That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

Please see Part I of this article for information on our prepared box turtle diets.

Natural Food Animals
Live mealworms, waxworms or earthworms mixed into canned or pelleted food should encourage your turtle to take a bite. Earthworms are a box turtle favorite and a highly nutritious food in their own right…they can comprise 25% or so of the diet. An occasional pre-killed pink mouse is usually a great hit with box turtles, but is not a necessity.

Canned Snails and Insects
Canned insects and invertebrates offer an excellent means of increasing dietary variety while adding to the attractiveness of commercial turtle foods. Box turtles avidly consume snails and slugs in the wild…canned snails are nearly always well-accepted by pets. Canned silkworms, grasshoppers, crickets and mealworms should also be offered.

Fruits and Vegetables
Commercial diets should also be supplemented with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including apples, pears, berries of all kinds (berries are a favorite, but should form only a part of your pet’s salad), cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms and others. Sweet potatoes are usually a favorite. Avoid bananas, as turtles often eat these to the exclusion of all else, and they are not a natural food item.

Vitamins, Minerals and UVB Light
A vitamin/mineral supplement should be provided once weekly for adults, three times weekly for youngsters.

Box turtles should always be provided with a source of UVB radiation (via a fluorescent or mercury vapor bulb ) so that they can properly utilize the calcium that is contained in their diets. Please see my article on Reptisun UVB lamps  for further information.

Wood Turtles

Wood turtles can be fed as described above; although some individuals can be picky feeders, they tend to accept a wider range of foods than do most box turtles.

Further Reading
Please see my article Providing a Balanced Diet to Reptile and Amphibian Pets for further information on reptile and amphibian nutrition.

You can read about ongoing field research projects involving box and wood turtles in the Northeastern USA at http://www.turtleconservationproject.org/projects.html.

Everyone associates the poison or “dart” frogs (Family Dendrobatidae) with skin toxins, but it is to the slow, seemingly benign newts and salamanders that we should really pay heed. In many cases their toxins are far more virulent and, unlike those of the poison frogs, they are produced internally and are not dependent upon diet for their existence (in other words, the toxins do not decline after a time in captivity, as is the case for poison frogs!).

One of Earth’s Most Toxic Creatures
Over 200 compounds, some of which are medically significant, have been isolated from newt and salamander skins. Western North America’s rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) possesses what may very well be the salamander world’s most powerful secretions…a single adult packs enough to kill 25,000 mice. More than one person (usually male, drunk and involved in some sort of “initiation” or dare), has suffered fatal consequences after swallowing a rough-skinned newt.

Skin secretions entering tiny cuts have rendered researcher’s limbs numb for hours, and a scientist who rubbed his eyes after touching a “woodland salamander” (I cannot recall the species, but belonging to the red-backed/slimy salamander group) wandered about blind for nearly 3 days before being rescued.

Toxins vs. Eel
Although the California newt’s (Taricha torosa) toxins pale in comparison to those of its rough-skinned cousin, they are not to be trifled with. I kept a California newt with an American eel for 17 years. The eel, a voracious predator that would as soon latch onto my hand as anything else, never once molested its seemingly defenseless tank-mate.

Next time I’ll relate an encounter I generated as a foolish 13 year old working in a pet store, which clearly illustrates the toxicity of even the most familiar of North American newts.

Further Reading
You can read more about the natural history and toxicity of the rough-skinned newt at http://www.amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Taricha&where-species=granulosa&account=amphibiaweb

California Newt Image referenced from Wikipedia Commons and originally posted by Justin Johnsen

A Control Program Backfires
Please see Part I of this article for background information. With introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana) driving endangered burrowing owls from their nests and raccoons (Procyon lotor) devouring sea turtle eggs, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection initiated control measures. At a preserve in Dania Beach, an intensive trapping and collection campaign greatly reduced the numbers of both species, but an unexpected consequence of these efforts soon became apparent.Within a year of the raccoon numbers being brought under control, iguana populations skyrocketed. In one area of the park, researchers counted 626 iguanas per square kilometer (0.4 square miles)…an unprecedented density for any lizard species!

It seemed that raccoon predation had been a very effective control on iguana numbers. Although hawks, gray foxes, night herons, alligators and other animals prey upon iguanas, only raccoons take eggs, hatchlings and sub-adults in significant numbers.

Iguanas…Here to Stay?
Young iguanas are now especially common at the site, pointing towards an even greater population increase in the future. Hand-collection, although possible, is a daunting task, so biologists are looking into alternate control measures. Meanwhile, spurred by ample food and little competition, lizards as young as 2 years of age are laying eggs.

In Belize, black rats effectively control one green iguana population by taking nearly every egg laid. However, Florida’s parks already have enough problems without black rats…in fact, their notorious cousin, the Norway rat, is already a resident of many!

Further Reading
It was my good fortune to work with green iguanas in a natural, if somewhat unusual (i.e. treeless) habitat. Please see my article, The Green Iguana on the Venezuelan Llanos  for the story.

To learn more about the challenges and rewards of keeping these impressive lizards, please check out our care guide, Green Iguanas.

Watersnakes are largely ignored by herptoculturists, and I’ve never quite understood why. Hardy, prolific, and often colorful, their utilization of two habitats makes for very interesting observations. Today I’d like to focus on the northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon), and to mention a few others.

