Chinese and German researchers have discovered a new to science venomous snake that was confirmed to have killed renowned herpetologist Joseph B. Slowinski in 2001. The snake, Suzhen's krait (Bungarus suzhenae) is named after Bai Su Zhen, the snake goddess…
The United States Department of Justice has charged a South Carolina man with violating the Lacey Act for allegedly trafficking in spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata), eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina), and 15 Gaboon vipers (Bitis gabonica). Ashtyn Michael Rance, 35,…
At the Reptilian Nation Expo in San Diego this past weekend, attendance was so large on Saturday, the expo staff had to limit those coming in to the main building to avoid large crowds inside. The line to get…
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Georgia DNR Law Enforcement is looking for the person or persons who poached and killed an endangered Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) that was part of the DNR's research on this species. Rocky was…
When it snows what do you do? Build a snowman? For a family in Denver, CO, a snowman was too quaint, so they set out and built a snow snake. That's right, a 77 foot (23 meters) Colorado snow snake…
A Central American milksnake (Lampropeltis abnorma) was spotted in the Everglades National Park the week of February 25 and was safely captured by USGS biologist, Jillian Josimovich and biological science technician, Gretchen Anderson. The snake, which is popular amongst reptile…
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted today to ban the commercial breeding and keeping of several invasive species of reptiles in the state, including tegus, iguanas, and several python species. This is not good news for the industry.…
Last year, researchers in Thailand documented how the small-banded kukri snake, (Oligodon fasciolatus) used its posterior maxillary teeth to slash open the abdomen of a live Asian black-spotted toad (Duttaphrynus melanostic), and ate the toad’s organs. This year, the same…
A 16-foot Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) was apparently sunning itself on private property when Aaron Brown and his mother spotted the reptile while driving on their property. "I drove past it and said, 'That's a big snake,'" Brown told…
A granite Burmese python (Python bivittatus) stolen last June from an Arizona reptile shop has been returned to the shop, thanks to some tireless detective work by the Glendale Police Department. The thief was caught on video and quickly identified…
Xenodermus javanicus, or the dragon snake, is a small and unique species of Colubrid snake renowned for its unusual but fascinating appearance. Also known as the Javan tubercle snake, Javan mud snake, and rough-backed litter snake, the reptile sometimes exhibits…
Ohio’s Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced February 3 the birth of seven eastern massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus), one of the smallest rattlesnakes in the United States. The snakes, which were born January 20, are federally listed by the U.S. Fish…
Researchers in the United States wanted to know what makes sidewinder snakes move the way they do, so they took a microscopic look at the shed skin of three sidewinder snake species to find out, as well as how the…
A new study coming out the University of Queensland in Australia has found that certain snake species that are preyed upon by venomous cobras have become neurotoxin resistant, helping them to avoid (at least those that are larger) being eaten…
As one of his last acts as president, former President Donald J. Trump pardoned a man who was convicted of snake trafficking in the early 1990s. Robert Bowker was convicted of wildlife trafficking in 1993, after pleading guilty to trafficking…
The brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) on Guam uses a newly described mode of snake locomotion, or movement, that enables it to climb up smooth, cylindrical surfaces. This mode, called lasso locomotion, gives the invasive species a new route to find…
A four decade study of Japan’s Okada's five-lined skink (Plestiodon latiscutatus) and its main predator, the Japanese four-lined rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata), shows that higher body temperatures of the skink helps them run faster and more efficiently to escape from…
Two thieves entered a Peabody, MA Petco and ran off with an albino cinnamon ball python (Python regius) that they falsely told the sales clerk that they would pay for. The man and woman entered the store last week and…
A subterranean snake that was collected in the Philippines in 2006 and 2007 was misidentified in the field and spent more than 10 years in the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum before it was properly described,…
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that its latest efforts to “sniff” out Burmese pythons on public lands in south Florida has logged its first success with the FWC’s new Detector Dog Team, locating an 8-foot male python…
Wild Florida, an Orlando, FL area safari park, announced on Facebook that an electrical fire destroyed the safari park’s snake exhibit, killing all the reptiles in the exhibit. No people were reported injured in the fire. “Sad to report a…
Construction of Tesla’s Gigfactory and car manufacturing plant near the city of Berlin in Germany was halted for the second time this week after a court issued an order pausing construction on the 300 acre property. The stop order was…
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History researchers announced today that they have discovered and described a new species of burrowing snake from Vietnam's Ha Giang province. The snake, Achalinus zugorum, named in honor of George Zug, the Smithsonian’s retired curator…
Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus), vipers and cobras that were previously destined for the black market animal trade have found a refuge in the monastery of a 69-year-old Buddhist monk in Myanmar, formerly Burma. The monk, named Wilatha, keeps the reptiles…
