Lizard Behavior

Female Lake Eyre dragon lizards have an interesting way of turning down amorous and persistent males. (News source.)

Illegal Corn Snakes

A pair of corn snakes has been confiscated from an Australian hobbyist, and he faces large fines. (News source.)

Maldives Croc

Tracks on a Maldives atoll suggest a wandering crocodile has reached the area. (News source.)

Crocs

Cuban crocodiles are being ranched and released into the wild. (News source.)

A woman from a village in India's Bhitarkanika National Park was killed by a crocodile. (News source.)

More Malaysian Herp Smugglers

"Malaysian authorities seized 814 tortoises and 160 king cobras" that were being smuggled under a load of garlic. (News source.)

Snake Hunter / Venom Extractor

A Thai snake hunter / rescuer is profiled here.

A Florida man is setting up a facility (Reptile Discovery Center) where visitors can watch venom extraction. (News source.)

Snake Festival Canceled

Due to the Italian earthquake, officials canceled the annual festival in honor of Saint Domenico (which involves live snakes). They were concerned over building safety, as many need repairs. (News source.)

Caiman Attack

We see lots of reports of crocs and gators attacking people; here is news of a woman attacked by a caiman, in Trinidad, bitten on the foot and hand. (News source.)

Leatherbacks

An article on these sea turtles, here.

Rattlesnake Bite Hoax

A woman trying to hide drugs from police said her child had been bitten by a rattlesnake, launching a search effort and medical help. Charges will be filed. (News source.)

When Herpers Go Bad...

The story of Jungle Mike, here.

Ratsnake Likes Eggs

A mallard's nest is easy pickings for a ratsnake. Video here.

Lizard News

A new chameleon has been described from Tanzania. (News source.)

Lizards sunbathe for both warmth and vitamin D regulation. (News source.)

Crocodile News

A New Zealand just got a nice pair of saltwater crocodiles for exhibition. (News source.)

Crocodile farming in Vietnam may be bouncing back after years of falling prices. (News source.)

Snake Venom News

An article on the Global Snakebite Initiative, here.

And, the southern Pacific rattlesnake may be becoming more toxic. (News source.)

Conservation News

Mountain chicken frogs are being flown from the Caribbean to the UK in order to protect them from fungal disease. (News source.)

Malaysian wildlife officers seized 210 poached monitor lizards. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bite

A 26-year old biologist in California was bitten by a Southern Pacific rattlesnake near Corona. He was flown to Loma Linda University Hospital. (News source.)

Gator News

Chinese researchers say the wild population of Chinese alligators in the Yangtze river may increase to 300 in the next 5-10 years. (News source.)

A South Carolina man was charged with possession of a baby alligator, illegal in that state. (News source.)

Adder Bite in the UK

A 7-year old boy was treated for an adder bite. (News source.)

Python Attack

A Kenyan man had a scare when he was attacked by a python and dragged up a tree. He struggled for an hour, before being able to call for help on his cell phone. (News source.)

Say No: H. R. 669

Poorly drafted legislation purports to squelch the threat of invasive species, but does little more than create massive bureaucratic headaches, ignore primary invasive threats (plants, feral domestic animals) for sensationalized "exotics," and lay waste to the herpetoculture, aquaria, and aviculture trades without rational justification.

Details from PIJAC, and Kingsnake, and NoHR669.

Border Patrol Agent Busted

A US Border Patrol Agent plead guilty smuggling to smuggling leopard tortoises. (News source.)

Malawi Croc Attacks

Five men have been attacked by crocodiles along the Shire River in Chikwawa and Nsanje districts of Malawi within a single week. Only two have survived the attacks. (News source.)

Crocodile Attacks

A 9-year old Australian boy survived an attack by a saltwater crocodile. (News source.)

A crocodile attacked a Zambian man while he was crossing a river. (News source.)

Antivenom Trouble

Turns out that saw-scaled vipers that eat scorpions are more toxic than those that eat mammals or reptiles. Antivenom currently in production only works on bites by the latter. (News source.)

Weird Culture

An Indian man was murdered by his wife and her lover when they threw a snake on him while he was sleeping. (News source.)

A female cleric in Kenya was almost attacked when she was discovered carrying a python. (News source.)

An Australian man beat a woman for eating the turtle he had captured. (News source.)

Goanna Threat?

A consultant says the big goannas on Fraser Island (Australia) are a threat to tourists. (News source.)

New Vietnam Species

A new pitviper, lizard, toad, and burrowing snake have been discovered.

More on Operation Shellshock

Details on the poaching aspect from the pine barrens, here.

Crocodilians in the News

An Australian man was killed by a large croc when he attempted to swim across a river where crocodiles were known to live. (News source, and here, and here.) Police shot the probable attacker.

A Zambian woman was killed by a crocodile while she was washing clothes at a river. (News source.)

Success in gharial breeding in India. (News source.)

The poor economy has hit a gator farm. (News source.)

Bait Shops Spread Infected Salamanders

"Salamanders in bait shops in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are infected with ranaviruses, and those in Arizona, with a chytrid fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)." (Eurekalert)

Christmas Product Idea

Christmas tree frogs.

Gator "Attack"

A Florida man fought off (with an oar) a gator that tried to jump into his boat. Wildlife officials then charged the man for some fishing/boating violations. (News source.)

Stupid Reptile Laws are Still the Law...

Officials in Milwaukee confiscated a city resident's apparently well-kept collection of boids, monitors, turtles, and a "crocodile." (Not sure if that's an actual croc, or is a gator or caiman.) (News source, and here.)

Amphibian News

An environmental group thought they were helping salamanders that migrated across a Massachusetts road, by removing a long tube laid next to a new road. Turns out it was stopping silt from running into an important vernal pond. Actually, sounds like the group doesn't know that much about salamanders if they think a small tube is going to prevent them from moving across a road... The town wants the environmental group to pay for repairs. (News source.)

And, a profile here on a Maryland herpetoculturist who specializes in dart frogs.

RoboCroc, R. I. P.

The American crocodile that underwent massive surgery on its skull, has died. (News source.)

Colorful Caecilians

NG has a photogallery of colorful caecilians, with a note on a paper soon to be published on the subject. (News source.)

Bites

A Slovenian reptile keeper was bitten by a venomous snake during feeding, but had the antivenom in stock. (News source.)

A young Australian girl was bitten by a brown snake on her doorstep. (News source.)

On the Python Problem

A herpetoculturist's opinion on the Burmese python problem in the Everglades, here.

Gators Escape in Floodwaters

Flooding in Mississippi has led to the escape of about 20 gators from Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours. (News source.)

Immunity for Frogs?

"Recent preliminary evidence, described in the April issue of BioScience, suggests also that individual amphibians can sometimes develop resistance to chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd)." (Eurekalert.)