NEWSLETTER OF THE

I ES T H TOLOGICAL SOCIETY

1991 E 11 BELL MUSEUM OF NATIJRAL HISTORY 10 CHURCH ST. S.E. I\lINNEAPOUS, MN 55455-0104

Dec. 7, 1991

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MHS Holiday Banquet, St. Paul Student Center, University of Minnesota 6:30 to 10:30 pm

~ ~ II The purpose of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is: to further the education of the II

III membership and the general public in care and captive propagation of reptiles and amphi.. IIII

mans; to educate the membership and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles II and amphibians; and to promote lhe study and COIlSelVation of reptiles and amphibians. II

II 1/

IIII III BOARD OF DIRECTORS II II II PRESIDENT John Meltzer (612) 263-7880 II II VICE-PRESIDENT Terry Scheiber (612) 440-7482 II

IIII MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Dennis Daly (612) 633 .. 8370 IIII

RECORDING SECRETARY Michele S1illinger (612) 588 .. 4613 II TREASURER Marilyn Brooks (612) 533 .. 7723 'II II NEWSLEITER EDITOR Jo Anne Wetherell-Moriarty (612) 647-1334 II II MEMBER-AT-LARGE Glen Jacobsen (612) 757-8268 II II MEMBER-AT-LARGE VenceJimerson (612) 869-8547 II II MEMBER-AT-LARGE Greg Kvanbek (612) 533-7723 II 1\ MEMBER-AT-LARGE Bill Moss (612) 488-1383 II II IMMEDIATE PAST PRES. JohnMoriarty (612) 647-1334 II ~:====================~=======================~

© Copyright Minnesota Herpetological Society. The contents of this newsletter may be reproduced for inclusion in the newsletters of other herpetological societies provided that the material is reproduced without change and proper credits are given to the MHS Newsletter citing volume number and date.

DATE: Friday, December 6, 1991 TIME: 7:00PM

Next Meeting

PLACE: 335 Borlaug Hall st. Paul Campus University of Minnesota

PROGRAM: Captive Propagation and Husbandry of Tri-colors and Albinos

SPEAKER: Brent Peugnet

Brent Peugnet will be leaving the warm climate of Phoenix, Arizona to Visit us in the northland. Brent will speak on his experiences with the captive propagation and husbandry of tri-color and albino snakes of the genera Lampropeltis and EJaphe. He has been successful at breeding several species within these genera and plans to cover topics such as housing and husbandry, anatomy, physiology, successful double clutching, and some of the difficulties he has encountered while working with various species.

CRITIER OF THE MONTH: Herps of the ·tri -colored· persuasion

Be sure to bring a proper container to display your animal during critter time. Animals are not to be .~plaY~.4lJ!itlg!l!~~~~1:ip.g~){~ptgll$g. ffi®:r (If tlletn.0ntlJ. pe1"iQ.cl •. Il!~g~.~Q~~~:wIDn.Qtbe allowed. Members who do not comply will not be allowed to display their animal.

Holiday Banquet Note: Due to the cancellation of the November meeting, it will be necessary to mail in your reservation. See center page for details.

Upcoming Meetings

January 3: Minnesota Laws and the Herp Enthusiast - Del Bloucher (re-scheduled from-Nov.)

February 7: The Great White Snake Sale - See page 6 for details.

March 6: MHS annual meeting and elections.

Next Newsletter Deadline December 1

MHS Newsletter, \.701. XI, No. 11 1

Hoard Meeting Minutes

The October board meeting was held on October 5 at the home of Vence and Nanette Jimerson. The meeting was ca11ed to order at 7:25 PM. Present were John Meltzer, Terry Scheiber, Dennis Daly, Michele Stillinger, Marilyn Brooks, Glen Jacobsen, Greg Kvanbek, and Bill Moss. John Moriarty and Jo Anne Wetherell-Moriarty were absent Minutes from the previous meeting were distributed and accepted. 91 people attended the general meeting in.October.

The treasurer's report was distributed and accepted. Marilyn handed out information from the grant writing class that she attended. A committee will be fonned to seek grants for special projects.

