Some scientists believe this species evolved from South American iguanas that floated across the Pacific on rafts of vegetation and debris.  In two tribes on Fiji these lizards are important and powerful totemic animals. They forbid any mention of the animal in the presence of women and uninitiated men.

We love this little guy. His colors are stunning and he has such a friendly, inquisitive face. He will be on exhibit in the lower ring of the Sky Dome all summer long.

Featured Reptile of the Week is a post from: Scales & Tales

Rhinoceros Viper

For many years we had an immensely popular “Top Ten Most Venomous Snakes” list posted here at the Reptile Gardens and, subsequently, on our web site. Many of you remember this list and have asked about it. We get thousands of web search hits to our site every year looking for just such a list.

We always kept up with current research and would make changes to the list over time that reflected new study results. Of course, no matter how scientifically accurate we made it, as with any Top 10 list of any kind, we got many emails telling us how wrong we were for this or that particular reason.  It was a constant balancing act. Whose research is best? What is most current? What anecdotal information, if any, should be factored in?

Recently, Terry, Ken, and I looked at all the research and at all the angles from which this subject could be approached. Upon review it occurred to us that a Top 10 list was no longer relevant, and really never was. The scientific community now recognizes that venoms are far too complex and their effects vary greatly. To make it more complicated, research conducted by a friend of mine showed that the toxicity of the venom of a single snake (a particular individual snake, not snake species) changes day to day, hour by hour.

And finally, there is the issue of semantics, deadly vs dangerous.  A snake can have the most powerful venom of any snake on the planet (deadly) but be so rare, rarely seen in the wild, and easy going that it has likely never killed single person in recorded history (that would be the Inland Taipan or Fierce snake). Another snake can have relatively mild venom (for the snake world) yet be quite common, somewhat aggressive, and live where lots of people do, and so kill more people than any other snake species on the planet like the Asiatic cobra (dangerous).

After much discussion, we ultimately decided to throw out any plans for a new Top 10 list. Instead. Terry came up with what we are calling the Danger Quotient. The Danger Quotient takes all the significant factors about a venomous snake species into account:  Venom yield, venom toxicity, fang length, disposition (how does the species behave), and size of the adult snake.

We know this will annoy some folks because it is more convoluted than a simple Top 10 list, and therefore, will take more effort and reading to determine the winner of a bar bet. But, the whole subject is, honestly, extremely convoluted. We feel our Danger Quotient more accurately reflects reality. As you have likely figured out from our past posts, we are all about accuracy.

We first created a Regional Danger Quotient list which compares those above listed factors for the top deadly snakes in each of 5 specific world regions: Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Australia/New Guinea.  However, once that was completed and on our web site, a study of our web site hits showed us we might not be answering people’s questions to their satisfaction or quick enough for them. We still weren’t ready to resort to a Top 10 list though.

In order to better address people’s questions, we decided to change how we presented the list and develop another companion list: the International Danger Quotient. This list compiles all the snakes on the regional lists into one big list. For this one we added one more category: a rating for number of bites per year. In order to be as accurate as possible, we started over and created this list independently of the Regional Danger Quotients. Our new list resulted in some very interesting placement. Some snakes have high scores for their region but when put into the world mix they drop dramatically.

Once you peruse our lists and read a little of the information we provide, you may see why it is so hard to come up with something specific and concrete like a Top 10 list.  There are too many variables, too many opinions, too many research papers. We know there are several other competing lists out there but keep in mind that our new lists are based purely on a pile of recent scientific data and the combined 120 years of experience among the three of us who made this list. We know we will still get emails telling us we are incredibly stupid and how wrong we are about a particular snake. We promise, we will stay current on available data and will research your suggestions so that we can keep our Danger Quotients as accurate and up to date as possible.

Now, that said, we know you would still like a simple Top 10 list. It would be much easier for answering those bar bets or writing a term paper. We have given you a nice, easy to decipher chart that lays it all out almost as simply as a Top 10 list. We do encourage you to dig deeper and visit the pages with the full facts about each species. And think of it this way, you can sound a whole lot more knowledgeable after you read our Danger Quotient lists that you would with a mere Top 10 list.

Hey, Where’s Your Top 10 Most Deadly Snakes List? is a post from: Scales & Tales

Huge gator, or forced perspective?

Here is the current ridiculous story attached to this photo:

“This alligator was found between Centre and Leesburg, Alabama, near a house! Neighbors had been telling the Rogers that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house, but they dismissed the stories as exaggerations. Alabama Parks and Wildlife game wardens were forced to shoot the beast. Joe G., 6’5′ tall, a game warden, walks past the 28 foot, 1 inch alligator he shot and killed in their back yard.”

First of all let’s start with the “6 foot 5 inch” game warden. Really? Six foot five inches? Give me a break. Now even the people in the photos are giants.

