilising her ability to kill him. Tarantulas use a slightly different approach. As the male tarantula has his last moult, signifying he has become sexually mature, he develops a spur on the tibia; called, rather unsurprisingly, the ‘tibial spur’. Following a period of pre-courtship leg tapping, the male tentatively approaches the female. In one attempt, he must hook the female’s fangs in these spurs, thus immobilising them. If he misses, he could end up as her next meal. When secure, he pushes her upwards and backwards to expose her epigynum, inserts his swollen palps and the transfer of sperm takes place. The male inserts his palps one at a time, though each may be inserted several times. Mating can last from a few minutes to several hours.
Not always a meal... It has been a long standing belief that female spiders always eat the male after mating. This is not the case. Following the transfer of sperm, the male makes a hasty retreat from within the proximity of the female. The real danger to the male, comes during the courtship ritual when the female may fail to recognise his mating signals. Given the chance, a male will mate with as many females as possible to spread his gene pool. Although the female Black Widow may get her name from the habit of eating her partner, even he sometimes escapes.
“Male spiders may be significantly smaller than females” Most instances of males being eaten are reported from captive observations, where the confines of the cage hinder his escape. I have witnessed countless matings of numerous spider species in the wild, and in almost all cases, the male escaped to mate another day. There are, of course, examples where the male willingly sacrifices himself. Male Araneus pallidus appear only to be able to insert his palps into the female if she is holding him in her fangs. This sacrificial act may appear rather strange at first, but it does give the female a post-mating meal, thus ensuring she is in a healthy state for egg production. 18
Latrodectus form small spiky egg sacs the size of a pea
Wolf spider with egg sac.
False button spider with her young
Egg Sacs
Tropical Tent spider (Crytophora citricola) protecting her egg sac
The period from mating to egg laying varies enormously through the spider genus. It can occur within a couple of weeks, or extend anywhere up to eight to ten months. Factors determining this are largely relevant to temperature, humidity, food availability, etc. Fertilisation occurs just before the eggs are laid with the stored sperm uniting with the eggs as they pass through the uterus externus. The eggs emerge from the genital opening coated in a gooey liquid which gradually dries, sticking the eggs together. The eggs are protected in a silken cocoon. The cocoon not only provides a protective coating for the eggs, but insulates them against temperature fluctuations and protects them from predators. The cocoon is constructed from a tight criss-crossing of fibres which gives the outer coating its toughness. In a number of species, notably Avicularia spp, and Theraphosa, urticating hairs may be woven into the cocoon to increase its protection against predators. With so many spider families it is inevitable that the construction of a cocoon does not follow the same blueprint. For example female Daddy Long-Legs of the Pholcus genus, simply wrap their eggs in a few strands of silk and then carries them in her chelicerae; Latrodectus form small spiky-golf ball egg sacs the size of a pea; and the African Two-tailed spider, Hersilia, stick their eggs to tree trunks with a silken blanket, and then
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Female Nursery web spider (Euprostherops) carrying her egg sac
African Two-tailed spider, Hersilia, camouflage their eggs with loose bark
camouflage it with loose tree bark. Some species, such as Wolf spiders and Huntsman spiders even carry their cocoon around, either in the fangs or attached to the spinnerets. When due to hatch, the female may use her fangs to tear the eggsac in order to allow the young to escape. The spiderlings may then disperse over the ground, throughout the web or climb onto the females back where they hold onto special hairs. Here they will remain for a few days before dropping off and making their own way in life. As with the Wolf spiders, the female Nursery Web spider, Euprosthenops, found in Southern Africa carries her egg-sac around with her. Just before the spiderlings are ready to emerge, she fastens a number of twigs or leaves together with silk, and then deposits the egg sac within this before encasing it in silk. This structure is designed to protect the spiderlings until the first or second instar stage. When large enough, the spiderlings ‘bite’ their way free and disperse. At all times, they are guarded by the female. As a rule, although it is a very broad rule, spiderlings from arboreal species tend to be larger than those from terrestrial species. The reason for this could be due to the diversity of prey availability. On the ground there is a more widespread array of small prey available, than there is in an arboreal setting. These arboreal species may also have to deal with proportionally larger prey.
