People Wonder Why I Like Tortoises & Turtles So Much

 

Not wondering any more are ya!

By the way, that is either a Yellowfoot or Redfoot Tortoise also known as a chick magnet. Live and learn.

All the best,
GB

NY Metro Reptile Show - Report

If you are interested in reading my report on the NY Metro Reptile Show of September 13th - go here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Heosemys depressa - Supposedly Spotted For The First Time...

...in the wild, or so says this article. Now while this gives me sort of a thrill, because I am into reptiles and amphibians and am a turtle/tortoise keeper, I am not necessarily writing about it here just because of the sighting. Rather, I am writing about it because of the ridiculous claim in the article about the sighting. You see, the article states:

"Known only by museum specimens and a few captive individuals, one of the world’s rarest turtle species — the Arakan forest turtle — has been observed for the first time in the wild."

Hmm, do you see anything wrong with that sentence. No not grammatically, rather with what it is claiming. It is trying to say that this species of turtle has never before been encountered in the wild by mankind until an intrepid team of naturalists found it recently. That is absolute bullshit (sorry I just hate it when reporters make ridiculous claims). You see in order for this turtle to have been discovered in the first place, well someone had to find it in the wild. In order for there to have been captive specimens, someone had to observe it in the wild and then catch at least one of them.

The article then goes onto say that a few specimens turned up in Chinese food markets in 1994. I wonder where does the author or the article think they were found. Does he think they came from an Arakan Forest Turtle farm? Is it possible that maybe they came from the wild and that it stands to reason whoever caught them observed them in the wild? Then the article says that before that they had last been seen in 1908 when one was collected by a British army officer. I wonder, did he collect it on sale at the turtle farm, or did he 'collect' it in the wild?

Besides the sort of silly sounding statement that none have ever before been observed in the wild, it seems they may have the wrong picture to go with the article. When I checked on the Internet the pictures I found looked more like this one (click on the pic once at that link for a slide show) than the ones pictured in the article. Now then, they could be youngsters that look different than adults, or they could be a subspecies that has a darker color.

I don't know about you but poor reporting like that kind of bugs me. That is especially true when talking about more important things in my life than the Arakan Forest Turtle. No it is not that I consider these turtles unimportant, just that reporters screw up often on things that are of more importance - you know like so called Global Warming (now amazingly referred to as climate change). Of course, the AP had an even more ridiculous claim in an article about these very same turtles and all you have to do is read the headline to see what I mean: Discovery of Extinct Species: Arakan Forest Turtle. I mean it would be pretty hard to discover a living example of an extinct species - would it not? I give them credit though as they immediately explain in the first sentence of the article that the species was "...believed extinct...".

As for the turtles themselves, well I am always interested in such things. Turtles have always fascinated me, maybe because my first pet was a Red Eared Slider. My uncle took me to a pet shop on Broadway in Brooklyn, NY to buy that little guy many years ago. Sadly his future probably was not as rosy as that of the Arakan Forest Turtles in question, he did not live all that long - just a couple of years. Then again, having that little turtle created a lifelong interest for me as to collecting, keeping and breeding reptiles and amphibians. They get only top notch care from me, maybe even better care than is given to some of the handful of Arakan Forest Turtles in captivity. When it comes to hard to breed animals, especially reptiles and amphibians, many breakthroughs are made by private keepers as opposed to zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. My bet is that if the zookeepers would be humble enough to seek the advice of some advanced/expert (not me mind you) private turtle breeders they might improve their success rate with this species markedly. To date very few have been propagated in captivity.

All the best,
Glenn B

Up Early On A Sunday...

...and soon to be off to the Long Island Reptile Expo (not to be confused with the Long Island Herpetological Society's Annual Reptile Expo) at the Hilton Hotel on Route 110 in Melville/Huntington, NY. I am hopeful I can sell trade a few animals while I am there. If nothing else, accomplishing such trades helps Brendan and me keep our hobby going without a lot of expense. Speaking of Brendan, he told me to wake him up t 8, and he will tag along. That is okay by me, he has not been to one of these in quite sometime due to either work, lacrosse practice or games, or being with his girlfriend. Some time together for the two of us will be a special treat for me. While there we will help out manning the LIHS table, giving out info to the public about reptile and amphibian care and so forth. Look me up if you are there.

