Daily Reptile News

The news and its future

Well. To start off with I sent out a memo to all the viewers last night about the dismal future of the news. I will post the information here now so all the readers can see it and so the viewers can have a deeper explanation of what is going on. I am having a hard time trying to figure out a way to explain the issues without sounding like a total douche bag but in all honesty its a matter of money. Its fairly expensive operating the server not only in cash but in time keeping it up and running and its no secret the cameras cost a pretty penny as well. Thus far I have funded this resource from my own pocket in hope that one day it would at the least pay for itself or even better make a living doing it. The problem is even in the least its not happening. I operate a few small businesses, one of which is working on an expansion now and time is becoming more and more of a luxury that I do not have. I have been fighting this for some time now and I keep telling myself just to stick it out and eventually things will start paying for themselves but its not working out that way. Below are the viewer stats from You Tube.

As you can see we are averaging about 250 viewers each day which by no means is anything to complain about. Its awesome how much the news has grown over the past 9 months of doing it however even with numbers this nice it is still not keeping pace with what would be required to keep it going. Now below we have the generalized stats for this site

As you can see with this chart the site averages 400 to 600 visits per day meaning only 25% to 50% of news readers are also news viewers. Where the rest come from I have no idea but it appears the majority come directly from Google.

Now is where we get to the money factor. I run 2 adds on each page of the site in the same areas, I have tried a few variations but get the same results. I would love to share this chart with you but unfortunately it is a big no no in Google’s TOS so I can not. I can say though the Daily Reptile News average around or less than a half dollar per month in revenue so that is where the problems start. Manny people dont understand and some do that to produce a video such as these takes about 3 hours per day on the days it is done. So that’s 3 hours per day X 3 days per week for 9 hours per week which averages around $0.10 revenue per show. Add to this the cost to run a web server 24-7, keeping up to industry standards “or at least trying to” when it comes to cameras and other equipment, After all in order to appeal to an audience in today’s media HD filming and professional editing software seems to be a must. A $10 webcam and Movie Maker just dont cut it anymore. I did try to capitalize on this some more by applying for the Youtube Partnership but after 4 months my application is still pending so I have no idea what will come of it but as I understand it the things they look for are total upload views as well as total channel views and number of subscribers. If we take these number and do the simple math we find it will take the Daily Reptile News  10-12 years to meet the requirements for the aforementioned numbers to qualify for the partnership.

I am still hoping and praying that something will change and start looking better for the show but hopes are dwindling. As I mentioned before with other ventures greatly in need of attention I find I will have to give up those that are not paying off or that are not high on the priority list which is unfortunate because I greatly enjoy what I have been doing and get a since of purpose informing the greater reptile community on the current events of the reptile world.

To be honest I would love nothing more than to sell these other ventures “I really dont enjoy them but they make money” and do the news full time but the bottom line comes down to not enough viewers are using the sponsors adds to generate revenue to keep the news going. I will for now and possibly the next couple of weeks continue to do the news at its normal schedule buit I just wanted to let everyone know it may be coming to an end soon and to give a detailed explanation why. If we do lose the news that is not the end of the story. I will be back I am sure some day its just a matter of when. Thanks for your understanding and support.

Toxic Mice To Help Guam Fight the Brown Tree Snake


GUAM- The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Wildlife Services, tested out a new system to combat the brown tree snake at the Naval Base Guam. Dead mice packed with 80 mg of acetaminophen (tylenol) were dropped from a low-flying helicopter. The mice also contain radio transmitters to make sure the snakes are taking the bait.

Dan Vice, Assistant State Director USDA, says that the drops will be help fight the battle in the jungle.

“In order to do it [traps] on ground you got to go up and actually walk up to a tree,” said Vice. “Or you got to go to a bait station and place the bait inside that station. In a chunk of forest, that you don’t have a road, or you got really steep terrain you simply can’t get to it by foot. The idea here is by using an aerial delivery system we can put it into a larger landscape and more effectively control snakes across a bigger area.”

The deadly deliveries will be combined with the traps already in use.

“The brown tree snake traps that you see around Guam are actually the most effective trap for catching snakes in the world,” said Vice. “Most of the traps that people see however are sitting on a fence or on a port. And they’re targeting the few snakes that might get to that fence.”

More testing is planned for next year on Andersen. If all goes well, baits could be dropped all over the island.

Dead animals found in pet store

LAKELAND – Animal control officers are investigating several dead animals found at the Noah’s Ark Exotic Pet Store on U.S. Highway 92 East in Lakeland.

On Monday, they discovered them inside the store, with the electricity off. Lakeland Electric said the power had been off for five days because of an unpaid bill. The temperature inside the store was found to be over 100 degrees.

There were eight dead animals inside including birds, a rabbit and lizard.

