Madison Area Herpetological Society

11/01/2026

We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! Some animals are always in their Halloween best like this Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

10/17/2026

We are all set up at Pet Expo LAX in the Onalaska Omni Center! Come visit our ambassador animals from 9-4 today!

10/15/2026

Pet Expo LAX is just around the corner! Come say hi to our ambassador animals and check out the other great exhibits and vendors, a fun event for the whole family! Saturday Oct 17th at the Omni Center, Onalaska, Wi from 9-4

10/11/2026

For those visiting or vending NARBC: North American Reptile Breeders Conference Tinley from Wisconsin, make sure you sign the native herptile ban petition on the USARK - United States Association of Reptile Keepers table!

10/04/2026

We are out at the Scaled Up Expos in Fon du Lac today from 10-3! Come say hello to our ambassador animals and learn about rule changes coming to Wisconsin reptile keeping

06/28/2026

Beat the heat today with some cold-blooded friends! We have 2 tables of educational fun at the Madison Scaled Up Expos from 10-3!

03/22/2026

It's a great day for a show! Come see us at Scaled Up Expos in Fon du Lac from 10-3! We will be talking today about the potential reptile regulation changes that are coming to Wisconsin!

03/20/2026

Hoppy World Frog Day! From the largest of pixies to the smallest of darts, frogs come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Frogs play an important role in the environment and many species can also make great pets. Share your favorite frog below!

03/04/2026

We often get asked about good pet snakes that stay small, rosy boas can be a great option!

Rosy boas are popular pet snakes native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. While their taxonomy has been a hotbed of debate for a long time, there are currently two recognized species; the coastal rosy boa (Lichanura orcutti) native to portions of California, Arizona, and Nevada in the U.S., and the desert rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata) native to Sonora and Baja California in Mexico, and small portions of California and Arizona. Hobbyists have long recognized dozens of visibly distinct locales, frequently maintaining their lineages as treasured pets.

The snakes themselves are small and appealing, typically with a pattern of three longitudinal stripes of a darker color on a lighter background. The stripe colors can range from orange, or brick-red, into brown, or nearly black, while the background colors may range from nearly white, to buff, yellow, or shades of gray. Adult rosy boas rarely exceed three feet in length. Under human care, most rosy boas feed readily on rodent prey. With the right care, rosy boas may live to be thirty years old.

If you are interested in a pet rosy boa, please support responsible herpetoculture and seek out animals that have been bred and raised under human care.
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The photograph in this post shows a close up of a mature coastal rosy boa (Lichanura orcutti) observed in Los Angeles County, California. The photo was taken by Tom Mills, and shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. The image was not modified for use in this post.
View license information here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

03/01/2026

It might be March, but it doesn't feel like spring yet! We'll be out at Scaled Up Expos in Green Bay from 10-3!