Hemorrhoisresearch ARTICLES Algirus (Jan, 1863) in Captivity
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WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS IRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 21(2):80–82 • JUN 2014 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS HUSBANDRY FEATURE ARTICLES . Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Keeping. Theand Shared History Breedingof Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humansof onthe Grenada: Algerian Whipsnake A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 HemorrhoisRESEARCH ARTICLES algirus (Jan, 1863) in Captivity . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida Vasiliy G. Dyadichko .............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas (IBSS), Odessa Branch, CONSERVATION ALERT National Academy Sciences of Ukraine, . World’s Mammals in Crisis .............................................................................................................................................................37 Pushkinskaja Str., Odessa, Ukraine ([email protected]) 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of BiodiversityPhotographs ........................................................................................................................................... by the author except where noted. 225 HUSBANDRY Abstract.—I describe. Captive the Care firstof the Centralinstance Netted ofDragon successful ....................................................................................................... captive propagation of Algerian WhipsnakesShannon Plummer (226Hemorrhois algirus) in 2012–2013. In 2010–2012, a juvenile male and an adult pair were maintained separately. After two months of PROFILE hibernation (October–December. Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting 2012) Herpetology at 10–16 ................................................................................................ °C, the adults were introduced and Michael subsequently L. Treglia 234 housed together. The female laid six eggs on 23 March. They were incubated at 27–29 °C and one young hatched on 25 May, but died after 11 days duringCOMMENTARY the first shed. The remaining eggs were dissected and found to contain dead embryos. On 1 June . 2013, the female laidThe Turtles a second Have Been clutch Watching of Me five ........................................................................................................................ eggs. They were incubated at 25–27 °C at night Eric Gangloff and 26–30238 °C during the day. The youngBOOK hatched REVIEW between 3 and 15 August (exact dates unknown). After the first shed, they started to feed on small lizards, and. laterThreatened began Amphibians to accept of the World newborn edited by mice. S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 he genus Hemorrhois CONSERVATION includes RESEARCH four species REPORTS: previously Summaries of Published2012 Conservation an 85-cm Research male. Reports Snakes ................................. were held 245 separately in well venti- referred to the genusNATURAL Coluber HISTORY. These RESEARCH species REPORTS inhabit: Summaries dry of Publishedlated plastic Reports on or Natural glass History cages ................................. measuring 40 247 x 20 x 20 cm (juvenile T NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 open landscapes in southernEDITORIAL Europe, INFORMATION northern ..................................................................................................................................................... Africa, and the male) and 60 x 40 x 30 cm (adults). 251We placed incandescent Mideast (Kudryavtsev FOCUS et al. ON 1991, CONSERVATION Schleich et: Aal. Project 1996, You CanKwet Support ...............................................................................................lamps to create a hotspot with a temperature 252 reaching 37 °C. 2010). These Whipsnakes are rarely kept in zoos or private col- The opposite end of the cage was below 27 °C. Lamps were on lections and are even more rarely bred in captivity. Kudryavtsev for 14 h per day except for the hottest time of year, when heat- et al. (1991) described breeding the Spotted Whipsnake (H. ing was turned off for 3–5 h between 1100 and 1700 h to avoid ravergieri); A.V. Ognev (pers. comm.)Front also Cover. bred Shannon that Plummer. species in overheating.Back Cover. The Michael lamp Kern was controlled by a timer. Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo 1987. Unpublished information (V.N.estibus Tkachov, inveliquo velique pers. rerchil comm.) estibus We inveliquo used veliquemoss rerchil or paper as substrates and equipped cages described breeding Horseshoe Whipsnakeserspienimus, quos(H. accullabo. hippocrepis Ilibus ), erspienimus,with a small quos accullabo. water-bowl Ilibus and hiding places made of bark or aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum but no previous data address husbandryfugiatis maionsequatand propagation eumque of cartons.fugiatis maionsequatIf snakes eumquewere kept on moss, we sprayed the substrate Algerian Whipsnakes (H. algirus), andmoditia the erere reproductive nonsedis ma sectiatur biol - undermoditia erereone nonsedis of the ma hiding sectia- places in the warm part of the cage ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as ogy of these snakes in nature is poorlyaccullabo. known. Algerian Whipsnakes (Fig. 1) occur in northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, and the western Sahara; Schleich et al. 1996) and southern Europe (Malta), where they presumably were introduced (Venchi and Sindaco 2006, Kwet 2010). The species is listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List (Wagner and Wilms 2013) in view of its wide distribution and because no threats have been identified. This diurnally active snake inhabits dry open habitats and feeds on rodents and lizards. Materials and Methods We obtained our first Algerian Whipsnake (juvenile male, about Fig. 1. Young female Algerian Whipsnake (Hemorrhois algirus). This spe- cies occurs in northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, 30 cm total length; Fig. 2) in September 2010. In August 2011, Mauritania, and the western Sahara) and southern Europe (Malta), where we acquired a female about 55 cm length and in November it presumably was introduced. Copyright © 2014. Vasiliy G. Dyadichko. All rights reserved. 80 DYADICHKO IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 21(2):80–82 • JUN 2014 Fig. 2. Juvenile male Algerian Whipsnake (Hemorrhois algirus), about 30 cm total length). to keep it constantly wet. If paper was used as a substrate, we They consistently refuse dead prey. Lizards and pinky mice placed a humid hide box in the cage. The humid hide box is were swallowed alive, weaned mice were killed by pressing a plastic box measuring 15 x 10 x 5 cm with an entrance in the mouse against the floor or side of the cage with a loop the cover and filled with wet moss. This box was also used by of its body. They never constricted prey in the coils of the the female for ovipositioning. We fed snakes weekly (lizards body. We never observed our whipsnakes drinking, but they in the genus Lacerta or laboratory mice), except the female, did soak in the water dishes for short periods. They spent which was fed twice per week while gravid. considerable time basking, apparently maintaining body tem- To induce mating behavior, we cooled snakes for two peratures over 29 °C, avoiding the hotspot only at midday months. Preparation for hibernation (September to early during the hottest time of year (June–August) when room October 2012) included fasting for 1.5 months, a gradual temperatures reached 31 °C. temperature decrease, and shortening of the photoperiod. The juvenile male reached 60 cm in length by 2013. The For the next two months (13 October–10 December 2012), female grew to 80 cm in length in the same period. we maintained snakes in dark, dry conditions at 10–16 °C. We are unsure if the successful breeding in 2012–2013 At the end of the hibernation period, we warmed snakes for was correlated with the first shed after hibernation or not. We two days at 17–20 °C, then moved them from hibernation observed neither courtship or mating; however, on 8 January, boxes to cages. We kept cages at 20–22 °C during the day and the female’s appetite increased dramatically. We noticed the 16–19 °C at night for two days before turning on the heating first visible signs of pregnancy (body thickening posteriorly, lamps and resuming regular maintenance. We fed snakes after scales separated and exposing