Vol. 32 (2012), No. 3

MinnesotaHerpetologicalSociety

March 2012 Volume 32

the newsletter of the

Number 3

C o n t e n t s

Upcoming Speaker: Boelen’s Pythons

The

Whi

te S

nake

Sal

e is

Com

ing!

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

PresidentChristopher E Smith [email protected]

Vice PresidentDāv Kaufman [email protected]

Recording SecretaryEllen Heck [email protected]

Membership SecretaryHeather Clayton 612.886.7175 [email protected]

TreasurerNancy Haig [email protected]

Newsletter EditorChristopher Rueber [email protected]

Members at LargeJeff LeClere [email protected]

Kat Rorvig [email protected]

Beth Girard [email protected]

Peter [email protected]

C O M M I T T E E S

AdoptionSarah Richard [email protected]

EducationJan Larson [email protected]

LibraryNancy Haig [email protected]

THE PURPOSE OF THE MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY IS TO

• Further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captive propagation of reptiles and amphibians;

• Educate the members and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles and amphibians;

• Promote the study and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

TheMinnesotaHerpetologicalSocietyisanon-profit,tax-exemptorganiza-tion. Membership is open to all individuals with an interest in amphibians and reptiles. The Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter is published monthly to provide its members with information concerning the society’s activitiesandamediaforexchanginginformation,opinionsandresources.

GeneralMeetingsareheldatBorlaugHall,Room335ontheSt.PaulCam-pusoftheUniversityofMinnesota,onthefirstFridayofeachmonth(unlessthereisaholidayconflict).Themeetingstartsat7:00pmandlastsaboutthree hours. Please check the MHS Voice mail for changes in schedules or cancellations.

SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER

Ads or Notices must be submitted no later than the night of the General Meetingtobeincludedinthenextissue.Longerarticleswillbeprintedastimeandspaceallowsandshouldbeinelec-tronicfileformatifpossible.See inside back cover for ad rates. Submissions may be sent to:

The Minnesota Herpetological Society -or- [email protected]: Newsletter EditorBell Museum of Natural History10ChurchStSEMinneapolis,MN55455-0104

Stay informed! Join us on our forums!And,youcanstillleaveusaVoice Mail:612.326.6516

SNAKE BITE EMERGENCY

HENNEPIN REGIONAL POISON CENTER 800-222-1222

©Copyright2012,MinnesotaHerpetologicalSociety.Exceptwherenoted,contentsmayberepro-ducedfornon-profit,non-commercialuseonly.Allmaterialmustbereproducedwithoutchange.Proper credit will be given including the author/photographer and the Minnesota Herpetological SocietyNewsletterciting:volume,numberanddate.

BellMuseumofNaturalHistory,10ChurchStreetSoutheast,Minneapolis,Minnesota,55455-0104

March 2012 Volume 32 Number 3

CoverPhotoCredit:StewartMacdonaldFoundonFlickr.Reproducedwithpermission.

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society March 2012 Volume 32 Number 3

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February General Meeting Presentation - Friday, March 2nd - Starting at 7 P.M.University of MN - St. Paul Campus, Borlaug Hall, Room 335

Mark Spatero will be presenting on...

Boelen’s Pythons!

And, in case you missed Nick Mutton’s talk at the February general meeting:

Carpet PythonsThespeakerinFebruarywasNickMutton,co-authorofTheCompleteCarpetPythons. Nick has been fascinated with and breeding thesesnakesfor20years.Onethinghehasobserved over the years is that although you canincubatetheeggsinanincubator,thecarpets do a better job incubating the eggs themselves. The babies hatch out larger and healthier,andalthoughthefemalesendupverythinafter7monthsofnoteating,theyobviously know something we humans do not.

Pythons in general immigrated to Australia fromAsiaabout35millionyearsago.Oncetheygotthere,theyquicklydiversifiedintothevariouseco-systemsavailable.Carpetpythons are endemic to Australia with a few speciesinNewGuinea.However,theydidn’tneed to get their feet wet to spread to the island; New Guinea and Australia are the same continental mass. Periodically more of it sticks out of the ocean and the Australian native species walked there before the oceans rose again.

