Beauty of Snakes

[sidhe]

Anyone else see this show on Animal Planet? It was on at 8 and 11 pm tonight. I thought it was pretty good. Nice breeding shots (garter snake group love LoL ) Just curious what everyone thought? Too bad they didn't show any Royals huh?

[daniel1983]

....that show was so-so....not the best reptile show out there....

...but that show "Reptile Kings" kicks it hard!!! Great stuff.

[mr~python]

animal planet has some cool reptile shows. did anyone see the mutual of omaha: the lost dragon? it was about varanus olivaceus or the "butaan". now that was a cool reptile show.

[sidhe]

....that show was so-so....not the best reptile show out there....

...but that show "Reptile Kings" kicks it hard!!! Great stuff.

I admit it wasn't the greatest but I thought Reptile Kings was ridiculous to say the least. When they pulled the prey item out of the snakes mouth, it totally turned me off. They also kept saying that certain animals were new species just because of a difference in color (ever hear the term "morph" ) I'm no expert, but I highly doubt they came across 6-7 "new species" in one show.

[daniel1983]

I admit it wasn't the greatest but I thought Reptile Kings was ridiculous to say the least. When they pulled the prey item out of the snakes mouth, it totally turned me off. They also kept saying that certain animals were new species just because of a difference in color (ever hear the term "morph" ) I'm no expert, but I highly doubt they came across 6-7 "new species" in one show.

Actually that is a common practice among some biologists. What would you rather them do....kill the snake then cut it open to find out what it ate? Those practices are generally how people learn things about animals that are not documented

"Morph" is a more of a trade term....not really used by alot of biologists. From the looks of what they were finding they may have come across two or three new subspecies and one new species. There are still alot of creatures in this world not documented.....and islands are a hot spot for finding those animals

I am still waiting for someone to get a glimpse at a giant sea serpent

[mr~python]

i think those skinks on reptile kings were just populations that were isolated on seperate islands that didnt "evolve" new patterns and colors but were just isolated from the main population and ended up having different colors and patterns through being "selectively bred", if you will, in the wild. a lot like boa locales.

[python kid]

well there is another way to find out what it ate.

[mr~python]

well there is another way to find out what it ate.

what do you mean?

[sidhe]

Actually that is a common practice among some biologists. What would you rather them do....kill the snake then cut it open to find out what it ate? Those practices are generally how people learn things about animals that are not documented

"Morph" is a more of a trade term....not really used by alot of biologists. From the looks of what they were finding they may have come across two or three new subspecies and one new species. There are still alot of creatures in this world not documented.....and islands are a hot spot for finding those animals

I am still waiting for someone to get a glimpse at a giant sea serpent

Easy there....just because certain animals have a color variation doesn't mean it's a different species, and yeah, I know we haven't found all species on the planet. There is a lot more to proving a new species than just hypothesizing about it too. As for taking the food out of the mouth, maybe that is a common practice but if it is harmful to the snake, does that make it ok? What purpose did it serve anyway? It's not like they were doing a study on that particular animal. That is what turned me off, I should have explained myself better.

[sidhe]

what do you mean?

By "palping" the snake from vent to mouth, which is used in scientific studies to force a regurge still, but must be easier (on the snake) than just pulling out the prey.