Specializing in Morelia & Old World Ratsnakes.
uwabamireptiles.com @uwabamireptiles
Crab spiders seldom bother about preliminary courtship rituals
Double Clutching & Parthenogenesis As with scorpions, a number of tarantula species can produce several clutches from a single mating; what is commonly referred to as “double clutching�. A quantity of sperm may be used to fertilise a clutch, and the remainder used sometime later to fertilise a second clutch within a single moult cycle. The period between the first and second clutch, can extend from a couple of weeks, to several months, with each clutch being of similar size. There are many factors influencing double clutching, such as environmental conditions; egg quality; sperm quality and egg survivability, but it is not known how widespread the behaviour is or, whether it occurs throughout all spider genera, or just in some. Some species it has been documented in include Psalmopoeus spp., Poecilotheria spp., Hysterocrates spp., and Ephebopus spp. Parthenogenesis is a widely adopted method of reproduction in the invertebrate world, whereby a female can produce young without the intervention of a male. Although parthenogenesis is not widespread amongst arachnids, it does occur in several genera, including Dysdera, Theotima, and Triaeris. Many isolated females of this species have produced viable eggs without the intervention of a male. Not only were egg sacs laid but, female spiderlings became sexually mature and were themselves able to reproduce without a male.
In Conclusion... Spider reproduction is a highly complex behaviour, encompassing a multitude of different behavioural techniques. If one of your spiders turns out to be a male, buy a female and try breeding them. You have nothing to lose, and the satisfaction you get from watching an amazing spectacle unfold, will be worth all the anxiety.
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Morelia Spotlight The Darwin Carpet Morelia spilota variegata With Eric Burke
When it comes to carpet pythons, it is hard to beat the beauty of the neon yellow and jet black of a jungle carpet, but some of the other subspecies can be just as striking. Take the Darwin carpets; most people look at the Darwin carpet for the albino gene. As beautiful as the albino Darwin is, they offer so much more than just that gene. Darwin carpets are born red and go through an ontogenetic color change into adulthood. They typically are banded with tans and blacks interspersed with oranges and yellows. There is a massive potential for selective breeding. Don't believe me? Look at what some of the breeders in Australia are doing. They have brought out reds in one line, oranges with striking contrasts in another. There are also melanistic and wide striped ones. The point is that many of these projects are just selectively bred by breeders with a vision of their perfect Darwin Carpet python. I mean, that is the beauty of carpet pythons in general. They are highly variable, which lends perfectly to selective breeding projects and if you needed further proof, look at jungle carpets. The Darwin carpet python (Morelia spilota variegata) is a medium-sized python that ranges about 6-7 ft. in length.​ They can be found in Darwin and range throughout the Northern Territory's top end to the northern corner of Western Australia. The eastern part of their range extends into North-western Queensland. They seem to be harder to find outside of the Darwin area. They, like other carpet pythons, seem to do very well in areas of human habitation.
These snakes spend a great deal of time in the trees. On my trip to the Northern Territory, we were able to meet up with Gavin Bedford and he took us out to his study site and was able to see a Darwin carpet in the wild. Gavin told us that he had a male who mated with a couple of females, and they never touched the ground during his studies. The one we found in the Botanical Gardens was resting on some branches high up in the canopy. Gavin also told us that the babies were arboreal but much lower to the ground. The Darwin carpet python has a varied diet in the wild. They primarily feed on mammals as adults, and it has been observed that they feed on birds when younger. Larger individuals have been known to feed on flying foxes and Northern Brushtail Possums. The breeding season in the wild typically takes place in late June and July. Males will combat each other over females. They usually lay their eggs between September and November, and the hatchlings emerge from their eggs in January and February. The Darwin carpet python is a fantastic carpet and offer more than just the albino gene. They make fantastic display animals and have untapped potential for a breeding project.
