Best Snake Books

[Cazador]

I think a great snake ID book would have to include many pictures of each morph, similar to what Fons did on his website. Then it would have to include the descriptions and dichotomous keys, and I agree with Steve that husbandry techniques would only detract from the ID book. There are enough of these already in circulation.

[Thamnophis]

I do not know the book "What's Wrong With My Snake" so I cannot give my opinion about it.
The problem with specialized books is that when it is published, some matters have changed )new opinions and so', so there will never be a complete book.

[Cazador]

Hi all,
I finished reading Understanding reptile parasites: A basic manual for herpetoculturists & veterinarians by Roger Klingenberg D.V.M., M.A. and his wife, and I was amazed at all the information that's packed into that little book. I only paid about $8.50 (USD) for it at amazon.com (including postage), which was well worth it.

It was written by a veterinarian and among other things, it talks about parasitic life stages and forms (trophozoites, metazoans, etc.), so a background in biology is helpful. However, it also talks about how to identify if your snake has these parasites, how to identify them (including pictures of common forms under a microscope), which medications to use for treatment, doses, and how to calculate the doseages. It also mentions the risks associated with feeding live prey (worms, fish, amphibians, lizards, rodents, and other snakes. Once you have the basic husbandry down, this is the next book to buy. Definitely, one of the best for hobbiests.
Rick

[Thamnophis]

Anyone know the book Garter Snakes from Matt Doeden?

[KITKAT]

Originally Posted by Cazador

[SNIP]...they recommend treating snake mites with "Seven Dust," which works terrific...

[SNIP] Does anyone else recommend or have reservations about this book?
Rick

I am not familiar with the book, but am very familiar with SEVIN. I would have a hard time treating ANY snake with it, due to the fact that SEVIN has been shown (by repeated research) to cause severe and lasting reproductive problems in mammals. In fact, when I was of child-bearing age, I refused to allow it on the premises, despite the fact that it was touted as a safe garden treatment.

[Daniel]

Hi Thamnophis,

yes, I know the book from M. Doeden. It´s written for children and so you will not find any extremly helpfull things in it. It gives you a small overview about the biology of garter snakes, where they come from and how they look like.

If you´re interested in some other interesting books about garter snakes have a look for the following ones:

"garter snakes" by Roger Sweeney, Blandford

"discovering what garter snakes do" by Seymour Simon, McGraw Hill

"garter and water snakes" by David Perlowin, Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc.

"garter and ribbon snake care" by Philip Purser, tfh Publications

books written for children but interesting because of some nice pictures or other points of view:

"garter snakes" by Mary Ann McDonald, Capstone Press

"a gathering of garter snakes" by Bianca Lewis, Dutton Children´s Books

"the snake scientist" by Sy Montgomery, Sandpiper Houghton Mifflin Books

"gliding garter snakes" by Buffy Silverman, Lerner Publications Company

Fieldguides:

"Reptiles of the Northwest" by Alan St. John, Lone Pine Publishing

Some other interesting garter-snake-books written in german:

"Die Prärie-Strumpfbandnatter" von Martin Hallmen, Natur und Tier-Verlag

"Die gewöhnliche Strumpfbandnatter" von Martin Hallmen, Natur und Tier-Verlag

"Strumpfbandnattern" von Thomas Bourguignon, Ulmer

"Strumpfbandnattern" von Frank Mutschmann, Westarp Wissenschaften


That´s not a complete list of all garter-snake books that are available on the market, but I think, that these books are the most interesting ones.


Best wishes,

Daniel

[Thamnophis]

Thanks Daniel,

I will not bother to look for the Doeden-book.

Thanks for the list of books!

[Stefan-A]

Rossman DA., Ford NB., & Seigel RA. 1991. The Garter Snakes Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma Press.

Does anybody know if there's another book out there about garters (or Nerodias), that is on the same level as this one? I've pretty much had it with the usual care & breeding books (or should I say pamphlets). I mean I want more in-depth information about the snakes, the general advice on how to keep them just bores me.

[Cazador]

Hey Stefan,
It seems as if only Hallman & Chlebowy's Strumpfbandnattern is on the same level as Rossman et al.'s book. I hope you've seen and voted in the poll to get Strumpfbandnattern translated into English (Strumpfbandnattern). In my personal opinion, Perlowin's Garter and Ribbon Snakes is the next best general keeping/maintenance book written in English, but it is a very distant second. From reading your other posts, though, I think you would really appreciate Understanding reptile parasites: A basic manual for herpetoculturists & veterinarians. Best,
Rick

[cascabel]

Hi,
I haven't read this book, but I know the authors. They are top-notch researchers, so I imagine this is a great book, on par with Rossman et al:
"North American Watersnakes" (Gibbons and Dorcas)
Welcome to the University of Oklahoma Press - home
It looks like you guys have the Thamnophis books covered. My favorite field guides for the US are the reliable Peterson's (east or west, depending on where you herp). A really good book is Harry Greene's "Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature". This is really well written (much more interesting than many science and textbooks) and full of information about all aspects of snake biology/ecology/behavior....

melissa