Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm *finally* installing my turtle pond (it'll either be 5'diameter or 6'). I've got an area behind my shed I've piled old boards, and I've put boards along my fence lines. I've seen a handful of lizards and toads, and one ribbon snake but that's it. There's a fair amount of plant cover as well along the fence line. The center body of the yard's fairly clear, as per my wife's orders.

What else can/should I do to make it a better herp habitat? I must be missing something cause I'm not finding much.
-----
We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

High grass holds all kind of goodies. Insects, rodents that eat the insects, and reptiles that eat all of the above. Now you installed a pond, that doesnt make "habitat". You have no transitional zones that animals use between good habitats. And the reason you dont is because you have a wife. So mow the grass faster so you have time to get out of the damn house and go somewhere that has all these fun things in excess. The more your place looks NICE the more time off for good behavior she should give you to hunt that stuff elsewhere....not really much else to so. The more your place looks like you might find a reptile hanging around the more time you are going to have to spend to correct that. Bottom line, pave the whole thing, you will have plenty of time to go do what you want without her complaining.

'Pave the whole thing'- LOL!

Good point, but still cracks me up!

//Todd

Do you put any kind of pesticide or herbicide on your lawn? If you do, you will have much fewer herps around. I've really come to believe this. I use absolutely no chemicals and I have more herps on my property than ever before. Toads, Grey tree frogs, garter snakes, black rat snakes, black racers. And, I have a million prairie voles. Those voles breed like mad in my area and I'm pretty sure they feed a lot of snakes.

Lawn chemicals kill herps! Just my 2 cents.

I've used some ant killer in the house but that's it. And we had to on those, it ws getting crazy. Couldn't even have things like open boxes of crackers in the pantry, cause they'd be all over them in minutes. Uug
-----
We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I would say that you have to start with a good location for your home. You are not going to find a lot of diversity in a metropolitan area. I live in a development that is located in a rural area that was farmland 15-20 years ago that is currently bordered by about 150 acres of woodlands.

Next step is to create transitional "edge" habitat. I own about a lot that is split into three parts: 1/3 hardwood/pine bottomland with a creek, 1/3 old field habitat, and 1/3 finely manicured yard with several mulchbeds and plants.

Things that seem to have helped...mulching around the house, planting lots of flowers and flowering shrubs around the house and the edge habitat, planting fruit trees and blackberry bushes in the old field habitat, having a couple of tons of rock hauled in for my ditches, plus I put some nice tin, boards, and woodpiles in the edge of the old field and the woodlands. I routinely put nuts, seeds, and cereal under my tin to encourage the rodents. I have several bird feeders and bird houses around the edge habitat. I also have a garden and a compost pile in the old field habitat, which both encourage insects and therefore food for reptiles.

I think the guys above are right that cutting back/out insecticides are good because it increases the lizard/frog populations (saw 9 lizards around the house on Sunday while washing the car) and keeping the yard looking nice keeps the wife happy.

I have managed to find 8 species of snakes on my property in four years since moving here, which is decent diversity for the foothills. Here are a few: