# Herp Trip to South Australia



## richoman_3 (Jan 23, 2014)

Well last Tuesday night after watching some epic cricket, matthew (pythonwner or some boring name like that on here) got ready to get up at 4am to get a flight to Adelaide.
Arriving at Adelaide we met up with JP from QLD and waited for shawn (rocket) to pick us up. We went to his house and saw all his sexy geckos and pygos, of which he promised to give me most of.
We started our adventure out to the Eyre Peninsula, around the Kimba region. On the way we went to a tin spot but it was to blistering hot that we only found shingle backs and a roasted parasuta.

Arriving at our spot our main goal was a starred knob tailed gecko.

Driving along the road this big brown boy was cruising along.
When we caught it and had a look my mouth dropped… INFRAMACULA!. Really something i wanted but hell did not expect to get!


Peninsula Brown Snake (Pseudonaja inframacula)




Peninsula Brown Snake (Pseudonaja inframacula) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


After harassing that special beast. About 100m down the road this dugite thought he would have a crack at us! … He was very happy to see us, he was a bit bitey!

Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis)




Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


As nightfall we were straight in the dunes looking for stellatus.
We bumped into a lot of boring damaeum before we heard mat cry stellatus
It was a very sexy gecko. Extremely sexy… Like so sexy if you put one next to me it'd be the hardest decision in your life to pick which one is sexier!

Starred Knob Tailed Gecko




Starred Knob-Tailed Gecko (Nephrurus stellatus) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Walking down the road we were checking trees for strophurus species or some cool snake of some sort. I spotted this guy retrieving under a burrow under a shrub. not for long! .. A richmond snake!. Finally!

Jan's Banded Snake (Simoselaps bertholdi)




Jan's Banded Snake (Simoselaps bertholdi) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


That was enough for the night.
In the morning we were hoping to see a thorny devil so we cruised roads.

Southern Mallee Ctenotus (Ctenotus atlas)





Southern Mallee Ctenotus (Ctenotus atlas) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Crested Dragons were common along roads. Some were very hot with red all over their body! They were extremely swift and no one could catch one.
This one was basking on a rock on the side of the road

Crested Dragon (Ctenophorus cristatus)




Crested Dragon (Ctenophorus cristatus) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We found a desert skink. Third one I've seen now, and they never stop getting awesome!

Desert Skink (Liopholis inornata)




Desert Skink (Liopholis inornata) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


It was midday now and rocket really wanted a thorny devil. HE REALLY WANTED ONE. If i could fill this whole page with just REALLY's it would still be an under exaggeration of how much he REALLY wanted a thorny devil. Infact i don't think there would be enough room in the universe to write the amount of REALLY's.
Well after about 5 hours searching in dunes in heat, rocket finally got what he wanted! And he was very happy after that! We all were!
These things were fake in my opinion!
While we were photographing it, it continued snacking on ants, matt got a cool shot of that.

Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus)




Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr




Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


After that ecstatic find and with everyone in the car so happy that i wasn't even excited about having a magnum ice-cream. We moved south for a night to look for death adders and delma petersoni
We that wasn't the greatest night, since we found no snakes or stupid delmas after hours of searching.
We found some riveting skinks though

Four-toed Earless Skink (Hemiergis peronii)




Four-toed Earless Skink (Hemiergis peronii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr



Four-toed Earless Skink (Hemiergis peronii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We found a weird looking gecko that we had to check twice before calling it a damaeum

Beaded gecko (Lucasium damaeum)




Beaded gecko (Lucasium damaeum) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


That morning we returned back to the dune we found a thorny devil to try and find a baby one. (yes we ask for too much!)
Unfortunately we didn't find a baby thorny devil, because i doubt they exist. I think there is only one thorny devil in australia that makes its way around quickly
but we did get some awesome skinks...

South-western Orange-tailed Slider (Lerista distinguenda)




South-western Orange-tailed Slider (Lerista distinguenda) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Edwards' Slider (Lerista edwardsae)




Edwards' Slider (Lerista edwardsae) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


After we were done being blown away by the amazingess of lerista, we kept driving north looking for gidgee skinks. We stopped at a rocky outcrop on the side of the road.
It was bloody hot, and we found a cute as hell hatchling peninsula dragon

Hatchling Peninsula Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni)




Hatchling Peninsula Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr



Hatchling Peninsula Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We kept looking for outcrops to find a gidgee as JP really wanted one. HE REALLY WANTED ONE. If i could fill this whole page with just REALLY's it would still be an under exaggeration of how much he REALLY wanted a gidgee skink. Infact i don't think there would be enough room in the universe to write the amount of REALLY's. So we stopped around the pimba region to have a poke around. Arcoona rock dragons were running around the rocky plains, they were so awesome! i LOVED THEM!

