Rwanda-Burundi Reptile, amphibians, invertebrate etc...

[MikeBodd]

Was a great Post Kenny! I really, really enjoyed it.

[Scavenger]

Hi Kenny really loving the pictures great stuff some of the species I would love to see As for studying at NMMU I'm sure you'll love it and the experience you have already will hold you in good stead. I'm kind of doing it in reverse to you as I'm currently doing my experiential year for my nature conservation diploma but hopefully if I do well enough I'll be doing my Btech next year and will most likely see you when you're in second year. Anyways good luck and enjoy, its an awesome campus and lots of cool species to see

[Kennyakagera]

Hi fellow herpers,

I hope all of you are doing good, spend my june-jully hollidays in Rwanda working again. I thought I would share with you some of the species I have found during this month of work.
It was a very succesful month with just over 12 species collected in a month including

Crotaphopeltis hotemboeia
Dasypeltis scabra
Naja nigricollis
Dendroaspis polylepsis
Bitis arietans
Psammophis angolensis
Philotamnus semivariegatus
Psammophis mossambicus
Lamprophis fuliginosus
Causus resimus
Lycophidion capensis
Elapsoidea latincita

Anyways just a few pictures, any request/questions/advice are welcome as always

Hope you enjoy.

Dasypeltis scabra Juv.


Bitis arietans male


While the cage is being fixed you better make a plan...


B.arietans male


B.arietans male


Hemidactylus mabuya


Crotaphopeltis hotmeboeia


Psammophis angolensis


C.niloticus


Feeding before releasing.


Philotamnus semivariegatus



Boaedon fuliginosus


Naja nigricolis crossing in from of my bike. Trying to catch one of these without glasses is not a fun game and end up with no snake and a face full of venom...


V.niloticus


V.niloticus


Dendroaspis polylepis that didn't really enjoy me disturbing his afternoon nap on the road... and left without even letting me taking a picture of him...


End the best for the end...

Causus resimus Juv


Causus resimusJuv


Cheers guys
Kenny.

[wadekilian]

Kenny, this is by far one of my favourite threads on this forum!

You're incredibly fortunate to be able to see snakes like C. resimus, N. nigricollis and A. nitschei in their natural enviroment. Not to mention the colour of those Puff Adders!

[Kennyakagera]

Thank you very much Wadekilian much appreciated.
C.resimus by far one of my favorite with the A.nitschei abviously

[Westley Price]

Great stuff Kenny!

I am really enjoying the few recent field herping topics shared by members, including yours of course.

No pics of the Elapsoidea?

My favorite from your recent post is the P. angolensis.

Thanx for sharing and great photography.

[Durban Keeper]

Hats off. Your photographs are from the top shelves. That bush snake is vividly marked and I love the Lamprophis. You really are a very talented photographer.

[Kennyakagera]

Thank you very much Westley and Durban Keeper,
much appreciated, I have to update my Western cape topic as well with quiet a lot of species and lots of pictures so its gonna take some time.

Westley here are the pictures of the Elapsoidea
One DOR as you can see and another two alive.

Still DOR in the National Park, really sad.


Sorry for the sh!t picture but all I have got


Cephalic scales close up, typical loreal scale missing in Elapids.


Giving it a treat before release


There was another one bigger that I caught while guiding tourist on a night drive, still waiting for the picture thought will post them when I receive them.

Cheers
Kenny.

[Westley Price]

Now, that is one gorgeous snake!

Not a species seen too often I would recon.

Thanx for the pics.

[Kennyakagera]

Absolutly, in three years working there I only caught 4-5 which is not a lot but not the rarest

[Kennyakagera]

Hi Guys,

I am just coming back from home (Rwanda), I was back at Akagera working for 3 month and was very lucky reptile wise with just over 20 species of Snakes.

There is the list:
Aparallactus capensis
Leptotyphlops emini
Naja nigricolis
Dendroaspis polylepis
Philothamnus semivariegatus
Philothamnus angolensis
Philothamnus rwandae
Python sebae
Typhlops angolensis
Elapsoidea latincita
Lamprophis fuloginosus
Bitis arietans
Psammophis mossambicus
Dasypeltis scabra
Dispholidus typus
Natriciteres olivacea
Atheris nitschei
Dasypeltis atra
Lycophidion ornatum
Lycophidion capense

Here we go, I won't annoy you guys too much with the stories, for those who don't know me or this post I live and work in Rwanda in a SAVANNA biome (People always associate Rwanda with Rainforest), I work as a Guide/Builder/anything else they need me to do in Akagera National Park and on the side I study the reptiles of the country, now for over 5 years, we will be publishing a book on the Reptiles of Rwanda soon as well so thats gonna be interesting. The DNA of every single snakes was taken and we be send to Bill Branch so lets hope some interesting results will come through as well.

Lamprophis fuloginosus female (Brown house snake) 1m05.


Varanus niloticus female from Tanzania (Nile Monitor Lizard) 1m83.


Varanus albigularis male from Tanzania (Savanna Monitor Lizard) 1m58.


Atheris nitschei male from Cyamudongo forest Rwanda (Great lakes bush viper) 46 cm.


Dendroaspis polylepis, Akagera NP, Rwanda, Male (Black mamba) >2m.


Varanus niloticus, Akagera NP, Rwanda, female (Nile monitor lizard) 1m2.


Leptotyphlops emini, Akagera NP.


Psammophis mossambicus, Akagera NP (Olive whip snake) 32 cm.



Psammophis mossambicus, Akagera NP (Olive whip snake) 32 cm.


Bitis arietans, Akagera NP (Puff adder) Dark phase. 61 cm.



Bitis arietans, Akagera NP (Puff adder) Dark phase. 61 cm.


Natriciteres olivacea, Akagera NP (Olive marsh snake) Red phase.


Dasypeltis scabra, Akagera NP (Rhombic egg-eater)


Bitis arietans, Akagera NP (Puff adder) Redish phase. Juvenile


Lamprophis fuloginosus male, Akagera NP (Brown house snake). Juvenile.


Lamprophis fuloginosus male, Akagera NP (Brown house snake). Juvenile.


Python sebae female, Akagera NP (Central african rock python). Juvenile


Python sebae Male, Akagera NP (Central african rock python). Juvenile


Ptychadena spp


Hyperolius viridiflavus



The next photos will follow up very soon.

Hope you enjoyed.

Kenny.

[Warren Klein]

Great finds and good photos Kenny. That is a pretty Puff adder. Was that a gerbil you were feeding it?

[Kennyakagera]

Thanks a lot HH, where do you see a Gerbil ?
Kenny.

[croteseeker]

Your photography gets better with each new post. Great stuff, Kenny.

[Kennyakagera]

Thanks a lots Crotseeker.