That Pet Place welcomes Zoologist/Herpetologist Frank Indiviglio to That Reptile Blog
menagerie that sprung from it. My mother and grandmother somehow found ways to cope with the skunks, flying squirrels, octopus, caimans and countless other odd creatures that routinely arrived un-announced at our front door. Assisting in hand-feeding hatchling praying mantises and in eradicating hoards of mosquitoes (I once thought I had discovered “fresh-water brine shrimp” and stocked my tanks with thousands of mosquito larvae!) became second nature to them. My mother went on to become a serious naturalist, and has helped thousands learn about wildlife in her 16 years as a volunteer at the Bronx Zoo. My grandfather actively conspired in my zoo-buildings efforts, regularly appearing with chipmunks, boa constrictors, turtles rescued from the Fulton Fish Market and, especially, unusual marine creatures. It was his passion for seahorses that led me to write a book about them years later.I was fortunate in having at my doorstep institutions that were, quite literally, paradises for one such as me. I spent countless hours roaming the grounds of the Bronx Zoo and the halls of the American Museum of Natural History, and was there set upon the path that would determine my life’s course. That course was, no doubt, a convoluted one - at one point, feeling the financial pressures that inflict most of those interested in working with animals, I became a lawyer. Fortunately, and for this I remain ever grateful, those closest to me helped me decide to follow my heart and return to the work I was born to.
My first jobs with animals were as an unpaid helper at local pet stores, after which I moved on to be a poorly-paid assistant at an animal importing facility. Much of my “salary” came in the form of permission to keep certain creatures – usually sick ones – as my own. As I write these words, I am watched by a musk turtle that I acquired in this manner in 1969. While there is no denying the need for regulations on the trade in wild-caught animals, I must say that I learned a great deal by caring for the unending parade of chimpanzees, c
oatis, kinkajous, ocelots, squirrels, rare fishes and reptiles that came through the doors in those days.
I paired my start in the legal profession with a volunteer position at the Bronx Zoo – Sundays would find me swatting Indian rhinoceros on the rump to nudge them into their exhibit or netting fruit bats while Mondays would have me at a desk in midtown Manhattan drafting leases – obviously, it was not a fair contest, and I soon found myself as a full-time bird keeper at the Bronx Zoo. As with the importing business, I entered the zoo field at the tail end of a wonderful period, when curators were naturalists as opposed to administrators and all were encouraged to learn animal care in hands-on fashion. I built upon the foundation laid down in the pet trade, and was soon caring for animals ranging from ants to elephants, and most everything in-between. As concerns zoo animals, I have always found myself drawn towards the smaller creatures, as it is these for whom we can best provide in captivity, and who reveal more of their life-cycles to us. Happily for me, such animals are also those most suited as pets. I also am pulled unfailingly towards the world’s odd, unknown and under-appreciated species.
I worked in all of the zoo’s many buildings and as a keeper of fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals, and helped to establish its first substantial invertebrate collection. I also functioned, among other things, as head mammal keeper, supervisor of the Prospect Park Zoo and educator. Thus I came to live the life I know and love – courting adventure and knowledge and, hopefully, passing along something of value in the process.
Field research projects have taken me throughout North, Central and South America in an exciting quest for information about the natural histories of many varied creatures. I don’t have the words to describe the excitement felt during weeks of wrestling 17 foot long anacondas from the swamps of the Venezuelan llanos, nor my amazement at watching scores of macaws cross the sky or a brilliant basilisk run atop the surface of a forest pool. The anaconda project was highlighted in National Geographic Magazine – growing up, the idea that my photo might somehow wind up in that grand publication was simply unimaginable. Other projects had me dodging electric eels, marking crocodiles, tagging leatherback turtles, collecting spiders, stalking dart poison frogs and catching piranha in locales ranging from the beaches of Costa Rica to the pine barrens of New York.