Description
Background color varies through shades of pale gray to dark brown, with reddish to black cross-bands. Juveniles are brightly marked, while the colors of older animals usually darken. Stoutly built, the northern watersnake may reach 4 ½ feet in length, but averages 3 feet.This species interbreeds with its subspecies, the midland water snake, which may confuse identification at range overlaps.

Range
The range extends from southeastern Quebec, Canada to North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Related subspecies occur as far west as Colorado.

The endangered Lake Erie water snake (N. s. insularis), a subspecies of the northern, is found only along Put-In-Bay, Lake Erie.

Habitat
The northern water snake frequents swamps, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. It rarely strays far from the water’s edge, but frequently basks on logs and overhanging branches. Although preferring quiet waters, I sometimes encounter them along swiftly flowing rivers.

Status in the Wild
This snake can build up large populations in suitable habitat but, in my experience, does not adjust well to human presence (it is sometimes killed in the mistaken belief that it is venomous and reduces game fish numbers).

Several years ago I visited formerly well-populated ponds on Long Island, NY, as part of a government-sponsored survey. Despite adequate habitat and a healthy prey base, I found nearly all to be barren of snakes, and local fishermen confirmed their absence.

Diet
Watersnakes seem almost “crazed” when food is scented. Legendary reptile man Raymond Ditmars reported catching them on fishes tied to a string, a feat I repeated a half-century later with admirable results. I have also taken them in minnow traps.

Watersnakes feed upon a wide variety of frogs, tadpoles, salamanders and fishes and crayfishes.

Reproduction
Mating occurs in early spring. The young, 9-100 in number, are born alive after a gestation period of 2-3 months (March-July).

Miscellaneous
This snake was once common within NYC but has declined dramatically. I re-introduced it to the grounds of the Bronx Zoo in 1986, and a small breeding population is now to be found there.

Northern water snakes are harmless but aggressive when disturbed, and are often mistaken for the venomous water moccasin. The confusion is greatest in the Southeastern USA, a watersnake-lovers paradise, home to 12-15 subspecies. The massive Florida green water snake (N. floridana) reaches 6 feet in length and even holds its mouth open when threatened, in a manner reminiscent of the moccasin’s display.

Various watersnake species regularly hybridize, producing a bewildering array of forms in the species-rich southeast. Despite the passage of over 20 years, I still clearly recall a gorgeously-patterned individual that I narrowly missed capturing in south Florida. It was almost certainly a mangrove watersnake (N. clarkii compressicauda), perhaps hybridized with a Gulf salt marsh or Florida watersnake. I realize that my awe seems odd in these times of captive-bred “designer snakes”, but to encounter such a creature in the wild was quite a thrill.

Further Reading
You can learn more about the natural history of the 10 Nerodia species at http://www.jcvi.org/reptiles/search.php?submit=Search&exact%5B%5D=genus&genus=Nerodia.

Nerodia sipedon image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by Brian Gratwicke

Nerodia rhombifer image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by LA Dawson.

A surprising number of largely carnivorous lizards, especially various geckos and anoles, consume sap, flower nectar and overripe fruit in the wild. Providing a substitute in captivity is a good way to increase dietary variety. Also, as many find sweet liquids irresistible, by mixing in vitamins and minerals you can help ensure a nutritious diet.

Sugar Water to Nectar Mix
Well, we’ve come a long way since the anole “sugar water days” (the recommended diet for green anoles sold at circuses in the 1960’s). Following is a mix that I and others have found useful for anoles, geckos, basilisks, skinks and others.

1 jar of fruit-based baby food (papaya, banana, apricot or mixed)
1 tablespoon of honey (alternate with molasses)
1 dropper of Avitron Bird Vitamins (although formulated for birds, Avitron is a tried and true ingredient)
1 teaspoon Repti Calcium (without D3)
Water should be added to achieve a consistency favored by the species that you keep – i.e. nearly solid for New Caledonian giant geckos, watery for Jamaican anoles.

Additional Notes
Some folks add bee pollen, which seems not to affect palatability, and may add useful nutrients.

Experiment with different flavors, as some species are quite particular. Try also adding some mashed, overripe bananas, oranges, mangos and other fruits to the mix (for giant geckos, this is a must).

Nectar for Beetles, Roaches and Moths
If you are like me and favor invertebrates as well, you’ll find this mix very useful in keeping Hercules, goliath, rhinoceros, stag and other tropical and native beetles.

Most roaches devour it eagerly. I have used this and similar mixes to quickly nutrient-load roaches destined to be fed to delicate captives, and for Cuban green and other species in zoo exhibits.

As a side note, if you enjoy observing moths, or collect them as food for your animals, try smearing a tree trunk with honey or molasses. This old insect-collector’s trick has yielded me huge, spectacular Cecropia and polyphemus moths right in the heart of New York City!

Prepared Nectar Mixes
Nectargold for Lories and Lorikeets is a highly nutritious multi-fruit nectar mix. It is supplied dry, and so can be stored until needed. Many creatures will accept it as is, or you can tweak the recipe with honey or other favorites.

Further Reading
Some anoles take nectar so regularly that they may actually function as important plant pollinators. For more information, please see the following note in Herpetological Review

Rhacodactylus leachianus image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by Alfeus Liman.