Herping NZ

[spongebob]

I need some advice.

Just booked to go over to Christchurch for a few days with my son. Would it be stupid of me to go herping. I've been to North Island in spring and saw nothing, I mean nothing. Even went to see the tut on Soames Island but to no avail. Any Kiwi's out there who can help?

Bob

 

[gozz]

Theres no snakes in NZ correct me if iam wrong

 

[spongebob]

I think St Patrick has been there yes.

 

[DDALDD]

Unfortunately can offer you no advice there mate. However, good luck with it, I'd grab any chance to see any of the Naultinus geckos.

 

[napoleon]

keep your eyes open for a Kawekaweau lol

 

[Jarden]

There are no snakes in new zealand, There are hardly any reptiles only tuataras which u will never find in a million years and christchurch is ummm not that great for seeing nz wildlife so pretty pointless going herping if ur after snakes or any type or reptiles and its like autumn so christchurch will be HEAPS cold so u will be lucky to see ANYTHING lol but have a good holiday

 

[TrueBlue]

NZ has some of the hottest geckos in the world, most are day geckos and the south island has some of the rarest and best in the country.
If you contact the environment dept,(not sure what they are called over there), they will put you in contact with someone there who keeps them and will surely show you some.

 

[JasonL]

Yellow Bellied Sea snakes turn up on New Zealands beaches from time to time, as do banded kraits..... plenty of small skink species, some pretty nice ones too, and of course the world class gecko species and a small handfull of frogs, inc a couple of ex pat aussies

 

[ryanharvey1993]

look out for our endangered green and golden bell frogs :lol:

 

[TURBO8]

Yellow Bellied Sea snakes turn up on New Zealands beaches from time to time, as do banded kraits..... plenty of small skink species, some pretty nice ones too, and of course the world class gecko species and a small handfull of frogs, inc a couple of ex pat aussies

One of those species wouldnt possibly be the green and golden bells frog ??? as last time i was in Auckland i saw one that looked identical

 

[TURBO8]

look out for our endangered green and golden bell frogs :lol:

you beat me too it , i was unaware that they had them in NZ !

 

[Jarden]

You would have to go to some body who keeps the geckos to see them and walk around the forest to see some action i lived in new zealand for 20 years and never seen 1 gecko in my life till i moved to aus

 

[cement]

I just came back from 3 weeks in NZ and there is very little reptile. They have nice geckoes (i didn't find any) and small skinks (once again I see none) and the mighty Tuatara. I tried to get out to the islands to see them I forget the name of the island but it is top of Nth Island and a boat trip from Auckland. The island is run by the Dept of Conservation ( for True Blue) and it is closed to the public on mon and tues. Imissed out as I only had mon and tues before I flew back here wed. So the best place to see them and what I did was go to the zoo!

 

[JasonL]

There are 3 imported frogs, Green and Golden Bell frogs - Litorea aurea, Southern Bell Frogs - Litoria raniformis, and Whistling Tree Frog - Litoria ewingii. One thing with New Zealands geckos is that they live birth.

 

[butters]

I was in NZ in September and the only wild reptile I saw was a gecko Woodworthi sp in Queenstown. It was out catching the last few rays one late afternoon.

There are numerous places you can see captive reptiles. There is a wildlife display in the main square in the centre of Christchurch which has Tuatara and a few gecko species on display. Very small set up but a good chance to see some of these critters.

I have in the past seen both gecko and skink species out on Banks Peninsula so you may be in luck as its not that far a drive from Christchurch.

There are loads of reptiles in NZ. Over 90 species of lizards. They just aren't in your face like ours and many have very restricted distributions where few people go.

Spent 2 years as a kid over there 20+ years ago and had a couple of captive Naultinus elegans as pets. Bright green and the coolest critters out , mine dropped babies a couple of times.

Also had some Red Eared Sliders as at that time you could buy them for $20 from the local petstore.

Snakes aren't the only herp there is!!!!

Cheers Andrew

 

[spongebob]

Thanks guys.

Yes I'd love to see some of those Naultinus geckos. I've got a book on keeping NZ geckos written for keepers in NZ.

 

[JasonL]

90 species!! Damb splitters!! my 96 field guide only has 44

 

[butters]

Hehe. Yeah splitters have had fun in NZ recently although the most recent book I have (2008) has 90 listed species at least 30 of those are still undescribed. I bought it when I was over there after finding the gecko but then couldn't find it or another one to try and ID it.

A Photographic Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand by Tony Jewell, New Holland Press if you want to upgrade Jason. Was only about 25 dollars and can be found in a lot of the bookshops over there Spongebob.

The one wild gecko I saw recently was most likely a Kawarau Gecko which at present is still an undescribed Woodworthia sp.

The place I mentioned in the main square in Christchurch has a number of Naultinus sp geckos on display.

Cheers Andrew