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Bredl’s Python
Breeding Pictorial With Casey Cannon
Bredl’s master,Casey Cannon gives a visual walkthrough of breeding Morelia bredli Bredl’s Pythons are from the harsh environment of central Australia. The canyons of the MacDonnell Ranges, where this species calls home, commonly has summertime highs over 100F and occasional wintertime lows below freezing. Because of this Bredl’s have adapted their reproductive strategy to breed after the warm up in the springtime. Unlike many python species which breed in the wintertime. This article is based off of the notes that I look back on every year to see where my Bredl’s females are in the egg development stage. When I was first learning this species I wished a breeding pictorial like the one Marcus Jayne had made for ball pythons existed for spring breeder Morelia. I hope this helps someone out but really it’s a lot for my own benefit having easy access to this information.
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Pre-Cooling
In the months leading up to the winter cooling the behaviors of my snakes typically change. Adult Bredl’s that used to be calm and easy to handle suddenly want to lunge at anything that enters their enclosure. That is because they are hungry and are trying to get proper fat reserves for winter like they would in nature. I like to give my snakes larger meals in August and September and stop feeding entirely in October. During October I drop the light cycle in the room from 12.5 hours to 8 hours of daylight.
Cooling When I cool my Bredl’s I like to drop them down to the 50s at night for November and December. I do this by moving them into a colder room at night and back to their warmer enclosures during the day. During this period females are beginning to grow follicles in their ovaries and the males are beginning to grow viable sperm. I have never seen mating in the wintertime from my Bredl’s. Left: Bredl’s python cool down method. Both are in a locked container next to a cracked window. Note size difference between male and female.
Warm up/Breeding After the cooling period I will bring the light cycle back up to 12.5 hours. I will offer a mouse or other small meal a week and a half after temps have returned to normal. I do this to jumpstart the females digestive system. A week or so after the first meal I offer her a very large meal, typically a retired breeder rat. I also feed my males a meal or two if they want it. After this large meal the female will go into shed. When the shed happens the female seems to produce pheromones that attract the males. The males will become restless, moving around their cages trying to get to the females. I see most locks in late January through April. During introductions males will tease the females with the spurs they have by their cloaca. Locks can last for an entire day and occur several times a week during the peak breeding season. Right: Bredl’s python locked. Unfortunately this pair did not lay eggs that year
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Ovulation During ovulation, mature unfertilized follicles move from the ovaries into the oviducts where they are fertilized. I do not own an ultrasound yet but typically in pythons follicles reach 40-45 millimeters when they are ready to ovulate. Eggs are typically laid 50-65 days after ovulation. Ovulation is pretty easy to miss because it typically lasts less than 24 hours. Usually females swell considerably on the last third or so of the body. It has been described by many breeders as “like she swallowed a football”. I’ve also noticed a yellowish pudding-like excrement comes out of the female after ovulation. Pairs do occasionally lock after ovulation. Left: Ovulating female. 21 days from prelay shed.
Pre-lay Shed 15-30 days after ovulation the female will go through a shed cycle. After this shed eggs should arrive in 25-40 days. Right: Female Bredl’s in the middle of her prelay shed. 34 days from eggs
Building Eggs During the egg building process the female will start to swell on the back half of the body. She will start to lay on her sides and back. These positions will sometimes get more extreme as the eggs get larger many breeders call these positioning “Pretzeling”. The late stages of the egg building process the female will typically look skinnier in the head and neck and become more restless and agitated. Left: Female Growing Eggs. 19 days before eggs were laid.
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Egg Laying
Right before eggs are laid the female will be pretzeling in the nest box regularly. She will begin to have deep, heavy breathing and coil up in the chosen spot. I’ve been lucky enough to be nearby when a female began to lay eggs. It is important during this process to leave her alone (I’ve definitely been guilty of over checking and now make sure I leave the house entirely). Fertile eggs are large and white and infertile eggs are misshapen, yellow and small. Occasionally eggs will have an imperfection and I think it is best to incubate them and see if they hatch. After egg laying the female will look deflated and exhausted. Most will wrap their eggs in a perfect beehive but a lot of my personal animals have scattered their eggs all over the enclosure.
