# Non-native herps



## stuartdouglas (Mar 5, 2008)

Anyone seen/caught any non native herps in this country, if so, what, where and when?


----------



## Matt Harris (Aug 21, 2007)

Plenty of RETs, and one Softshell turtle. A sulcata in a field in Oxfordshire and a Fire Salamander in a street in Oxford. Also Aesculapian snakes in North Wales when I worked in the zoo.


----------



## a.m.phibian (Apr 2, 2007)

Various chelonia - red ears, common snapper, european pond tortoise. Various wall lizards, western greens. Fire salamander, alpine newts, pool frogs, marsh frogs, european green tree's (many years ago). Strangest was a whites tree frog, i went to a house where the new owners had found a medium sized tree frog sitting on a spade handle by their pond one august evening - apparently the previous owners had let some tadpoles go in their pond early that year, and the little fella was a result of this, had thrived and grown to quite a large size due to abundant prey. I still have him today.


----------



## gtm (Jan 23, 2008)

I heard a story about a colony of corn snakes in Essex.


----------



## Matt Harris (Aug 21, 2007)

gtm said:


> I heard a story about a colony of corn snakes in Essex.


Be interesting to know if this is true - I don't see why not as they can be found quite far north in the States.


----------



## stuartdouglas (Mar 5, 2008)

I've heard of a colony of _Hyla cinerea_ in the New Forest, the scorpions in Chatam Dockyard, Folkestone docks and Ongar railway station. Theoretically it would be possible for numerous species to thrive in our climate. For instance, _Grammostola rosea_ (Chile Rose tarantula) spends months under a layer of snow in its natural habitat.
Keep 'em coming, I'm fascinated by the abilities of non-native species to adapt and thrive here


----------



## Shiori (Nov 20, 2007)

Where i used to live we were always getting wood deliverys for the stable yard and the guy next door had been picking up various bits and pieces for decades. Anyway ive seen small scorpions, and giant millipedes around there. Have also seen many types of spider and beetle that im sure are not native. Could be all sorts of other creatures living around there. 
Also my o/h used to do a lot of fishing and hooked a massive snapping turtle once. Scared the living daylights out of him.


----------



## Joe1507 (Aug 11, 2008)

stuartdouglas said:


> I've heard of a colony of _Hyla cinerea_ in the New Forest, the scorpions in Chatam Dockyard, Folkestone docks and Ongar railway station. Theoretically it would be possible for numerous species to thrive in our climate. For instance, _Grammostola rosea_ (Chile Rose tarantula) spends months under a layer of snow in its natural habitat.
> Keep 'em coming, I'm fascinated by the abilities of non-native species to adapt and thrive here


 
I live in folkestone, theres lots of scorpiopns around u gotta know where to look


----------



## sandmatt (Oct 25, 2008)

Only terrapins and bull frogs: victory:


----------



## DASSIE (Jul 8, 2006)

aberant caliking and a big ratsnake (just outside my rodent shed) , both in the centre of the universe (skem) . 

in SA , I got several exotic species from baby retics to burmese and corns etc . Prob escapee pets tbh . 

NIk


----------



## spend_day (Apr 10, 2008)

not a herp but we have more muntjac deer that u can shake a stick at in my home town. seriously hundreds of them. some people still wont belive we have several herds of deer living in the town tho and most people dont even know they're there. one ran into the side of my OH's car not long back.


----------



## Gaboon (Jun 20, 2005)

My mate found a baby hermans tortoise in his garden which turned out to be from next door. Roath park in Cardiff apparently has plenty of released terrapins and possibly other turtles. Whilst living in Somerset I saw a tadpole that was not native, it was far too big! Didnt manage to catch the bugger though. Possibly a bull frog tad?

Interesting topic.


----------



## exoticsandtropics (Mar 11, 2007)

there are xenopus frogs in the isle of wight and aesculpian spelling? snakes along the river in camden.