Once again we are seeing the wonders of forced perspective. It has to do with the angle of the shot and the actual location of man and animal in relation to each other. We discussed forced perspective in a previous post. Have another look at the photo we shot in our parking lot – no Photoshop, just forced perspective.

Now let’s get to the truth about alligators. We have been in the reptile business for 73 years, our staff has a combined 145 years of experience, and we have never seen a reliable report of any alligator over 15 feet long. Our General Curator, Ken Earnest, grew up in his family business, California Alligator Farm started by his grandfather in 1906.  Of the thousands of alligators they had in California and in Ken’s later work in Florida he never saw or heard of an alligator over 15 feet long.

And once again I refer you to our reward sign, the one that has been here at the Reptile Gardens for over 50 years. On it we currently offer $20,000 for a 16-foot alligator. However, unlike our 8 foot rattlesnake reward offer, we have never had a single person contact us claiming of having one.

So as is always the case, we have a photo of an impressive big reptile made silly because of someone’s vivid imagination. This was a big gator probably between 12 and 14 feet long, although he is a bit emaciated. And so goes our crusade…to be continued.

Yikes! Another Fake Giant Reptile is a post from: Scales & Tales

Sometimes the internet is a great source of information and sometimes…well…it is like the National Enquirer.  If you are not intimately involved in a particular area of study it can be pretty hard to know the difference when reading things online or seeing them on TV. To make matters more complicated, most of us (me included) tend to be pretty trusting anyway. When it comes to reptiles and amphibians, you can count on the staff at Reptile Gardens for the true facts, no sensational tabloid-style lies or exaggerations from us.

The infamous "giant" rattlesnake

We have all seen the viral photo below, or something like it, haven’t we? Our staff gets sensational reptile photos sent to us on a regular basis, so we want to address some of the over the coming months. Today, it’s time to talk about GIANT RATTLESNAKES!

Giant Snake Caught!

Each time we see this photo, the snake gets bigger and the story more fanciful.  It is 8 feet long, it is 9 feet long, it is 10 feet long, it weighs 50 pounds, it weighs 75 pounds, it weighs 100 pounds.  The simple answer here is that no one has EVER reliably recorded a rattlesnake 8 feet long.  For as long as there have been reptile researchers and herpetologists, and for as long as records have been kept, there have been NO credible reports or actual measured specimens of that size.  An 8-foot rattlesnake of any species would be a world record.  In spite of what one may hear about species like the prairie rattler or timber rattler, there are only two, maybe three, species that could even come close to growing that big (Western Diamondback – Crotalus, atrox; Eastern Diamondback – Crotalus adamanteus; Mexican West Coast – Crotalus basiliscus).

OK, I will just make an 8 foot rattlesnake

A number of years ago, a friend of ours tried to raise a genuine 8-foot rattlesnake.  He picked newborn babies from especially large mothers. He then devised a very intensive (and unnatural) feeding regimen.  In the end he got some of the hugest, most obese rattlesnakes I have ever seen…but he never got an 8-foot snake.  He ultimately gave up and gave all the snakes to us.

WANTED: 8 Foot Rattlesnake – Reward!

Since the mid-1950’s, here at Reptile Gardens we have offered a reward for an 8-foot rattlesnake.  We have regularly increased the dollar amount as the years have gone by. Never once, in almost 60 years, has anyone brought in a rattlesnake that came even close to 8 feet long.  Oh, believe me, we get calls all the time.  I once talked to a woman in North Carolina who wanted to know “how many of them 8 foot rattlers” we wanted before she sent “the boys out to fetch” them.  I told her to just get us one to start with and we could negotiate on more.  We never heard from her – or any of our many other callers – again. And they certainly never showed up with one.

The Real Story

Forced perspective

So, what is the story of the obviously large snake in this particular photo?  Well folks, it is all a matter of perspective, actually what is called “forced perspective”.  If you shoot a photo with a long lens, staged properly (and at the proper angle) you can get all kinds of great results.  To show you how easy this is, we shot the photo on the left yesterday in our parking lot.  No Photoshop here, just forced perspective.

Yes, the snake in the photo is big – a nice big Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) probably around 5 feet long.  It weighs maybe 10 pounds.  So it isn’t anywhere near as big as claimed but it is a formidable rattlesnake to be sure.  We have had many over the years of this same size.

So having said all this, I will extend our offer once again:  If any of you out there have one of these 8 or 9 foot rattlesnakes on hand, bring it by.  We’d love to have it.  If it is over 8 feet long, delivered live and in good condition, we’ll give you $25,000 for it!

And by the way, do have a look at our other rewards.  Who knows, you might just have one of these other giants in your backyard that you just don’t know what to do with now that it has outgrown your aquarium or bathtub!