Left: Female Bredl’s Laying Eggs. 55 days from 1st baby pipping
Eggs
I’ve never had a female successfully do maternal incubation, but many others have. When I set my eggs up I use a mixture of slightly wet perlite and vermiculite as a substrate and have a light diffuser over it to place the eggs. I use plastic tubs with air-holes drilled into the sides and place them into an incubator set to 87F. The first baby usually pips out of the egg around day 55 and the rest usually come out over the next week or so. It’s not uncommon for a few eggs to go bad about 2 weeks into incubation. Possibly those eggs were never viable to begin with. As eggs get closer to hatching they will begin to sweat and generate heat. As they lose water they take on a dented appearance. Left: An Egg went bad early incubation. Nearby eggs actually hatched faster than others. Possibly higher heat. 28 days from 1st baby pipping
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Dimpled eggs. 5 days from 1st baby pipping
Finally, babies pipping!
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Product Review
The Fishbone Perch
From Specialty Enclosure Designs
We’ve all likely heard of Specialty Enclosure Designs or of the owner, David Brahms, if you are in the loop in the arboreal snake corner of the hobby. David is constantly innovating and thinking of new designs he can bring to the hobby even improving on his previous designs. One of his most recent releases is the Fishbone Neonate Perch, a new design that expands on his original tub perch design. Several months ago, David sent me some of these new perches to try (specifically in prep for hatchling chondros which didn’t happen, unfortunately) but it wasn’t until a recent clutch of Boiga cyanea that I had a species that would benefit AND use them. I was a big fan of the original tub perches and still use them currently so I thought a review comparing the new Fishbone model to the original would be helpful for those of you who might be on the fence! The main difference between the two models is that the Fishbone has a single bar that runs the length of the perch with 3 cross sections perpendicular to the bar and it stands on 2 sets of 2 legs that simply screw into the main perch. The original is a rectangle made to fit most shoebox sized tubs with cross sections that radiate to the middle, held up by 4 individual legs attached via super or hot glue. Both fit in the 6 quart Sterilite tubs that I use in my neonate rack. The Fishbone perch offers the advantage of giving you more angles to offer food to neonates (chondros especially) during feeding trials. In comparison to the original model, the Fishbone perches definitely accommodate this! 3-D printing has really taken off in recent years and it’s great to see all the ways people have used it. Unfortunately, original ideas aren’t sacred anymore. Lately there have been a decent amount of folks in the hobby making a similar if not an exact copy of the type of designs David has put the work, research and development into. I’m all for a free market and people bringing something NEW to the table not undercutting an original design to make a quick buck. I prefer to get it from the guy who brought it to the industry in the first place. Grab a Fishbone or any of the other awesome S3D products at specialtyenclosuredesigns.com
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Justin Elden
Industry Spotlight
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of The Highlands & Islands Conservatory
Herpetoculturemagazine.com
HM:Who are you and what is your background in herps personally and professionally?
JE: My name is Justin and my professional and personal interest in Herpetology overlaps a bit. I maintain a personal collection of Pantherophis species and terrestrial salamanders at home, having temperature-controlled rooms for each. For years, I worked for one of the larger university herp labs in the Midwest, focusing mostly on the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) throughout the Eastern United States. I spent most of this time documenting the historical distribution of chytrid and mapping its spread over the country. My day job is at a major Zoo’s Herpetology Department working with endangered species and educating the public about these animals and the challenges their wild counterparts face. This position has given me the opportunity to conduct field research all over the world. I travel far and wide professionally and personally to photograph, study, and observe herps in the wild. Wild herp conservation is the most important thing in the world to me, to the point where it is my day job and my side gig.
the organization, to how we conduct our meetings, to even our merch. If you look at the merch we sell, it intentionally looks like something a doom metal band would slap on a shirt. The difference is when we sell a shirt the proceeds go towards our research and conservation initiatives of endangered species. I’m an adult now (in scene years I’m an old man) and am not involved in music scene at all but the DIY mentality of doing something bigger then yourself on your own terms is still very important to me. The short and sweet version of H&I is a group of biologists and field herpers deciding to do something beneficial for the animals they love. We all have day jobs based in Herpetology, but this is our own collective and collaborative effort.