Moreliaspilotaspilota,thediamondpython,is one of first pythons ever described. They comeinthreevarieties;anorthernform,asouthern form and a very stable integrade form in between the two. This is a bit unusu-alastherearenogeographicbarriers,atleastnow,toexplainthedifferences.Thisistrueofthebirdsandskinksinthisareaaswell,so

possibly there was some sort of barrier in the past.AsNickputit,itislikeanentiremoun-tain range just got up and left. They live in areasthatarecoolerthanonewouldexpectfor pythons; cool wet forests with cool drafts of air under the canopy. They seem delicate in captivity but this is due to their specific climate needs.

Thecoastalcarpet,moreliaspilotamcdowel-li,isfoundonthenortheastcoastandseemsto have no real rules as to their appearance. Theytendtobeveryarboreal,spendingroughly90%oftheirtime“onastick”.Theextremesouthernsnakesarethelargest(10’-14’),havelargermostlypattern-lessheadsand the babies are red. The northern types are smaller and the colors are more contrast-ing.

Morelia spilota cheynei is the jungle carpet. There are many color differentiations in this group but not enough genetic differences to make valid subspecies. This may be because duringtheinter-glacialperiods,therainfor-ests grow back and the snakes spread out. But the eco-system does not last long enough for genetic variation.

The species of morelia spilota variegata used to include all carpet pythons but now just is specifically a rarer type from the northwest. Theseareverydistinctgenetically,comingfrom an area of eucalyptus. They are mostly


4

orange and brown in coloring.

Theinlandcarpet,moreliaspilotametcalfei,may need be more than a subspecies of car-petpython,beingverygeneticallydistinctfromtheothers.However,despiteadividingmountainrangesplittingthepopulation,theyare very closely related to each other. In col-or they are a gunmetal blue. The region they arefoundinisextremelydry;manyofthe“rivers”onlyhavewaterinthematcertaintimesoftheyear,oreverycoupleofyears. The population density is therefore fairly low. In captivity they will actually build nests to lay eggs in. They became available in the US about5yearsagoandweresuccessfullybredlast year.

Bredl’spython,moreliabredl,comesfromadesert in the center of continent that is sur-rounded by another desert. Alice Springs is in this area and the terrain has a lot of rock escarpmentsandgumtrees.Thesandisred,so the snakes are very red in color to blend in. Finding them in the wild tends to be diffi-cult. Although technically not a carpet py-thon,thisisoneofNick’sfavoritespecies.

The southern carpet became a subspecies in 1981 and has now been elevated to a full species morelia imbreicata. There are basi-cally two populations in south central and southwesternAustralia,separatedbyabout700mileswithnotalotinbetween.Thisis probably due to the long term climate changes the continent has gonethroughoverthelast14mil-lion years.

Thepapuancarpet,moreliaspilotaharrisoni,isfoundoverinNewGuinea. The island is covered mostlybyrainforest,withafewscrub patches of eucalyptus scat-tered around. If is in the patches thattheAustralianspecies,includ-

ingthepythons,arefound.Genetically,theyare almost indistinguishable from the coastal species. Most are found along the southern coast,althoughthereisonelonerecordfromthe1920’sinthenorth.Itislikelytheyarestillthere,butnoonehasgonelookingtofindthem,ordetermineiftheyareadistinctspecies. The eucalyptus savannahs are not connected,norhastherebeenanyrealtest-ing done between the different populations to determinewhat,ifany,variationsthereare. Mostappeartobesimilar,althoughtheeast-ern snakes tend to be larger and heavier.

Likemostsnakes,carpetpythonshaveenoughgenetic variations and mutations to produce morphs. Although Nick doesn’t think they willbecomeanotherballpython,theyarebe-coming more available and so more popular. This is going to become even more true in the future,withbansbeingplacedonthelargerpythons.Carpetpythonscanproducethemostcommonmorphslikealbino,stripedandaxanthicofcourse,butzebra,jaguar,tigerand caramel variations are also being bred. Sometypes,likegranite,tendtohavehealthissues. Nick’s theory is that since morphs are caused by the color genes not working cor-rectly,othergenesarealsonotfullyfunction-al.Ratherthantryingtodescribethemorphs,I suggest visiting Nick’s website www.inland-reptile.comforpictures.Orcheckoutwww.Moreliapythons.comfor“carpetpythonnerdcentral”.


