November 2012
volume 27, issue 11
Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society Inside this issue: Upcoming Events…
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General PNHS info…….
3
Letter from the President………..……. 4 PNHS Outreach at the America’s Family Pet Expo......……... 6
Next Meeting:
Sunday, November 18, 2012 6:00 p.m.
Meeting Location: Highline Community College
Doors Open: 5:30 p.m.
2400 S. 240th Street, Bldg. 12
General Meeting: 6:00 p.m.
Des Moines, WA
Herp-of-theMonth:
The Economy and the Effect on Venom……
8
Dragons
Turtle Vocalizations 9
Left: Maddie Montoya, daughter of PNHS Board member Teresa Montoya, holds a bearded dragon at the America’s Family Pet Expo in Puyallup.
Year of the Snake Warnings……….......... 10 Salon Turtles…………. 11
Contacts & Vets…………………..
15
Membership Application….……... 16
Speaker Presentation: “Dragons” Bearded & Frilled Dragons with Brenda & Marian Huber;
December PNHS
Parasite precautions & the latest on
Newsletter Deadline:
Bearded Dragon Atadenovirus
Nov. 30, 2012
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Upcoming PNHS Events Pa g e 2 Kitsap Branch Fall/Winter Meetings 2012: Contact Troy Barnhart 360-908-8766 if interested. November 3-4, 2012: PNHS Outreach: “ America ’ s Family Pet Expo ” Puyallup Fairgrounds. November 18, 2012:
PNHS General Meeting Herp-of-the-Month: Dragons Speakers: Brenda & Marian Huber on Bearded & Frilled Dragons, Parasite Precautions & the latest on Bearded Dragon Atadenovirus
December 9, 2012:
PNHS Annual Potluck/Auction Casual potluck & auction! ( No speaker, herp-ofthe-month, or general meeting ) Bring your favorite main or side dish to share! There will be a dessert auction. Doors open: 5:00 p.m. Auction begins: 6:00 p.m. Questions? Donations? Please contact Brenda Huber ( Brenda.huber@pnwhs.org )
January 13, 2013:
PNHS General Meeting Speaker: Dr. Tracy Bennett of the Bird & Exotic Clinic of Seattle Www.birdandexotic.com Herp-of-the-Month: Turtles & Tortoises
Vol. 27 No. 11
General information & guidelines
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PNHS’ Monthly Meetings are a great place to learn something new, purchase feeders at a discount, and meet new people
General Information The Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society (PNHS) is a non-profit organization registered with the State of Washington. PNHS is dedicated to the education of its members and the public, as well as the conservation, ecology, and captive care and breeding of reptiles and amphibians. The society also takes an active role in legislative and environmental issues affecting these animals and their habitats. Meeting Information PNHS holds its general meeting on the second Sunday of every month (with exceptions for holidays) at 6:00pm at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Building 12 Room 101. Doors open at 5:30. Other business and socialization occurs between 5:30 and 6; then the General Meeting starts. Meetings are open to the public, and the society encourages anyone with an interest in herpetology to attend. Please purchase a membership to show your support for the society. Animal Donations Looking to adopt, release an animal or donate cages and equipment? Please contact the Adoptions Committee by email at adoptions@pnwhs.org, or by voicemail at 206- 583-0686. We will contact you and make arrangements. Other Donations The Adoption Committee receives minimal financial support from the Society, so donations of money, food, cages, and equipment are always needed and appreciated. Please contact the Adoption Chair to make a donation. Adoptions To adopt an animal that is in the care of the Committee, you must be present at the meeting, be a current member (of at least one month), and be over 18 years of age or have parental consent. For more details see the web site or contact the Adoption Chair. Newsletter Information A monthly newsletter absorbs the lion’s share of the price of a PNHS membership. In order to keep it interesting, we encourage contribution of original articles, book reviews, letters, ads, and cartoons for publication. Items for incorporation into articles are also welcome, though with no guarantee of their use. Submissions may be sent to the Newsletter Committee or to the Society through the contacts listed on our Contacts page.
Above: Both Green Tree Python Photos courtesy of the Adams’ Family.
Editorial Policy The views expressed in this publication are solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the Society, its members, or the Newsletter Committee. The Newsletter Committee reserves the right to edit all submissions including advertisements.
