August 16, 2024

It’s that time of the year again! This is our 10th year vending the Daytona Beach, FL, National Reptile Breeder’s Expo. It’s always great to see so many friends and make new ones!

June 21, 2024

We are temporarily suspending shipping for a few weeks this summer. Currently, we are traveling in Southeast Asia, where we are helping to safely export exotic fruit to the United States market. We are preforming entomology inspections to ensure there are no exotic pest risks.

In addition to our travel commitments, this time of year requires us to closely monitor shipping temperatures to ensure the safety and well-being of our snakes. The summer heat can be particularly challenging, so we appreciate your patience.

Please feel free to email us anytime, but responses may be a bit delayed since we are in a different time zone. We look forward to resuming shipments soon.

We are geeking out at the fauna and flora while here. Water monitors are as common as pigeons in the parks! 🤯🥰

June 9, 2024

What a stunning specimen! We produced and held onto this red-red-red Brazilian rainbow boa for five years, eagerly watching her develop into her full, breathtaking coloration. And boy, am I glad I did! She is so red and just glows with that incredible 🌈 iridescence.

I asked my four-year-old niece what we should name her, hoping for something like “Fire Truck,” “Candy Apple,” or even “The Color of the Blood from My Enemies.” But no, she decided it should be named “Snuddle Butt.” So, I guess that’s what I’ll call her for the next 20 years. Keep an eye out for some Snuddle Butt (🤦‍♂️) babies coming to HardinHerp.com

May 31, 2024

First rainbow boa litter of the year! Mesquite, the het hypo, is proudly viewing the 13 healthy, squirmy babies she produced. We will give these little ones about a year to develop and grow before getting them on the website.

May 4, 2024

Eggciting news from Hardin Herp! Swamp Thing and Texas Tea, some of our Sumatran short tail pythons, have kicked off the breeding season with the first clutch of eggs. We've opted for maternal incubation for the majority of the eggs, as we've found nature tends to work its magic best with this species. However, with six eggs missed during the curling process, we're stepping in to artificially incubate those. Can't wait to see these little ones hatch!

April 22, 2024

We posted some of the boas and pythons we produced last year in our Available section. These little ones are well started and ready for new homes. If you’re looking for anything in particular, please shoot us an email at Sales@HardinHerp.com

July 18, 2023

Lots of eggs hatching! So far we have hatched woma pythons, jungle carpet pythons, and Sumatran short tails should pip any day!

April 14, 2023

This spring has kept us busy!

We acquired a group of red knee tarantulas the size of a grain of rice back in 2016. They’re now fat and happy adults and one produced an eggsac with hundreds of babies! This is a first for us and we are so excited!

February 28, 2023

We finally started uploading photos of our available rainbow boas and Sumatran pythons to MorphMarket.com. We hope to get them all posted on our Available page here very soon too.

December 13, 2022

It’s rare that we catch the Sumatran short tailed pythons locked up. 2022 is this little caramel albino’s first breeding season. Good luck!

November 3, 2022

Always exciting to see this big goliath girl out. We are on the look out for male Theraphosa blondi.

October 26, 2022

Between introducing snakes for the 2023 breeding season and installing a water line to our facility we finally had a few minutes to photograph some of our animals and post them on the Available page.

September 23, 2022

This is our second year successfully producing one of the most endangered amphibians, the Kaiser newt (Neurergus kaiseri). This species of Salamandridae only occurs in four streams in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Because of their rarity, a few years back wild collected individuals would sell for thousands of dollars. That was until a friend of ours, while working at a zoo, received a group of smuggled newts from a Fish and Wildlife confiscation. He cracked the Kaiser code and produced hundreds of newt larvae. Instead of selling the captive born larvae for thousands he unloaded them for $15 each. This crashed the market for poachers and illegal importers. He received threats for bottoming the market. Over the years, many more people could afford and successfully breed Kaiser newts in the United States, which protected the wild newts swimming in those streams. With no value, no poachers wanted to deal with the hassle of collecting. This likely protected the species from extinction. Of course now that the species is well represented in captivity, the risk of extinction through habitat loss, degradation, or pollution is also gone. Conservation through commercialization. What a fun history to consider when dropping bloodworms in your newt aquarium.

September 16, 2022

Working with a new species is a special experience. It’s interesting to observe new behaviors and it’s so rewarding seeing a new species thrive under your care. Check out our new anerythristic Central American night snake (Pseudelaphe flavirufa), anyone else working with this species?