Juvenile Arcoona Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni)




Juvenile Arcoona Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr



Juvenile Arcoona Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr



Than we saw some males




Male Arcoona Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr




Male Arcoona Rock Dragon (Ctenophorus fionni) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We were still poking around in the ridiculous heat looking for this spiky skink, when JP walked up to us with a smile on his face!
Everyone had smiles on their face, it think the skink even might of as well (not really, they look pretty tough. Not even my jokes or rocket's immature farts could make it smile)

Gidgee Skink (Ergenia stokesii)




Gidgee Skink (Egernia stokesii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We kept driving north to around pernatty lagoon to look for some sexy geckos.
I thought asking for two nephrurus in one trip was too much, but apparently not.
It took a while to find some but when we did we were all ecstatic!

Gravid Pernatty Lagoon Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus deleani)




Pernatty Lagoon Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus deleani) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr

Male Pernatty Lagoon Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus deleani)




Pernatty Lagoon Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus deleani) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We found some beaked geckos as well. AKA skinny annoying things that don't sit still

Eyre Basin Beaked Gecko (Rhynchoedura eyrensis)




Eyre Basin Beaked Gecko (Rhynchoedura eyrensis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


And rocket also found his first pygopus species (about time!)



An awesome western scalyfoot

Western Hooded Scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps)




Western Hooded Scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


After another rough sleep in a mattress-less tent, me and JP woke up to rocket's usual alarm of .. well i wont repeat it. Matt got out of his swag and we were away on the 4th day!
Rocket had organised for us to go out and see some pygmy blue tongues.
yes i repeat. PYGMY BLUETONGUES!. These guys were even smaller than hatchling common blue tongues! .. Absolutely epic things

Pygmy Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis)




Pygmy Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr

Juvenile Pygmy Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) .. possibly the cutest thing I've seen apart from JP falling asleep




Juvenile Pygmy Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


A sexy rhodomantis! Or a piece of grass that moves as others may cal them




Rhodomantis sp. by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


We headed back east into the Murray-Mallee for our last night. Our main target was elderi.
Arriving there on dusk we poked around for some snakes, with no luck.
but we found something that was just as cool as a snake in my opinion

Spinifex Slender Blue-tongue (Cyclodomorphus melanops)




Spinifex Slender Blue-tongue (Cyclodomorphus melanops) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


JP and I had rashes all over our arms from searching spinifex for so long looking for delma. We needed to find one. We were searching like our lives depended on it. We searched every spinifex we saw while matt and rocket continued there way up the dune. Every shed skink just teased us. We were getting angry. REALLY ANGRY! So angry that i was nearly tempted to smack the spinifex. But that would be dumb and i would get numb.
Than all of a sudden we could hear rocket screaming to us in the distance. We thought had found a mulga. So we ran what seemed like 20km (It probably was more) to arrive at him, smirking that matt MIGHT of found a williamsi. I wanted to smack him
than he opened his hand. i wanted to smack him even more! He had found a delma, on the side the road under a tiny spinifex mat. He made me and JP look bad! (but secretly we had found about 100)

Marble-faced Delma (Delma australis)




Marble-faced Delma (Delma australis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Than we saw some jewelled gecko!. These things were EXTREMELY sexy! They were alluring, appealing, charming, cute, dazzling, delightful, elegant, exquisite, gorgeous, graceful, handsome, magnificent, marvellous, pretty, splendid, stunning, superb, wonderful, admirable, angelic, classy (like rocket), divine, pulchritudinous (my new favourite word), ravishingly sexy creatures

Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi)




Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr

Juvenile Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi)




Juvenile Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Matt had found a williamsi apparently. He had lost it under a tree (GOD DAMIT MATT!) And he was getting really angry. There was smoke fuming out of his ears and i was tempted to pee on him to cool him down incase he started a bushfire. But instead i just pointed out it was on the other side of the tree. That made matt relaxed, but i wonder what option A would of done.

