A few from Texas (1 Viewer)

Deb335077 · Jun 12, 2014

A few taken at different parts of South West Texas, All taken in Apr/May

1 lizard taken in Lost Maples, Texas Hill Country
2 snake taken in Estero Llano, Lower Rio Grande Valley
3 snake taken at Gulf coast Birding Observatory in Lake Jackson
4 another snake taken at San Bernard on Texas Gulf Coast
5 taken at Edinburg Scenic Wetlands

thanks for any help given
Debbie

RJP · Jun 14, 2014

#1 - still working - new lizard book arriving tomorrow
#2 - Western Ribbon Snake
#3 - Western Ribbon Snake
#4 - Not enough here for me to ID, but there are not too many possibilities, I'd say the top 2 are Southern Water Snake and Cottonmouth.
#5 - Spiny Softshell Turtle, underneath a Snowy Egret

Debbie, sorry it's only me replying on your reptile questions - I'd be more than happy to hear from others on these threads.

Deb335077 · Jun 14, 2014

Thanks Randy for all your help, You may be the only one to have any knowledge of reptiles in this region....
Debbie

RJP · Jun 14, 2014

You're welcome, Debbie, but I'm sure there are other people that are more knowledgeable than me - and especially who have local knowledge in the areas the pics are from, which can be very useful. The problem seems to be finding a reptile/amphibian ID group that is even 10 or 20% as active as many bird ID groups - they just don't seem to exist in cyberspace.

RJP · Jun 17, 2014

After pouring over the new lizard book for a couple of days, I'm still very convinced that #1 is the genus Sceloporus (spiny/fence lizards) because of the keeled, pointed scales - but that's the easy part. In that area of Lost Maples just west of San Antonio, the resident candidates in that genus are Crevice Spiny Lizard, Texas Spiny Lizard, Eastern Fence Lizard (the Southwestern Fence Lizard is very similar, has a range just to the west, and was split from Eastern some time back), and Prairie Lizard.

The greenish coloration is what is hard to account for. I suspect the individual is a young male that does not yet have full coloration on the ventral side (underside). Of the 4 above, I think Prairie Lizard is the best fit, with Eastern Fence 2nd, and the other two are poor fits.

Hamhed · Oct 5, 2014

Randy -

Could you recommend a lizard/reptile book for Texas?
Thanks -

Steve

RJP · Oct 7, 2014

Steve -

I don't have any "Texas only" books, and I usually recommend that people get a guide that covers more general areas - so I will proceed on that basis.

There isn't a better lizard book anywhere than Lizards of the American Southwest by Jones and Lovich. They only cover species that occur west of the Pecos river, but many that occur there also occur east of there as well. Excellent, and very reasonably priced for what you get

A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America, by Collins and Conant, is still a good general guide, and it covers all of Texas.

For snakes alone, there is Snakes of North America: Eastern and Central Regions, by Tennant, which covers Texas and is very good, and the ultimate snake book Snakes of the United States and Canada, by Ernst.

If you are trying to keep the cost down, Collins and Conant by itself will do, and if you are willing to spend more and are only interested in reptiles, then both Jones and Lovich combined with Tennant, would be the next level.

Hamhed · Oct 8, 2014

Thanks, Randy. Our trips to the west are infrequent enough that the Collins and Conant guide sounds adequate. I'll check it out for our December trip to the Lower Rio Grande. Thanks much for the recommendation.

Steve

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