Cold-blooded Chronicles
The Newsletter of kingsnake.com
Winter 2009

Hey, herpers! Are you ready to show the world that it takes more than little fluffy puppies in Santa hats and kittens entangled with ribbons to make a holiday bright?

Enter your reptile and amphibian photos in kingsnake.com's Holiday Herp Photo Contest, and win Petsmart gift cards. It's easy... just go to the brand new photo gallery created for just that purpose, and pick any or all of the three categories:

1. Holiday Herps
You know... iguanas in Santa hats. Snakes coiled around Xmas trees. Any winter holiday is fair game: Christmas, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, New Year's Eve or Day, Festivus, Solstice, Kwanzaa... any excuse for a party is fine with us!

2. Herps in Nature
Your best photos of herps in situ in the field.

3. Herps at Home
Your reptiles and amphibians photographed in your home.

We're giving away $10 Petsmart gift cards to the winners, and the photos with the most comments win, so get your buddies, your mom, and hey, your pets, to come tell you how great your herp shots are. Ties will be broken by Jeff Barringer, who will be led blindfolded into a darkened room and shown the images without any identifying information like which of his biggest advertisers (or user who has been skirting a lifetime ban for the last six years) took the photos.

Are there rules? Please. This is the Internet. Of course there are rules... you can find them and all additional info about the contest at http://www.kingsnake.com/holidayherp!

We also know that the holidays can be a rough time for some of us, especially if we've suffered the illness of loss of a beloved pet recently. That's why the Support Chats on our PetSupport.net site happen every single night of the year, including Christmas Eve, Christmas night, New Year's Eve, and New Year's night. The complete schedule is here, and absolutely no registration is required. Everyone who loves animals is welcome.

We hope that all our friends and your families of all species will have a great holiday season and new year, and that we'll be seeing you around on kingsnake.com! Happy Holidays to you all, from all of us at kingsnake.com!

The 2009 Top Ten Best-sellers in the kingsnake.com Bookstore

Visit our bookstore, featuring herp books hand-selected by our editors!

The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge

The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers

Giant Lizards: The Definitive Guide to the Natural History, Care, and Breeding of Monitors, Iguanas, Tegus, and Other Large Lizards

Natural Terrariums (Complete Herp Care)

Rosy, Rubber, and Sand Boas (Reptile and Amphibian Keeper's Guide)

Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology

The Herpetoculture of Leopard Geckos

Understanding Reptile Parasites (Advanced Vivarium Systems)

Leopard and Fat-Tailed Geckos

Crested Geckos: From the Experts at Advanced Vivarium Systems

Protecting our animals and our hobby

As everyone knows by now, S373, the national python ban, has left committee and moved on to the Senate for vote. The fight is not done yet. Please take a few moments to read "Ain't over til it's over" for some great ideas from site coordinator Cindy Steinle on how to forge ahead and fight S373.

We've received a lot of letters from folks that they sent in to their congressional representatives, and people are sharing their letters on the website. Share your experiences meeting with your senators, and share your letters, on our Herp Law and CITES forum.

Both USARK and PIJAC are working to expand the efforts to fight this fight. Bob Ashley and Brian Potter scheduled a special Tinley Park NARBC for February. While this will be a normal trade show, it is also a fundraiser for USARK and PIJAC. They will be hosting an industry summit meeting Friday, February 12, at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Kingsnake.com will be there and we hope you will, too. The weekend speakers will center around the issues at hand as well. Consider adding this show to your 2010 schedule.

One of our users, Jonathon Brady, put together a wonderful video with his thoughts and advice on this issue. This is the kind of thing we all can do to spread awareness -- check it out!

And to get inspired to write your own letter to your Senator or Congressperson, check out these missives from short tail python breeder Rich Crowley and Kevin McCurley of NERD.

Remember, the fight isn't over. We all need to take a few minutes to step up and take action today.

Cold-blooded Chronicles is copyright 2009 by OnlineHobbyist.com unless otherwise specified. All rights reserved. --

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list:

[list_name]

Using the following email:

example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://news.pethobbyist.com/index.cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism.

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://news.pethobbyist.com/index.cgi?f=list&l=[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

phcoldblooded@pethobbyist.com

The following, physical address is associated with this mailing list:

 http://www.kingsnake.com