OFFICIAL PUBLICATION FOR THE BAY AREA AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE SOCIETY

BEHIND BAARS January 2013

© Kendrick Wong

Next Club Meeting:

General Meeting Friday, January 25 @ 8:00pm

Cubberly Community Center, Room H-6, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

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Contents President’s Report A Rescue Story Events & Activities In the News Mickey, Minnie, and Twinkie Treasurer’s Report Board Members & Newsletter Membership Form

President’s Report Hello BAARS Members and Supporters,

First, of all, I wish to thank everyone that came to our Holiday party in December; it was good to see new and old faces alike. We had a great time and elected a new slate of officers for the BAARS 2013 board.

We do have several openings that we’d like to fill, including a Publicity Director, who is responsible for ensuring that our meetings and events are advertised on the social media (e.g. Facebook, Craigslist). As previously mentioned, I decided not to run for BAARS President for 2013, although I will still be helping arrange guest speakers and many of the same activities as before, but as “Interim President” (a title made much more popular after Steve Jobs held that position for several years after returning to Apple). Please, let me or another board member know if you'd like to get more involved with the running of the club, and based on your interests and the club needs, we can figure out where you can make the largest contribution.

Wolfgang Keil, the BAARS webmaster, has a keen interest in large pythons (including reticulated and burmese pythons), and has gathered experience in husbandry and background in natural history of these species. He is acquainted with python keepers and experts both in the U.S. and in Europe, and he will speak at the January 25th BAARS General Meeting. The following is an abstract of his presentation:

“Southeast Asia is home to the two largest python species in the world. How is it possible that both species coexist conflict-free in large parts of their habitat? This presentation will show how the answer lies literally in the collision of two worlds, and how both species couldn’t be more different from each other. New insights will be presented, domestic keeping discussed, and extensive video and photo material provided. “

Please, remember that volunteer organizations like BAARS grow and shrink based on their ability to recruit new members and officers. Tell your friends about BAARS, and I hope to see you and some prospective BAARS members at our next General Meeting, on January 25th, at the Cubberly Community Center.

Sincerely,

Scott Alexander BAARS Interim President, 2013

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A Rescue Story By Pete Marshall

I have been involved with rescuing reptiles for many years now and I am the contact person for Hayward Animal Control and many other organizations here in the East Bay.

For the most part, I take in reptiles that are in pretty good health and have been well cared for. All I have to do is find a new home for them—and that is a good thing; nothing is better to me than to take in a reptile and place it in a new home in a very short time.

When I can do that, it’s great, but I don’t always take in healthy reptiles, and then I have to do some work to take care of the problem, or get the animal to eat; or when needs be, I have to get a vet involved with the recovery of the reptile. I’ve had some good success stories in the past, and I’ve had some not so successful stories in the past as well—those are not fun, but it comes with rescuing reptiles.

The story I’m about to tell you is what I think is my most interesting rescue story to date. I told it to a friend of mine, and he suggested I write about it—so here it is.

Back in November I got a call from Hayward Animal Control. They told me that they had a young boa they wanted to place with me. I was told it was not doing well, and they were working with a vet to take care of it, but it still needed more work.

I was told the snake was very dehydrated, which it was when I picked it up. It also had a serious mite problem. Since I’ve been keeping snakes, when people hear “mites”, they tend to feel that is a problem that will never go away, and that it will infect all their collection, and they have to get rid of the cage and all that is in it.

In my experience, that is a really over-the-top reaction and something you don’t really need to do. It may take a few days, but a mite problem can easily be dealt with.

So, now I got this boa, and I have no idea when it last ate by looking at it—I can’t even tell you just how bad it looked, and not in a good way. It was covered in mites, so I set it up in a glass tank to help keep things clean and reduce places for mites to hide.