My work has put me in contact with thousands of hobbyists keeping pets of every description, and I believe I have benefited more than they from the experience. For in their sense of wonder and caring I found a constant renewal of my own, and a validation of the path I had taken. Without fail, I have learned much from them and hope, dear readers, that you will be generous in sharing your thoughts on this blog and web site.
After a career of over 20 years with the Bronx Zoo, I signed on as consultant for the Staten Island Zoo, working on the re-construction of their famed reptile house. This building was, in years past, presided over by none other than Carl Kauffeld, a veritable giant among herpetologists and an inspiration to a generation of snake enthusiasts. The new building, made possible by the efforts of the zoo’s unusually dedicated staff, is wonderful, and I hope you can visit. I continue to act as a consultant there, and am also designing exhibits for the Maritime Aquarium and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. I have spent time in Japan, fascinated by its public aquariums and pet stores, and regularly exchange ideas with zoo and aquarium professionals there.
I often pursue another life-long interest - writing - and have published books on invertebrates and fish, fresh-water, marine and brackish aquariums, newts, salamanders, seahorses and geckos. I was also fortunate in having opportunities to write articles that were published in professional and popular magazines, and in a number of books and conference proceedings. Appearances on television and radio have enabled me to discuss pet-keeping with large audiences. Perhaps because of my own roots, I enjoy helping NYC children discover nature, and have long presented animal-related programs for Science Development, Inc. and have taught biology at Columbia Preparatory School (somewhere along the line I had acquired a Master’s Degree in Biology, which was infinitely more interesting than acquiring a law degree!).
I hope that I can help you with your questions, and that you will favor me with your pet - keeping observations, ideas and suggestions. In your decision to correspond, please bear in mind that no observation, no matter how seemingly mundane, is unimportant, especially considering all that is yet unknown about many commonly-kept pet species. I myself recall letters that I wrote to Bronx Zoo curators and other such people, seeking information and noting my observations. Several times my quite questionable conclusions were validated, in one case after 18 years, by later experiences with these same people (many times I was mistaken, of course, but I learned a great deal none-the-less). Sometimes such led to a publication, often just to a good laugh, but everyone, including the animals involved, benefited. The point is that, in this wonderful field of ours, the exchange of information is necessary, and always interesting and enjoyable. I look forward to corresponding with as many of you as possible. Thank you, Frank Indiviglio.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 2:23 am
Dear Adam,
It was a pleasure to meet you and your family at That Pet Place on Saturday . Thanks so much for the naming your gecko after me – it is quite an honor, the first for me. (you are the first to write into my new blog as well)!
You can feed your gecko 3 times each week. One meal can be made up of 3 crickets or 2-3 mealworms or waxworms. You can find some other feeding ideas in my book at page 66 (thank you for using my book also!). Please remember to use vitamin/mineral supplements on 2-3 of the feedings. You can also feed smaller amounts of food 4-5 times each week, if you prefer to feed your pet more often.
Take care and please keep me posted on your progress, Frank
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:23 am
Hi Frank,
My son has a water monitor, approx. 2′ in length nose to tip of tail….we think he might have a cloacal prolapse…something is protuding at the very top of the tail, it protrudes, and withdraws…and oh! there it is…oh! gone…can you advise? He is a pretty feisty guy, but I’m sure btwn my husband and son, he can be wrangled. Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hi Julie,
Thanks for writing in.
My first thought is that what you are seeing is the male sexual organ, known in lizards as the hemipenes. A prolapsed cloaca or hemipenes usually remains out of the body and is not withdrawn frequently as with your monitor.
Lizards sometimes extrude the hemipenes during periods of excitement or agitation, irrespective of breeding condition (or opportunity!). It seems that the “wiring” for all classes of excitement is very close in some reptiles and amphibians – male frogs, for example, often attempt to enter amplexus (the fertilization position) with females, other males and even floating plants when they are fed in a group situation!
If your water monitor is of the species Varanus salvator (others are sometimes sold as “water monitors”), then he seems a bit on the small size to be exhibiting sexual behavior. However, if he has been feeding well he may have mmatured early. Please send in a photo if you are unsureof the species.
