What does that mean? Herp abbreviations & acronyms

A lot of internet forums have lists of the terms, abbreviations, and acronyms that are commonly used on the site but aren't general knowledge. BP.net didn't have one (that I could find at least), and I do see the questions asked a lot, so I thought it might be useful. I started a list a few weeks ago, and added to it every time I noticed something come up, but I'm sure there is plenty more that could be added and/or the definitions improved. I focused on abbreviations and acronyms for now.

A note about the breeders I included: they weren't picked because I thought they were the biggest or best. I choose them because they are commonly abbreviated, and because they are used as part of the names of certain morphs, and the combination can make it confusing. If I had thought of other breeders that fit that (or had a similar reason I thought they belonged here), I would have included them too.

• 1.2.3 (or any similar group of numbers & decimal points) – a way of representing the number of males (first number) and females (second number) and unsexed animals (third number, if there is a third) in a group. 1.2.3 means 1 male, 2 females, 3 unsexed. 4.2 means 4 males and 2 females.
• Afrock - african rock python
• amel - short for amelanistic (lack of black pigment)
• anery - short for anerythristic (lack of red pigment)
• ASF or ASFR - African soft furred rat
• ATB – amazon tree boa
• BCC - Boa Constrictor constrictor - red tailed boa
• BCI - Boa Constrictor imperator - common boa, although also sometimes called a red tailed boa
• BCL - Boa Constrictor Longicauda - Commonly refered to as Peruvian Long-tailed Boa or "Longi"
• BCO - Boa Constrictor occidenalis - Argentine boa
• beardie - bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)
• BEL - black eyed leucistic or blue eyed leucistic
• BHB - Brian Barczyk - Large breeder based in Michigan
• BOI - Board of Inquiry - A board for researching, and posting experiences with, different people in the herping buisiness. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...splay.php?f=13
• BP - ball python
• BRB - Brazilian rainbow boa
• BTS - blue tongued skink
• BWT - Black & White Tegu
• CBB - captive bred & born
• CH - captive hatched, from eggs that were either collected in the wild or from eggs from a WC female who was gravid when captured
• co-dom - short for co-dominant, a genetic term meaning a trait which is the result of 2 equally dominant traits both being visible. A popular example is roan cattle which have a red gene and a white gene and have both red & white hairs. Curiously, most of the BP traits which are commonly referred to as co-dom are technically incomplete dominant traits, which is when 2 equally dominant traits blend together, such as pink flowers which have red gene and a white gene
• CHE - ceramic heat emitter
• Cloaca - The rear opening in which waste is passed and breeding is conducted - aka "vent"
• dinker - Something of interest, to breed and prove out
• DIY - Do It Yourself
• Dum's - Dumeril's Boa (Acrantophis Dumerili) One of the ground dwelling boas from Madagascar.
• DUW - Dial-Up Warning...referring to a thread with lots of pictures that may be slow to load
• ETB – emerald tree boa
• fauna - faunaclassifieds.com
• f/t - frozen/thawed - refers to rodents or other prey items which are humanely killed, then frozen for storage, then thawed and warmed up to body temperature before feeding
• FWC - False Water Cobra
• GMHS-Giant Malagasy Hognose Snake
• GTP - green tree python
• het - short for heterozygous, a genetic term meaning having 1 each of 2 different genes. Often used to refer to an animal that is known to carry a recessive gene but does not display the recessive trait
• IBD - inclusion body disease - untreatable disease which can affect boids (boas and pythons)
• JCP - jungle carpet python
• KS or KS.com - Refers to the classifieds section of Kingsnake.com
• KSB - kenyan sand boa
• Leo - Leopard Gecko
• LFS – local fish store
• LPS – local pet store
• LTC - long term captive
• Lucy - short for leucistic
• MBD - metabolic bone disease - usually in the context of lizards or turtles, and usually caused by calcium deficiency or lack of UV light exposure
• MBK - mexican black king snake
• Mojo - short for mojave, a BP morph
• NERD - New England Reptile Distributor, a major snake breeding facility, owned & operated by Kevin McCurley. Also used to refer to a particular strain developed at NERD, such as NERD pastels
• OP - "Original poster" - The writer of the first post of a new thread
• PAM - Provent-A-Mite - a brand name of mite treatment which is widely recommended as being the most effective and safest way to treat snake mites.
• PEW - pink eyed white - in rodents, your typical albino with pinkish eyes. See also REW, sometimes used interchangeably
• pied - short for piebald, a ball python morph with patches of white scales
• p/k - pre-killed - refers to rodents or any prey item that has been killed before offering it to the snake, most often it refers to a freshly killed prey item to distinguish from f/t
• POG - pastel orange ghost, a BP combo morph
• RBI - Reptile Basics, Inc
• RDR - Ralph Davis Reptiles
• RES - red eared slider (turtle)
• RETF - red eyed tree frog
• REW - ruby eyed white or red eyed white - in rodents, an albino with reddish eyes. See also PEW, sometimes used interchangeably
• RHP – radiant heat panel
• RI - respiratory infection
• RTB - red tailed boa
• SPOG - super-pastel orange ghost, a BP combo morph
• STP - Short Tailed Python
• SVL - snout-to-vent length
• T - Tarantula
• t-stat - Thermostat - a device to automatically regulate the temperature of a heating unit
• tic - short for Reticulated Python - aka "retic"
• TSK – The Snake Keeper, a major snake breeding facility, owned & operated by Dan and Colette Sutherland. Also used to refer to a particular strain developed at TSK, such as TSK axanthics
• URI - upper respiratory infection
• USARK - United States Association of Reptile Keepers - very influential association in the politics of keeping our reptiles
• UTH - under tank heater or under tub heater
• UV - short for ultraviolet; spectrum of light required for vitamin D production in diurnal lizards and turtles
• VBB - Vietnamese Blue Beauty ratsnake
• vent - The rear opening in which waste is passed and breeding is conducted - aka "cloaca"
• VPI - Vida Preciosa International, a major snake breeding facility, owned & operated by Dave & Tracy Barker. Also used to refer to a particular strain developed at VPI, such as VPI axanthics
• WC - wild caught
• WHS-Western Hognose Snake
• WLP White Lipped Python