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Letter from the President By Brenda Huber
Vol. 27, No.11
“Python Invasion/Media Hype**” ** Or :“Why my mother can no longer watch the news…”
I was on my way to the America’s Family Pet Expo at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, when the story hit the wire. “A Bothell couple found a 10-foot python in their storage unit,” was the headline. “Here we go again….” I thought to myself, secretly glad that my mother was in Vegas and not here listening to local news. She lives rather close to Bothell and would be locking her doors by now. The couple called 911. The Police were called. Animal Control was called. And the news media had a field day with the hype. How ironic—-here PNHS was spending the entire weekend doing outreach, promoting responsible herp ownership and trying to put a positive spin on reptiles… All it takes is one “10 foot python” news story and we’re back to square one. Turns out the “!0 foot python” was actually a very thin, very cold, female Red-Tailed Boa. Animal Control took her to Dr. Adolf Maas at the Center for Bird & Exotic Medicine. She remained there until PNHS’ Adoption Coordinator Extraordinaire, Allison Vlaun, made arrangements for the perfect foster home. On Saturday, PNHS’ own Jamie Housman made the long trek from the Kitsap Peninsula to pick her up and take her home. It was just in time: she was scheduled to be euthanized just two days later. Continued...
Vol. 27, No. 11
Letter From The President Continued….
This story is just one example of the many ways PNHS makes a difference in the community. If you support PNHS’ mission and want to get more involved, we have a place for you. PNHS Elections are just around the corner, with nominations for office taken at November’s general meeting. If you’ve wanted to get more involved and help direct PNHS, consider serving on the Board. If you are unable to attend November’s meeting but would like to be considered for a Board position, please email me at Brenda.Huber@pnwhs.org . Together, we all can make a difference. Brenda Huber President
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Above: Elise Erickson and her rescued 10’ Albino Burmese Python, “Thor,” do their part to educate the public about responsible pet ownership. Taken at the America’s Family Pet Expo in Puyallup. Photo by B. Huber.
Vol. 27, No. 11
PNHS Outreach at the American Family Pet Expo November 3-4, 2012
Clockwise from Left: Mary & “Lizzie,; Darcy shows off “Sunspot,; “Hunter” the Corn Snake, Teresa & Aimee with Outreach Rockstar, “Pig;” and a Seattle Turtle & Tortoise Club member’s thrilling sulcata.
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Vol. 27, No. 11
Outreach at the America’s Family Pet Expo continued….
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L to R: Corbin Maxey and his Nile Monitor; Carol demonstrates why they’re called “Ball” Pythons; PNHS Treasurer Dale, Teresa shows a Ball Python to kids; Outreach Superstar (and rescue) “Lizzie” the green iguana.
Vol. 27, No. 11
Snake Farm Feels the Bite As Drugmakers Reduce Venom Orders Reprinted with Permission from Herpdigest Vol. 12, Issue #52, 10/07/12
BLOOMBERG (New York, New York) (Caroline Connan and Marthe Fourcade) 10/30/12
Venomous snakes in the French town of Valence are feeling the bite of Europe’s economic crisis. Latoxan, a company that farms snakes and scorpions to sell their venom to drugmakers including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Sanofi (SAN) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE), expects sales to drop 30 percent this year as clients cut back on orders, said Chief Executive Officer Harold de Pomyers. Pomyers, who with just seven staff took in sales of 1.6 million euros ($2.1 million) in 2011, said he’s reducing his number of snakes to 500 from as many as 800 because of lower demand from Paris-based Sanofi and other drugmakers. Sanofi and Latoxan ended their collaboration this year, a Sanofi spokesman said by e-mail. “We are currently suffering from the crisis,” Pomyers said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the company’s headquarters, located in a residential area of Valence, near Lyon. “Sales are falling in European countries such as Italy, Greece or Spain, but also in the United States.” Latoxan employees extract venom from snakes including deadly black mambas and rattlesnakes by squeezing their jaws with their bare hands, a process they refer to as “milking.” Snakes that are no longer needed will be killed or given away, according to two members of staff who take part in the milking process. “Fortunately we only have one accident every 18 months,” Pomyers said. One gram of venom can cost as much as 4,000 euros. The product is used by pharmaceutical companies for research and to manufacture anti-venom, according to Pomyers. Scientists from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in Sophia Antipolis, France, have isolated two new molecules from black mamba venom and are studying them as a possible alternative to morphine, he said. About 5 million people worldwide get bitten by snakes each year and an estimated 100,000 die, according to Jean-Philippe Chippaux, a snake expert and director at the Development Research Institute in Cotonou, Benin. “You need very good venom from good snakes” to make reliable antidotes, says Chippaux. In the past year, Pomyers says he has diversified by adding about 3,000 scorpions to the French farm. Their venom can sell for as much as 35,000 euros a gram.
