The following list of species are those I’ve worked with in captivity, the wild, or both. Species were either part of behavior, DNA, or breeding research through institutions, as well as used for educational programs.
For the sake of this being open toward a broader audience, I ordered the species by their common names under more general categories.
* Worked with in wild
** Worked with in wild and captivity
Invertebrates
Madagascan hissing cockroach laying eggs
Giant African millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)
Madagascan hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
Amphibians
A plate-sized Marine toad peaks out of her mulch
Amazon milk frog
(Trachycephalus resinifictrix)
Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
*Four-toed salamander
(Hemidactylium scutatum)
Horn frog (Cetatophrys cornuta)
Lesser siren (Siren intermedia)
Marine toad (Bufo marinus)
Tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)
Reptiles
Turtles and Tortoises
Alligator snapping turtle
African spur-thigh tortoise (Testudo graeca)
Alligator snapping turtle (Macroclemys temmincki)
Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingi)
*Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentine)
Diamondback terrapin (
Malaclemys terrapin)
Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina)
Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)
Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans)
Musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)
Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta)
Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Snake-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis)
Spiny soft shell turtle (Apalone spinifera spinifera)
Western box turtle (Terrapene ornate)
Lizards
Me and “Sally” the water monitor
Bearded dragon (Amphibolurus barbatus)
Black-throated monitor (Varanus albigularis)
Blue spiny lizards (Sceloporus serrifer cyanogens)
Blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei )
Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus)
Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum)
Green iguana (Iguana iguana)
Leaf tail gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus)
Leopard gecko
(Eublepharis macularius)
Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus)
Northern blue tongue skink (Tiliqua scineoides intermedia)
Prehensile-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata)
Red tegu (Tupinambis rufescens)
Rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta)
Rough-knob tail gecko (Nephrurus asper)
Savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus)
Smooth-knob tail gecko (Nephrurus levis)
Tokay gecko (Gecko gecko)
Water monitor (Varanus salvator)
Crocodilians
Hatchling American alligators. They were kept until they were about 4ft before being sent to a wildlife sanctuary in Florida.
American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis)
Snakes
Argentine boa
Anaconda:
– Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
-Yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus)
Ball python (Python regius)
Black-headed python (Aspidites melanocephalus)
**Black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta)
Blood python (Python brongersmai)
Blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxi)
Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor):
-Argentine boa constrictor (Boa constrictor occidentalis)
Brazilian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria)
Bull snake (Pituophis melanoleucas sayi)
Burmese python (Python molurus)
Carpet python (Morelia spilota variegata)
Corn snake (Pantherophis guttata)
Dumeril’s boa constrictor (Acrantophis dumerili)
**Eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon corais couperi)
Eastern ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritis)
Everglades rat snake (Pantherophis alleganiensis)
Green tree python (Morelia viridis)
Hognose snake:
– Eastern hognose (Heterodon platirhinos)
– Western hognose (Heterodon nasicus)
King snake:
-Californian (Lampropeltis getula californiae)
-Gray-banded (Lampropeltis alterna)
– Speckled (Lampropeltis getula holbrooki)
Lesser Sundas python (Python timoriensis)
Macklot’s python (Liasis mackloti)
*Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon)
Olive python (Liasis olivaceus)
Pueblan milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)
Reticulated python (Python reticulatus)
Rhinoceros ratsnake (Rhynchophis boulengeri)
Savu python (Liasis mackloti savuensis)
Short-tailed python (Python breitensteini)
Southern Copperhead (Agkistradon contortrix)
Tiger ratsnake
(Spilotes pullatus)
Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Wetar python (Liasis mackloti dunni)
Woma
python (Aspidites ramsayi)
Birds
Amazon yellow-headed parrot (Amazona ochrocephala)
American kestrel (Falco sparverius)
Eastern screech owl (Otus asio)
Mammals
Grey wolf around Ely, MN
Bennett’s wallaby (Micropus rufogiseus)
Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)
*Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Chinchilla (Chinchilla tanigera)
*Eastern coyote (Canis latrans)
Ferret (Mustela putorius)
Goat (Copra aegagrus)
**Grey wolf (Canis lupis)
Horse (Equus caballus)
Llama (Lama glama)
Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
*Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul)
*Prsewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii)
Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
*Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)
Sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps)
Katey Duffey 