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!

Posting by Caroline Seitz

Jennifer and I had a great time visiting with some old friends and colleagues at the National Zoological Park (NZP) in Washington DC.

First, we went to see the legendary Janis Gerrits, Senior Keeper at the Reptile Discovery Center (RDC).  Janis is a former Reptiles Alive keeper who left us in 2003 to join the NZP team.   The Zoo is very lucky to have Janis – she is a top notch reptile keeper.  She has an amazing ability to know an animal’s needs.

Here she is demonstrating target training with a monitor lizard.

Why bother training a monitor lizard at a zoo?

Monitors are very intelligent animals that need something to do.  By training an animal at the zoo, it makes their life more comfortable and interesting.  The monitor in this video has become at pro at target training thanks to Janis’s expertise in training reptiles.

Speaking of monitor lizards, we couldn’t visit the zoo without saying hello to Murphy the Komodo Dragon!

What a handsome lizard he is, and big!  I was amazed as how calm he was around Janis.  (You can see Murphy’s head behind the glass of this picture of  Janis.)

Komodo dragon

We were very impressed with what Janis has accomplished at the National Zoo.  The animals were all healthy and their enclosures were super clean and well designed.  The enclosures had real live plants in them and very cool rock work.  The animals all had nice comfy places to hide while allowing the public to still see them.

Iguana eats a yummie lunch

After spending the morning hanging out with Janis and all the awesome animals at the RDC, we headed down to the Bird House to meet up with the renowned former Reptiles Alive Wildlife Educator and Keeper – Reade Harbitter.

Reade at the NZP Bird House

Reade left Reptiles Alive to become a full time Bird Keeper at NZP about 2 years ago.  Although we specialize in reptiles, both me and Jen love birds too.  She introduced us to some of her favorite feathered friends, including a toucan, some rheas, and lots of other exotic and strange birds.

As we were leaving the zoo, a car pulling out of the parking lot started honking.  I looked over and saw my friend and colleague Debbie Grupenhoff!  Debbie and I used to work together at the Reston Animal Park way, way back.  I had not seen her in years and I was so surprised!  Debbie said she is now working at the zoo’s commissary.  That is so cool – a professional chef for the animals!

What a fantastic day we had.  Thank you Janis and Reade for the tours.

The zoo is a great way to get close to nature in the big city.  Tell us about your trip to the zoo!

Q: How many reptiles do you personally own?
A: I personally own one cat named Mr. Shadow Kitty Berrow.

Q: What is the most rarest reptile in Virginia?

A: Maybe the Northern Pine Snake.

Posting by Caroline Seitz

Some of you may know that Sunshine, our albino Burmese python, was diagnosed with a bacterial lung infection a few months ago and was on sick leave for about 3 months.  She has made a full recovery and is back at work right now at the Celebrate Fairfax festival.

Back in early March, we noticed Sunshine seemed a bit congested, so we took her to see Dr. Emily Hoppmann, a DVM who specializes in exotic animals, including snakes.  So, you could actually call her a “snake doctor.”  She works at SEAVS (Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services) which is nationally renowned exotic animal clinic located in Vienna, VA.

Dr. Hoppmann examined Sunshine and took a nasal culture to be sent for testing.  Sunshine tested positive for two types of bacteria that can cause respiratory disease in snakes.  Two antibiotics were prescribed and every day for about 30 days, we had to give Sunshine a shot.  She didn’t get a lollipop after her shots, but she did get better.

After Sunshine was finsished with her medicine, we wanted to wait until she had rested for awhile before taking her to work.  Sunshine is now doing great – she is eating lots of defrosted frozen rats and is very active.

We also learned two things about her from Dr. Hoppmann.  One, Sunshine IS a GIRL!  We actually didn’t know for sure until now.  Two,  Sunshine is getting to be a senior citizen.  Dr. Hoppmann explained that most albino Burmese pythons live around 20 years or so, and Sunshine is around 16.

We are so grateful to Dr. Hoppmann and all of the great reptile vets at SEAVS.  Thank you all for helping Reptiles Alive keep our reptiles alive!

Gardening for wildlife is becoming increasingly popular.  Most wildlife gardening information is geared towards attracting birds, bees, and butterflies.  At Reptiles Alive, we also like to garden to attract frogs, toads, snakes and other creatures too.

Welcome

If you want to attract some awesome critters into your yard, here are some really easy steps you can take.

One of the easiest ways to attract wildlife is to do nothing! That’s right – just let a part of your yard go wild.

Birds, snakes, frogs and box turtles all love to live in areas that humans ignore.

Remember when mowing, trimming, or doing yard work to watch out for small creatures like snakes, turtles and bunnies.

When choosing plants, picking plants native to your area will encourage native animals to take up residence

.

Leaving fallen logs can give salamanders, worms, and small snakes a place to live.

Rocks can add beauty to your garden and provide shelter for snakes, spiders, toads, and more.

