Advice for a budding herpetologist?

[sillymoogle7]

Hello all at Caudata,
I'm a real beginner here, my interest was sparked when I met my first axolotl (charmingly named Darwin) earlier this year and I just knew I had discovered a life long passion. The more I browse caudata and learn about amphibians, newts, salamanders and the like the more intrigued I become. I keep finding myself devoting an hour to reading a thread on the breeding habits of Siren intermedia or following with total fascination the story of a new type of surgery performed an axolotl. A whole new vocabulary has opened up to me, including the word herpetology!
To cut to the chase, I was hoping to get some more information about herpetology in general. My internet searches have produced lots of information on career paths, the necessity of a biology degree and so on but I feel as though I should start a little more gently than this! Can anyone advise me on some good introductory books about the subject and some reputable organisations that publish accessible journals or articles?
I'm grateful to have a community of experts around to ask! I may copy this post to a couple of forums as I'm not sure which section it really belongs in. Many thanks in advance.

 

[Jennewt]

This book is fairly accessible. A few technical terms, but if the subject interests you, you'd understand virtually all of it:
A Natural History of Amphibians by Stebbins and Cohen
This forum has a section of book reviews that might give you additional guidance if you are browsing for books:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1-gen...ts-been-reviewed-reading-recommendations.html

 

[rethgar]

Laurie Vitt and Janalee Caldwell do a pretty good herpetology intorductory text book, might be a bit pricy though depending on your circumstances. The Stebbins and Cohen one mentioned before is good too (doesn't have the lovely colour photos in though).
Rather than jumping into a degree there are a couple of basic herp courses available which can be done by correspondence. Compass run one and Proteus the other. I think the Proteus one is on hiatus at the minute though as they update the course, that one might be a little more reptile-centric though.

 

[sillymoogle7]

Thanks guys I'm going to take my time and look into it slowly. The correspondence course sounds interesting, shall certainly check that out