herp society

Question
Hi
I am in Columbia SC. I breed a variety of tortoises. The yard is like a wildlife preserve. Totally organic. We have seen quite a few black rat snakes, hundreds of anoles, grey tree frogs and one garter snake.

Always have liked snakes and love seeing them in the yard.

Anyway I was wondering if you knew of a herp society near here?

Answer
Joe,

I know of a couple of herp societies in your area.  The first one is the Coastal Carolina Herpetocultural Society.  Here is their website:

www.lizard.org/ccherp/

This organization is ran by people who are interested in the husbandry, breeding, and veterinary care of reptiles and amphibians.  I personally do not know any of the people involved in this group, but it seems like a very interesting group to get involved with.

The other herp group I would recommend to you is actually based in Columbia.  This is the South Carolina Herpetological Society.  I could not find an actual website for this group, but I found the name and address of the contact person for the group.  Maybe if you do a Google search for them, you will have better luck than I did, but here is the contact information:

South Carolina Herpetological Society
James L. Knight
P.O. Box 100107
Columbia, SC  29230

There are also a number of reputable national and international herptological groups which you can join.  I am a member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, which is comprised of anyone from amatuer reptile keepers to professional career herpetologists.  Other groups of this magnitude include The Herpetologists' League and the Mid-Atlantic Turtle and Tortoise Society.  These websites are:

http://www.asih.org

http://matts.herptiles.com

Also, most state-level groups, such as the North Carolina Hepetological Society will let people from other states join if they are interested.  It is a good idea to join a herp group, not only to express your personal interests, but also to meet people in the field and to learn as much as you can from a wide variety of people who share your interests.  I hope this information helps you out.

Best of luck,
Joseph Glenn