GIANT RATTLESNAKES! is a post from: Scales & Tales

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

This is part 3 of our answer to a recent question involving increased snake activity in the Black Hills. If you missed them, read Part 1 and Part 2 . This time we’ll give you some advice on how to protect yourself and your animals from snakes.

A Little Snake Education
Interestingly enough, South Dakota hasn’t had a death from a rattlesnake bite in over 50 years. But, no one likes to get bitten at all, so if possible, it’s always best to avoid an encounter altogether. Here are some tips:

• Teach your family about snakes
  The best way to protect your family from snakes is to educate them. As parents, we teach our children not to talk to strangers, how to safely cross the road and to not play with guns. Living in western South Dakota, we should also teach our kids how to safely interact and behave around all of our native wildlife:  bees, mountain lions, rattlesnakes etc.

  Local folks have a huge resource that should be used: Reptile Gardens. At Reptile Gardens, parents can learn what to say about snakes and can also give their children an opportunity to see, learn and explore the world of the Rattlesnake.

• Be aware of your surroundings
  Always watch where you sit, stand, walk and place your hands. Teach older children to be aware of their surroundings and to leave all snakes alone. Information is key and the more they know about their surroundings the better. Never let young children play outside unsupervised. Young children have a more difficult time perceiving dangerous situations, so are at high risk.

• Keep your pets safe
  Dogs, cats, and some other pets are generally pretty resistant to snake venom, at least in comparison to people. We have quite a few pets bitten each year by rattlesnakes with only a few deaths.Most times a dog can “ride out” the bite. The worst cases are when dogs are bitten in the face, causing massive swelling and cutting off the ability to breathe.

  There is a vaccination for dogs. However, I have researched these pretty extensively and some of the top venom and snakebite experts in the world have concluded it’s very unlikely these boosters do any good for a bitten dog. However, they have proven to do no harm, so there is no reason other than the cost to not get them.

  Most frequently after a bite, a veterinarian will provide supportive care, take a blood panel, and determine if the bite warrants the use of antivenin.

• Watch your livestock
  Livestock are frequently bitten, but due to their larger size, it is very rare for them to require any veterinary treatment at all. Though again, facial bites can cause enough swelling to lead to breathing difficulties. So any bite, whether to a person, pet or livestock, should be treated as a medical emergency.

“Protecting Your Family, Pets and Livestock from Snakes” is a post from: Scales & Tales

Rattlesnake

A recent question about rattlesnakes prompted us to write this post, since we figured it may be helpful to many people in the Black Hills area.

The question involved concerns that there has been an increase in the population of rattlesnakes, or that there was a nearby den of snakes that contributed to increased snake encounters and danger to children and pets.

In fact, there have been many such questions this year. In nearly 13 years here at Reptile Gardens, I have never received so many calls about rattlesnakes.

More Activity, Not Snakes

The short story is we don’t have more rattlesnakes this year. We are just encountering them more frequently because both humans and snakes have been more active due to more temperate weather.

Rattlesnakes generally enjoy cooler weather. Not cold weather, but definitely cooler than some of the drought-inducing temperatures we’ve experienced in the last decade or so.

We’ve become accustomed to low snake activity in the summer because of these high temperatures. During these periods, rattlesnakes are generally more active:

- Early morning

- Late evening

- Night time

And since humans are generally the least active at these times, there’s a perception of low rattlesnake activity, which implies a lower population.

So What Changed?

The last couple summers have been much cooler than previous years, so the snake’s activity cycles are greatly increased. They are active on most summer days at 4pm or so, all night, and until 12 or 1pm.  This leaves only a few hours of the day where they are avoiding the higher temps.

Since it hasn’t been so stinkin’ hot for us people too, we are out and about for longer periods of time when the snakes are also active. The result: we are seeing more snakes this year than in previous years.

So rest assured, there’s no uptick in snake populations, nor is it likely there is a den close by that poses any more danger than usual.  You’ll simply want to be more vigilant and take some precautions against enticing snakes onto your property. We’ll be writing more about that soon – stay tuned!

More Rattlesnakes in the Black Hills is a post from: Scales & Tales

Reptile Gardens

Welcome to our new blog!

We started this blog because many of you have questions about reptiles and about Reptile Gardens.

Some of what we offer here will be technical, some fun, and some will simply be news.

We also see and receive so many web posts of photos and information concerning reptiles that are exaggerated or  just plain untrue.  As the premier reptile collection in the world, we feel a need to address these “reptile myths” and tall tales.

And, with so much going on with our staff and our reptile collection, we want to keep you up to date on all our happenings as well.

Feel free to join our ongoing dialogue!

Welcome to Reptile Gardens’ Blog! is a post from: Scales & Tales