SWCHR Volume 3, Issue 1 BULLETINSpring 2013 ISSN 2330-6025 Conservation - Preservation - Education - Public Information Research - Field Studies - Captive Propagation The SWCHR BULLETIN is published quarterly by the SOUTHWESTERN CENTER FOR HERPETOLOGICAL RESEARCH PO Box 624, Seguin TX 78156 www.southwesternherp.com email: [email protected] ISSN 2330-6025 OFFICERS 2013-2014 COMMITTEE CHAIRS PRESIDENT COMMITTEE ON COMMON AND SCIENTIFIC Toby Brock NAMES Tom Lott VICE PRESIDENT Gerry Salmon RANGE MAP COMMITTEE Tom Lott INTERIM SECRETARY Gerald Keown AWARDS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE (vacant) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Gerald Keown COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE Gerald Keown BOARD MEMBERS John Lassiter ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS COMMITTEE Orion McElroy Toby Brock D. Craig McIntyre NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE BULLETIN EDITOR Gerald Keown Chris McMartin EDUCATION COMMITTEE ABOUT SWCHR (vacant) Originally founded by Gerald Keown in 2007, SWCHR is a 501(c) (3) non-profit association, governed by a board of directors and MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE dedicated to promoting education of the Association’s members Toby Brock and the general public relating to the natural history, biology, tax- onomy, conservation and preservation needs, field studies, and CONSERVATION COMMITTEE captive propagation of the herpetofauna indigenous to the Ameri- can Southwest. (vacant) THE SWCHR LOGO JOINING SWCHR There are several versions of the SWCHR logo, all featuring the For information on becoming a member please visit the member- Gray-Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), a widely-recognized ship page of the SWCHR web site at reptile native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas as well as adjacent http://www.southwesternherp.com/join.html. Mexico and New Mexico. ON THE COVER: Northern Black-tailed Rattlesnake, Crotalus molossus molossus, Pima County, AZ (Orry Martin). This photograph was voted the winner of the 2012 SWCHR Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography. ©2013 Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research. The SWCHR Bul- letin may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any web site or in any other BACKGROUND IMAGE: Elephant Tusk, Big Bend National Park, TX (Chris publication without the prior explicit written consent of the Southwestern Center McMartin) for Herpetological Research and of the respective author(s) and photographer(s). SWCHR Bulletin 1 Spring 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Message from the President, Toby Brock 2 A Continuing Discussion on the Breeding of Senticolis triaspis intermedia 3 (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Captivity, Toby Brock Naturalistic Southwestern Vivaria, Ben Stupavsky 5 Aberrant Snakes—Some Unusual Field Findings, D. Craig McIntyre 7 Book Review: Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas, With Keys, Taxonomic Synopses, 9 Bibliography, and Distribution Maps (Third Edition, Revised and Updated), Tom Lott The Life and Times of Hans F. Koenig, Orion McElroy and Gerald Keown 11 2012 Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography Presented to Orry Martin, Gerald Keown 14 A CALL FOR PAPERS Are you a field herpetologist or a herpetoculturist working with species native to the American Southwest? Do you have a paper or an article you have written for which you would like to find a permanent repository? Want to be assured you will always be able to share it with the world? Submit it to the SWCHR Bulletin for possible publication. Submitted manuscripts from SWCHR members, as well as non-members, will be considered. To be accepted for publication, submissions must deal with herpetological species native to the American Southwest. Such topics as field notes, county checklists, range extensions, taxonomy, reproduction and breeding, diseases, snake bite and venom research, captive breeding and maintenance, conservation issues, legal issues, etc. are all acceptable. For assistance with formatting manuscripts, search ‘scientific journal article format’ on the internet and tailor the resultant guidance to suit. Previously published articles or papers are acceptable, provided you still hold the copyright to the work and have the right to re-publish it. If we accept your paper or article for publication, you will still continue to be the copyright holder. If your submission has been previously published, please provide the name of the publication in which it appeared along with the date of publication. All submissions should be manually proofed in addition to being spell checked and should be submitted by email as either Microsoft Word or text documents. Send submissions to [email protected]. SWCHR Bulletin 2 Spring 2013 A Message from the President We have had some recent major changes in the SWCHR Board of Directors to report in this first issue of the third volume of the SWCHR Bulletin, due to the recent untimely death of Board Member at Large Hans F. Koenig, and the recent resignation