Factors which might cause your lizard to extrude the hemipenes include aggitation (territorial defense, a cage that is too small), anticipation of a meal upon seeing you enter the room, a new smell or any type of environmental change. In fact, old zookeepers’ tricks to induce breeding in monitors and snakes included changing the cage’s substrate and also putting the intended couple in a burlap bag and driving them around in a car for awhile…both techniques worked on occassion!
If the condition seems to worsen, or the organ remains out of the body, you should bring the animal to a veterinarian specializing in reptiles (please let me know if you need some listings in your area).
Please bear in mind that all monitors are agressive feeders and can administer severe bites..also, they often react (as perhaps you are seeing here)to stimuli that we do not sense, so always handle them with care.
Careful attention should be paid to the diet of rapidly growing monitors, as they need proper amounts and ratios of calcium and other nutrients. I’d be happy to provide some suggestions if you feel that might be helpful. Again, please send in a photo of your animal if you are unsure of the species – Varanus salvator, the Asian water monitor, can reach 6 feet in length, so you’ll need to do some advance planning if this is the species that you have.
Good luck and thanks for your interest in my articles.
Best regards, Frank
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Why are bats and skunks in the same cave at the Bronx Zoo?
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Thanks for your interest in our blog.
Interesting question…and original – in all my years at the Bronx Zoo, no other visitors seemed to wonder about that!
I worked in the exhibit you are referring to, in the Bronx Zoo’s World of Darkness, for quite some time. In mixed species exhibits, zoos utilize animals that would occur together in the wild. The natural ranges of striped skunks and the fruit bats exhibited with them (Artibius species when I was there) overlap in northern Mexico. Both are nocturnal, and the reverse lighting cycle used in that building encourages them to be active during visiting hours.
Skunks are not able to catch healthy bats, but in the wild enter bat caves in search of young or injured bats that have fallen from their roosting places on cave walls and ceilings. The skunks kept in the Bronx Zoo exhibit are, as you may have noticed, quite “hefty”, and do not bother hunting. The bats do breed in that exhibit – I have netted 100 or more surplus individuals at a time for shipment to other zoos. I would not be surprised if a skunk occasionally took a youngster that fell to earth, but I have not actually observed this. The skunks are shifted into off-exhibit holding areas when the zoo closes for the evening.
In the same building you may also notice stripped skunks that appear to be housed with broad snouted caiman. In that exhibit, a glass wall actually separates the two species.
Please be in touch if you need any further information.
Best regards, Frank Indiviglio.
May 31st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
hi i’m doing a project for my algebra 2 class. And my group and I have to interview someone in our choice of zoology for a college project. I was wondering if you would answer these following questions, it would be greatly appreciated.
1. What made you want to become a zoologist?
2. Do you enjoy what you do?
3. How much schooling did you go through?
4. What animal(s) do you deal with most?
5. What is herpetology?
6. What do you look for when you examine animals?
7. Do you prefer lab work or in natural habitat?
8. Does zoology require any physical activity?
9. How do you get paid?
10. Do you like your pay?
11. What are the other branches of zoology?
June 1st, 2009 at 9:25 am
Hello Ashley, Frank Indiviglio here.
Thanks for your interest in our blog. I’ve answered your questions below…please let me know if you need further details.
1. I’ve been interested in animals for as long as I can remember…the encouragement of my family and growing up near the Bronx Zoo and American Museum of Natural History certainly helped.
2. I enjoy it immensely…I’m one of the fortunate few who has made a hobby into a career.
3. I have a Master’s Degree in Conservation Biology/Zoology.
4. The animals I work have varied over the course of my career…everything from tiny invertebrates to the large reptiles, birds, fishes and mammals at one time or another. That is not typical of a zoologist, just my very good fortune.
5. Herpetology is the study of amphibians and reptiles.
6. What to look for really depends upon the nature of the question or problem, and so varies a great deal. For example, captive care, behavior in the wild and taxonomy all require very different perspectives.
