Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Bern Tryon, Curator of reptiles at Knoxville Zoo passed away recently. He was one of the first to successfully breed Alterna. He was formally Curator of Reptiles at the Fort Worth Zoo.

Sad to hear that.

Do you know when he first bred them?

ECT

>>Do you know when he first bred them?
>>
>>ECT

1976, pretty sure(I saw them in 1977). Assetto in '78, and Retes had a few years on both of them but did not publish (1974).

Joe, Thank god for your memory.. I have a hard time remembering the folks that paved the way. Did turner ever breed them in the early days?

>>Joe, Thank god for your memory.. I have a hard time remembering the folks that paved the way. Did turner ever breed them in the early days?

I'm sure he did, but I don't have any of his data

I am almost positive that Lee Box was breeding them befor 1976. I saw hatchlings at his house. I will find out when the first year he bred them was.

ECTimaeus

very likely, I know he had several adults when I saw him in that trailer on the loop road in June of 1974.

Eric,

I checked my dad's records. He produced 16 alterna in 1975, 5 in 1976, 0 in 1977, 10 in 1978 (including twins), and 16 in 1979. Some of those animals were wild-caught gravid, but most were bred in captivity.

Bryan Box

My first was in 1980. I was a kid back then but thought I did good. LOL
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Steve W.

Bern Tryon first bred alterna in 1978. There was a paper written by him and James Murphy.

>>Bern Tryon first bred alterna in 1978. There was a paper written by him and James Murphy.

The 1978 paper provides data on two clutches of eggs and the hatchlings from matings that took place in 1976.

and actually, if you read that paper on p91 (page 10 of 12) he provides an account for 9 eggs in 1975. Not sure what happened to those by reading the paper though.

It's amazing how much has transpired since then. Hueco's at $1,000, well only one that I heard of actually sold at that price. Then down to $200-300 today, maybe less. Langtry's going from $150 down to almost worthless at $25-40 and then back up to $75 to maybe $150 if they're really good looking.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

aint about the $$$$$$......was/is it?????......this guy was priceless

You're right, it certainly isn't about the money for those who have stuck with it for all these years. I didn't know him, I just thought the trends that followed the achievments of him and the like were interesting. It's like some of us do this just to do it and it's interesting to see the percieved value of what you love change over time.
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www.hcu-tx.org/

Hi Joe, I collected my original adults, in 71 and 72, I was lucky enough to find both blairs and alternas on all three roads, juno, pandale and langtry.

I bred them in 73. But I am sure I was not the first. I just cannot remember who bred them before me. Maybe Erine Wagner.

I do remember when I moved to seattle, he had many generations of blairi.

That was 77. I worked at the zoo and Erine was the curator at the time. He bred them both at the zoo and at home.

I am sure there was someone else. Cheers

Oh my god, Sorry, Berm, rest in peace. does anyone know what happened. Thanks

I know he was a major contributor to alterna husbandry back in the early days. I may have even gotten my first few alterna from him through the AZ/CA folks back in the seventy's. I'm pretty sure they worked closely together back then with alterna.

That I just read your post only and not others of this news. Would you happen to know how he passed away?

Regardless, my thoughts and prayers to Bern. This is a sad loss. I do not know him in person but just the perseverance to help animals and one of the first to successfully breed Alterna says enough about his work. Individuals such as Bern certainly makes the world go round! Rest in peace Bern...
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You can never have only one snake!

I was told yesterday he lost his fight with cancer.

Sorry I didn't get back to you on this. Thanks for the update. That is just sad...hopefully we can find a cure for such a hateful disease in the near future.
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You can never have only one snake!

Someone else had emailed me this info. Saddens me to hear the pioneers are all but gone. Last year out west it wasnt as nearly as memorable as the good old days when we all got together for lunch and swapped stories. Thank you TPWD for passing such stupid laws that help keep this family apart.

Retract my last statement just heard about a new bill passed

I wrote him a letter when I was a kid asking about careers in biology/herpetology. And he wrote back a long letter with lots of great information. I was impressed (and so were my parents) that he took the time to write me. I still have the letter. I'll have to dig it out tonight. RIP Bern.