President's Report: Someone is needed to maintain the name badge box. Nanette Jimerson volunteered. Bruce Denes has requested that his foot locker be returned. This will be done as soon as we can get it and the adoption materials back from Fred Bozvay. Bill Moss volunteered to do this. Bruce would also like the display board to be removed from his store. John will do this. Bruce has the MHS rrre extinguishers. This need to be obtained and a decision made on what to do with them.

Vice President's Report: Kate Slavens program was very good and well liked. Del Bloucher is set for November. Brent Peugnet will speak at the December meeting and at the Holiday Banquet A speaker is needed for January. February is the white snake sale. Possible topics for future mec~ttru~s include Wood Turtles and Bullsnakes. Terry has spoken to Richard Ross about speaking

Old Busin~ss: Mor~jnfonnatiollwas~yailabl~LQn_displaysatthe~tate_-.E~eLCenter~Jtjs-8-good------~---­idea but the insurance required would be a big expense.

New Business:· The new TFH book on keeping and raising geckoes will be purchased for the library.

Roundtable: Fund raising continues to be a big topic. Several ideas were discussed. A request for ideas from members will be placed in the newsletter. Glen announced that Sara (Strand) Richards is now on the the adoption committee. More volunteers are needed. Terry had questions about the defmition of a venomous herp (in regard to getting approval to bring them to meetings). The board decided to let Teny classify by family what is considered venomous. Dennis told the group about a bill to give the Forest Service priority over endangered species in old growth forest. He will write a letter to put in the newsletter.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20. Refreshments were served.

Program Highlights

At the October meeting Kate Slavens gave a presentation about the status of the Pacific Pond Turtle. There are approximately sixty known individual turtles left in the state of Washington. She explained the head start program she has been involved in as well as the historical and current ranges of these turtles, the diseases, and natural causes of their demise. Kate showed a large variety of slides showing the typical habitat of these turtles. More work needs to be done in the area of habitat preservation as well as research in the diseases affecting·1hem if this species is to survive.

MHS Newsletter, ·Vol. XI, No. 11 2

Get Involved With MHS .

Listed below are several MHS activities for which volunteers are needed. Please be an involved member and give a few hours of your time. Last year those members with a significant number of volunteer hours were rewarded with MHS mugs.

White Snake Sale Committee Chairperson - Coordinate volunteers and organize bid sheets and items for the sale. See John Meltzer or call 1-263-7880.

Holiday Banquet Assistants - Help with set-up and/or clean-up. See Marilyn Brooks or call 533-7723.

Grants Committee members - help fmd organizations with grant programs, write grant proposals, and organize projects. See Marilyn Brooks or call 533-7723.

Special Holiday Raffle

A special raffle will be held in December. The items are two pieces of art. One is a plate (frontspiece from the Agkistrodon book) signed by Roger Conant This was sent to MRS in thanks for their contribution to the publication of the book. The other is at the original pen and ink drawing of a softshell turtle by Sarma Brewer. Tickets will be sold at the monthly meeting. Ticket

'~~~'~~~~~~~~~price~is~f1fty~cents:11re~dra~wmDtraone atllIe HolRtay BanqueC "~"" ~~~"~~"-"~~~~~-~

Call for Papets

At the' 1992 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Rep1iles at El Paso, Texas, the Regional Society liaison Committee will be sponsoring a one-day conference on "Federal and State Wildlife Laws and Regulations and How They Affect Regional Herpetological Societies". At this time, the committee is issuing a call for papers for anyone wishing to speak on this topic. Topics addressed can be on any subject pertaining to the conference title and can be as infonnal as the speaker desires. Papers will be limited to twenty minutes in length. Complete audiovisual services will be available. Those wishing to present a paper should send a title and a brief abstract no later than December 15, 1991 to: Eric M. Rundquist, Department of Herpetology, Sedgwick County Zoo, 5555 Zoo Boulevard, Wichita, Kansas 67212: FAX (316) 942-3781. Please let him know the details of any audiovisual needs. He \Vi.11 contact you after the conference schedule is established to notify you oithe date, titne,and place 'of your paper .

. Banquet Volunteers Needed

People are needed to assist with the Holiday Banquet. Can you help to set up the room, to decorate or to clean up after? By doing this ourselves we keep the costs down. Please give Marilyn Brooks a call at (612) 533-7723. .

Jl..1HS Newsletter, Vol. ,,\7, No. 11 3

Farewell to a Big Lizard by Drew Newman

Writing or delivering a eulogy for a loved one can be a very difficult thing to do. What makes this even more difficult for me is that I knew for a long time that one day I would have to eulogize my beloved iguana, Caesar. In all of the articles I've written, published and unpublished, this is the one I never wanted to see m print.

I remember very distinctly receiving the call from the Vets office to infonn me that Caesar had passed away. It was like a moment frozen in time. With it came the numbing disbelief, one of the flfSt components of grief. I didn't truly break down and cry until I picked up his body at the animal hospital and I saw that those inquisitive, attentive eyes would never look at me again. There was a dep pain in my soul as I drove him home and buried him that afternoon. Even now, after some

. time has passed, it is difficult to find the proper words to remember this wonderful creature.

All of my animals are special but there was just something about that big lizard. Maybe it says something that he was the most visible subject in our family photo album, people included. I think that more than anything I .felt privueged to be in his life. Through my relationship with him I learned to value the simpler things. Because of him (and herps in general) I have started recycling and being more ecologically-minded. Caesar has probably been to ninety percent of the Hands-ons that I've done and he never generated a negative response. I like to think that because of his

· ... ·~·.·~ .. ~~ .... exposllre~to~peepl~mooll~~mo~'OOnev~lellt~tQ~het=pS~in~~futtl~

~·~-···-··-·---I-don!t-think-l-could-put-it~more-aptly-than·that-he-was-a-member-of-my--family-and-tb.e-grief-rve----·------­experienced in losing him was considerable. So, this eulogy is for me too, a process in working through his death. I purposely haven't spoken to any herp people about this because many of them probably couldn't understand how a grown man could be so affected by having a lizard die. Each morning when I would come home from work I would look in my kitchen window and, more often than not, see Caesar perched on his ledge looking back at me. The window ledge is empty now but not the special place in my heart that Caesar will always live.

-Don't worry. John ... it's not

a venomous species!1II

MHS Newsletter, \lo1. Xl, No. 11 4

ACROSS

1. "DESERT TANK" 3. FOOD FOR SOME TOADS 8. "EFT" 10. BABY 11. TOAD "FAMILY" 12. FROG SPECIES 13. FUN PLACE IN S.DAKOTA 15. OUR STATE 16. RED RAT SNAKE 18. POISONOUS SNAKE 19. SNAKE

MHS Newsletter, Vol. Xl, No. 11

DOWN

1. LARGEST REPTILE SHOP AROUND 2. ANN PORWOLL'SCAUSE 4. REGARDING STUDY OF OUR PETS 5. GROUP OF PEOPLE 6. SLIMY, TAILED AMPHIBIAN 7. SNAKE WI TURNED-UP "NOSE" 9. A MEDIUM-LARGE LIZARD 11. YELLO~~-THROATED TURTLE 14. LARGE VEGETARIAN LIZARD 17. SNAKE OF CROSSWORDS

5

Heii Museum Threatened with Closure

The Bell Museum of Natural History is facing severe budget cuts from two fronts. These cuts could cause the Museum to close as soon as July I, 1992. Once the Museum is closed it will be difficult to re-open. .

The Bell Museum is an important resource for all Minnesotans and MHS members. The Bell Museum provides MHS with a mailbox and has co-sponsored the two Midwest conferences held in Minnesota. They have also assisted in room arrangements for our monthly meetings.

The Museum's Touch and See room provides education programs to over 30,000 visitors per year. Much of the programming uses live reptiles and amphibians. The wildlife information phone service handles thousands of calls per year. Many of the calls are herp-related. Both of these programs will end if funding is not restored.

The first funding cut came from the state when the governor vetoed the "State Special" portion of the higher education funding bill. You can help restore this money by contacting your state senator and representative and encouraging them to re-instate the "State Special". If you do not know your state official, you can call the state senate at (612) 296-0504 or state house at (612) 296-2146.

The second funding cut came from the College of Biological Science. This cut was made because of a lack of knowledge on the Dean's part about the importance of the Museum to Minnesota. You

------1IC_irney, Dhecfm, Ben Museum of Natural History, and express your support for the museum, highlighting its importance to the community. Copies of your letter

.. -~-~ 'should'be sentto-Dean·Peter·Magee-and~PresidefirNilsHasselm(f.~Theitaddressesare~liSted· below.

If you have any questions or want more information about the museum's predicament call John Moriarty (612) 476-4663 or Anna Pidgeon (612) 624-3595 .

. Dr. Elmer Birney Director Bell Museum of Nat. Hist. 10 Church st. SE . Minneapolis, MN 55455

Dr. Peter Magee Dean College of BioI. . Sciences 1445 Gortner,Ave .

. St. Paul,MN 55108

Dr. Nils Hasselmo President Univ. of Minnesota 100 Church st. SE Minneapolis,MN 55455

Get Ready for the MUS White Snake Sale

The February meeting will be devoted to the annual MHS white snake sale. This is a fund-raiser for MHS. Save your herp-related items to donate to the sale. Items that might be donated include: jewelry, books,~cages, art, and any other herp-type item you might come up with. Now is a good time to clean out those attics, basements, and spare rooms. Don't forget to save your money and bring it with,you to the sale. Money raised will go to cover MHS operating expenses and activities throughout the. year.

MHS Newsletter, Vol. XI, No. 11 6·

Turtle Vivarium by James H. Rea

MHS member, Ann Porwoll, has designed a cage set-up for semi-aquatic turtles that merits imitation. Essentially, she has placed a terrarium above an aquarium. When I built a copy for Wood and Box Turtles the most difficult step was figuring out how to fit the components together, This report addresses some functional considerations about the design.

.sO

7

Land

Open Woter Fig. 2. Deloils: 1 - glos'3 .joors, 2 - r~mp, 3 - i1>?oler,

Fig, 1. The design. 4 - Vitollte, S - 150 wott lomp. 6 - peel contolner, 7 - hol rocl<.

Figure I shows three components: water, land, and an open section that is not a part of the living --space;~All-parts-are~3/4~inch-plywooci,-making-a~cage-size~of-4'r2'r2'-the~mosteconomica1~ ~~~~~~~~~~-~~~~~~~~-~~~-~~~~

However, bigger is always better. The face of the upper component, the land section, is two pieces of 1/4 inch glass set in aluminum tracks to slide past each other (see figure 2). The mechanics of sliding doors can be studied on glass display cases. The tracks are available at building supply centers.

Water is provided in a 25 gallon breeder tank, roughly 2'x 2'x 1'. Any large aquarium will do. Ann built on top of another cage, providing height needed to drain the water with a siphon. I had to clear a low window so was kept to a low proflle.~ The tank sits on a piece of plywood with roner skates beneath to aid in pulling the aquarium out for cleaning. Allow for the wood to swell when sizing the opening for the tank To change the water twice a week a bucket, a toilet, and a garden hose are very handy. A hand spray diverter can be installed behind the shower head and adapted to fit a hose.

A fun-width plastic ramp in the tank separates the water into halves at a 30-degree angle. When Wood Turtles court this false floor enables the female to reach air when mounted. Otherwise she might drown. Since box turtle are clumsy swimmers it also facilitates their movement.

Sheet vinyl or some watetproof covering is needed to protect the plywood floor from wet turtles when they emerge from swimming. A rubber storage box is recessed into the floor over the open space, filled willed with peat and covered with spagnum. The turtles enjoy digging in this then transporting the peat into the tank to foul the water. Ann utilized the open component as space for a tortoise cage, a highly efficient arrangement.

Taxonomically, turtles are anapsids. This II Ann-apsid If vivarium is an excellent solution to the problem of where to house semi-aquatics, especially juveniles, when the outdoor pen is too cold but the turtles cannot handle too long a period of hibernation.

MHS Newsletter, Vol. ){l, No. 11 7

1.0.0 = male; 0.1.0 = female; 0.0.1 = unknown

FOR SALE: Solomon Island prehensile tailed skinks, $175 ea. Call Chris at (612) 459-2725 or 451-7441 (work).

