Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 06:31Hello all. This is Michael Perret, an American volunteer at Herpaworld. ive been in the philippines since october 2, 2006, working as a volunteer a big, private reptile zoo, conservation, rescue and breeding center in puerto galera, oriental mindoro, philippines. im still here. i work 63 hours in 6 days every week. its hard work, but rewarding. the website for the zoo is www.herpaworld.com . there are over 1000 animals here at the zoo, almost all reptiles, and from more than 120 species. some are common, but others are extremely rare in captivity and the wild. i started a LOOONG post yesterday with many more details, but i lost my internet and the post before it was submitted, which pissed me off quite a bit. so this post has minimal details and i will explain more later.
we have soo many species here, many of the snakes and other reptiles are native to the philippines or at least southeast asia, but we do have tons of species from all over the world. many are endangered and mario, the german owner (and a great guy), can keep them because although he recieves no financial sepport from the government, he works closely with them. any time a shipment of smuggled reptiles gets confiscated in the philippines they call mario and ask him to take them in.
the greatest number of snakes here are philippine cobras (3 species plus philippine king cobras) and philippine arboreal pit vipers (tons of species/subspecies)...we also have all kinds of water monitors, tree monitors, and different crocodilians. although ive taken a million pics here, im going to be lazy and put up mostly pics that mario took. all the photos are of animals owned by herpaworld. i know all the scientific names (and most of the common names), but some of these species are rare and cool (and im lazy) so i will let everyone try to guess the species first. ill tell you later...
the vast majority of snakes at the zoo are venomous species and ALL are hot, no venomoid snakes here. because we have so many venomous species here, we dont keep any antivenins (except for Naja philippinensis) because we'd have to keep so many. the simple rule is: "don't get bitten by the venomous snakes, or youre probably going to die." i work mostly with the non-wenomous snakes and other reptiles, but have hard the opportunity to change an occasional bothrops or tropidolaemus box. it is intense actually. mostly im just watching the hot handling and learning (or hook handling the insanely mean wc philippine boiga dendrophila myself). normally i stick to the boids, colubrids and things.
later, i will tell you a little about our breeding programs, which are rather impressive in some aspects. there is one monitor here that we are the ONLY people to have bred healthy babies in captivity in the world! two years in a row. and groups of them were sold to zoos in cali and texas...
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 06:43im still here at herpaworld in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines after 7 months volunteering. Everything is going well here. Sometimes running a reptile zoo in the Philippines is complicated but i think we are on the right track. here is the link to the website and we've made tons of updates lately with pics and all sorts of general species info and caresheets for all sorts of venomous and non-venomous snakes and other reptiles from around the world!
we do a lot of special things here, for example, we are the only people in the world who have EVER bred Varanus olivaceus in captivity and we've had two successful clutches. we sold groups of olivaceous babies in 2006 to the American Zoo Assoc.
we also were the first people in the world to ever breed Parias mcgregori in captivity and have had many healthy clutches. we have more individual mcgregor's in captivity here at the zoo than everywhere else in captivity in the world combined.
we have successfully bred Varanus prasinus in captivity.
we actually have more different species of reptiles here at the Paradise Reptile Zoo than any other collection in Asia! we are basically a zoo, rescue and conservation center and also breed many reptiles, but we dont sell any animals on the site so i think a direct link to the site is ok with the management! CHECK it OUT. its so much easier for me to link you to the pics than put them up myself!
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 06:46im quite excited because in the end of may we will be receiving a shipment of snakes from germanythat mario, my boss, the owner of herpaworld, already has in his collection overseas. Its especially cool for me because im the non-vemomous guy here at the zoo and many of the snakes we are getting will be constrictors. i will update what new snakes we get when they arrive!
but you all seriously need to check out all the pics on the website! please note that all photos included are under copyright, even those without watermark.
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 06:56please note that all photos included are under copyright, even those without watermark.
so, i'll link just a few pics from the website... if you will, a little "guess the species," scientific name these snakes are all owned by Herpaworld and almost all are members of breeding groups or juvies of future breeding groups!
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 07:03can you really only post 1 pic at a time? how can you include pics directly in the typing box, and how do you upload pics already hosted online?
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 17:19Welcome!!! Hi Herpaworld! So much interesting information and great shots. Love the pattern on the last shot.
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/27 17:22Welcome herpworld! I am glad to have you! Great explanation of evertthing and i am so excited to learn from you! Wroking in a zoo has always been a dream job i have wanted. Unfortunatley the zoo is about 1hr from me with no traffic at all. LOL
ALL the pics are gorgeous! I love the last snake he is my favorite. Not sure what it is as i am not in with all venomous snakes, i do want at sometime in my life a gaboon viper and an eyelash viper. My bf had a green eyelash viper. They are just so hot, i just don't want to get bite at all! LOL Or have it escape, for that matter! haha
Keep the pics and info flowing! I love it and am so glad to have you! Welcome! ---------
0.1 Leopard Gecko 0.2 Beardeds 2.0 Nigerian Uro 1 Red 1 Yellow 1.0 Bull Snake 1.0.2 Savannah Monitors 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 0.0.1 Coastal Carpet Python 0.1.1 Jungle Carpet pythons 0.0.1 RTB 0.0.1 BTS
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/28 07:50yes leolady, its great working here. but even though im the rodent breeding and non-venomous supervisor and primary tour guide here, im only a volunteer (63 hours a week for 7 months now). Dont let a 1 hour commute stop you from exploring your work opportunities at a zoo. I travelled from Boston to the Philippines, the direct opposite side of the world, for a chance to volunteer here! dont limit yourself!
bye the way, we do have both Bitis gabonica and Bothriechis schlegelii here at the zoo.
the last pic is a Parias mcgregori, or Batanes pit viper, only found on 2 small islands in the philippines. Paradise reptile zoo was the first people in the world to breed the species successfully in captivity.