----------



## wolves121121 (Mar 27, 2008)

heres a link to some of the introduced reps in the uk. theres a good write up on wall lizards

Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group (SARG) - Reptiles


----------



## sean k (Dec 20, 2007)

*no native herps*

i would really like to find some non native herps. shame i have never seen any. lol


----------



## wolves121121 (Mar 27, 2008)

your in the right part of the UK think theres afew wall lizard colonies in kent and aesculapian snake in london. plus marsh frogs by the nuclear power station in dungeness


----------



## gaz0123 (Aug 19, 2008)

gtm said:


> I heard a story about a colony of corn snakes in Essex.


ive lived in essex all my life and never herd that :S


----------



## htf666 (Jun 23, 2007)

DASSIE said:


> aberant caliking and a big ratsnake (just outside my rodent shed) , both in the centre of the universe (skem) .
> 
> in SA , I got several exotic species from baby retics to burmese and corns etc . Prob escapee pets tbh .
> 
> NIk


Skem is not the centre of the universe. The round puckered bit on the map of skem is an arsehole so that if the world needs an enema God knows where to stick the tube. Harry:2thumb:


----------



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i'd imagine garter snakes would be alright there... i don't know what else snake-wise could breed there... garter snakes though.. i see no reason why.


----------



## sean k (Dec 20, 2007)

wolves121121 said:


> your in the right part of the UK think theres afew wall lizard colonies in kent and aesculapian snake in london. plus marsh frogs by the nuclear power station in dungeness


ok then i have seen marsh frogs i didnt really think bout that lol i no where there are hundreds of them. lol


----------



## wolves121121 (Mar 27, 2008)

HABU said:


> i'd imagine garter snakes would be alright there... i don't know what else snake-wise could breed there... garter snakes though.. i see no reason why.


 
i agree mate and could well be. a possible garter sp was found on cannock chase last year


----------



## Joe1507 (Aug 11, 2008)

wolves121121 said:


> your in the right part of the UK think theres afew wall lizard colonies in kent and aesculapian snake in london. plus marsh frogs by the nuclear power station in dungeness


Sure is marsh frogs here, harder to find then youwould think though


----------



## DazedLewis (Aug 21, 2008)

spend_day said:


> not a herp but we have more muntjac deer that u can shake a stick at in my home town. seriously hundreds of them. some people still wont belive we have several herds of deer living in the town tho and most people dont even know they're there. one ran into the side of my OH's car not long back.


I thought they were native to the uk?


----------



## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

exoticsandtropics said:


> there are xenopus frogs in the isle of wight and aesculpian spelling? snakes along the river in camden.


I caught a pair of adult aesculapians from the bank of the canal by London Zoo about 14 years ago - apparantly they had escaped a few years before from the zoo's Education Centre - would explain the colony there then!!

I have also caught midwife toads in High Wycombe, where there is a sizeable breeding population.


----------



## 955i (Aug 17, 2007)

DazedLewis said:


> I thought they were native to the uk?


Muntjac are not native. They originate in Asia and are now classed as having reached pest proportion in some areas of the UK.

However, some sightings may be of Chinese water deer which are also non-native residents and look similar to muntjac.


----------



## sean k (Dec 20, 2007)

*marshfrogs*

marshfrogs are not native, i have seen them for silly prices in pet shops.
but for some reason a place i knew of which had hundreds of large frogs, has changed i went there a week ago and i only could fnd like 3 frogs and for like 5 years the least i have ever seen was like 200 frogs. lol but my friend still has about 40 CB adult in an outdoor enclosure..


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

DASSIE said:


> aberant caliking and a big ratsnake (just outside my rodent shed) , both in the centre of the universe (skem) .
> 
> in SA , I got several exotic species from baby retics to burmese and corns etc . Prob escapee pets tbh .
> 
> NIk


Must be herp heaven in Skem as about 5 years ago we caught a juvenile female Iggy that had been happily living on the estate we used to live on


----------



## KJ Exotics (Jun 16, 2007)

Anyone know of more non natives, anyone know of any in warwickshire.


----------



## Al Hyde (Jan 6, 2008)

I caught natrix tessellata back in the 80's , also in the same area many juveniles I suspected to be hybrids


----------