No more time to jabber, I have to get busy readying animals and other stuff for the show.

All the best,
Glenn B

18th Annual LIHS Reptile Expo

Now here is a subject dear to my heart, the annual Long Island Herpetological Society Reptile (and amphibian) Expo. In fact this will be the 18th annual show that the society has had. It s dear to my heart because I have been a member of the society for 17 years, maybe even all 18, during which the show has gone off. I know its been at least 17 years because the first time I went to a society event, it was a show they held at the Copiague Memorial Library, and if I got it right they only had two shows there, numbers 1 &2. By the second show, I was exhibiting animals; don't you know I have been into keeping reptiles and amphibians for well over 40 years now. I have kept em, collected em, and even bred them (no not with them, but as in animal husbandry). Brendan, my son, is a chip off of the old block, he has been to most of the events, if not most of the shows, since he was about 5 or 6; and he has been to an awful lot of the shows.

Nothing awful about the shows themselves. They are a good thing for people who like to keep reptiles and amphibians, a good thing for those curious enough to see a large variety of herps (reptiles & amphibians), a good thing for the dealers, a good thing for the exhibitors, and a good thing for the herps themselves. Each show is set up with vendors' tables, and the vendors do what they do best - they sell things. The selling pretty much is limited to live reptiles and amphibians (captive bred much preferred, and are the great part of what animals are sold), and to herp keeping supplies and equipment. We also have exhibitors' tables set up, and we run a judged show. Anyone, not just society members, can enter herps into the show. Prizes (trophies and ribbons) are awarded for best herps in several categories, and one really nice trophy is awarded for the best overall herp of the show. Of course you do not have to buy anything to attend, but if you are into herps, this is a good show to attend if you want to find quality herps and products usually below, well below, pet shop prices.

Now you may think I forgot to follow up on why I think the show is good for the herps too. I have not, it just deserves its own paragraph. These types of shows are good for reptiles and amphibians because they promote proper care of herps, good conservation of natural populations, and reasonable laws concerning the keeping and breeding of herps. Our show also helps support the LIHS itself, it is our biggest money maker, and that in ripple effect helps support the above causes already mentioned. You may be wondering how does a show, in which people sell herps actually support these things. Well here goes:

The shows promote proper care of pet reptile and amphibians. Why - well because it makes sense to do so. if reptiles and amphibians were not understood enough to be fairly easily kept in captivity, dealers would not be selling them in fairly large numbers as they do. Of course dealers could still sell them, they could die, and you might come back to buy another; but if they sell them, tell you how to care for them, provide such support when you need it through a society like the LIHS, then keeping them becomes more of a pleasure, and you are more likely to want to get into the herp hobby with a ore vigorous and long lasting interest. The shows also promote good conservation. If you attend one you will probably see that most dealers are selling what are labelled as C/B or C/B/B this or that with regards to live animals. The C/B stand for Captive Born or Captive Bred (there is a difference, as not all captive born animals were the product of parent animals that mated in captivity - the mother could have been wild caught while gravid). It usually stands for Captive bred, and C/H is used for Captive hatched meaning the mother was caught and then laid eggs in captivity before the next breeding season while in captivity. C/B/B means Captive bred & Born, in other words the parents mated while in captivity, and the young were then produced as a product of this captive mating. This is a good thing. Why? because it cuts down on the number of animals that come into the pet trade from the wild. If there is a large supply of captive bred animals, there is much less of a demand on wild populations. This is very advantageous for dealers and buyers. It helps assure that young herps which are sold are healthy, and come from healthy stock. it also allows for selective breeding so that breeders/dealers can select traits that they think will sell. Therefore color morphs like albinos are often produced. A large interest in animals of various color morphs also helps reduce the desire for naturally colored animals, thereby again reducing the need or desire for wild caught animals. Of course every now and then, wild caught animals are a good thing as they reintroduce genetic variety into captive bred populations, but the need is reduced with captive breeding to a much lower level than it would have been without captive breeding programs.