When I took a good look at the snake, I could see that it also had a slight case of mouth rot. I say “slight” because it was not that bad, it was just starting, so the first thing I started doing was to soak the snake in warm water with a little Betadine mixed in. I did this for the first three days, and this took care of the mouth rot. Also, this helps get rid of mites as well, because it allows the water to get on and under the scales and results in pulling more mites off the snake.

So, that was the first sign of improvement. I kept soaking the snake for about a week before I saw any signs of the mites getting fewer. And while the snake was soaking, I would change out the newspaper in its tank. I did this every day from 1 to 2 hours at a time.

Every day I would look at this snake, and a few times when I looked at it, it looked dead—it was just laying there, not moving, and when I touched it, it didn’t move, so I felt sad about it; and at times wondered if it was going to make it. And sometimes, when I looked at it, it had its mouth open and

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was just not looking good at all.

I was also thinking that this snake may need more than I could give it and that I might have to take it to someone that could treat it with more than I could. But I kept on working with it for about 7 days. By this time, the mites were beginning to be fewer and that was good: I was getting somewhere.

When I picked the snake up from animal control, I could see that it was in shed, and that was the part that made it look so bad. By the end of the seventh day, it was looking like it was starting to shed. I was excited about this for two reasons—one, I knew that would help get rid of more mites, and two, after it shed, then I could see just what this snake really looked like.

So, when I took it out of the water on the seventh day, it was shedding—yes, I had to help it get off all the skin. And I discovered that it not only had one dry skin on the snake, but two. And that’s what gave the snake that dehydrated look.

  © Pete Marshall

After I got all the dry skin off it—the mites were gone. After it shed , I could see what it looked like. At this point, I could see it had suffered a few broken ribs. But other than that, it was not too bad; it also had a small bump on its back—not sure what that is all about, but the snake is not slowed down by it.

So, now it looks completely different—its color is bright, its tail has a nice color to it. But the funny thing is, I put it back in the tank. And now it’s ready to act like a boa should. When I walk past the tank now, at times, it will strike at the movement. And all it wants to do now is eat.

It takes small rats aggressively, and when it’s done with one, it looks like it wants another one. So it’s now ready to be placed in a new home. I can’t sell it; it doesn’t look good enough for that, but if someone is looking for a nice cute little boa as a pet, I got just the snake for you.

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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

No upcoming events scheduled at this time.

Check the BAARS website for updates!

Spring 2013

Pepperwood Herpetological Fun Weekend Watch this space for more information.

Summer 2013

BAARS Turns 30! See upcoming newsletters for flashbacks and a mid-summer birthday party announcements.

Email behindBAARS@gmail.com with historical stories and photographs for the newsletter! Sometime in 2013

Pinnacles Camping and Hiking Trip Watch this space for more information.

Wanted: Long-toed Salamander Group Hi Everyone, BAARS is "looking" for a group doing current research, protection, education, legislation etc. on the long-toed salamander in the Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Does anyone know of such a group? I did some looking and there was nothing more recent than 2009-10. Please respond to me directly at tmtengan@att.net. Thank you for your input! Tania

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In the News submitted by Gilbert Castro CBS’ 60 Minutes ran a segment on Plowshare Tortoises, explaining why they sell for over $60,000, and what is being done to save them. Conservationists hope that by defacing the shells of these beautiful animals, they can save their lives because this makes them worthless to poachers. Read the article and watch a female Plowshare Tortoise lay eggs!

[Editor’s comment: The editor has mixed feelings about this method. If you have comments on this article, or other methods used to help save reptiles, please send a Letter to the Editor to behindBAARS@gmail.com and we will publish it in the next newsletter.]

For an uplifting article, read Lonesome George not the Last of His Kind After All? puplished by nationalgeographic.com on November 16, 2012.

Lonesome George. © Jean Spector

California Bug Club! http://www.californiabugclub.com/ Check out their website!

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Mickey, Minnie, and Twinkie

by Kendrick Wong

My wife thought she was taking me to southern California to see the special holiday decorations of the

“Happiest Place on Earth”. She wanted to see Mickey Mouse and the other Disney characters. Little did she

know we were also going to meet Twinkie!