September 7, 2022

We had a blast vending at the National Reptile Breeder’s Expo in Daytona Beach, FL. We still have lots of available babies from this year and last. It is a lot of work photographing and uploading pictures. We promise to get that done soon! We have Sumatran short tails, all colors of rainbow boas, and some other neat organisms. Check back soon!

June 10, 2022

Wow, we are so bad about updating the updates page! Lots of fun things happening at Hardin Herpetologica, we still have lots of rainbow boas, Sumatran and blood Python babies available from 2021. Check our available page and MorphMarket.com to see who is still looking for new homes.

We also have 2022 babies hatching now. We hope to get those posted in the next few months.

July 26, 2021

This is the first time a python has maternally incubated her eggs in our care. Typically, reptile hobbyists remove eggs for incubation. This is common in other animal husbandry practices. For example, the domesticated coturnix quail rarely succeeds at hatching its own eggs due to the species’ reliance on quail farmers pulling and artificially incubating eggs for generations.

This clutch of Malaysian blood pythons (Python brongersmai) was laid on May 25 and began pipping after 61 days of incubation. Despite having state of the art incubators, we think we may continue this practice. Enriching for the snakes and interesting for the keeper.

6/16/2021

Baby season is the most wonderful time of the year! There’s just nothing like opening incubators and finding freshly pipped neonates after a year of hard work. We still have quite a few available animals from last year. It’s a treat to watch these animals grow and thrive. Jungle carpet python pictured.

5/25/2021

We still have quite a few 2020 snakes on our available page and already 2021 animals are coming into the world! Check out this surprising litter of Colombian rainbows with three different phenotypes in one litter (albino, hypo, aberrant patterned normals). We’re excited to see how these colors develop!

4/23/2021

We just uploaded a full spectrum of rainbow boas for you to choose through! Check them all out on our Available page. Make sure you read over our terms and husbandry page too.

4/19/2021

wow, 2021 is really flying by! Char and I moved into a new house and began construction on a herp facility at the end of 2020. We’ve had our heads down focusing on drywalling, painting, and all the other joys of constructing a reptile-building. We still have some 2020 animals available and plan to post more soon, check back or shoot us an email at Sales@HardinHerp.com

1/2/2021

We have finally begun posting pictures of our baby snakes from 2020 on our Available page. Colombian rainbows, Sumatran and blood pythons posted now. We hope to get our jungle carpet pythons and Brazilian rainbow boas up soon.

10/1/2020

It’s October, the perfect time to add a pumpkin headed Sumatran short tail Python to your collection, why not everything else is pumpkin spiced! This trio just had their first shed and are available now for $450 each.

6/25/2020

We have lots and lots of baby snakes that are hatching here and just beginning to feed for us. We hope to begin photographing and posting them on our Available page soon.

5/15/2020

More snakes hatching! We had a lot of jungle carpet python neonates make their debut this week.

Our leucistic Colombian rainbows are eating and we will post them in the Available section soon.

5/2/2020

Lots of fun things are happening here at Hardin Herp: incubating over 100 Python and Morelia eggs, dozens of gravid rainbow boas, and some neat spider projects taking shape. Unfortunately, nothing is ready for new homes, yet. So, I’ll take this opportunity to wish my little brother, Chadler, a happy birthday! I love you and am excited for our next Appalachian Amphibian Adventure! Happy birthday.

4/16/2020

Spring is here and we are beginning to see some fun fruits of our 2019 labor. We are expecting lots of jungle carpet pythons, short tailed pythons, and lots of rainbow boas.

Trace recently discussed Hardin Herpetologica’s origin, entomology, and herpetology conservation on a Reptile Talk podcast episode:

02/20/2020

Shipping is always bitter-sweet. We hate to see these little beauties go, but... that means one less mouse to thaw next week. We ship in styrofoam insulated boxes, with a 40hr heat pack, and a cryopak. This maintains the package’s internal temperature of around 72f. Using ReptilesExpress, we have shipped over 1,000 packages near completely incident-free!

February 4, 2020

TWINS! These two hypo Brazilian rainbow boas were born here in 2019. Luckily, I caught the mother in the act of giving birth and was able to observe a set of twins in the same amniotic sac. The two even had their umbilicus attached to the same yolk. These two have such a vigor for life, they have never missed a meal and despite their size they readily eat similar sized prey items as their siblings. These two are tiny! We’re so happy to see them thriving in captivity.

