The herp show last week had a variety of reptiles & amphibians. Several animals I'd never seen before, one of which was this rhino rat snake. Appropriately named for the little curved horn on the end of it's snout. The babies even have a teeny horn, though they are brown instead of a bright green, to better hide from danger. They are related to the various rat snakes that are common all over North America, but they live in Vietnam.

    But snakes aren't all green & brown. Carpet Pythons(above), also from Asia, are black & yellow, the pattern growing more vivid with age. I painted a big picture of one stretched across a jungle branch a few years ago, for someone who breeds them.

There were morphs of common species, such as these kingsnakes, which are native to the U.S. The pattern has always reminded me of beadwork & are quite pretty. Albinos are very popular. Personally, I prefer the coloration to be closer to the natural hues, but I suppose it's a challenge to influence genetics. Didn't anyone learn anything from all those sci-fi movies of the 50's?

    Of course, snakes were abundant at a herp show, but there were also other types of critters, some of which I'll show you in future entries.