© Kendrick Wong

Who is Twinkie? Twinkie is a beautiful yellow and white amelanistic reticulated python. On her Facebook page, Twinkie is claimed to be the “World’s Largest Snake”. She weighs in at about 370 pounds and is approximately 23 feet in length. Her owners claim she is the largest python by weight in captivity. I don’t know if Twinkie is truly the world’s largest, but she is one enormous creature! I took snapshots of Twinkie, but they don’t accurately convey the huge girth of this animal. Twinkie is a resident at Prehistoric Pets.

Prehistoric Pets is located about 20 minutes from Disneyland; it is a pet store that sells a variety of reptiles

and amphibians. They sell everything from leopard geckos to sulcata tortoises to boa constrictors to tree

frogs. Prehistoric Pets is also known for breeding and marketing numerous morphs of reticulated pythons.

The store also houses the “Reptile Zoo”, a museum with a diverse collection of living herps. Animals are

displayed in naturalistic cages. Some herps were relatively common and found in most pet stores. These

included ball pythons and panther chameleons. More exotic species included rhinoceros iguanas and

pancake tortoises. Venomous specimens included beaded lizards and several species of rattlesnakes. I wish

my local pet store had some of these animals on display.

© Kendrick Wong

In addition to Twinkie, other famous residents of the zoo are Thelma and Louise. Thelma and Louise are/is the zoo’s two-headed Texas rat snake. This creature has two heads, two forked tongues, four eyes, two brains, and one stomach. It was quite an unusual sight! Lesser known members of the zoo include Rusty the red iguana, Coco the patternless African rock python, Rambo the black and white tegu, Shifty the Colorado desert sidewinder, and Darthgator the American alligator.

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All photos. © Kendrick Wong

The zoo can be rented for private parties. When we were there, a child’s birthday party was being set up.

The zoo has a room that boasts a hands-on section. Staff members take docile specimens out of cages and

encourage handling by zoo visitors. If I was a child growing up in that area, I know where I’d want to have my

next birthday party.

The next time you make a trip to southern California you should consider visiting Prehistoric Pets. I

guarantee the lines will be shorter than Disneyland’s!

Photos from my visit:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106217480620764019753/PrehistoricPets2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRg

CM7GifXlvJro4QE&feat=directlink

Twinkie’s Facebook page (with photos and videos):

https://www.facebook.com/worldslargesttwinkie

Prehistoric Pets and The Reptile Zoo websites:

www.prehistoricpets.com

www.thereptilezoo.com

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Treasurer’s Report

by Scott Petersen

This is the 2012 year-end report. The bottom line: The club's reserves increased by $1,347 or 34% over 2011.

This was due primarily to continued membership support and less-than-anticipated expenses resulting in a

closing asset total of $3,859. It is important that the membership approve the rollover of this amount from

2012 to 2013 to avoid the potential of being taxed on it. Any active member who feels that this should not

be rolled over and thus be taxed should submit that request either in e-mail or by writing to the BAARS

Board no later than January 30, 2013.

Of the $3,859, $1,110 is allocated to the Salamander, Adoption, & Tax funds, and $2,749 is in the checking

and petty cash accounts. Of note, the 2012 gross income was actually $255 less than in 2011. Hopefully, with

the improving economy, we will see an increase in 2013 income. The club's single biggest source of income

in 2012, by a factor of 4, was members' annual dues. This was followed by show stipends, cash donations,

and auctions/raffles -- in that order. Many thanks go out to all our members for their continued support of

the club as well as those who helped to obtain stipends, donate to and run the auctions & raffles, and place

cash donations in our donation jar. While the number of members has declined slightly over 2011, a

number of members did pay for multi-year memberships this past year.