Vol. 27, No. 11
Turtle Vocalizations: First Evidence of Post-Hatching Prenatal Care in Chelonians Journal of Comparative Psychology, 10/22/12 Reprinted with permission from Herpdigest Vol. 12, Issue #52, 11/06/12
CITATION Ferrara, C. R., Vogt, R. C., & Sousa-Lima, R. S. (2012, October 22). Turtle Vocalizations as the First Evidence of Posthatching Parental Care in Chelonians. Journal of Comparative Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029656 1) Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil Renata S. Sousa-Lima 2) Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York Until recently, freshwater turtles were thought to be silent reptiles, neither vocalizing nor hearing very well. We recorded individuals in nature, captivity, and during interactions between adults and hatchlings and show that hatchlings and adult turtles, Podocnemis expansa, produce sounds in and out of the water. Sounds were emitted by hatchlings inside the egg, in open nests, in the river, and in captive conditions. Adult females were recorded producing sounds in the river, while basking, while nesting, and in captivity. Females were recorded in the river approaching and responding to hatchling sounds. We detected 2,122 sounds, classified in 11 different types. These data suggest that there is sound communication between adults and hatchings and that these sounds may be used to congregate hatchlings with adults for mass migration. Hatchlings and females with transmitters were found migrating together. We consider these findings as the first evidence of acoustic communication mediating posthatching parental care in chelonians. We anticipate that our findings will influence the way turtle behavior is studied and interpreted, and add communication and sound pollution to turtle conservation concerns. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard C. Vogt, Coordenação de Pesquisa em Biologia de Água Doce e Pesca Interior, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Caixa Postal 478, Manaus, AM, Brazil 69083-000. E-mail: vogt@inpa.gov.br and richard@pq.cnpq.br
Vol. 27, No. 11
Pa g e 1 0
The Year of The Snake: .Snake
Eaters Warned as the “Year Of” Approaches
Reprinted with permission from Herpdigest Vol. 12, Issue #52, 11/06/12
People’s Daily (Beijing, China) People’s Daily 10/30/12 With the Year of the Snake just over three months away, local authorities in Shanghai are trying to head off an expected rise in demand for snake dishes by warning residents that eating or trading endangered wild animal, is against the law. Restaurants in the city have started receiving special orders for snake from customers making reservations for their Chinese New Year Eve's banquet on February, reported the Shanghai-based Youth Daily. "Though the sale of snakes has not seen a sudden rise recently, many people eat snake in the fall as a tonic before winter," said the owner of a snake-raising farm in the city's Qingpu district, surnamed Gu. Gu told the Global Times he supplies King Cobra and Agkistrodon, a venomous pit viper, to restaurants. "He also supplies crocodile." "Crocodiles and snakes are not considered wild animals if they are raised on farms," said Gu. Yan Jingjing, director of the Shanghai Wildlife Conservation Management Station under the municipal forestry and environmental administration, told the Global Times that trading snakes and other endangered animals without a license is strictly banned. Yan added that some species of Agkistrodon are categorized as protected wild animals. "Eating and trading them is against the Wild Animal Protection Law and violators will face criminal charges." Yan said the city carries out regular crackdowns on illegal sales of wild animals. "Apart from the destruction of the natural ecology, the animals carry many parasites, which are a potential health hazard," Yan added.
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Vol. 27, No. 11
Hair & Nail Salon Techniques: a new Way to Tag Sea Turtles Reprinted with permission from HerpDigest, Vol. 12, Issue #52, 11/06/12
Researchers have devised a method to tag small, previously untrackable sea turtles. By J. Akst | November 1, 2012
In 2007, sea turtle researchers Kate Mansfield of the US National Marine Fisheries Service and Jeanette Wyneken of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) were faced with a dilemma. They wanted to track loggerhead turtles during the oceanic phase of their lives, from the time they leave nesting beaches as hatchlings until they move back to near-shore habitats some years later—but such young animals were too small for the tagging devices used on adult turtles. “It’s easy to glue a tag on some of the larger turtles, but the first couple of year age classes have been much too small,” Mansfield says. “So there’s this whole gap in our knowledge of what turtles are doing, how they’re behaving, what they’re eating, what part of the water column they’re swimming within. From the time they leave the nest as hatchlings to the time they come back, there’s just this huge unknown.” And given that all species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened, understanding these early, vulnerable years is critical to managing populations. “The more we know, the better we can protect them,” Mansfield says.