Edit it DUW and DIY and I vote to sticky.
Also, maybe mention BHB. I am pretty sure it is Brians initials, but I dont know his middle name, so maybe just say a large snake breeder based in Michigan?

Dunno if we wanna go this in depth for it, but maybe add lucy and cinny for other morph abbrev.

This is great, Casey!! I've been wanting to do a list like this for a long time, but never get around to it!

I'm gonna STICKY this....and will come back and edit it as necessary to add other people's suggestions, such as DUW and DIY, etc. :D

:gj: Thank you!!! :gj:

Great stuff! That's (hopefully) one less repeat question in the world...of this forum. :D Good job.

Ooo! I got stickied! Thank you!

Judy, feel free to edit and add stuff as needed.

Austin, I do have lucy in there, but the other suggestions are good. I guess it is up to Judy now what gets added.

Argentra, I HOPE it will cut down on a few of the repetitive questions.

I see PEW and all I can think of is...

http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...ew-pew-pew.jpg
http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...lo-dog-pew.jpg
http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...ambush-cat.jpg
http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...ews-pewing.jpg

FWC - false water cobra

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Originally Posted by kc261

FWC - false water cobra

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Added it...thanks! :gj:

BCO - Boa Constrictor Occidentalis (argentine boa)
p.s. Nathan Scott Phillips (my argentine) asked for this to be put on there. I think he is lealous of red tails getting all the glory.

RES - red eared slider
MBD - metabolic bone disease - usually in the context of lizards or turtles, and usually caused by calcium deficiency or lack of UV light exposure
BTS - blue tongue skink
KSB - Kenyan sand boa
URI - upper respiratory infection
anery - short for anerythristic (lack of red pigment)
amel - short for amelanistic (lack of black pigment)
pied - short for piebald, a ball python morph with patches of white scales
Afrock - African rock python
RDR - Ralph Davis Reptiles
fauna - Faunaclassifieds.com
beardie - bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

Some non-snake related, but since we do have forums encompassing other reptiles as well. If I find more I will add them!

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Originally Posted by ThyTempest

Edit it DUW and DIY and I vote to sticky.
Also, maybe mention BHB. I am pretty sure it is Brians initials, but I dont know his middle name, so maybe just say a large snake breeder based in Michigan?

Dunno if we wanna go this in depth for it, but maybe add lucy and cinny for other morph abbrev.

