Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have finally decided to purchase a Borneo Blood... I was hoping to get some tips from those of you who have experience with this species... beyond what some of the "canned" information from the internet provides.

Thanks, in advance!

Remember they are not like ball pythons or colubrids. You should not power feed them else they get obese and excessively lazy leading to poor defecations and possible other health problems. They don't necessarily grow fast the first year or two. But in years 3-5 they really develop and this is why it is best to breed females at a much older age than other snake species. This is my experience from keeping these snakes. I ordered my first "blood" which really turned out to be a borneo when I received it back in 1993-1994. It was a miserable little runt with chronic respiratory problems and lousy eating habits. My husbandry wasn't the best either. I kept it too humid and too warm based on info from person I got it from.

Now, I have a "few" of them (actually a few dozen...) and realize they can be kept just like any other python as long as they have access to lots of fresh clean water, constant moderate temperatures of around 78-82F with a large area to slowly warm up to around 92F without going to much above this. Cool air temps lead to excessive basking which can lead to belly burns if you do not control your temps right.

Get a good captive-bred borneo that eats. I bought imports that before you get to a vet to check them, they eat, poop and croak. Not a good experience. The post-mortum usually shows heavy parasite loads or severe respiratory problems. There are some importers who get the farmed animals and actually keep them in good shape. Just not all.

Good luck

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Thanks a lot for the advice.

Do you personally recommend any breeders (such as yourself)??

Unfortunately, I had a bad experience before... a python that ended up dying, and all the "guarantee" got me was the opportunity to pay the shipping to return the dead animal, and, a credit with the same people that sold me a practically dead animal to begin with!