“The more we know, the better we can protect them,”
Mansfield had recently learned of smaller tags used on birds - K. Mansfield that took advantage of solar energy technology to eliminate the large battery packs that power many satellite tagging devices. “Sea turtles are basically birds with flippers,” Wyneken noted. But attaching the tags to their small, semisoft shells was proving difficult. The duo had tested a variety of tactics on Wyneken’s lab-reared turtles at FAU, but nothing seemed to work. Affixed with the typical marine epoxy glues used for larger animals, the tags fell off within 2 to 3 weeks due to the young turtles’ fast growth. Velcro was similarly ineffective. An independent-study student in Wyneken’s lab who had started school as a fashion design major before switching over to biology at FAU
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Vol. 27, No. 11
Salon Turtles Continued….
Above: Photo of a Loggerhead Turtle courtesy of Wikipedia Images.
designed various flexible neoprene harnesses, which worked, but all too well—they didn’t fall off as the turtles matured, and started to constrict the animals’ shells as they grew. Then, while mulling over the problem one day in the lab, Mansfield noticed Wyneken’s beautifully manicured toenails, with blue waves carefully painted on. Wyneken also thought of her guitar-playing husband, who had acrylic nails applied to his own to help him pluck the strings. The researchers realized that turtle shells are composed of the same protein as human fingernails—keratin. Maybe the techniques the manicurist used could help them secure the tags to the young turtles. Wyneken stepped outside and called Marisol Marrero of Just Nails in Boynton Beach, who recommended they use the same acrylic base coat that she used on Wyneken’s husband’s nails. So the two researchers buffed shells and painted them The strategy worked. Previously, the longest time researchers had been able to track a young oceanic turtle in the wild was a few days, and the best tags Mansfield and Wyneken tested in the lab lasted just a few weeks. The new technique “extended the attachment period by 4 to 8 times,” Mansfield says—up to 2 months or more.
Vol. 27, No. 11
Pa g e 1 3 Salon Turtles, Continued...
On top of the acrylic base coat, the team was using a surgical adhesive to secure the tags. Then another of Wyneken’s students, whose family owned a hair salon, recognized the odor. “One of my undergrads said to me, ‘That glue you’re using smells like what we use for hair extensions,’” Wyneken recalls. The student brought in a bottle of the stuff to the lab, and sure enough, the hair extension glue worked even better. “It’s the same chemical, but it polymerizes a little differently, so it remains a little stretchy,” Wyneken says. “Basically it accommodates, in people, the movement of the scalp, and in turtles, the growth.” In 2009 the team released several tagged turtles, some as small as 11 centimeters long, into the Gulf Stream, and headed back to the lab to wait for the satellite data to start coming in. The first batch of tags, affixed to animals 4–9 months old, lasted 38 to 172 days (Mar Ecol Prog Ser, 457:181-92, 2012; manicurist Marrero is acknowledged in the paper). On animals that have been released since then, the tags have lasted more than 200 days. “Considering that prior to this work almost all of the tracking data were limited to a couple of days [on turtles] from nearshore habitats, what we’re getting is pretty exciting,” Mansfield says. “We’re seeing the turtles moving thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic.”
“We’re seeing the turtles moving thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic.”
The ability to track younger turtles for extended periods of time in the open ocean is promising for studying seasonal patterns of activity, migration routes, and other aspects of tur- - K. Mansfield tle behavior. “It’s going to allow you to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of a life-history stage that’s been relatively understudied,” says marine scientist Mike Arendt of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Mansfield and Wyneken couldn’t be more pleased with their salon-inspired technology. “It’s really worked out beautifully,” Wyneken says. “I’m reminded every time I get a manicure.”
