Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well this august i plan on going to the daytona reptile expo and i will be staying in fort lauderdale. i will be their for either the week b4 or after august 18th,19(the dates of the expo).
i would really like to do some herping and am looking for tips on finding wild cornsnakes, scarlet kings , indigos any not native exotics as well burms retics pythons of any sort.

i know that with scarlet kings it helps to look when its raining and i must guess that with the non native exotics its hit and miss. i only want to photograph an indigo(i guess they bite pretty bad) but may collect a scarlet king or a corn if its exceptional to me. i really like the looks of miami phase corns and would like to maybe look for them

by the way ive never herped in rattle snake country i dont care to find any but if i do i would photo graph from a distance. i will have field hooks with me(can they be checked in my luggage on a plane?)
thanks for any responses
adam
-----
hybrid breeders association
1.1 sinacorns
1.1 kenyan sand boas
1.1 mbk
1.3 ghost corns
1.0 snow corns
1.0 albino corns
1.0 jurassic milk
0.1 bloodred
0.1 striped albino corn
0.1 childrens python
0.1 albino nelsons
0.1 anery motley
0.1 albino banded cal king
0.1 normal corn het hypo,anery

I am in Ft. Lauderdale. I’ve often thought it would be great to get together with some regulars from kingsnake.com during the Daytona thing and get out in the field. You really don’t need any gear except a camera. Maybe a stick for flipping boards instead of using your fingers. Some of the roads in the glades are best slowly cruised in a pick up with somebody standing up in the back checking the road sides. In my experience, if you come across a rattler sunbathing it won’t even look like it’s alive until you grab it with your tongs, etc. Obviously you can’t collect in any parks but you should be able to “see” a lot of stuff if you explore a little bit.
Here’s a few Florida pictures from the field. Man I need to get out there and get some “fresh” ones. I’ve posted these before...

im from michigan but currently live in ft. lauderdale, well sunrise to be exact. since ive been here, ive done a lot of field herping. my advice is to get a detailed map of south florida and do some road cruising just before and after dark. if you are looking for burms or miami phase corns, your best bet is further south. you are going to see cottons and various water snake species mostly but dont be suprised to find an array of other snakes. most of the road snakes i find are cottons, pygmy rattlesnakes, and rat snakes. i find a fare amount of corns and kings by stopping where i see things that can be turned over. be sure to bring your hook for that though as i come across quite a few black widows that you might not want to put your hand on. although i havent been lucky enough to come across a diamonback down here, i have caught some other rarely seen snakes like mudsnakes. i love it out there and cant wait till it warms up so i can get out there in the next few days.