Adding a small water feature like a bird bath at ground level can attract not just birds, but many other animals as well. Just be sure to change the water every couple of days so you don’t add more mosquitoes to your yard.

Even a vegetable garden can provide habitat for animals. Under the straw covering this asparagus bed, I find brown snakes and toads.

Here’s a Reptiles Alive secret: My Dad introduced me to my first snake when he was lifting straw off the potatoes in our garden. I was 4 years old. I decided at that moment in our garden that I was going to be a herpetologist when I grew up.
So, who knows where gardening can take you?

In February 2008, I went on an island adventure dubbed “Damas Locas” by my friend Kathy Stolzenburg.

Welcome to Grand Cayman!

We explored the beautiful Grand Cayman Island on land and in the water.

While snorkeling, we saw amazingly colorful schools of fish, sting rays, a sea turtle, and even loads of live conchs!

Live Conch

Conch are threatened in most of the Caribbean due to overfishing – but on Grand Cayman you can really find lots of them grazing on the submerged aquatic grass beds. After finding one and showing it to my friends who weren’t keen on snorkeling – I swam back to the same spot I found it, and let the conch go right where it belonged.

I love snorkeling and seeing all the wildlife that lives below the water – but some of those critters are venomous! Like brain corals that can sting if they are touched. It is always a good idea not to touch wild animals, whether a bear or coral, hands-off is the best policy. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to keep your knee off the coral in a shallow sea.

Brain Coral Tattoo on my Knee

While searching for snakes on land, I found a critter that gave me a scare – I actually fell backwards after lifting a piece of plywood and finding this big guy:

Yikes!

Of course, what I always am looking for when I travel are herps: reptiles and amphibians. Here is a herp that decided to hang out at our house:

Cuban Tree Frog

And I found a familiar face:

Caroline and Cayman Island Snake

I get extremely excited when I find a snake (or any herp) that I have never seen before. These mildly venomous Cayman Island snakes are one of only two species of snakes found on Grand Cayman. I had never even known about this species, let alone seen it before! I was ECSTATIC to find and photograph these awesome snakes.

Anole lizards make up part of the diet of these snakes.

Anole on Grand Cayman

But the BEST herpetological part of Grand Cayman Island was yet to come…

Stay tuned for Grand Cayman Island Adventure Part II: Blue Dragons!

Kayaking the Carribean

Learn about creature camouflage and color an animal to match its surroundings.

Grades: Prek-3

Description

Many animals use camouflage in order to blend in to their surroundings.  The animals can hide from predators (animals that want to eat them) and hide from prey (animals they want to eat for dinner!)

Many animals are the same color as their surroundings. If an animal lives in the desert, it might be a brown color that matches the color of the sand.  Animals that live in trees may be green or brown to match with the bark of the trees or the leaves on them.

Can you think of some animals that can blend in really well?  A good example is a box turtle.  They have a dark shell with an orange pattern on it.  This helps the box turtle hide in the leaves that had fallen from trees in the fall. Show students pictures of animals blending in with their surroundings and talk about them.

Materials

Chameleon picture – one for each student
Photos of habitats – one for each student

Activity

Give each student a habitat picture and chameleon coloring page.

Instruct the students to color the chameleon so that it will blend in with the habitat picture they have.  (You may want to help younger children identify and choose crayon colors to match those in the habitat picture.)

After the students have finished coloring the chameleons.

Cut out the chameleon and glue or tape it to the habitat picture.

Hang up on the wall for everyone to admire!

We had a great Question from Sujan at our After School Class last week.

“What is the name of the lizard we met in class?”

Well Sujan, the Sudan Plated Lizard has TWO names!

The lizard we met is named Gerrhosaurus major, or “Gary” for short.  Why such a long name?



All animals, rocks, plants, even types of clouds are given a special name called their “scientific name.”  This helps scientists put things in groups with things that are all alike.

For example:

Tree frogs that have sticky feet may be put in one group while frogs that have webbed feet and live in the water are put into another group.

They are grouped by the type of feet they have.

You can have fun doing an experiment in your own house!

Think of different ways you can group things in your house.  Some ideas may be.  Arranging things by color, size, or what it’s made of.

Choose a way to group things, then write down the different categories of groups.

Say you chose to group things by color.  Your categories will be different colors; red, blue, green, yellow..etc.

Then walk around your house and put objects in your house in its correct category.  (Yellow things go in the “Yellow” category.)  Write it down.

For extra fun, do this experiment with other people in your house.  Have them choose a different way to group things.  Compare your lists at the end!

You will find things that may be hard to put in one group.  (maybe it’s blue & yellow)  You can only put it in one, that means you have to decide!

It is lots of fun to be a scientist that classifies things!  They are called Taxonomists.

It started out lovely, as they all happen to do.  Our camping visit to Congaree National Park in South Carolina began perfectly.  The campground was deserted, the mosquito meter was on low, and the temperature was pleasant.  Little did we know that an innocent hike would become potentially life threatening.

