Behind the scenes on a typical Monday at Reptiles Alive.

Today is feeding day for the snakes.  What, they only get fed on Mondays?!

the menu

That’s right.  Put your hand on your neck.  Does it feel warm?  Oh good, that means you are still alive.  Humans are endothermic that means that we have a heater inside our body to keep us a nice warm 98.6 degrees F.  What powers that heater is the food you must eat every day.

Reptiles are ectothermic or exothermic meaning “outside temperature.”  They are the same temperature inside their body as the temperature outside their body.  That means they don’t burn much food to make heat energy.  That is why we must eat much more than reptiles do.

Some of the snakes don’t even eat every week!  One snake, the Kenya Sand Boa, often goes nine months in the wild without eating!

Lot’s of people ask us what we feed our carnivores.

fresh ratcicles

Since snakes aren’t to excited about the culinary delights of dog food or hot dogs, we have to resort to a more wholesome approach to their diet; ratcicles!  These are humanely killed rats from a zoo food supply company are shipped frozen.  We defrost them in warm water and its lunch time!

The baby alligator sure looks excited about his lunch.

Check out the video of the alligator and snapping turtle eating on the Reptiles Alive Facebook Page and become our fan!

Burmese Python

Python molurus bivittatus

Reptiles Alive Names: “Sunshine, Moonlight, and Starlight”

Hissstory: Sunshine was abandoned at a carpet warehouse in Sterling, VA in 2000.  The store owner called us to come and get her, and she was in pretty bad shape.  We spent about a year rehabilitating her back to health.  She has been healthy and growing ever since!  Moonlight was rescued by the Virginia Reptile Rescue from a pet store that was closed down and we adopted him in 2009.  Starlight was abandoned  as an unwanted pet at the Alexandria Animal Welfare League where we adopted him in 2009.

RA Diet: Two or three frozen and then defrosted triple extra large rats every 2-4 weeks.

Range: India, Burma, and Southeast Asia.

Habitat: Pythons live in rain forests, farmlands, and fields.

Natural Diet: Burmese pythons will eat just about any mammal or bird they can fit into their stomach.

Size: Burmese pythons are one of the biggest snakes in the world.   Their average length is 9-13 feet, but the record length is 23 feet.  They can weigh over 200 pounds.

Lifespan: Burmese pythons can live over 40 years.

Reproduction: Female Burmese pythons can lay up to 100 large eggs, but typically lay 12-36. Unlike most snakes,  mother pythons will coil around eggs and twitch their body to raise the temperature and help incubate the eggs. She will not leave the eggs until they hatch.

Conservation: Burmese pythons  have become an invasive exotic species in southern Florida.  People keeping pythons as pets either illegally released their unwanted animals into the wild or the snakes escaped improper caging.  Either way, no one knows for sure the impact these giant snakes will have on the south Florida ecosystem as they reproduce and consume native animals, including alligators.

Cool Facts: Sunshine, Moonlight, and Starlight are all albinos, born without the black or brown pigment called melanin. The brilliant yellows and whites you see on our albino pythons would otherwise be covered over by the brown and black pigments  found on normally patterned snakes.

Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake

Elaphe guttata

Reptiles Alive Name: “Indiana”

Hissstory: Indiana was an unwanted pet that came to us from a reptile rescue group in 2009.

RA Diet: Indiana likes to dine on frozen mice that have been warmed up.  Yum!

Natural Diet: In the wild, corn snakes will eat mice and other rodents, birds, eggs, and sometimes, bats.

Range: Corn snakes can be found from New Jersey to Florida and west to New Mexico and Colorado.  They are very rare in some parts of their range, and even listed as endangered in certain states.

Habitat: These gorgeous snakes like to hide in woodlands, meadows, and along springs.  They spend most of their time hidden underground or in rock crevices.

Size: Corn snakes average a length of 24-48 inches, the record is 72 inches long.

Lifespan: Corn snakes can live over 20 years old.

Reproduction: Corn snakes breed from March to May. Females lay 3-21 eggs in May to July. Babies will hatch in late summer to early fall.

Conservation: Due to their beautiful colors and patterns, corn snakes are a popular snake pet.  Because of this, many of them are captured each year to be sold as pets.  The over-collection of corn snakes combined with the urbanization of much of their range  has caused them to become a threatened species in many areas.
Cool Facts: Corn snakes don’t eat corn – in fact, no snake eats vegetables.  All snakes on Earth are carnivores.  So why name a snake after corn?  It is due to the “corny” pattern on their belly.

Kenyan Sand Boa

Eryx colubrinus loveridgei

Reptiles Alive Name: “Tremors”

Hissstory: A friend of Caroline’s donated Tremors to Reptiles Alive in March of 1997.

RA Diet: Defrosted frozen mice.

Natural Diet: Sand boas eat small mammals and lizards.  When food is scarce, sand boas may live over a year without any food at all.

Range: Kenyan sand boas are found in Northeast Africa.

Habitat: Sand boas are found in hot, dry deserts.

Size: Sand boas are some of the smallest boa species on Earth.  They typically grow only 1-2 feet long.