These shows are a further boon to wild animal populations because they support conservation in other ways. For example, the LIHS bring in most of its annual funding through this show. You may wonder how this promotes wildlife conservation. It does so because the LIHS is usually involved in a good number of live animal presentations throughout the year during which members exhibit animals to audiences from pre-schoolers up through college level students up through moms and dads who pay for that education, up through grand-dad and grand-ma. Our audiences are sometimes specific to students in classrooms, and at other times are open to the public in places like parks or science halls. We teach about herp keeping, about herp conservation, and about the natural history of many types of reptiles and amphibians. We also attend, as a society, other reptile expos where some of our members man an LIHS table. There we give out information free to the public on the same topics mentioned above. One of our main functions has been to educate the public on these topics. In addition, the LIHS and its members are usually often involved in actual conservation programs such as: scientific population counts of wild animals, rescue of stressed wild herps (such as stranded sea turtles, or turtles that have been hit by cars), and capture/release scientific programs during which herps are caught and examined by researchers in their herpetological studies. This is all of benefit to wild populations.

We have also supported reasonable legislation regarding the keeping and breeding of herps. For example when NY State was about to enact legislation, a few years back, that would have outlawed all boas and pythons from being legally kept in captivity, we protested. Not only did we protest enactment of such a broad reaching law, but we explained to our state legislators why we did not support such a law; and furthermore we explained what type of ban we would see as reasonable to some extent. We did not say that NYS should totally ignore some problems, or potential dangers of keeping captive herps- specifically boas and pythons, monitor lizards, and venomous species; but we certainly let the officials know that they were painting these types herps with the same brush when indeed thy should not have done so. So we explained our stance about why we thought the ban should not be as far reaching as they had written it - for example that not all boas or pythons pose a threat to humans as they had thought. Why not, well because many species remain very small in comparison to Anacondas and Burmese Pythons. Some such as the Ball Python usually reach about 4 1/2 feet, others such as the rubber Boa reach about 2 feet maximum. Yet legislators were quite ready, and imminently about to ban all boas and pythons as being dangerous to humans because of the fact that some of the bigger types had constricted and killed foolish owners (foolish because of how they handled them, not necessarily because they kept them). The legislation then greatly modified the law before it was enacted, and pretty much only those species seen as a real threat to human life, or limb, were restricted. Of course we were not the only herp society to do so in NY, but our collective voice was heard.

Back to the show itself - if you are in NY state, anywhere near Long Island this coming weekend; and if you have an interest in reptiles and amphibians - whether a keeper or just out of curiosity - why not stop by the show. It will be held at SUNY (State University of New York) Farmingdale just off of route 110. It is easy to access from the three major highways than run east/west on the island. For more info on the show go to this link: http://www.lihs.org/files/events.htm. By the way, if you think you saw a lot of variety in the pics above, you have not seen almost anything yet, stop by the show and have your eyes opened. I'll be there. I'll have a table or two, usualy directly across the hall from the main entrance. Hope to see one or two of my readers there.

All the best,

Glenn B

I spent most of tonight writing a lesson plan...

...for my interview this coming Sunday with the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. It sure is a bit of a pain in the neck trying to figure out how to write up a lesson plan for a 5 minute oral class presentation, especially since I can be very enthusiastic about the subject matter I have chosen. No - I will not be giving a lesson plan on the Beretta 92FS or the Remington 870. What I will be giving it on is the classification of vertebrates (backboned animals). While that particular subject is not necessarily near and dear to my heart, animals indeed are something in whcih I have more than a passing interest. Since this is a presentation as if I were teaching a science class, I polished it up a bit to make it somewhat scientific. I figure my presentation will be on somewhere from the middle to high school level, but I'll have to check with my son on that one. He is, in that regard, the expert being he is in high school. I am keeping my hopes high that I will be selected for a teacher's position, and that I will therefore be able to retire from law enforcement.

If you are not into biology, nature, animals - then don't bother reading on. If on the other hand, you have an interest in biology, nature and animals, read on if you will. It is nothing complicated, but I am hopeful it will do and make the interviewers think I know my stuff; or at least that I know how to present it. Of course, during my presentation, I plan to have several live examples to exhibit of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. If nothing else, it will keep their interest!

As we learned in class last time, living beings are divided into 5 kingdoms. The kingdoms are then divided into smaller more specialized groups called Phyla. The phyla are divided in more specialized groups called classes.