7. I prefer work with live animals in captivity or the wild as opposed to typical lab work.
8. Zoology can be extremely physical – capturing and tagging animals in the wild, for example, or less so, i.e. when one is involved in research and writing. There is something for everyone, no matter what their level of interest or physical abilities.
8. When working for an institution such as the Bronx Zoo, payment is as a salaried employee. In other cases, I engage in freelance work, and am paid for specific projects…for example, designing a zoo building, writing museum graphics, field surveys to identify endangered species living in an area slated for development, and so on.
9. Good question! Pay levels in zoology are almost always lower than in other fields requiring the same amount of education and experience…it is a field one enters out of interest. Many of the organizations that hire zoologists are considered “not for profit” institutions, which typically offer modest salaries. Living in NYC, I’ve always found it necessary to take on extra work in the form of writing, etc. However, zoologists involved in certain research areas, or who become administrators, may earn higher salaries.
10. There are a great many subdivisions in zoology, and new ones appear regularly. In its most general sense, zoology is the study of animal life, past and present, microbes to whales. Many other research areas spring from this, so that the work a zoologist does often finds application in medicine, agriculture, industry and countless other disciplines.
Good luck in your work,
Best regards, Frank Indiviglio.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Thank you so much for answering the questions for me and my group. It means a lot, and has made me think more about becoming a zoologist. Ive always loved animals and it would be the greatest dream in the world to work with them.
June 10th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Hello Ashley, Frank Indiviglio here. Thanks for taking the time to write in with your kind comment; much appreciated. I apologize for the long delay in responding to you…an emergency surgery put me out of commission for a time.
If you have a deep interest in animals, then you can ask for no better life than that of a zoologist. Please feel free to write in whenever you might need specific advice, and I’ll do my best to help out. Also concerning any subjects you might like to read about, just let me know – I found the lives and travels of zoologists and naturalists to be very inspiring in my younger days, and still re-read them today.
Good luck and please keep me posted.
Best regards, Frank Indiviglio.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Hello Mr. Indiviglio,
I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure where to post this question. Feel free to put my question anywhere on the sites if you think it might help others.
I live in sunny San Diego. While friends and family have commented that my menagerie is a zoo. It’s just a crazy house with an usually large number of pets. The pet I am writing to about is our bearded dragon.
I am in the planning process of creating a new outdoor enclosure for her and I have but one stumbling block. The sunny side of the enclosure is also the breezy side.
We live very close to the ocean and while there is no shortage of sunny days, it can be a bit breezy. I am desperately trying to find a material with the following properties.
1. Blocks the wind
2. Allows in UVB and UVA ray (natural sunlight)
3. Does not have the dangerous magnification properties of glass and some plastics.
I don’t think such a material exists. I am starting to think that I should just use a low wall of white plastic on the sunny side (like the other sides) to block the wind and hope she has enough sense to stay low and move into the sun) far enough away from the wall) if the breeze is bothering her. Obviously she’s also going to have a nice sheltered place to get away if she gets too hot or wants to lay low for a while. above the white walls there will be fine mesh and other ingenious ways to keeps critters out and in.
I’m only going to put her out on warm days and bring her in every night.
So, do you know if there’s a way to block the breeze and not the sun? Any ideas?
Thanks!
Paige
June 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hello Paige, Frank Indiviglio here. Thanks for your interest in our blog.
There are UVB/A permeable plastic panels available… I’ve dealt only with companies that supply the material in bulk, for zoos and greenhouses, but you may be able to find another source via an inter-net search. If not, please write back and I’ll see if I can turn anything up.
However, if you use regular plastic to block the wind your lizard will seek out other sunny spots if available…they are very good at thermo-regulating and even, recent research indicates, in sensing UVB. Heat magnification is mainly a problem in small terrariums placed in a sunny location…as long as space is available, the lizard will move away if it becomes too warm.
Good luck and please keep me posted.
Best regards, Frank Indiviglio.