Daily Reptile News

NEPA investigates reports of crocodile increase in Great Pond

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has dispatched a team to Great Pond, St Elizabeth to investigate reports of an increase in the crocodile population there since the recent heavy rains.

It’s reported that the crocodiles that have been living in ponds have been hunting domestic animals in Great Pond.

NEPA said it has also received reports that community members are catching and restraining the crocodiles.

In a release this afternoon, NEPA warned that this is a dangerous practice and encouraged residents not to trouble the reptiles because they react dangerously if cornered and attacked.

The agency said its officers who are trained to handle the animals should be allowed to conduct their activities unhindered.

According to NEPA, over the weekend its teams will conduct further assessments and devise a strategy for possibly removing the animals.

Under the Wild Life Protection Act it is an offence to capture or kill crocodiles.

Persons found guilty of this offence are liable to a fine of up to $100,000 or twelve months imprisonment.

Zoo breeds amphibian for first time



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KEEPERS at Chester Zoo’s Aquarium have managed to breed caecilians for the first time in the zoo’s history.


The aquatic species in question are dark grey creatures and are the ‘forgotten amphibians’ – as most people do not even know they exist.

Nine of the tiny worm-like babies are now in the zoo’s Aquarium and will go on show as soon as they are large enough.

This species of caecilian originates from South America and lives in fresh water. They grow to be 45 to 55 cm in length as adults.
Mike Crumpler, Aquarium Team Leader at Chester Zoo, said:”If asked what an amphibian is, most people would answer frogs or toads or maybe newts and salamanders. Caecilians, of which there are about 170 species, are very much the forgotten amphibians.”

Florida man fires at alligator attacking his dog


TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida man shot at an alligator to free his dog from its jaws.

Tom Martino says he and his Jack Russell terrier Lizabeth were walking along the Hillsborough River in Tampa on Thursday when the alligator wrestled the 15-pound dog into the water.

Martino started shooting into the water around the alligator to scare it into releasing the 9-year-old dog. He performed CPR on the dog until it coughed up water and started breathing again.

Lizabeth is now being treated for alligator bits and lung injuries from being underwater.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper captured the 5- to 6-foot alligator Thursday night.

Martino has a concealed weapons permit.

Reptile ambassadors drop in on Milwaukee


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Milwaukee got some distinguished visitors from Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium today, and they popped into the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom to say “Hi” to the staff. OK, so only a few staffers were brave enough to say “Hi” back.

The visit marked the 10th anniversary of the Shedd’s “Amazon Rising” exhibit, the dramatic recreation of the wildlife in nine South American countries. Our buddies included Circle, the caiman lizard, a real beauty who has been a mother at least 20 times.

Rosie, the Chilean Tarantula, showed her gentle nature by letting us sort of shake hands with her (sorry, Rosie, we didn’t have any crickets in the newsroom for ya). Another scene-stealer was Rico, the red-tailed boa, who snuggled with human Shedd rep Erin Boyle. At 5 feet long, Rico is still growing and someday, maybe, may do a cameo in Hollywood. Erin tells us that these boas are known as “gentle giants” and often get cast in movies because of their sweet nature.

The Shedd guys were also set to do another meet-and-greet with the kids at Milwaukee’s Atlas Preparatory Academy.

Python bites boy during Halloween party


WEST JORDAN, Utah —

A 10-year-old boy was bitten twice by a Burmese Python during a Halloween party Saturday.

Cyprus Credit Union in West Jordan hosts Halloween events for the community every year. This year they hired the reptile company Scales and Tails out of Salt Lake City for an event on Oct. 30. About 30 children were at the credit union to look at the animals. During the grand finale, animal handlers had 30 children hold the 14-foot long python.

10-year-old Jaren Barker was less than two feet from the snake’s head when it bit him.

“So then all the other kids panicked and dropped the snake and they were crying and screaming and my son wasn’t facing me but then he turned and there was blood coming out of his face and his neck, everywhere. I think he was in shock,” said Jaren’s mother, Christian Martin.

Jaren received bites to his chin, face and under his ear. His mother says he was released from the hospital that same day.

Jaren’s mother says she wants the snake put down.

“I just want to make sure it never happens again to another kid …that they do safer shows. I was told that they should have had an assistant helping with a snake that big,” said Martin.

Scales and Tails owner, Shane Richens says it’s not unusual to have only one person handling the animal. He says in more than 200 shows, the python has never attacked anyone.

The company plans on continuing the shows, but will change animal handling procedures.

“From now on the handler’s not only going to be near the head, he’s going to be the only one holding the head. She [the python] still had some reach distance. We’re going to have the kids hold from the middle back,” says Richens.

The boy’s father has retained an attorney, but no word yet as to whether legal action will be filed.

Snake loose in Toronto highrise


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A metre-long snake is forcing tenants in a Toronto highrise to face their fears as they wait to discover where the escaped pet is hiding.

Residents have been warned about the missing albino California king snake, which is not venomous, but which can go a week without eating.

The apartment building at 100 Wellesley St. E. in Toronto’s downtown is more than 20 storeys tall.

“I can’t go to the bathroom without thinking it might be in the toilet or something,” said Karynah Zeh, laughing. “Which is probably totally untrue, but you don’t know, right? All those stories that scared you when you were a little kid.”

Zeh found out about the missing snake Wednesday when she read a sign stuck on the wall beside the elevator that warned the pet was lost in the building.

She’s a costume designer and has piles of clothes in her apartment organized for an upcoming show.

“Every time I pick stuff up I’m like, ‘What’s under there? I don’t know!'”

‘Is it any danger to our cats?’

A memo on the tenants association website from the building’s management says that the snake has orange and white markings, a very small head, and is between three to four feet long.

“If you see this snake, please contact the office,” it says.

Resident Helen Buttle wanted to know what it eats. “Is it any danger to our cats?” she asked CBC News.

Liam Grin, with the Menagerie Pet Shop in Toronto, said it does eat animals, but nothing as large as a cat. A mouse would be more likely, he said.

Grin said the snake will probably enjoy its freedom curled up.

“Underneath the fridge, underneath the stove, where it’s nice and warm, where there’d be a heat source,” he said. “That or a little dark, tiny, tight crevice that they can squeeze into.”

When they bite, it’s little more than a nip or pinch, he said.

Rare snake abandoned in a bag in Eastbourne dies



A rare snake found abandoned on a doorstep in East Sussex has died.

The Rainbow Boa was discovered in a mesh bag at a property in Croxden Way, Eastbourne, on Saturday evening.

The RSPCA said it was very poorly when it was left and was a type a specialist owner would pick. It was left at the home of another snake owner.

The snake was taken to a vets in Horsham which specialises in treating reptiles but it died on Wednesday.

It had been given fluids and food to strengthen it so it could receive treatment but it did not respond.

The RSPCA said it was unacceptable to abandon any animal and was appealing for witnesses.

The bag the reptile was in has been described as being made of white, mesh plastic with the number 50 and two Ls printed on it.

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