Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Accounts and photos of non-captive reptiles in their natural habitat outside of South Africa. Try to record with your account details such as time of day/night, temperature, weather conditions, lunar cycle, sex, rough age of reptile, and so on.

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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Scavenger » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:46 pm

Dude I'm so jealous one day I'll visit the amazon, great post and great pics :)
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby moloch » Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:19 pm

I have a few corrections to make:

1) The Typhlops is T. reticulatus, the Giant Blind Snake
2) The swamp snake is Liophis typhlus, Velvety Swamp Snake
3) The Oxyrhopus melanogenys is really O. petola

(Thanks Dick Bartlett)


Regards,
David
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby gaboon69 » Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:26 pm

As awesome as always.
Much appreciated David.
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby froot » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:55 am

Speechless.

The variety is astounding, so many species I've never heard of. That little slug eater looks like a bit of a character.

Thanks you so much for sharing.
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Jen » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:04 pm

@ Boesman: I've researched travel to the Amazon quite extensively, as I'm desperate to go. As Dave says, the price of accommodation isn't too bad. The big expense for South Africans is getting there. When I was looking, the best bet was to fly to Equador and then take a smaller connecting flight to the basin. That was going to cost over R20 000 per person! Once in the Amazon itself, transport and accommodation isn't bad. So, start saving!
1.1.0 Epicrates cenchria cenchria
1.1.0 Corallus hortulanus
1.1.0 Heterodon nasicus
1.1.0 Trimeresurus puniceus
2.2.0 Trimeresurus albolabris
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Boesman » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:15 pm

moloch wrote:Thanks, Boseman and Greg.

Boseman,
The cost of the tour was $1200 US for 10 days. This included all food, accommodation, transport, etc. The only thing extra that had to be purchased was beer or soft drinks. Food was good considering the facilities. We ate chicken, fish or various meats (including Paca and Capybara) each night. We also had rice, yuca (manioc) or fried plantinos (cooking bananas) along with beans. Fresh vegies were in short supply but then we were remote and there was no nearby store. Dessert was usually a variety of rainforest fruits most of which I have not seen before.

My friends and I travelled to Iquitos 4 days before the tour. We stayed in a basic but adequate hotel for $10 US/night. We then hired a taxi to take us out to Allpahuayo Mishona Reserve. This reserve is one of the few areas of primary forest that remain near Iquitos. The trees were small due to the white sand substrate. This habitat was very different for birds and we also saw a few herps that were not encountered elsewhere.

Regards,
David



Wow thats sounds really nice! I thought it would be more expensive than that! now ive got more money to take with for BEER :-P
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Boesman » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:20 pm

Jen: Thanks for the info..
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby moloch » Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:47 pm

Jen and Boseman,

I looked into various options and found that the route from Sydney to LA, then LA to Lima/Iquitos was cheaper than a flight from Sydney to either Santiago or Buenos Aires. It seems strange considering the much longer distances involved. It might be similar for you people in South Africa as well.

I travelled in peak season (8 Jan) and the costs were as follows:

Sydney<>LA --> $1400 US ($1100 after 15 Jan)
LA<>Lima/Iquitos --> $850 US

Connections were awkward in Lima so on the way to Iquitos, I spent 8 hours at the airport. Others suggested doing this rather than seeking accommodation near the airport. I was pleasantly shocked by the airport in Lima. It was clean and neat and much better than either Sydney or Melbourne (and vastly better than LAX). Staying there was not a problem at all.

Regards,
David
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Wolf777 » Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:13 pm

Awesome, awesome, awesom!!! One day.
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby BushSnake » Wed Feb 10, 2010 9:04 am

I have just added another place to my must-visit list... (the list is now going for 23948234 pages :) )

This is absolutely amazing. What camera setup do you use?
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Snakes4Africa » Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:30 pm

Your post and pictures bring a depth and quality is much appreciated and has been missing for some time on this, and other, sites. Thank you.
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby moloch » Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:56 am

Thanks very much, all.

BushSnake wrote:
have just added another place to my must-visit list... (the list is now going for 23948234 pages )

It is always difficult. There are just too many places to see and not enough time or money.

I use a Canon 40D with either a Tamron 18x250 zoom or Canon 100mm macro. All of my non-scenery shots are with a 430EX flash.


Regards,
David
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby moloch » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:33 am

Here is some info about snail-eating snakes that was posted on another forum. The guy who posted this does so under the name "lateralis".

...usually involves specialized jaw structure/dentition for hooking and extracting said slugs/snails from their shells as I recall.

Here is a more eloquent description....
In most snakes, the upper jaw is connected to the lower jaw by a joint that acts as a pivot point, and, when eating, all toothed bones on one side of the mouth move forward as a unit. In the slug- and snail-eating snakes (the colubrid subfamilies Dipsadinae and Pareatinae), the connection between the upper jaw and the quadrate is lost, and there are four independent units rather than two. This jaw modification permits them to hold their food with three jaws while the fourth is advanced.

The teeth are also longer on one side too in some species if I remember correctly, it may be all, but I think it was just in a few. Also, if I recall correctly, it was not always on the same side, sort of like they were either right handed or left handed...


And here is a link to a photo of a Dipsas eating a snail. It was posted by "Jawn":
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj64/jawn1983/panama%20-%20april%2009/other/dipsasinsitu.jpg


Regards,
David
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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby Rishaad » Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:19 am

Only one word comes to mind. Amazing.
And God has Created every animal from water, of them are some creeping on their bellies, some walk on two legs, and some on four. God Creates what He wills, for sure God has Power over all things. (Noble Quran 24:45)

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Re: Peruvian Amazon 2 -- Madre Selva Snakes

Postby DFS1995 » Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:18 pm

Hello
I will present a paper on the seventh Brazilian congress of herpetology about Helicops leopardinus and I wonder if I can use your pictures on my banner. If you want, I can send the paper for you!Do I have permission? Please answer me by email: danielafonseca95@hotmail.com
Thank you!
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