Reproduction: Sand boas give live birth to 7-10 young after a gestation period of about four months.

Lifespan: Sand boas can live over 15 years.  Tremors was born in 1997 – and he is still in great shape!

Cool Facts: The eyes and nostrils of the sand boa are on the top of the head so they can breath and search the surface for prey while the rest of their body lies hidden beneath the sand.

Mexican Blood Leg Tarantula

Aphonopelma bicolouratum

Reptiles Alive Name: “Chewbacca”

Hissstory: Chewie was one of 8 tarantulas, one scorpion, and one savannah monitor lizard that were rescued from a house fire by Fairfax County Animal Control in April of 2006.  Due to zoning laws, the owner was not allowed to have his animals returned to him, so we were given custody of all of the rescued animals.

RA Diet: Chewie’s favorite food are crickets.

Natural Diet: Tarantulas will eat insects, birds, lizards, and even small mammals.

Range: Mexican blood leg tarantulas are native to Mexico and South Texas.

Habitat: Blood leg tarantulas are found in deserts where they spend most of their time hiding in burrows.

Size: Blood legs are a relatively small tarantula, growing to about 3 1/2 to 5 inches

Lifespan: Female tarantulas can live over 30 years – males do not live nearly as long.

Reproduction: Tarantulas construct a golf ball sized egg sac out of silk. The female tarantula will care for her eggs by turning the egg sac on a regular basis. One egg sac may contain over two thousand eggs.

Conservation: Tarantulas form a vital part of the desert’s food web.   They control insect populations by eating them, and then, tarantulas are eaten by other animals such as lizards, birds, and mammals.

Cool Facts: Tarantulas rarely harm humans. They prefer to use the itchy hairs on their abdomen to irritate any animal that bothers them. The venom from tarantulas found in North America is not any more dangerous to people than bee venom.  The best thing to do whenever you see an animal is to just leave it alone.

Nelson’s Milk Snake

Lampropeltis triangulum nelsoni

Milkshake the Milk Snake

Reptiles Alive Name: “Milkshake”

Hissstory: We received Milkshake from a reptile rescue group in 2004.

RA Diet: Milkshake does not actually drink milkshakes.  He much prefers defrosted frozen mice.

Natural Diet: Milk snakes have a varied diet including birds, small mammals, lizards, and other snakes – even venomous snakes!

Range: Nelson’s milk snakes are found in Mexico and Central America.

Habitat: Nelson’s milk snakes live in dry woodlands and rocky areas.  They spend most of their time hiding underground in burrows or rock crevices.

Size: Nelson’s milk snakes can grow 14-18 inches long.

Life Span: Milk snakes can live 15 years or more.

Reproduction: Female milk snakes lay 3-8 eggs in July.  The eggs typically begin hatching in September.

Cool Facts: Only mammals drink milk, so why name a snake a “milk snake?”  No one knows for sure how the milk snake got its name, but some people believe that when the first Europeans began settling in the eastern United States a farmer saw a snake biting the udder of a cow.  It is physically impossible for a snake to milk a cow. Perhaps the cow had stepped on the snake and the snake was trying to get the cow to move.

The milk snakes include species and sub-species living throughout North, Central, and South America.  They range in color, but most have a “tri-color” pattern of red, black, and yellow or white bands around their body.  Although this pattern makes them similar in appearance to the venomous coral snakes, milk snakes are completely harmless to humans.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

Reptiles Alive Name: Too many to name

Hissstory: Our first few hissing roaches were donated to us by Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, VA.  Within a few months, we had lots, lots more.

RA Diet: Chopped leafy greens, vegetables, monkey chow, dogfood, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Roaches are scavengers – they will eat dead and decaying plants and animals laying on the forest floor.

Range: Madagascar

Habitat: Hissing roaches live in the tropical rain forests of Madagascar.

Size: Hissing roaches are a relatively a large roach, growing to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Hissing roaches live for about two years.

Reproduction: Male hissing roaches have two large bumps on the tops of their heads. They use them to battle for females just like goats do. After mating, females will keep the eggs inside her body until they hatch. Gestation is 60-70 days. Females have about 30 young

Conservation: Cockroaches are one of the most important species on our planet!  As decomposers, they create soil by eating decaying plants and animals.  Without decomposers like cockroaches, plants and trees could not grow.  Without plants and trees, animals and humans could not survive.  So, you might not want to live with, hug, or kiss a cockroach, but cockroaches are a super important animal.

Cool Facts: Hissing roaches produce a hissing noise by pushing air through holes in their abdomen. There are at least five different hisses.  Different hisses are used in courtship, to defend territory, and warn of danger.

Haitian Roach or Death’s Head Roach

Reptiles Alive Name: We have too many to name!

Hissstory: Our colony came from a few roaches given to us by a zoo.   They multiplied quickly!

Reptiles Alive Diet: Greens, monkey food, vegetables, dog food, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Just about ANYTHING! Roaches are scavengers living off of dead and decaying plants and animals. Hungry?

Range: Florida, the Caribbean,  and Central America

Habitat: Roaches can survive pretty much anywhere within their range.