HM: What is the Highlands & Islands Conservatory and what is your involvement in it? JE: We are an organization dedicated to the research and conservation of rare and endangered herp species and their habitat around the world. By collaborating with biologists in various countries, we are working towards not only having a better understanding of these animals but giving them better opportunities for survival. The work we do is multifaceted, there is a field research component, but we also sponsor educational outreach in countries we are working in as well as here in the states. We are primarily focused on the herps of montane (highland) and insular (island) habitats as these animals are often endemic, evolutionarily important, and vulnerable to extinction. I am the founder of the organization and do all the not fun parts involved with it (paperwork, finances, legal stuff, planning trips, etc.) as well as general operations. I have a great group of friends and colleagues that help with the data/research side of things, social media, field work, and leading our public expeditions. Along with a background in herpetology and field conservation I have experience in the music world. I was in touring metal and hardcore bands when I was younger and learned about the business and DIY ethic that is so important for the punk and metal scene. When starting H&I, I brought much of this mind set with me. From whom I brought on to help
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3-D printed cage supplies for YOUR arboreal needs.
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HM:Does the location focus change over time like a shift from the Americas to an Asian country or is the plan to stick to what is being focused on now? JE: We have various initiatives that are our main focus, and then others that we are helping to fund via grants and consulting. So, for example, one of our main projects working in Guatemala is not going away any time soon. I cannot imagine that there will ever be a day that we have learned everything there is to know and done everything we can about these animals. We will be working in Guatemala as long as our colleagues there will have us. We have an initiative in Jamaica, but Covid-19 has kept us from making progress there, so hopefully in the next year or so we can continue plans with this. We have offered some small research grants to a facility in Ecuador doing some cool pitviper work as well as one of our own doing a project with rock rattlesnakes for his PhD dissertation. These small grants will change as time goes on and we meet more folks we want to help and collaborate with, but the initiatives are here to stay as long as our international friends are willing to work with us. The initiatives as of now are the Guatemala Pitviper Conservation Initiative (involving a population monitoring and ecology study on Bothriechis aurifer, as well as general surveying/data collection and a localized public education component) and then the Jamaican Boa and Crocodile Initiative (Which will be helping Jamaican biologists with nuisance crocodile removals as well as local outreach initiatives with Jamaican Boas). Again, the Jamaica initiative is still in its infancy and we hope to move forward post-covid.
HM: Are there specific species or a genus in particular that the conservatory aims to help?
JE: All of us are fond of vipers so these get the brute of our attention, our main project right now is working with our Guatemalan friends on a study looking into population dynamics and spatial ecology of yellow-blotched Palm-Pit Vipers (Bothriechis aurifer). This species is the flagship species for the organization though we are potentially interested in other palm viper species as well, but we would like to make a great impact with this species before moving onto another. Our Jamaica project will be geared towards American crocodiles in Jamaica (currently considered Crocodylus acutus) and Jamaican boas (Chilabothrus subflavus). We have helped with a variety of other projects
and offered grants to researchers so these species would include Toad-Head Viper species (Bothrocophias sp.), South American Bushmasters (Lachesis muta), Banded Rock Rattlesnakes (Crotalus lepidus klauberi), and others.
