🔎 Species ID & Natural History · 4 min
Reptiles and amphibians
Why this matters
Herps are protected, frequently misidentified, and carry a zoonosis you will meet again in the disease unit.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Recall the legal status of New York reptiles and amphibians
- Use correct shell terminology
- Apply caution rules around venomous species and shedding snakes
Reptiles and amphibians are protected in New York. Under Environmental Conservation Law 11-0103.2.c many species are protected as small game with a closed season. They are not unregulated.
Turtles
The carapace is the top shell, the plastron is the flatter bottom shell (often concave in males). A useful memory trick: the plastron is the plate the turtle lies on. The painted turtle is one of New York's most common aquatic turtles; the box turtle is terrestrial.
Cracked shells can often be repaired, so a shell fracture is not an automatic euthanasia. Permanent blindness is, because a blind turtle cannot hunt or survive. Turtle eggs recovered from a road-killed female are fertilized internally before the shell forms, so they are viable and can be incubated.
Snakes
All snakes are carnivores. The garter snake is New York's most common snake. Only three venomous species occur in the state: copperhead, timber rattlesnake, and massasauga.
Two cautions
There is no reliable shortcut for telling a venomous snake from a harmless one. Vertical pupils, facial pits and triangular heads are not dependable rules, and people illegally keep non-native venomous species. Treat unfamiliar snakes with caution.
A snake preparing to shed is easily injured and easily stressed. Avoid handling it then.
Reptiles frequently shed salmonella in their feces without appearing ill. Assume exposure, wash your hands, and disinfect anything they touch.
This lesson is part of the NY Wildlife Rehabilitator Exam course. Open it in the course to answer the retrieval checks that go with it, track what you have read, and quiz the whole unit. Lessons, quizzes and the glossary are free.