Both of us have been primitive camping and hiking since before we could walk.  We were well prepared with several layers of clothes, first aid, compass, water bottles, map, flashlight, knife, multi-tool, emergency fire making equipment, water purification, extra batteries, a German shepherd, and a gps.

We decided to do a loop known as the Oakridge trail.  Download a trail map here: Congaree trail Map page.

A simple 5 hour hike through the swamp.

Bad Decision #1

It was in the high 40’s with a bit of chilly wind as we were hiking through behemoth cypress and tupelo trees. When a bit of swamp crossed our path.  No problem, just take off your shoes, cross the water, wipe off your feet, and return shoes to proper location. The crossing was slippery, cold, and wet.  The dog didn’t care.  This was our first bad decision. Thus:

Bad Decision #2

Several miles after the short crossing, something a bit larger got in the way.

The other side could not be seen.  The smart thing would have been to turn around now.  We looked at the map and found we had nearly completed the entire loop.  Turning back now would put us back in camp several hours after dark in near freezing temperatures.  We would also be crossing the water in the dark.

It was decided to continue along this mass of water in hopes that we would find a narrower crossing or the other trail that it should meet up with in a half mile.

Continuing North with the water on our left, we came face to face with the major creek running through the park, Cedar Creek.  Several hundred feet wide and over our head deep.  This became impossible crossing number two.  Even in warm weather I would no brave this as swamp mud can sink you down over your head.  A person could become immobilized under water and dead very soon.

That led me to:

Bad Decision #3: Trusting the GPS

My gps claimed the trail crossed to our side of the water about a mile from where we were stading.  This was easy to believe as we had crossed many bridges throughout the day.  I confidently headed straight ahead with Cedar Creek on my left.

Giant wild boars grunted and dashed through the leaves as the sun sank.  We had nearly completed another loop inside the first one made by the trail and should be back to where we crossed the water earlier in the day.  My husband stopped at a creek stretched in front of us insisting the trail was just on the other side of this very steep banked deep water crossing.  I did not believe him as my gps said the trail was somewhere on THIS side of the water. A giant tree had fallen across the water, he wanted to brave it.  A fall in would have left a person drenched and exposed to hypothermia on the hike back.  The map said a large bridge crossing was to our south, if we could just get to that we could see it in the dark easily and get back to camp.

I marked the fallen log on my gps and we continued. We were nearly back to were we crossed the water earlier and would find our trail again when, yes another bit of water was in our way.

Trusting Intuition

We could be weaving our way around fingers of water all night long just to get back to the water crossing to be made in the dark and bitter cold. Once found we would have a two hour hike back to camp. My husband mentioned the log crossing. For the first time that day, I made a good decision.  I trusted him.

We crossed in the dark with our amazing german shepherd between us.  The trail markers were less than 50 feet ahead of us.  We were saved.

What We Didn’t Know

We could have died.  It was 30 degrees that night.  My husband was quickly becoming an expert fire maker with his flint and magnesium.  If the trail was not on the other side of that log, my husband was going to make a fire and we would camp for the night.  Hypothermia can kill at temperatures well above freezing.  With a fire, we could live.

What was it that we didn’t know?  That the swamp was in flood stage from rains days before in the mountains to the northwest.  The spot we were stuck in the night before was underwater by the next day.  Our fire would have been drowned, we would have been soaked, lost, and very possibly dead by morning.

What We Learned

Gps’s give only a vague idea on where you are.  Do not trust it, but use the information it gives WITH a paper map.  Learn to use a map and a compass.  Note where you are at all times by paying attention to the distance you have walked, your surroundings, the distance you will need to walk back, and reference this with what you see on the map.  As prepared as we were, we were just lucky. Very, very stupid, but very, very lucky.

The Wiki on Hypothermia

Five Lined Skink 1-7-09 - First rescue of 2009!

On Wednesday, January 7, Joanne Fugito found a nearly frozen five-lined skink lizard in her driveway. Lucky for the lizard, Joanne knew just what to do since she is a vet tech at Great Falls Animal Hospital – a veterinary clinic that works with Reptiles Alive and other wildlife rehabilitators to save injured wildlife.

After rescuing the skink from the freezing cold driveway, she did some research and set up a temporary enclosure for it inside of her house. She then called Reptiles Alive and brought the lizard right over. It is the first wildlife rescue we have received in 2009.

The skink appeared healthy, but it could not be released into the bitter January cold. So I set up a warm home with plenty of hiding places for it to live until spring, when we will release it back to its home in Joanne’s front yard.

The heavy rains the day before probably washed the skink out of its hibernation burrow. If the temperature had been 55 or above, I would told Joanne to release the lizard, but the cold air paralyzed the reptile and would have killed the lizard very quickly. After being kept indoors for more than 24 hours, the skink would probably not be able to re-acclimate to going back outside in the winter, so we will wait until April to release it.