January 25, 2020

It’s a new year and we need to start cleaning out some habitats for future baby snakes. We are finally getting around to updating pictures for all of our available boas and pythons. Check out the Available tab and see if any catch your eye!

December 24, 2019

We just returned from visiting Japan and Korea. While in the small mountain town of Nichinan, Japan, we were able to assist with the ongoing research on the giant salamander (Andrias japonicus). These true river monsters can weigh 100lbs and patrol shallow streams at night. BushidoJapan.com coordinated our experience with the leading researcher on Andrias, Dr. Sumio Okada, who took us out to weigh and measure individuals, and count the population density. After working with this species at the Omaha Zoo for years it was quite an experience seeing them in the wild!

Now that we are back in the mountains of North Carolina our wimpy hellbenders will have to give us our giant salamander fix! We are happy to be home, we introduced all the adult animals for breeding season and still have lots of 2019 animals posted on our Available section.

October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween! This is one of our favorite times of the year, not only because of the candy, but because our neonate habitats are full and our adults are preparing for their winter slumber.

For a spooky surprise, you should treat yourself to a pumpkin headed Sumatran python, we have quite a few in the available section.

October 24,2019

We are finally beginning to post some of boas and pythons that are looking for new homes. Go check them out in the Available section. We have jungle and centralian carpets, black, chrome-headed, and pumpkin headed Sumatran short tails and blood pythons, and, of course, Brazilian and Colombian rainbow boas. More pics are coming soon, it’s so time consuming uploading photos. I’d so much rather be watching my new kaiser newt (Neurergus kaiseri) colony. We hope to get larvae from this imperiled species soon!

October 16, 2019

It has been a great, yet busy summer for us! Between hatching eggs, vending reptile shows, and setting up new babies we have been slow to update this site. We will have a lot of awesome animals looking for new homes soon.

January 23, 2019

June 29, 2018

They’re finally here! We just had a large litter of Brazilian rainbows born here at Hardin Herp. You can predict when babies will be born by watching the weather and your animal’s behavior. Thunderstorms are a good indicator to watch for neonates. I’ve observed this many times over the years. I believe the barometric pressure elicits the birthing process because the fresh rain water helps wash the smell of amniotic juices away from the vulnerable newborns and mother. These guys will be looking for new homes soon, message me if you’re interested!

December 30, 2017

2017 is almost over, and what a year it was! We produced more boas and pythons than ever before. This feat proves that the constant tinkering, fussing, and fine tuning of our animal's husbandry has resulted in happier and healthier herps that produce great looking offspring.

We hope that next year we are able to produce even more healthy captive born herps. Doing so will saturate the market with animals that are better equipped for a long life in captivity. One of my pet peeves is seeing wild caught, sickly, freshly imported ectotherms being hawked at reptile shows or online. These animals almost always inevitably die. This is unfair to the herps and it discourages new hobbyists from further keeping these awesome pets. It is our duty as reptile lovers to support captive production and to stop the unsustainable wild-collection of herps. Of course, there is always a time and place for sustainable wild collecting.  

There is a lot of downtime this time of year which allows me to reflect on the present and future of our hobby. Once spring rolls around and the snakes come our of hibernation I'll be too busy to climb onto my soapbox! Thank you to all that helped make 2017 one of the best for Hardin Herpetologica! 

October 18, 2017

Our last eggs for the year have pipped and we are preparing to photograph and upload lots of available animals now that they have fed, shed, and are ready to find new homes. We have Centralian pythons (Morelia bredli), Brazilian and Colombian Rainbow boas, and another clutch of Sumatran short tail pythons that I will be uploading soon! Stay tuned!

September 1, 2017

This is one of the busiest time of the year for us here at Hardin Herpetologica; babies are hatching daily, reptile shows are eating up our weekends, and we got lots of emails from great folks wanting to adopt a new scaly friend! With it being so busy Trace decided it would be a great time to leave the country for a couple weeks! He was asked to travel with the great folks of the Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center as their resident entomologist. This is an amazing conservation project that some of his best friends are running; Brandon Greaves (Omaha Zoo) and Jonathon Kolby (Instagram @myfrogcroaked).