Size: Haitian  roaches are relatively large as roaches go – they can grow to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Haitian roaches can live for about two years.

Reproduction: Roaches breed constantly. Females will lay an egg sac which looks like stacks of CD’s.   She will then suck them back up into her body in order to incubate them.  Totally weird!

Conservation: Roaches play an important role in the natural world.  As scavengers, they work as a kind of “clean up crew.”  They are also an extremely important food source for tons of other animals, including birds, frogs, and even baby crocodiles!

Cool Facts: Roaches are sometimes used by engineers  building robots.  The engineers study how the roaches move and try to build robots and computers that can imitate the roaches’ behavior.

Posting by Caroline Seitz

I would like to give thanks today for all the people who have helped Reptiles Alive this year.

Virginia Olin, Brenda Parker, Jack House and all the others who have graciously saved and donated newspapers to us all year – you help form the base of our animal collection.

Dr. Anne Hiss, Dr. Emily Hoppmann, and Dr. David Crum – thank you for helping us treat sick and injured reptiles here at Reptiles Alive.  We could not do it without your expertise in reptile and wildlife medicine.

Suzanne D’Alonzo  and the staff of the Alexandria Animal Welfare League- you work so hard to save injured, stray, and abandoned animals of all species, including reptiles.  Truly, I appreciate your being there for reptiles.

Bonnie Keller  – thank you for caring for so many of the confiscated and abandoned reptiles that have no where else to go.

Janis Geritts  and Reade Harbitter – thank you for taking time out of your busy Keeper schedule at the National Zoo to give us “behind the scene” tours.  Great Fun!

Aaron Pennington – I could not be writing this right now without all the help you give us in the computer and technology department.  You are SO KIND to help us when our computers and related equipment stop working.  We are completely dependent on you.  We are at your mercy.

Jennifer Rafter – we miss you!  Thank you for being a part of the Reptiles Alive team for so long, you were here almost from the very beginning.  We will visit you often at your new Delmarva Discovery Center.  We can’t wait to see the sturgeon, gar and all the reptiles and amphibians you will exhibit.  Turn the DDC into the Reptiles Alive Discovery Center

Tony Bulmer – whew, thank goodness you are willing to work so tirelessly almost every weekend! Your skills and professionalism as a wildlife educator help to make Reptiles Alive a success.  You have been with us now for almost 8 years!  And we don’t know what we would do without you.  Thank You.

Rachel Walker – You are an integral part of our team.  Night shows, weekend shows, summer shows.  Big shows, little shows.  Cub scouts, schools, birthdays – you do them all!  You are a talented wildlife educator -  I know because I read all of the fantastic and amazing evaluations all of our clients send in.  And even though it is not your favorite, you are willing to help out in the Keeper department.  You have even spent time entering the data for our Wildlife Exhibitor Permit reports.  I REALLY appreciate that!  Thank you Rachel!

Jennifer Pennington – I can’t even begin to thank you properly for everything you have done for Reptiles Alive.  You help in So Many Ways.  Our website – yep, that is all you.  Our blog – started by you.  Facebook – you again!  Graphic design for just about everything?  Oh, Jen again!  How about your work as a wildlife educator?  Lets see, you spend tons of time preparing for and teaching a ton of after school classes.  That is hard work!  In addition, you perform shows far away, nearby, early in the morning, late at night (including New Years Eve! THANKS!!!!)  You are an amazing and talented wildlife educator, our shows would not be the same with out you.  (We wouldn’t even have Ecosystems Alive – one of our most popular shows!)  And, of  course, you help with everything else.  Keeper Work?  check.  Answer phones? check.  Taking care of the entire organization when I’m away on vacation?  Oh yeah – that too!

One last thank you – To All of our Clients and Fans – we would not be here at all without you!  Thank you all so much.

Happy Holidayssssssssssssss to Everyone from Reptiles Alive

Desert Kingsnake

Lampropeltis getula californiae

Show Name: “Reno” and “Tahoe”

Hissstory: Reno was found slithering down a street in Annandale, VA – not his natural habitat!  He was either an escaped or abandoned pet, so we gave him a home.  Our albino desert kingsnake Tahoe was an unwanted pet that we adopted.

Touchable in our Shows? Yes.

Reno the Desert Kingsnake

Zoo Diet: We feed our kingsnakes delicious and nutritious frozen and defrosted mice.

Natural Diet: Kingsnakes eat snakes, lizards, birds, eggs and rodents.

Range: Desert kingsnakes are found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Oregon.

Habitat: Desert kingsnakes may be found in rocky outcrops and clumps of vegetation in chaparral or desert environments.

Size: Desert kingsnakes grow 24-60 inches long.

Tahoe, the Albino Desert Kingsnake

Lifespan: Kingsnakes can live to be over 20 years old.

Reproduction: Females lays 2-24 eggs which hatch in about 2 months.

Cool Facts: The kingsnake is the “king of snakes” because it will eat other snakes – even venomous rattlesnakes! Scientists believe kingsnakes have immunity to the venom of the rattlesnakes found in their own home range,  so the kingsnake can be bitten and envenomated with no ill effects.