Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well i have quite the large collection of pythons/boas/lizards with my favorites deff being the carpets. I have been thinking about picking up a single olive as a strictly pet only animal. I was just curious as to every1s input on olives temper, feeding responce and general input on them. Of course pics would be great to see as well

Olive's are awesome pets, they're smart and active but can be picky eaters, some don't have this issue at all and I hope not to have it after a few more weeks

They're very silky smooth, high scale count, and mine has a very good temperament and enjoys being handled and out of the enclosure.

Here are a couple pics!

Eating a live chick, the only thing he'll eat atm :

I have 3.2, with 4 of them over 8'. They're a bit snappy as little guys, but they tame down nicely. They CAN get a strong feeding response, to where 3-4' comes out of the cage towards you

my blood pythons have quite the strong feeding responce that i have to be quite careful with. Very tame snakes until they smell food lol.

I hope a few more people chime in

I have 2.1 olives at the moment, they are an awesome snake for sure! Mine are still pretty young, but I am really enjoying working them. Mine have a huge feeding response and will eat anything without a problem. They are very curious and active snakes as well. The animals I have never struck at me, but I have heard that they can be a bit of a pill when they are small (I think I just got lucky).

thanks, I have heard so much about very nippy carpets but out of all the ones i have owned i have only had one that was well evil lol the rest were nice easy goin babies. so hopefully my luck with olives will be the same when i bring myself to buy one

Ha... you are lucky - most of the carpets I have owned, while young, came out of the tubs teeth first.

i had a bredli jaguar awhile back that was the spawn of satan himself lol. Only snake i knew whom struck at the tub, the snake hook, me, and even well himself. Needless to say he was to crazy for me and i found him a better home. Every other carpet has been great 2 years back when i bred carpets half the babies were tame right out the egg.

I wouldn't consider my olive nippy as a youngster- I would categorize him more as psycho!

My carpets- all predictable. You will get bit when they're young.

My olive on the other hand would sometimes do the tail whipping thing, other times, he would be just fine, and he'd just SNAP while handling him and bite everything/anything near him.

Of ALL my snakes, he is DEFINITELY my absolute favorite and has calmed down into my most trustworthy snake in my collection.

Funny you say that carpets are your fav- I'm just getting out of carpets- one left to sell.

//Todd

i was hoping you would chime in the one carpet you have left does that happen to be your smokin nice bredli?

LOL! Sure is... shoot me a PM!

//Todd

The Australian olive pythons can be neat, especially if they are feeding. What about the other olive python, the Papuan olive python (Apodura papuanus)? I have both, and it is completely subjective, but I love my Papuan olive pythons. If I had to pick a favorite species, for me, it would be the Papuan olive pythons. That is like picking a favorite color or favorite flavor of ice cream, but let me tell you why I like the Papuan olive pythons.

Like the Australian olive pythons, the Papuan pythons are relatively uncommon. Prices are similar, although you can occasionally find a good deal on an imported Papuan olive python.

Baby Papuan olive pythons can be a little bit nippy, but they are largely bluffers. When Papuan olives strike, they show the dark inside to their mouth as a form of intimidation. I find that even when they strike, and open their mouth, they will rarely land their teeth on you. Either they have extremely short teeth, or they haven't struck me with harmful intentions. I have 2 imports and 3 captive borns. The imports were bought at about 4' and 5'. They calmed VERY quickly. A calm handling session or two rendered them very tame. I have spent less handling time with my 3 captive born ones, but I am sure they would tame just as quickly. I don't like getting bit, but these guys rarely bite, even if they strike.

Check out the colors. They seem to vary in an individual snake from time to time, not unlike many boa constrictors.

Look at the head pattern. It almost looks like the black lines are painted on. Also notice that the head is a different background color than the body. Their tongues are indigo in color. Speaking of which, given the docile nature of even imports, their almost monotone beauty (their color actually varies from ventral to dorsal), and their propensity to eat other snakes, I have sometimes referred to them as the indigos of pythons.

I have not handled anything quite like a Papuan olive python. They are as easy to keep as any python species. I understand they can reach up to 16' in exceptional cases. My largest young one is about 6'. But they are slender species and not considered to reach dangerous sizes. This makes them a substantial medium size species not covered under most large constrictor laws. Both species of olive python are rarely bred in captivity and there is much room for someone to find better methods for achieving this.

One note of caution: imported Papuan olive pythons often have some unusual parasites which I haven't taken the time to identify. Both of my imports had subcutaneous parasites (under the skin) but they disappeared over time. They have also defecated an unusual looking worm that almost resembled an earthworm which I have not seen in other species. These have not seemed to affect the overall health of mine, but worth noting.

Perhaps this adds another consideration to your list.

Bryant King

thank you. that was a very nice post, with some great reading

Great post!

I love the Papuan pythons, too, but don't have the room.

One day, I shall have them!

//Todd

I've owned a pair of 12' Papuans. Strongest python I've ever worked with, and rather intelligent. I have a friend that bred them in 07. Babies are pretty, and if my female that I sent him ever breeds, I'll have a new pair Takes about 7 years to sexual maturity, though.

Well, I guess that explains why we don't see many of those.
Long wait compared to most snakes..

Matthew

It's similar to Timors, where most compatible animals are 10-15 years old.

Great post, Bryant -- thanks for the great pics and info. Quick question: I don't suppose you kept and preserved any of those unusual parasites you found? I'd love to be able to help you ID them; plus they'd make great and unusual additions to one of the libraries at either Tulane or CDC.

Cheers!

Brad Waffa
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http://www.waffahousereptiles.com

No I didn't. The subcutaneous parasites seem to be gone for good. The "nightcrawlers" in the feces, if they return, I will try to save or at least photograph one. I have not attempted to treat for them yet, which I should.

I use to treat any new import with Flagyl and Panacur, but I have gotten out of that arguably good habit, so there is a chance for these to return.

Bryant King

Bryant,

To your point, many of those parasites have coevolved with those snake species for millions of years; if you're not seeing symptoms many would argue (probably correctly) that pumping chemicals into your snake is really not helping anyone. That said, if the snake is ever run down for any other reason (e.g. stress from breeding, a mouth infection) then those otherwise harmless worms may begin to exhibit pathology... Yeah, it's a bit of a catch 22. The nightcrawlers you described sound like Ascarids and I've never, personally, seen a sizeable one in a snake. If you could produce one of those I could definitely get it into one of the two collections I referred to, and of course your name would be on it.

If you do choose to treat the snake, I'd recommend piperazine citrate (40-60 mg/kg orally) over panacur (fenbendazole) if you're still suspecting Ascarids. While both are fairly broad-spectrum de-wormers, piperazine has a known method of action -- specifically it kills the worm in such a way that it undergoes a flaccid paralysis (as opposed to "spastic" -- this makes passing the dead worms much easier and it's gentler on the snake. If you do see worms again, throw them in some ethyl or isopropyl alcohol and call me up!

Good luck.

Brad
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http://www.waffahousereptiles.com

I don't need to treat them now, because now that I am actually looking for one of those worms for you, I am sure that I won't find one.

I'll let you know if any more show up. If I find one wriggling in the feces, how should I store it?

Bryant King

Haha, probably true! Well should you ever see one wriggling around in the poop go ahead and throw it in a jar with some isopropyl alcohol and shoot me a PM or an email. Then go wash your hands.

Brad
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http://www.waffahousereptiles.com