Classifieds
Pa g e 1 4
Screaming Roaches!*** Dubia Roaches For Sale All sizes available -Our roaches are gutloaded with Repashy “Superload” as well as a mixture of fresh fruits and vegetables. Your herps will love them! *** They’re roaches; I’m screaming. Please save me by
contacting: ScreamingRoaches@gmail.com Join the Global Gecko Association Today! The GGA is a six year old international organization dedicated to the needs of all people interested in geckos. Members receive the twice-yearly, full-color journal, “Gekko”, plus “Chit-Chat”, our quarterly newsletter. Annual Membership is $32 US, $34 Canada/Mexico, $36 Overseas. Email: ElizabethFreer@aol.com (503)-436-1064 or www.gekkota.com
Feeder Insects & Rodents I have superworms, giant mealworms, and lots more! Plus, I now carry frozen rodents. Order in advance: special pricing for PNHS members,,as well as quantity discounts!
Bean Farm’s Creative Habitats Slide-Top Aquariums Various sizes available. We can deliver the cages to the meetings, as well as any other item from the Bean Farm catalogue.
For pick up and PNHS meeting delivery.
Please contact us by the Friday before the meeting in order for items to be delivered. Thank you!
Jennifer Sronce (425) 750-0477
Paula & Giovani Fagioli (877) 708-5882
www.seattlefeeders@gmail.com
Email: beanfarm@beanfarm.com www.beanfarm.com
Advertise in the PNHS Newsletter! Business Card .............................$5 Quarter Page................................$10 Half Page ....................................$15 Full Page .....................................$25 If you would like to place an ad in the PNHS newsletter, please contact: newsletter.editor@pnwhs.org GET PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS & SUPPORTING PNHS!
Vol. 27, No. 11
Contact Information PNHS P.O. Box 27542
General information: 206-628-4740
Seattle, WA 98165
Email: contact.us@pnwhs.org
www.pnwhs.org
Adoptions:206-583-0686
Area Representatives N King & Snohomish
Brenda Huber 206-334-7168
brenda.huber@pnwhs.org
S King & Pierce
Dale Drexler
dale.drexler@yahoo.com
Greater Seattle
Brenda Huber 206-334-7168
Kitsap, Island
Troy Barnhart
Oregon
Elizabeth Freer 503-436-1064
253-606-4328
Brenda.huber@pnwhs.org
360-908-8766 troy.barnhart@pnwhs.org elizabethfreer@aol.com
Officers for 2012 President
Brenda Huber
brenda.huber@pnwhs.org
Vice President
Brandon Winter
brandon.winter@pnwhs.org
Treasurer
Dale Drexler
dale.drexler@pnwhs.org
Secretary
Teresa Montoya
secretary@pnwhs.org
Membership Secretary Julie Sharkey
julie.sharkey@pnwhs.org
Members-At-Large
Ted Adams
ted.adams@pnwhs.org
David Brunnelle Carol Dean
david.brunnelle@pnwhs.org carol.dean@pnwhs.org
Matt Lee
matt.lee@pnwhs.org
Julie Sharkey
julie.sharkey@pnwhs.org
Event Coordinator
Norm Hill
norm.hill@pnwhs.org
Newsletter Editor
Marian Huber
newsletter@pnwhs.org
Webmaster
Geoff Sweet
webmaster@pnwhs.org
Find us on FACEBOOK!
Recommended EXOTIC VETS Dr. Tracy Bennett
Dr. Elizabeth Kamaka
Dr. Adolf Maas
Dr. Daniel Lejnieks
Bird & Exotic Clinic of Seattle
Kamaka Exotic Animal Veterinary Services
The Center For Bird & Exotic Animal Medicine
4019 Aurora Ave. N.
23914—56th Ave. W. #3
11401 NE 195th St.
Seattle, WA 98107
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
Bothell, WA 98011
(206) 783-4538
(425) 361-2183
(425) 486-9000
www.birdandexotic.com
www.kamakaexoticvet.com
www.avianandexoticanimalhospit al..com
To join PNHS, please print & complete the following application, enclose your yearly or multi-yearly membership fee and return to: PNHS Membership Secretary P.O. Box 27542 Seattle, WA 98165 Membership applications and fees may also be received at the monthly meetings by the Membership Secretary. With your yearly or multi-year membership fee you will receive the monthly PNHS E-Newsletter, access to membership pricing for adoption animals, and the opportunity to participate in the many outreaches and special “Members Only” events held throughout the year.
Please select one of the options below:
Please select your preferred membership category: Individual Membership (One person)
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