Eastern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus williamsi)




Eastern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus williamsi) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


Rocket also spotted a mitchells short tailed snake, i had seen many already so didn't bother to get photos.
We woke up to an overcast morning. Our last morning. (emotional)
JP wanted to find a thick tailed gecko. HE REALLY WANTED ONE. If i could fill this whole page with just REALLY's it would still be an under exaggeration of how much he REALLY wanted a barking gecko. Infact i don't think there would be enough room in the universe to write the amount of REALLY's.
So rocket took us to a rocky hill where i found one for JP to keep him quiet

Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii)




Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus milii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


I didn't want to end the trip on some pedophilic looking gecko (seriously, look at the things smirk ^^^). So Rocket took us on his farm in the barossa valley to look for a few other critters.

Southern Rock Dtella (Gehyra lazelli)




Southern Rock Dtella (Gehyra lazelli) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr



Southern Rock Dtella (Gehyra lazelli) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


YES!. A perfect end to the trip!. Plus it had a regen!.. Have a look at this beast of a skink!

Three-toed Earless Skink (Hemiergis decresiensis)




Three-toed Earless Skink (Hemiergis decresiensis) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


It was too good to be true that we would finish or trip on a little brown skink. Because we found tawny dragons. I loved tawny dragons. I loved them much more than little brown skinks. MUCH more. In fact i loved them so much that i can't even be bothered writing how much much's i could love them because I'm still thinking about how much i loved them.

Female Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decresii)




Female Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decresii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr

Male Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decresii)




Male Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decresii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr




Male Tawny Dragon (Ctenophorus decresii) by Nick Volpe, on Flickr


So yes. It was time for us to go. We said our goodbyes, cried a bit (matt did, I'm tough) and went back home! It was an awesome trip. It was hard to say bye to rocket, he was so majestic!

I hope you enjoy reading this!

Nick


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## Demansiaphile (Jan 23, 2014)

Nice, sucks how you found no cool elapids.


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## richoman_3 (Jan 23, 2014)

Demansiaphile said:


> Nice, sucks how you found no cool elapids.



sucks you don't know what a wild moloch looks like


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## Dendrobates (Jan 24, 2014)

Sucks that this isn't someones pet jag on the lawn so it could get more comments and appreciation..

Awesome thread! The inframacula is by far the best thing you found! Much better than a non-existant spikey dragon thing.


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## richoman_3 (Jan 24, 2014)

Smallbrownskinks said:


> Sucks that this isn't someones pet jag on the lawn so it could get more comments and appreciation..
> 
> Awesome thread! The inframacula is by far the best thing you found! Much better than a non-existant spikey dragon thing.



Haha, reptiles are found on grass anyway, all these photos are set up on different substrate 
it definitely was one cool snake, though i was very disappointed at the lack of your username on this trip


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## benc63 (Jan 24, 2014)

Sweet finds, beautiful photos and a very funny post. good job.


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## mark_p (Jan 24, 2014)

Impressive photos, looks like you had a very productive trip, thanks for posting. Best post on here in a long while.


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## NickGeee (Jan 24, 2014)

Wow, that thicky did have a pretty messed up smile... Epic stuff Nick!
The time you put into this thread (uploading to Flickr and onto here, writing all those "really,s")was defiantly time worth spent.


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## davies.ads (Jan 24, 2014)

Looks like an awesome trip! Was a good read. Thanks!


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## richoman_3 (Jan 24, 2014)

Thanks all !

heres a quick photo of me with the moloch <3


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## solar 17 (Jan 24, 2014)

Great pics love the Pygmy BTS....


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## Mitella (Jan 24, 2014)

Haha, awesome post!
Your humour tops it too


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## Paul Atkinson (Jan 24, 2014)

What a great post. Top pics and a thoroughly entertaining text.


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## PappaSmurf (Jan 25, 2014)

Awesome pics & VERY entertaining narrative. Enjoyed much.


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## andynic07 (Jan 25, 2014)

Excellent photography and story mate. It sounds like a great trip that would have been fun to go on.


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## Stuart (Jan 25, 2014)

Fantastic post, cheers for sharing richoman.


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## richoman_3 (Jan 26, 2014)

Thanks everyone!


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## Rob (Jan 31, 2014)

This one deserves a bump. Top-Shelf stuff !


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## richoman_3 (Feb 3, 2014)

Thanks Rob!


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## moosenoose (Feb 3, 2014)

Seriously cool!  nice work!


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## Channaz (Feb 3, 2014)

Great photos, fantastic narrative too!


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