of Tom Lott as President and Sara Lott as Secretary. In a special board meeting, I was appointed President to serve out the remainder of Tom’s unexpired term; Gerry Salmon was appointed as Vice President to serve the remainder of my term; Orion McElroy was appointed to serve the remainder of Hans’ term as Board Member at Large; John Lassiter was appointed to serve the remainder of Gerry’s term as Board Member at Large; and Gerald Keown was appointed as Interim Secretary in addition to his duties as our Executive Director. In this issue, I have continued to write about my experiences, struggles, theories and conjecture on breeding the Northern Green Rat Snake (Senticolis triaspis intermedia) in captivity. SWCHR member Ben Stupavsky shares his insights on creating naturalistic vivaria for Southwestern snake species. Board Member at Large D. Craig McIntyre has put together a photo essay along with commentary on some of the unusual aberrancies he has found in wild snakes of the Southwest. Tom Lott critiques the newest edition of Amphibians & Reptiles of Texas. Executive Director Gerald Keown and Board Member at Large Orion McElroy have written a nice article remembering their good friend Hans F. Koenig, who passed away from a fatal heart attack on January 18, 2013. Hans was truly one of the good guys in the herping community and he will be missed. Orry Martin received the 2012 Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography, and was presented with the award by Vice President Gerry Salmon at the March ETHS meeting in Houston, Texas. I believe we have a very bright future here at SWCHR with the new lineup of the Board of Directors and I am looking forward to working with all of them. We have a couple public events already scheduled for 2013, during Snake Days 2013 in Sanderson, Texas. We have an informal Meet and Greet which is happening on Friday, June 7th at the Desert Air Motel, from 10:30 am - 3:00 pm. There will be barbecue and drinks and lots of herping stories, so everyone be sure to come out and meet the Board of Directors and have some ‘cue. Also, SWCHR is hosting, judging and providing the prizes for the Snake Days Photo Contest with the winner being announced during the Snake Days banquet dinner on Saturday evening. The rules and other details of the contest will be posted on the SWCHR website and the Snake Days website. Hopefully 2013 will bring an end to this terrible drought we have been suffering through for the last couple years—much of the Southwest is still under drought conditions, varying from abnormally dry to exceptional. Though these conditions persist, several herpers have reported seeing a good number of herps out and about so far this year. Even in south Texas, much of which is still under exceptional drought conditions, we have seen some nice species—so let’s all hope for rain and a great year of herping! See y’all on the rock cuts! Photo by Pearl Brock SWCHR Bulletin 3 Spring 2013 A Continuing Discussion on the Breeding of January through the end of February. Brumation consisted of keeping the snakes in plastic tubs in racks, in a darkened room with of Senticolis triaspis intermedia (Serpentes: the heat turned off and a window unit air conditioner turned to the Colubridae) in Captivity coldest setting, in order to attempt to keep the room cooled into the 60s Fahrenheit during warm south Texas weather. The heat by Toby Brock tape was left on throughout brumation per articles by Cranston (1990 and 2012). The Pajarito Mountains locale adults were brumated during the This article is a further discussion of my ongoing study of the winter of 2011/2012 by their former owner, Oscar Salaiz. They captive breeding of the Northern Green Rat Snake (Senticolis were kept in the 60s Fahrenheit, with drops to at least 63 degrees, triaspis intermedia). It will detail the breeding of adult snakes in my from December 13, 2011 to February 21, 2012. They were cooled collection, the incubation of the eggs, and the condition of the constantly without warming or feeding, and were provided with a resultant offspring from the 2012 breeding season – and will also warm spot in the 70s Fahrenheit. The pair was also kept together combine and compare these results with those from previous years, throughout brumation. discussed in my previous articles which appeared in the SWCHR Bulletin in 2011 and 2012. Prebreeding Conditioning There is ample literature available on the general captive husbandry necessary for keeping the Northern Green Rat Snake, so I will not discuss it in detail here except those factors which may influence captive breeding, incubation, and the condition of offspring. For detailed information on the keeping of the Northern Green Rat Snake in captivity see Cranston, 1989, 1990 and 2012; Merker, 1999; Schulz, 1996; and Rhoads, 2008. My study of breeding this subspecies now concerns results from breeding two adult wild collected pairs – my original adults from the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona, and a pair of adults collected in the Pajarito Mountains, which are also located in Santa Rita Mountains Senticolis triaspis intermedia pair mating.