Daily Reptile News

West Alabama Reptile Expo April 16th-17th

The West Alabama Reptile Expo, hosted by Will and Angie Pridmore (proud owners of Dixie Pythons & Boas) is designed to be educational and entertaining. From inception: the goal of the expo has been to bring a family oriented atmosphere with quality vendors to a comfortable and convenient location: offering a variety of educational experiences, animals, and supplies to the greater Birmingham, Al. area.

Whether you’re looking for quality animals, supplies, or just a fun weekend outing with the family, this expo is designed for you. Looking forward to seeing you!!!

*A portion of the proceeds from each expo helps support USARK and other organizations that promote awareness, education, and responsible care. These organizations work to protect the animals and our individual rights.

W.A.R.E

Pakistan Anti-venom Production Project

The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences has started a project to produce Anti-venom to help people in Pakistan who get bitten by snakes. About fifty thousand people per year die in Pakistan from snake bites. About 90% of those who die do so because of the lack of availability of the life saving substance. They believe if it were produced at the local level that it can mean far more lives being saved. Currently they import it from India but its only useful for one type of snake bite. The believe that producing it locally they can make it available for all 4 kinds of bites that they see and not only that. it will sell for about Rs400. Currently the imported
Anti-venom sells for about Rs1,900

No protection for the Flat Tailed Horned Lizard says the U.S.F.W.S

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has said the Flat Tailed Horned Lizard will not be added to the Endangered Species List because its desert habitat in Southern California and Arizona is large enough for a self sustaining population. This is the forth time since 1993 that they have rejected pleas to add the lizard to the list stating that worries such as off road vehicles, military activity as well as urban development are not are bad on the species as previously thought. Each of the earlier withdraws from the listing was successfully challenged in court by Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and the Horned Lizard Conservation Society. CBD legal director John Buse said they are trying to determine whether or not to push the issue further.

Over 24,000 reptiles relocated

A container ship terminal is being built in Wiltshire but first there were some residents that had to be relocated. The move of the  adders, grass snakes, lizards and slow worms has been organized by the Swindon-based Environment Bank Limited. The relocation though was not a local one as Robert Gillespie the companies president said

“We would have preferred to have found a more local home for the reptiles, But in this instance these sites in Wiltshire were the only ones we could identify with an environment that is almost perfect from day one.”

One of the news homes for the animals was an old military base.

“The area of land links up four of the trust’s neighboring reserves including Clattinger Farm, Oaksey Moor Farm Meadow, Swillbrook Lakes and Sandpool Farm,” said  Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Magz Knight.

“Before any translocation is done the receptor sites are checked because obviously you don’t want to bring a load of new reptiles in if there’s already a population there that is the maximum amount you should have for that kind of habitat.”

About 690 snakes, 17,000 lizards and 6,000 slow worms were collected by hand and relocated.

Mr Gillespie said they still have another 3 years of monitoring the animals to do but so far its been a great success.

Reptiles seized at US border.

On Thursday Customs officers seized dozens of reptile at the B&M International Bridge while someone tried to bring them into America. The animals were declared and during inspection officers found 52 live reptiles. According to authorities they did not have the proper documents required by CBP and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The snakes and lizards were turned over to the Gladys Porter Zoo. No charges have been filed yet against the traveler.

The earthquake and tsunami, what about the animals?

With all the tragic loss of life and property in Japan there is little talk about many victims that we will never see or hear of, those are not just the reptiles but all the animals. Japan has some beautiful snakes and while statistics may be impossible to come by I am sure there were many lost do to this natural disaster not including the habitat that was destroyed and will remain useless for years to come. I do not know at this time if there are any efforts to save the animals caught up in this or if there will even be any plans to but I for sure will be keeping and eye on the news and around the internet and up date someone if I find any information on the topic. Please pass this around and let everyone know while they are saying prayers for the Japanese people to also have a word for the Japanese animals as well.

This is why you should not be stupid on FaceBook

A man is a prime suspect after bragging on FaceBook about a monster Alligator he killed. As it turns out the Alligator was discovered near a creek in Bastrop County about a week ago and Game Warden Fred Ensinger says it is illegal in Bastrop County to Kill Alligators. Of course the authorities being smart used the FaceBook postings to track down the man. His name was not being released because chances are he will only be charged with a misdemeanor. The Alligator was a large 11 1/2 feet long, nearly twice the size of the ones they are use to seeing in the area.

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