As you may know, amphibians are in trouble! Nearly 40% of all species are threatened with extinction; this is due to habitat loss, climate change, and a deadly fungus spreading throughout the world, chytrid. The HARCC team is hoping to collect infected amphibians from a biologically diverse "hotspot" in the cloud forests of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. Once collected they will be transferred to a state-of-the-art "mobile laboratory" made from shipping containers.

Here, the frogs and tadpoles will be fed, treated, and released back into the wild. It appears that the chytrid fungus is most devastating to freshly metamorphed froglets, if we can assist this transitional phase and allow more to survive we will give natural selection a helping hand. Amphibians are threatened because of humans, the least we can do is try a last ditch effort to help them out.

As an entomologist and avid herper, Trace was asked to help establish cultures of insects for the frogs to feed upon and assess current frog populations in Cusuco National Park. What an experience!

June 10th, 2017

The baby racks are starting to fill up! We've already had a few litters of Brazilian and Colombian rainbows born and Sumatran short tail pythons are beginning to pip. Once these little guys shed and start feeding, they'll be ready for new homes. 

May 8th, 2017

We have so many gravid Brazilian rainbows right now! Below are the pairings that are expecting. Email us at sales@hardinherp.com and/or follow us on Facebook to be notified when the litters arrive.

May 7th, 2017

Another "uuuhhhmm...AWESOME" moment at Hardin Herpetologica! I bred my male Leucistic Colombian Rainbow Boa to a "normal" female. She was the most interesting one in a litter produced by a friend that doesn't work with Leucistic Rainbow Boas. I received a sweet surprise after opening my drawer and found one of the seven snapping baby CRBs is a lucy! What are the odds? Makes you wonder how many more hets are sold as normals that are floating around out there...
 

APRIL 9th, 2017

They're heeeeere! Nope, not a poltergeist... It's our first clutch of the year! We can't wait to watch these beauties peek out of their eggs very soon. Contact us at sales@hardinherp.com to be placed on a wait list. 

JANUARY 22, 2017

2017 is here and we are excited about the possibilities this year will bring! We are passing on this excitement by offering… drum roll, please… $25 shipping* on all purchases! Below is a sample of what is currently available. For those interested in a rainbow boa, be sure to saunter over to the TERMS & HUSBANDRY page to check out the Epic Epicrates Care Sheet for tips on how to properly care for these amazing snakes! 

*During the winter months, we can safely ship out when the temperatures are above 40 degrees in the locations of the seller, buyer, and FedEx hub. However, we will gladly care for your purchased snake until the weather conditions are favorable.

August 11, 2016

It’s that time of year again.... baby season!!! We have been busy taking pictures of each and every little one. These cuties are looking more colorful and vibrant with each shed. Check out the Available section to view the offspring from this year’s unique pairings and updated photos of the 2015 babies! Or, see them in person at the NRBE in Daytona on August 19th-21st!

April 18, 2016

When the tax season ends, we know baby season is around the corner. We are making some room for our new bundles of joy by cutting out the 2015 babies that have not completely switched over to frozen/thawed. As much as we adore them, we just do not have the access to live feeders to accommodate them. Also in honor of everyone's favorite day ;) we are offering $18 off our other available animals now through the end of the month. So be sure to check them out! Our loss is your gain!

February 10, 2016

Things have settled down here and we are feeling the LOVE! Valentine's Day is around the corner and we are offering a 14% off discount now through 19th. Check out our Available page and you might be struck by Cupid's arrow! ;) 

#1: CEDxP 15-24; #2: Het leucistic 13-4; # 3: SPxC 15-46; #4: PTxP 15-59; #5: SPxC 15-47; #6: Nephrurus R3

December 18, 2015

As crazy as it has been around here, we pounced on the opportunity to take updated photos of our current stock and newly available babies. FYI, we will be repricing our Brazilian rainbow boas after the new year to reflect their increasingly gorgeous appearance; take advantage of these newborn prices now! Here is an OH SO SWEET morsel of our available section! 

Photo 1A: BRxHT 15-124 BEFORE ; Photo 1B: BRxHT 15-124 NOW ; Photo 2: Het leucistic 13-4 ; Photo 3: Nephrurus M2 ;

Photo 4: BHP 15-1 ; Photo 5: PH-2 ; Photo 6: Leucistic 15-100

We have so much happening right now! After recently accepting a promotion that will take us to South Carolina, we decided to celebrate with a quick AND cheap trip to Costa Rica with some awesome Florida friends. The excursion was our second visit to the beautiful country and we were not disappointed! Costa Rica’s rain forests are a biological dreamland with the amazing flora and fauna! Check out more pictures on  @HardinHerpetologica and @biofab138!

