Magazine Preservation

Repository Of Irreplaceable Reference Material

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I have, in my possession, the physical copy of each magazine pictured here.

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Periodical magazines, geared toward snakes, offers a snapshot in time of our collective information about snakes. We see best practices for care, overall general societal knowledge and our understanding, at the time of the magazines printing, as well as cultural fads related to snakes, and popularity of various snakes. Much history is lost to time if not preserved. Most of these magazines only exist in print and have not been digitized. Without preservation, magazines are destined for destruction. Information becomes irretrievably, lost for eternity. Most all of my magazines came from the UK. The Reptilia magazines came from Spain. I was able to secure some from Japan and Germany.

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The purpose of this page is to share with the world, preserved magazines related mostly to snakes. I am still adding to this collection. My continually growing library currently has 245 magazines. These magazines date from 1957 through 2024. Many publishing companies no longer exist. One thing I found is that publishing companies have inconsistencies in how they uniquely identify their own magazine issues and even fail to date their earlier magazines. Please feel free to correct me if you notice any errors. I have publisher addresses and editor names as well as other biographical and distribution information available upon request, see examples at the bottom of this page. Please contact me if you are conducting research.

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Snake Keeper 1987-1988 (monthly)

This was a great find. This is the very first Snake magazine in Britain. The magazine was published monthly. Research is ongoing to verify how long the magazine ran. Having access to the very first magazine series published, is why preservation is so important. Snake Keeper and Snake Breeder magazines are extremely hard to find. They are either in private collections or just gone from existence. I was fortunate to get ahold of these. I am continuing to seek these original magazines specifically. Of the magazines I have, all but one is 20 pages in length. One is 16 pages.

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These were edited and published by Michael Connolley. Printed in Bristol by Pyramid Press. Examples of the work below are credited to The South Western Herpetological Society. Also credited, below: Potential Growth Rate of Pythons and Boas by Kevin J. Hingley.

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Reptile Hobbyist 1998-1999 (monthly)

Note Reptile Hobbyist will acquire Reptile & Amphibian Magazine in March 1999. Changing the name to Reptile & Amphibian Hobbyist.

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Reptile & Amphibian Magazine 1990 – 2001 (bi-monthly) (monthly after merger)

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Reptile & Amphibian Magazine became Retile & Amphibian Hobbyist when T.F.H. Publishing acquired the magazine in March 1999.

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Reptiles Magazine 1996 – 2024 (monthly)

Reptiles Magazine went through many owners.

With current information, this is what I have found: (My source is the Masthead page directly from the magazines.)

The first issue was published in 1993 under Fancy Publications later to be a division of BowTie Inc.

In February 2013 I-5 Publishing LLC began publishing.

In 2017 around September/October, Lumia Media LLC took over publication.

This was short lived, as in November/December 2017, Pet360 Media Group, (owned by Brock Weatherup), took over publication. Pet360 was acquired by PetSmart in 2014 so there is inconsistency. Further investigation is ongoing. I speculate that the Pet360 “Media Group” was not part of the original acquisition, as Pet360 was a pet food supplier. Revision to the publication history sure to come.

In 2020, starting with January/February issues, Living World Media Inc. was the new publisher and continues through today.

This information may be revised as new information is discovered.

Reptiles Magazine acquires The Vivarium mid to end of 2000.

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Reptiles USA 2004 – 2009 (annual)

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Reptile Care 2004 – 2006 (monthly) (2006 six times per year)

Note the 2006 Reptile Care is a different publisher from the 2004 – 2005 issues. Unsure if one acquired the other. I will update after I continue my research.

2006 issue Reptile Care Uk LTD, 126-8 Gloucester road north, Filton, Bristol United Kingdom Publisher: Pete Blake Editor: Angela Nelson.

2004 – 2005 issues Reptile Care Mulberry Publications Ltd, Suite 209, 2nd Floor, Wellington House, Butt Road, Colchester, Essex CO3 3DA Publisher: Phillip Northcott Editor: Chris Brock.

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Practical Reptile Keeping 2009 – 2014 (monthly)

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Pet Reptile 2000 (Bi-Monthly)

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Reptilia 2000 – 2010 (Bi-Monthly)

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EK Magazine 2021 – 2023 (Monthly)

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Fauna Magazine 1997- 2003

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Something for my young visitors

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Sports Afield, a very poor resource

IRRESPONSIBLE –“Sports Afield” magazine failed even the basic vetting of accurate information, especially on their cover, TWICE. Snakes typically are not poisonous, they are venomous. The venom is injected when the snake bites their prey. Poison is ingested. An unreliable source for accurate information. I would not cite if conducting credible research.

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Snakes used to scare people for profit

As evidenced below, it seems there is a long history of snakes being used for the purpose of scaring and terrifying people for profit. Conversely, they also do fascinate people which is why they appear on the cover of many popular magazines.

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Vilifying and use of snakes to terrify, really negatively impact peoples perception of snakes and make educating people about the value of snakes much more challenging.

Cornsnakes (pictured in Fangoria) are the most gentle docile snake you can find.

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International Magazines for Preservation

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Fun Reptile Stuff not Snakes

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Example of publishing info: Reptile Hobbyist Distributor: T.F.H. Publications Ltd. PO Box 15, Waterlooville PO7 6BQ Reptile Hobbyist One TFH Plaza, Neptune City, New Jersey 07753 Founder: Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod, Senior Editor: Jerry G. Walls Managing Editor: Neal Pronek, Editor: Tom Mazorlig

Example of publishing info: Reptiles December 2002 Volume 10 Number 12 Reptiles Magazine, Fancy Publications Inc. 3 Burroughs, Irvine, CA 92718; Corp Headquarters, 2401 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90057 Editor: Phillip Samuelson, Managing Editor: Russ Case