Our single biggest expense for 2012, by a factor of 10, was our general meeting room rental. Other lesser

expenses included the hardcopy newsletters for those who do not have e-mail, membership postage

expenses, and business cards & flyers, which are used to help promote the club and to attract new

members and stipends.

              Cumulative Posting Date:   to Date   10/31/2012  11/30/2012  12/31/2012 Expenses          $1,475.98   $33.95  $150.70  $119.00 Income: $2,822.92  $460.00   $50.00  $175.00__ Cash flow:    $1,346.94  $426.05  ­$100.70     $56.00  In looking at the last two months of 2012, we see that November shows a negative cash flow of $100, while

December showed a positive cash flow of $56. November's loss can be directly attributed to the low

number of membership renewals, and as a result of no general meeting and shows during the month. The

club tends to get cash donations at shows where we display our herps to educate people, through

donations at the food table in general meetings, and auctions & raffles at the general meetings.

Historically, we don't hold a general meeting and there aren't that many shows in November. December

saw an increase in new and renewed memberships.

A $2,400 budget for the club's 2013 fiscal year was approved by the board on January 3, 2013. With our

meeting room continuing to be our biggest expense, over half the budget has been allocated to that one

purpose. Another area of anticipated increased expense will be the need to cover the gas for our many

long-distance speakers. We also expect the cost of printing and mailing hardcopy newsletters to increase.

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BAARS 2012 Board Members

We have open board positions! Contact a board member if you are interested!

ELECTED OFFICERS President - Vacant Immediate Past and Interim President -Scott Alexander 408-823-3675 alexander_scott@yahoo.com Vice President-Eric Koessel 510-847-4392 erickoessel@yahoo.com Membership Secretary-Kyna Hendra 408-946-2077 Membership.baars@gmail.com Recording Secretary-Vacant Treasurer-Scott Petersen scottepetersen@gmail.com

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Gilbert Castro 408-582-4247 Tortoise.whisperer@yahoo.com Jim Goehring 408-252-0338 jimathome@sbcglobal.net Gisele Gisele.baars@gmail.com Tanya Tengan tmtengan@att.net Additional Members-at-Large-Vacant

APPOINTED OFFICERS Newsletter Editor & Publisher Aleks Haecky vhaecky@gmail.com Librarian- Tony Velez 831-442-3100 aveltude@yahoo.com Show Coordinator-Joanne Petersen joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com Publicity Director- Vacant Webmaster-Wolfgang Keil Adoptions Coordinator-Austin Pleban baars.adoptions@gmail.com

NEWSLETTER DUE DATES February newsletter submission deadline: February 8, 2013 (second Friday) March newsletter submission deadline: March 8, 2013 (second Friday) Thank you Joanne Petersen for proofreading. Send all submissions to: behindBAARS@gmail.com or the board mailing list Accepted Content: We love herp-related original articles, trip and show reports, stories about your animals, and original photographs and drawings. You retain all rights but grant us permission to use, edit, and publish in the newsletter and on our website with attribution. Accepted Formats: The newsletter editor can open almost anything. Plain text in an email is great. Attach images to email or provide URL.

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Membership Application

__New Membership __ Renewal Membership __Change of Address

Individual/Family: __1 Year ($25) __2 Years ($50) __ 3 Years ($75) __4 Years ($100)

Special: __Sustaining ($35) __Contributing ($50) __Patron ($100) __ Institutional ($20)

__Check to have your special gift mentioned in the newsletter

NAME:________________________________________________________________

EMAIL: ______________________________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip:___________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________________________________________________________

What reptiles/amphibians do you own?__________________________________________ 

_____________________________________________________________________

What other herps do you have experience with?____________________________________

How did you learn about BAARS:_______________________________________________

Are you interested in:

__Learning about something in particular

__ Field herping

__Photography

__Participating in shows

__Participating in educational events

BAARS Membership Secretary

c/o Palo Alto Junior Museum

1451 Middlefield Road

Palo Alto CA 94301-3351

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