FOR SALE: Black Ratsnakes, c.h. 8/91, feeding on pinkies, $15. ea. Call D.K. Compton at . (612) 872-7266 days or weekends.

FOR SALE: Oketee Corn Snake hatchlings, $15. ea. Call Greg Kvanbekat (612) 533-7723.

FOR SALE: Oketee Corn Snakes, heterozygous for Hsnow", very bright and vivid colors, $30. ea. Call David at (612) 444-9775.

WANTED: I need all the shed snake skins in the world - always - to give away at reptile programs. Contact Bob Duerr at (612) 541- 9417.

INSTRUCTIONS: Ads are run as a free service to paid members. Ads for venomous species, illegal species, or sick animals will not be run. MHS takes no responsibility for legality or health of any animal advertised here. Ads may be run for three consecutive months at which

.~~~~~Jime ads may be.r~ubmitted. The edi~erves the right to omit ad£:whm,spaG04!ieH"m' rli1' ~1 ~~~~.~~ .••.• -~.~~

so as to anowall members a chance to advertise. Size of ads is limited to 4 typed lines or 1 ············ .. ·--11· ~standard-size ·business·card.·l)eadline-for~all-newsletter~items ~is·the-lst·~of~the·month. ·Send~ -­

all newsletter items to : ATIN: Newsletter Editor, Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church st. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104,

T 0 R T 0 I S E MOT H .~'V U S E I R S 0 H R ~l E ~'1 T A C T 0 P C L L I E G E I N E 0 N A T E G N T T T M T B U F 0 0 I R A ~i A Y L S L E U N A E 0 S S D N G R E P T I LEG A R DEN S I E G R I C P U MIN N E SOT A T A G L I N COR N S N A K E L A S E V I PER S E RP E N T

AfHS Newsletter, V'oJ. ){l, No. 11 8

~ HERP ASSISTANCE PEOPLE ~ " II II Do you ever have a question about one of your herps and wonder who might be able to provide an II \I answer? Most people who keep pets of any kind have been in this situation at one time or another. II II A group of MRS members has volunteered to provide assistance. Listed below are the people and II " their specialties. Please be reasonable about the time of day and how frequently you call. II \I \I II Large pythons and constrictors Other Snakes II \I Glen (Jake) Jacobsen 757-8268 Del Jones 938-8555 II " Jack Walsh, Jr. (715) 822-8726 JohnMeltzer 263-7880 1/

" II II 1\

II Lizards Amphibians \I " Nancy Haig 789-4637 John Meltzer 263-7880 II \I Barney Oldfield 1-923-4856 Greg Kvanbek 533-7723 \I

1\ II II II

1\ Aquatic Turtles II II John Moriarty 647-1334 Barney Oldfield 1-923-4856 \I II Ann POlWoll 489-7853 Dennis Daly 633-8370 \I II II

--ll----------------- J.limu:sotJLlIerps... .... ---------------. . II II Greg Kvanbek 533-7723 II II Jolm Moriarty 647-1334 II ~ ~

NANm(S) ______________________________________________________ _

ADDRBSS

CITY _____________ _ STATB __ ZIP CODB ____ _

PHONE ___________ _ LIST IN MHS DIRECTORY? YBS__ NO __

HBRP-RELATBD INTBRBSTS _____________________ _

TYPB OF MEMBBRSHIP? NEW__ RENEWRL __ U of MN STUDENT __ (check if yes)

__ SUSTAINING ..••...• $60.00

__ CONTRIBUTING ..... $30.00

__ INSTITUTION ...... $25.00

__ BASIC ....• _ .....•.•. $15.00

OFFICIAL (ORIGINAL) MHS T-SHIRT - $1.00 includes postage (indicate how many of each)

Adult: small __ medium__ large__ x-Iarge __ Kids: 6-8__ 10-12 __

Please enclose payment. MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Minnesota Herpetological Society. Membership is for 12 months from date of joining. A membership card will be sent by return mail. A receipt will be sent only on request. MAIL TO: Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

BELL MUSBUM OP NAn.JR.AL HISTOR.Y 10 CHURCH STRBBT S.R. , MINNBAPOLIS II MN 55455-0104

te U.S. Postage

PAID Mpls. MN

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