Herping: Snakes, Frogs, Salamanders, Turtles

Canebreak Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus)


Don't step on this guy! 
Southern Cricket Frog (Acris gryllus gryllus)
Southern Toad (Bufo terrestris) 
Nice poison glands



Bronze Frog (Rana clamitans) 
Spade-foot Frog (Scaphiopus holbrookii)
 Blue Ridge Two-lined Salamander (Eurcycea wilderae) 
Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
Black-bellied Salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus) 
Dusky Salamander (Plethodon orestes)
Plethodon dunni
Plethodon elongatus
Notophthalmus viridescens - adult aquatic stage

Notophthalmus viridescens - terrestrial eft stage
Seal Salamander (Desmognathus monticola)
Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

Three-lined Salamander (Eucycea longicauda guttolineata)

Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
Striped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon baurii)

random shots from Uruguay

Fishing for Dorado on the Rio Uruguay (L to R: guide, Trevor, me, Matt)
Male Ancistrus from Aguas Blancas
10" Crenicichla scottii, not a bad catch for a 18" hand net
Iglas sp.
Frog from Paso Pache
Examining the seine at Paso Pache (L me, R Felipe Cantera)
Collecting juvenile Gymnogeophagus rhabdotus in Aquas Blancas
Me and Felipe Cantera in the Airport of Montevideo

Diadophis punctatus (Linnaeus, 1766)

my new project: Crenicichla celidochilus

After almost 60 hours in a bag, these three guys made it to NC from Uruguay.

Floating in their quarantine tank, minimal setup so it's easy to keep clean. I had a huge issue with external parasites (Ich) with the fish I brought home from Uruguay last December, so the pump runs a UV sterilizer to eliminate that problem. Simple sponge filter, no heater. Change 25% of the water everyday. Parameters: pH 7.2, TDS: 69 micro siemens, temp: 78* (only while in quarantine, then lower, 70-72* range). No chemical parasite treatment, only salt.

In Uruguay it was 10 degrees celcius, and in those conditions they do not eat, so these guys are quite thin, but very healthy. They get live black worms everyday, and already accept vegi-flakes, but no interest in pellets yet.

These pictures are from the day after their arrival, so they are ragged and stressed out still, but are settling in well, and fattening up too.

I imported three (7-9cm), hopefully one of them is a male that this female will fancy. I brought her back from Uruguay last December. She is 14cm, so it will be 3-4 months before the others can be put with her. They have some growing to do first, otherwise she might view them as lunch instead of potential mates.

In the wild they grow to 22cm, and are only found in the Rio Cuareim, that forms the border between Uruguay and Brazil, and a few of its tributaries.

They are in quarantine for 4 weeks, then into a 180g tank. I'll do an update on that, in the mean time this will have to do. Maybe with a little luck and cooperation, I can be only the third person to breed them in captivity.

cheers,

Ed

long overdue update: some wildlife pics

Notothalmus viridescens, Wildcat Lake, Bannerl Elk NC

Crenicichla celidochilus female, 14cm. I brought two (m/f) of these back from Uruguay at 8cm last December, I just imported three more (7-9cm). They are my new project, only two people have bred them in captivity. They are found only in the Rio Cuareim drainage, that forms the border between Uruguay and Brazil.

Tyrannus savana, forked-tail flycatcher, Artigas, northern Uruguay

Geophagus sp. "Tapajos Orange Head" male, 16.5cm

Satanoperca leucostica female, 15.5 cm