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Henry

Great list. I knew most of them. Good work on that.

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Originally Posted by icygirl

MBD - metabolic bone disease - usually in the context of lizards or turtles, and usually caused by calcium deficiency or lack of UV light exposure

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And while we are at it, we might add in a definition for UV light!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icygirl

Some non-snake related, but since we do have forums encompassing other reptiles as well. If I find more I will add them!

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Absolutely, I feel that anything herp related belongs in here! Thanks for the big list of additions!

GMHS-Giant Malagasy Hognose Snake

WHS-Western Hognose Snake

KSB-Kenyan Sand Boa

2 of these are relatively new, but that KSB one is used a lot.

Lots of good additions! I'll get them added into the original post soon, I promise!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc261

And while we are at it, we might add in a definition for UV light!

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UV - short for ultraviolet; spectrum of light required for vitamin D production in diurnal lizards and turtles

Hey, you're at post #999! What's gonna be #1000? :)

what about

dinker: Something of interest, to breed and prove out.

POG - pastel orange ghost, a BP combo morph
SPOG - super pastel orange ghost, a BP combo morph

Okie dokie! Thanks for all the great input guys! The original post is now currently caught up as of tonight. :) (If anyone notices any errors, typos, or misplaced order, please let me know!)

Since JCP is up there how bout

IJ Irian Jaya (refers to many different species of herps, from snakes to lizards)

heres a quick one
what is the BOI
and can that go on here?

Posting that list was a great idea. I learned a new one today (dinker) & think it will help a lot of folks not familiar with reptile speak! :gj:

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Originally Posted by crystal

heres a quick one
what is the BOI
and can that go on here?

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The BOI is the Board of Inquiry here is the link to it http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...splay.php?f=13

Added BOI to the list above. :)

Thought of another acronym that you might see around here:

SVL - snout-to-vent length, the length of an animal measured from the tip of its snout to its vent (cloaca).

I would redo your definition of "het" because the way it is written sounds to me like you are talking about 2 different unrelated genes.

I believe the prefered definition (at least among geneticists) is that a "het" is 2 different alleles of a specific gene.

Forgot an important one- BP- Ball python:P

OP-Original Poster

...I didn't know what that one actually stood for FOREVER.

Hows about STP's short tailed pythons or if your a rock and roller
stone temple pilots..:D

is high contrast= H.C.?

BHB stands for Brian Henry Barczyk. This is why Chewy on snakebytes.tv calls him Hen-Dog

LWP - low white pied
HWP - high white pied
T - tarantula
Leo - leopard gecko
BWT - Black and White Tegu
Geck - gecko....lol
lol - laugh out loud
USARK - united states association of reptile keepers - very influential association in the politics of keeping our reptiles

My submissions...

BCL- Boa Constictor Longicauda, A boa constrictor that averages 7-8 feet in length that comes from the Tumbes region of Peru. Commonly refered to as Peruvian Long-tailed Boa or "Longi".

Dum's- Dumeril's Boa (Acrantophis Dumerili) One of the ground dwelling boas from Madagascar.

Cloaca (vent)- The rear opening in which waste is passed and breeding is conducted. I only added this since I remember the first time I ever saw this word used, I had to look it up to see what it meant.

Pits- Labial pits. Those pits, or holes around the front, upper lip, that are used for sensing heat.

KS or KS.com- Refers to the classifieds section of Kingsnake.com

RHP- Radiant Heat Panel. A heating device containing a shielded core that is mounted in the top of wooden, melamine, or PVC plastic, front opening enclosures.

RBI- Reptile Basics Inc.

Tic or Retic- Reticulated python

Conda- Anaconda

Regurge- Regurgitation

T-Stat- Thermostat- Electronic device used to regulate a heat source.

Not seeing it on the list. Don't know what it means but I see out a lot. GHI?

MBK - Mexican black king snake

FBI - Feedback and Inquiries for Reptiles on Facebook


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Unknown Subscriber

Not seeing it on the list. Don't know what it means but I see out a lot. GHI?

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GHI is actually a morph.

Thanks. I've needed this!:gj:

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Originally Posted by Unknown Subscriber

Not seeing it on the list. Don't know what it means but I see out a lot. GHI?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

GHI is actually a morph.

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and it's acronyms mean "Gotta Have IT"

:)