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By Ellen Heck

Themeetingwascalledtoorderat6:20pmattheSt.PaulCampus.Thecalendarwasreviewedfor action items.

Ellen read the minutes. Several corrections were made. Motion to accept the minutes as corrected: Heather; 2nd: Jeff. Motion passed.

Vice-PresidentFebruary: Nick Mutton - carpet pythons;

March: Mark Spatero; May: open; June: Kevin McCurley-conservationofrattlesnakes;July:Mark Tovar - snake venom in cancer research; August: Wayne Hill - the history of the National ReptileBreedersExpo&turtlekeeping;Sept:open;October:BillLove-herpphotographyinthefield;November:maybebooked;December:possibly Tell Hicks

AdoptionCommittee: A few more things need tobedefinedtobreakuptheintakeandthehandling of unadopted animals after the meeting. There are several volunteers.

Old Business

OnlineNewsletters:Sofar,23peoplehavesigned up to receive electronic newsletters.Theexchangenews-letters still need to be reviewed. Theextranewslettersbeingsentto some of the board positions canbediscontinued.Lifetimememberships will be given the same options as any other mem-ber.Expiredmembershipswillreceive the electronic newslet-ter only for the 2 months grace period,regardlessoftheirpref-erence. They will also have 2 months grace on the website.

MeetingDates: The dates for SeptemberandOctoberstillneedtobefinalized,asthereareconflicts.

New Business

GiveMN.org: This is a website to allow peo-pletodonatemoneytoanon-profit.Allnon-profitsarelistedwhetherweknowitornotbutthe information can be added to our website to advertise it. Any donations will be mailed to our officialaddress.

ExpensePaymentSystem:Ratherthancreatea4thbankaccountorgetintopre-paidcreditcards,acardwillbeissuedagainstthetrans-feraccounttomakecertainpayments,suchasspeakerexpenses,easier.

SiouxFallsHerpSociety: A new society is startingupintheSiouxFallsarea.Heatherwillcontact them to see if they would like to set up a newsletterexchange.

Mailbox: The University will no longer al-lowMHStohaveamailboxattheBellMuseum.Thereareseveraloptions,includingaPOboxatapostoffice,theUPSstoreandapersonalad-dress. These will be reviewed at the February meeting.

Motiontoadjourn:Jeff;2nd:Dav.Meetingadjourned:9:51pm.

Board Minutes for January 7th, 2011


6

Treasurer’s Report for Jan 2012Prepared by Nancy Haig

Beginning Balance $13,449.20

Income:Membership $280.00

Raffle $51.00

Adoption $110.00

RodentSales $459.00

Hands-OnDonations $212.65

HolidayBanquet $165.00

MidwestSymposium $2,748.50

Total Income $4,026.15

Expense:Newsletter $230.70

Program $500.00

RodentCost $0.00

adopt/Vet $60.00

HolidayBanquet $115.71

MidwestSymposium $484.32

Total Expense $1,390.73

Cash Increase/Decrease +$2,635.41

Ending Balance $16,084.62

Placement of cash holdings CheckingAccount $16,084.62

Transfertochecking $2,300.00

TCF/Paypal $131.09

Paypal $451.98

Cashonhand $175.00

Total $19,142.69

February Adoption ReportPostedbySarahRichard,EditedbyChrisRueber

There was one Ball Python and one Garter Snake. Two BoardedDragons,andasingleLeopardGecko.TherewerethreeRussianTortoise,threeSoftShellTurtle,two

RedEaredSlider,andthreeToadBoxTurtles.

