Looking for a Field guide

[Fenderplayer108]

Hey guys, im starting to get interested in studying snakes/lizards/other herps from different countrys.

I already have numerous US field guides, but can anyone reccommend me to a good one for out of country?

Thanks,
Ryan

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[telefrag]

check out krieger publishing or zoo book sales

http://www.krieger-publishing.com/na...erpetology.htm

zoo books has tons of papers and books from all over the world.

http://www.zoobooksales.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi

there is also the Bill Branch book on southern Africa which is very well done, and one publisher frequently releases books on S.E. Asian herpetofauna, but I cant recall their name.

[Fenderplayer108]

This may be a general question, but is there any reason field guides are so expensive?

The most i've spent was about 25.00 on a field guide of US.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[telefrag]

well, most of them arent paperbacks, and come from smaller publishers, and not to mention the content of some of them are much higher in quality.

that doesnt mean the 25.00 book has bad info, but if you want to cover broader perspectives on herping, and have more cumulative field experience behind the text, your going to pay 70+ for a book that adequately covers the native herps to several parts of the world.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Fenderplayer108]

Originally Posted by telefrag

well, most of them arent paperbacks, and come from smaller publishers, and not to mention the content of some of them are much higher in quality.
that doesnt mean the 25.00 book has bad info, but if you want to cover broader perspectives on herping, and have more cumulative field experience behind the text, your going to pay 70+ for a book that adequately covers the native herps to several parts of the world.

yeah, so it is worth it then?

thanks. because i will pay that much if its worth it

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[telefrag]

what region are you looking to get field information on, or is there any species in particular you would like wild accounts of?

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Fenderplayer108]

Originally Posted by telefrag

what region are you looking to get field information on, or is there any species in particular you would like wild accounts of?

Im really interested in studying snakes and other herps of the Amazon.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[telefrag]

not a bad choice, there are tons of books on the subject, but most of them arent pocket style reference books.


I'd start checking amazon or ebay for used copies of some of them, or local herp shows.

thats best to get started, so you can actually see them, its pretty disappointing to order a very anticipated book that is like 80 bucks only to get it and find it sub par and not very useful.

but then again, everyone has different tastes, but if your serious about having a good collection of literature.

if it werent for herp shows and ebay and half price book stores, my collection would be much smaller.