More than 50 other animals were alive and were taken into custody. Those include a turtle, a duck, two gecko lizards, 10 hamsters, and numerous birds including chickens, pigeons, and a quail, according to deputies.

The pet store owner, Diana Cabrera, told deputies Tuesday that she had been out of town for a week and left a caretaker in charge of the pets.

Detectives are continuing their investigation and working to determine who was left as caretaker of the store while Cabrera was away. The State Attorney’s Office is also involved and any possible charges are still pending.

7-Year-Old Mia Walker Bitten By Poisonous Snake in Orangeburg County

A seven year old describes her traumatic experience of getting bit by one of the most poisonous snakes in the state.

You might say it’s amazing that Mia Walker is still here to tell her story. They say for that to happen, everything had to fall into place, from the actions of emergency responders to the doctors at the hospital.

For Mia, the incident began as she was walking in her front yard.

“I just stepped on something and I thought it was a piece of glass,” Mia says.

However, it wasn’t glass. It was a snake.

“It felt like a needle going into my foot,” Mia says. “I thought I was going to die,”

With her blood racing, Mia panicked and ran towards the house to find her dad. “I was very very dizzy, I just couldn’t make it,” Mia said.

Then, the venom took over. She collapsed on the back steps of her parents home. “It felt like a dream, that I couldn’t even wake up, my eyes wouldn’t open, it was so dark,” Mia says.

Her mother, Brandy, was on a church trip when she got a phone call from her husband.

“[He said] that Mia had gotten bitten by a poisonous snake said she was unconscious and waiting on EMS,” Brandy said. “Her muscles were breaking down like acid had been poured on them. And then to find out that this thing actually hit a blood vessel so it just dumped venom into her blood stream.”

Mia’s dad preformed CPR while they waited for a medivac helicopter to land in a nearby field. She was unconscious for two hours. ‘I didn’t hear Jesus or the angels calling me yet, it was just like asleep at night time,” Mia said.

“Any of the doctors and surgeons that we talked to…I mean they’re not taking any credit for it,” says Brandy. “We keep thanking them for keeping her here and they’re like we can’t take any credit for it this is a miracle.”

Mia is recovering and learning that while she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, her doctors or angels, were not. “Thank you for saving my life,” Mia says.

Doctors say that she was bitten by a Canebreak snake, also known as a Timber Rattlesnake. The doctors also told the Walkers that even a baby snake that poisonous has enough venom to kill an adult.

So what do you do if you are bitten by a venomous snake? First, ignore that old wives tale, and do not try to capture the snake to take it to the hospital or try to suck the venom out of the bite. Doing those things will either get you bitten again or make the bite worse. Scott Pfaff with Riverbank Zoo says if you’re bitten, drop everything and get to the hospital as fast as you can.

“Take your Boy Scout snake bit kit and throw it away, do not put a tourniquet on it that’s really tight,” Pfaff says. “Do not try to cut the wound or try to apply any kind of suction device just get to a hospital, if the bite is severe enough they will apply anti-venom therapy and that is the effective treatment against snake bite.”

Pfaff says that many venomous snakes will bite out of self defense and not use any venom simply to scare you away.

Lizard found on Hwy. 7 near Madoc by passing motorist

A huge 4 ft. (1.2 m)-long Savannah Monitor lizard was found by passing motorist on highway 7 just outside the town of Madoc Tuesday night.

In photo, Brendan Boyd holds the rescued lizard, after being removed from the trunk of two kind men’s car, who caught the lizard as it was attempting to cross the highway.

“It is

very sad and unfortunate that many exotic pet owners are not responsible with the care and keeping of their exotic pets.” said Bry Loyst, Curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo.

Atlanta zoo to be inspected after snake escape

ATLANTA — Georgia wildlife officials will inspect an Atlanta zoo after a venomous rattlesnake was able to escape and slither around a city neighborhood.

Zoo staff noticed the female tiger rattlesnake was missing during a routine check late Friday. The snake was found dead Monday after a nearby property owner killed it.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Lauren Curry said Tuesday that an inspection team will be sent to Zoo Atlanta to investigate. Zoo officials have said a staff member did not properly secure a cage door.

Wildlife officials have not decided whether the zoo will face any penalties for the escape.

Expert: Reptile abandonment a common problem

Reptile manager Ryan Cordiero of Zoo Creatures in Plaistow, New Hampshire tells NECN reporter Lauren Collins that unfortunately, reptile abandonment is a common problem.

An apparently malnourished boa constrictor was found wiggling around in some grass last week in Salem, New Hampshire. Police took in the snake and asked around about it, but nobody seemed to know where it came from.

The snaked, dubbed by police as “Sammy,” is currently being cared for at Zoo Creatures. It will stay there until the owner comes forward. If the owner does not come forward soon, they will put it up for adoption.

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