As I mentioned, we are moving to South Carolina. If you have been on the fence about making a purchase from our Available section, NOW is your time! We want to move as few animals as possible so prices are negotiable! Feel free to make an offer! 

October 23, 2015

The St Augustine Reptile Show is this weekend in Florida. My wife will be vending the show on my behalf as I am at a conference in my old stomping grounds. It's so great to see the Omaha Zoo again!

October 14, 2015

It's enrichment day in the snake room! We hid thawed small rats in 3' cardboard tubes, then stuffed both ends with newspaper. This makes it difficult for the snakes to get to their prey. It's like watching kids open presents on Christmas morning! It's important to mentally stimulate captive animals through exercise, a varied diet, and enrichment.

October 8, 2015

We could not think of anyone better than the incredibly talented Isaac Powell to draw up a #NaturalHistory sketch of this #Epicrates head for our future Hardin Herpetologica t-shirts. Follow him @biofab138 to check out his amazing art and catch a glimpse of the natural world through his eyes. You won't be disappointed!

September 24, 2015

Yesterday marked the beginning of the fall season and our babies will perfectly complement your autumn home decor! Others must agree because they are selling fast! Check out who is left in our Available section or stop by our table this weekend at the Jacksonville Repticon show....you just might FALL in love ;) (Pic #1: PH-1 male, #2: PTxP 15-57 male, #3: BRxHT 15-124 male, #4: TExB 14-24 yearling male, #5: RRxC 15-120 female)

September 19, 2015

We've been busy taking and uploading pictures of our most recent litters. Check out the Available section to view pictures of our Leucistic & het Colombian Rainbows, Pumpkin-headed Short Tailed pythons, and Brick Red X Hot Tamale Rainbow pairing! Also, we will be at the Jacksonville Repticon on September 26 & 27 so be sure to stop and see all of these baby beauts in person! 

September 9, 2015

Another large group of ravishing rainbows are shipping out today! We're always sad to see them go, but need the cage space for new projects. So help us make more room by checking out what is left in our available section including the adorable knob tailed gecko that you see below! ;) If you are headed to the FIRExpo in Lakeland, FL this weekend, don't forget to stop by our table and say hi!

September 4, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Lattes delayed for one week? Well, our Pumpkin Headed Sumatran Short Tailed pythons are right on time for the upcoming FIRExpo in Lakeland, FL on September 12 & 13! Here is a sneak peek of the perfect Halloween treat if you are unable to see them in person at the show!   

August 26, 2015

Vending at the Daytona NRBE was a great time! We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting new people. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table!

We still have many snakes for sale. The babies are growing fast and look brighter with every shed.  I could not help myself from taking a quick pic of this little one. The offspring from the  Cedar Chest x Pearl pairing started as golden honey cuties and are turning into brilliant orange beauties! Check out our Available page today! 

August 3, 2015

I recently returned from the Invertebrates in Education and Conservation Conference in Arizona. This was one of my best herping and bugging trips! We saw numerous rattlesnakes, odd colubrids, and tons of cool beetles! Check the Available section as we upload baby snake pictures and prices. We appreciate your patience while we slowly piece together the new site! Shoot me an email with questions or offers!

July 7, 2015

We revamped the website just in time for the new baby season. As you can see from this leucistic Colombian rainbow boa, this season is proving to be a great one! We will be showcasing the offspring as they shed and begin to eat. Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram for the latest news! 

February 10, 2015

I still have some 2014 babies looking for good homes. Check out the Available section for individual pictures by clicking the image above!

January 19, 2015

I just posted some new pictures of blood pythons in my Available section. Two different bloodlines both captive born here in the good ol' US of A! Why waste time with stubborn feeding, farm-raised babies that usually turn out brown when you could have these little orange and red bloods?!

January 6, 2015

Welcome to the new year! I introduced the males to all my females over the holidays, a little gift to all of them! Lots of activity so far this season. I even discovered that my 1.2 black head pythons are actually 3 girls. I got a male so hope to produce some babies this season, finally. I rephotographed all my available animals and put them in the Available section. Some of these guys have really colored up since when they were born and others have never been available before. Below is an amazing hypo I produced last year. Some of the babies that are currently available may grow into similar looking adults.