HM:What is the plan for H&I in the near and distant future? JE: Continuing our established projects and expanding them, getting more publications out, and learning more about these animals is the short and sweet answer to this question. We want to learn and do as much as we can to help these animals in the wild. The potential to offer a few more small grants is there, as well as potentially starting one more initiative. I have something I am working on right now that I’m ridiculously excited about as it combines my obsession with old word vipers and non-herp things, but we'll keep that quiet until things are finalized. We are venturing into ecotourism as a way to show interested people these animals as well as raise funding for our projects. We are looking to do tours in countries we do work in as well as those we do not. The tours in countries we do not have a project in will still have a portion of the funds raised donated to a conservation or research group in the particular country. So, for example, if a tour is in Costa Rica a portion of your fee for the trip will go towards a project in Costa Rica even though we aren’t doing anything there. Our Guatemala trips will raise money for our project there. Other than this I am sure we will have more merch out soon to raise some money as well as an online auction. I am involved in the local herpetology club here in St. Louis and with their help we put on an event last year called “Ales for Scales'', which was a great fundraiser. We raised a significant amount of money for the aurifer project with this event. It was a combination of a small herp conference, a happy hour, and a benefit. It was held at a local brewery here in the city, Mike Pingleton came and gave a talk on his experiences herping in Cuba, I presented on our work with aurifer, and we had a live auction.
I would love to do these in a post-covid world, we’ve talked about doing an online event but I just don’t see these generating much money especially since everyone is so broke right now. We may do a couple online happy hour/Q&A style events just to keep people interested and give folks an opportunity to do something as everyone is stuck at the moment. A few years down the road I would like to do Ales for Scales type events in more places across the country, namely the East coast and Texas as our crew lives in these areas. Or events to coincide with other herp events.
HM: How can people get involved? JE:The easiest way people can get involved is give us a like on Facebook or follow us on Instagram. I hate social media, and I fought it for a long time as far as using it for H&I. We compromised and only use it for things we feel are important or accomplishments. If anyone is interested in us and the herps we work, go follow us on those platforms. Buying our merch is a great way to get a quality product that helps us out as well. If you are interested in seeing wild herps in wild locations, get in touch about our ecotour expeditions. We have Costa Rica, Guatemala, and a few other places lined up and we would love to have you on board. These trips are for people who do not have much experience herping or traveling internationally as well as die hard herp wanderlusters. We are trying to make sure everything is as easy for our clients as possible and we want to find as many cool species as possible. Again, this is a great way to see amazing animals with experienced field guides while helping to aid research and education.
Bothriechis aurifer
HM: Do you think expeditions will be back on track this year? (2021) JE: Travel and expeditions will pick up this year but still be slow. I think 2022 is when things will be back in swing as far as international work. We have a Costa Rica expedition this February that is happening, we are taking all precautions to make sure all our clients are safe and following all the guidelines put out by the Costa Rican government. This trip we will be targeting Yellow Belly Sea Snakes (Hydrophis platurus), Neotropical Rattlesnakes (Crotalus simus), two species of palm vipers, and an amazing array of other herps as well as mammals and birds. We will be doing a trip to Guatemala as well and depending on progress with the vaccine, interest, and availability of our friends down there, we may do a small public expedition. Other than that, I am planning on spending time in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in the fall to see the ruins and wildlife, we also have had so much interest in the Costa Rica expeditions that we may do a second one in December 2021.
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For more info go to highlandsandislandsconservatory.org!
Special Thanks to our Patreon Supporters for this issue! - Zachary Chilcote
- Joel Patenaude
- Han Hwei Woo
- David Brahms
- Jason Keller
- Tim Morris
- Focus Cubed Habitats - Geoff Obst - Travis Wyman - Rob Starzman - Mitch
- Thadd Sauls
- Reptile Mountain - Donald Cain - Ross Brooten
- Dominique DiFalco - Luc Myers - Andy Middleton
Thank you!!
- Tom Bush - Mike Kuppens - Thomas Ervin - sean wagner - Mike and Brandy Coppney - Kris Painschab Herpetoculture Magazine 34
In The Incubator...
- Strophurus Geckos - Blood Pythons - Breeding Boiga cyanea
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