NOTICE- Minnesota Herpetological Society

In an effort to cut costs and be more environmentally friendly,thecurrentBoardofDirectorshasmadethedeci-sion to move the monthly newsletter to a digital format. It is our hope that as the society reduces the volume of its printed materials,itwillopenupadditionalfundsthatcanbeturnedaroundandusedtofurtherbenefitthemembersoftheMHS,along with furthering the goals of the society with things such asbybringinginadditionalhigh-qualityspeakersandfund-ing herpetofaunal research. AsofJanuary1st,2012allnewandrenewingMHSmember-shipsatthe$20(Basic),$40(Contributing),$60(Sustain-able),and$25(Business)levelswillreceiveONLINE ONLY newsletters by default. Membershipsexpiringafterthefirstof January will be grandfathered into the printed newsletter systematnoadditionalcostuntiltheir2012renewaldead-line. The most recent 12 online newsletters will be viewable (tocurrentmembersonly)byloggingintotheMHS’swebsite.All newsletters older than 12 months will be viewable to the public. We will also be sending out notices of newsletter availabilityviae-mailstartinginJanuary2012. If a member desires to continue receiving printed copies of thenewsletterinthemail,theywillneedtoopt-in at the time of their 2012 renewal date. By opting in to a print copy ofthenewsletter,thememberisalsoagreeingtopayanad-ditional$5.00abovethecostoftheirstandardmembershipand will need to notify and submit the additional fee to the Membership Secretary. That additional fee will need to be paid each year upon renewal. As of January 1st, 2012, any member can request to be moved to the online only newsletter system before their 2012 renewal date. This is encouraged! Please send your name (First and Last) and preferred e-mail address to the Membership Secretary at:

[email protected] Sincerely,MHSBoardofDirectorswww.mnherpsoc.com

Minnesota Herpetological Society Membership ApplicationNew

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Please enclose the proper payment with your application. Make checks payable to MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY.Membershipisfor12monthsfromthedateofapproval.Areceiptwillbesentonlyuponrequest.Mail To: Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum of Natural History,10ChurchSt.SE,Minneapolis,MN55455Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

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MHS Ad Policy:TheMHSassumesNORESPON-SIBILITYregardingthehealthorlegalityofanyanimal,orthequalityorlegalityofanyproductorservice advertised in the MHS Newsletter. Any ad may be rejected at the discretion of the Newsletter Editor.Duetospacelimitations,unpaidandcom-plimentary advertisements are subject to occasional omission.

Classified Ads: All active members are allowed a classifiedad,runfreeofchargeasspacepermits.Adsmayberunthree(3)consecutivemonths,afterwhich time they may be resubmitted.

Submissions: All advertisements should be submitted to the MHS Membership Secretary at the general meeting or mailed to: Bell Museum of Natural His-tory. 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. DeadlineisthenightoftheGeneralMeetingforinclusioninthenextnewsletter.Makecheckspay-able to: Minnesota Herpetological Society.

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Forpick-upatmonthlymeetingsonly.Ordersmaybeplacedthe following ways

1. At the meeting for the following Month2. Onlineathttp://mnherpsoc.com/content/rodent-orders3. CallingtheMHSvoicemail:612.326.6516

OrdersMUSTbeplaced10DAYSINADVANCE of the date of meeting in order to guarantee availability.

MICE WEIGHT PRICE Pinkies 2-3grams $7/dzFuzzies 5-7grams $7/dzHoppers 8-11grams $8/dzWeanlings 12-15grams $9/dzAdults 25-30grams $10/dzJumboAdult 45+grams $14/dz

RATS WEIGHT PRICE SmallAdults 50-60grams $18/dzMedAdults 125-150grams $24/dzLargeAdults 200-240grams $30/dzJumbo 250-350grams $36/dz

Rodents! Order online!Did you know you can

order online? By phone? See below!

NextMeeting:Friday - March 2nd - 7:00 pmRoom335BorlaugHall,UofMSt.PaulCampus

MHS Voice Mail:612.326.6516

MHS Web Page:www.mnherpsoc.com

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Vol. 32 (2012), No. 3

Documents

Transcript of Vol. 32 (2012), No. 3