Of all the phyla, the one with which we may be most familiar is that of Chordata, or animals with a spinal cord. Of these we are probably most familiar with the animals with vertebrae (backbones). In class today we will learn the names of all five classes of vertebrates, and we will also learn how to distinguish between three of the five groups found with the sub-phyla Vertebrata.

All of the vertebrates have some things in common such as: a backbone made up of vertebrae, a spinal chord, and a central nervous system controlled by a brain. Typical vertebrates also have eyes, though in some the eyes have degraded or disappeared due to adaptive changes. Despite these similarities there are many diffrerences among the five different classes of vertebrates. These classes consist of: the true fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The fish, amphibians, and the reptiles are typically ectothermic, or in other words their body temperature is dependent upon the surrounding environment. Birds and mammals are endothermic, and can maintain their internal temperature as a function of their metabolisms. Today will will focus on the ectothermic, or cold blooded, vertebrates.

Fish are aquatic. They are typically ectothermic, or as we commonly call them they are: cold blooded. For the most part they breathe oxygen through internal gills. Most have an outer covering of scales, although some lack scales having tough gritty skin (sharks), or slime covered leathery skin (some catfish). Fish do not have ears, therefore do not have ear openings. A fish's limbs consist of fins. Typical fish have a tail fin, anal fin, dorsal fin, paired pelvic fins, and paired pectoral fins. Some fish can, in addition to breathing through their gills, breathe air through small lungs and or through their skin, and therefore can survive out of water for extended periods, e.g. the walking catfish, and the lungfish. These two fish are easily distinguished from other vertebrates, when they are out of water, because they have fins and gill slits. Most fish have teeth though not all have them. Fish reproduce either by laying eggs or giving birth to live young dependent upon the type of fish.

The amphibian class consists of Sirens, Salamanders, Newts, Frogs and Toads. Amphibians are ectothermic. They all lay eggs to reproduce. Typical amphibians lay their eggs in water, or very near to water where they can remain moist. This typically is in fresh water, but some amphibian eggs may tolerate brackish, slightly salty, water. Many but not all amphibians go through a larval stage wherein they must live in water and breath through external gills during that stage of life. Most mature into a different form as adults, such as a tadpole turning into a frog, or a gilled water breathing larval salamander turning into an air breathing adult. Most adult amphibians will breathe air through lungs, but almost all can also breathe through their skin. For the most part adult amphibians have four legs, a protective slime covering on their skin which is scale-less (some like toads may be drier and have warty skin), and need to live at least the larval part of their lives in water, then the remainder of their lives partially in, or at least near water, in some form. Some types of amphibians never come out of what appears to be a larval stage, and they continue living in the water and breathing through gills such as the mud-puppy, or the axolotl. Some amphibians, the frogs, exhibit what amounts to an external ear, or the tympanum membrane. Salamanders have no external ears or openings. Some amphibians have teeth while others do not, for example most frogs do not have teeth while one species the Argentine Horned frog does have them.


Reptiles - The reptile class consists of the crocodilians, lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises, and the tuatara. Typical reptiles are ectothermic, though at least one is now believed to be somewhat endothermic (capable of regulating its internal body temperature independent of the outside conditions).All reptiles have scales. All reptiles also have ears, but some such as the snakes have only vestigial ears. These have degraded through evolution to the point where they are useless to detect sound. Lizards have clearly detectable ear openings. All reptiles, with the exception of the Monkey Tailed Lizard, lay eggs in order to reproduce. Although it is a common misconception that some are livebearers as opposed to being egg layers. For example snakes which are referred to as live bearers, such as Garter Snakes, actually lay eggs but the egg membrane is so thin as to burst as soon as it passes out of the mother. These eggs incubate within the mother snake, and the babies are born fully formed but are still born from within, or hatched from, the egg. Many reptiles have fours legs, such as most lizards and all turtles and tortoises. Others do not have legs, such as snakes and legless lizards. Reptiles do not have gills at any stage in their lives after birth. Reptile skin is normally dry to the touch, they do not produce body protective slime as do the fish and amphibians. All reptiles, except turtles and tortoises have teeth; turtles and tortoises have beaks attached to their jaws.

There is a homework assignment being handed out, if you have any questions about it, ask now. Have this assignment ready to be handed in to me in out next scheduled class.

All the best,
Glenn B