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/28 13:57Herpa, can you tell us what kinds we are seeing? I am most certainly not a snake person. Is everyone a volunteer at the zoo?
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/28 14:02Leolady420 wrote: Wroking in a zoo has always been a dream job i have wanted. Unfortunatley the zoo is about 1hr from me with no traffic at all. LOL
B, why should that stop you at all? An hour drive isn't all that much. I use to have a 45 min drive each way to my job. For about a year I drove 1.5 hours each way to a job, because it was an experience I really wanted. Have to admit that was a little too far to go. Wouldn't have been bad, if it were a job I could have just always worked set hours. Having even a couple of hours of working late one night, really made it harder.
Long drives are good times to get to think about your plans and life. To relax and unwind.
If it is really your dream job. Check into it. The driving won't be that important for a job you love.
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/29 06:51i added names! i though some of you guys would enjoy guessing the species. there must be at least a few of these guys you knew!
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/29 15:09Not me! I freely admit I am not really a snake person. Love looking at them however. Love my own, but that's about it. But, I bet your right, some of the other members were probably having fun guessing.
how did you happen to hear about this job? Are any of your family there with you, or did you leave them in the US?
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/30 07:36All my family is back in the US. i grew up in Camden, a tourist town on the coast of Maine. After i graduated, i knew i wanted to travel, i knew i wanted to work in ecotourism and i knew i wanted to work with animals. i also knew that i could afford to work for about a year as a volunteer somewhere as long as it was in a foreing country where living is cheap...
so i searched the web for reptile breeding centers in Southeast Asia and herpaworld was the only place with a decent website. i got in touch with mario, the german owner here and we decided after talking that i would come over and volunteer. i planned to stay for 2 months at first...if i didnt like it, id hope on the plane back home after 2 months. but if i did like it i would continue extending my tourist visa every 2 months for up to 1 year. and then i could come back to the USA or stay longer! ive been here for 7 months now and im loving it. i am the only volunteer here but we are always looking for new volunteers. If i can get a paid position before my year here is over than i will probably stay longer, if not i will head home!
There was also the question of my snake collection. I sold most of the snakes, gave a couple retics and lizards away, and my parents are keeping my 5 het and poss dhet bci's until i return home!
SIMPLE REALLY, you just need to be an adventurous, pro-active person, do your research and go for it. It only costs me about $300 a month to live like a king here in the Philippines, including my apartment, all the food for me and my girlfriend, entertainment, gas for the motorbike i bought, and all other expenses (i even pay for my own food and housing to volunteer here 63 hours a week, yes!)
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/30 17:28That is so cool! I love looking at all of the pictures and information. This makes me want to work in the herp department at the local zoo even more. ---------
IRuleYou99 & I own... 2.3.1 Ball Pythons 1.0.0 Black Roughneck Monitor 0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 1.1.0 Burmese Pythons 0.0.2 Crested Geckos 0.0.1 Desert Horned Lizard 1.2.0 Leopard Geckos 1.1.0 Red-Footed Tortoises 0.0.2 Savannah Monitors 1.0.3 Sulcata Tortoises
Re:Herpaworld Introduction... - 2007/04/30 20:43Great experience for you! I am so glad you ahev come to share all this with our site once again. It's just amazing. Please keep the pics coming.
Were you at the zoo when they sucessful breed them?
Jacq honestly i have still been thinking about the job at the zoo. It would be about 1.5 there and about 2hrs home with traffic so alltogether i would be traveling about 3-4 hrs each day!
I have looked into a zoo closer here it's actually a game preserve. It's call teh trexler game preserve. I have been looking into that as well, which is only about 30 min. from my home. ---------
0.1 Leopard Gecko 0.2 Beardeds 2.0 Nigerian Uro 1 Red 1 Yellow 1.0 Bull Snake 1.0.2 Savannah Monitors 1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 0.0.1 Coastal Carpet Python 0.1.1 Jungle Carpet pythons 0.0.1 RTB 0.0.1 BTS
mom2twinsplus2 : Doug at Deer Fern knows an amazing amount about uro's and reptiles in general. I spent hours on the phone with him before I made my purchase. I think most uro care is similar but he talks about the species differences there as well.
Domsmom89 : oh ok great! thank you, cuz I was like that guy is dumb as heck lol
mom2twinsplus2 : Saharan and Nigerian are same thing....«link»
Domsmom89 : oh wait no wrong sight, but it doesnt have the Nigerian uros on there are they all basically the same?
Domsmom89 : The guy at the pet store told me about it but it said the sight was under construction?
mom2twinsplus2 : Have you looked at the deer fern farm care sheet for uro's? It is a great site with tons of information!
mom2twinsplus2 : I really don't know how to tell if it is a boy or a girl. I got my two little guys from doug dix at deer fern farms and he is amazing to talk to about uros. He sent me a boy and a girl that look quite different and he told me which was which so I am just going on that. I have not wanted to handle them much cause they are little and still really, really nervous and skiddering about a lot. They are eating now which is a relief but I won't be flipping them upside down to looke at vents for a
Domsmom89 : Do you possibly know how to tell if its a boy or girl?
Domsmom89 : Thats what the guy at the pet store told me, he said low 70s at night and anywhere from 80 to 130 durring the day.
mom2twinsplus2 : Mine haven't frozen yet <grin>. I think they come from kind of desert conditions where it is hot by day and cool by night, don't they?
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