Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Came home today, the sun was glaring through the one uncovered window in the snake room/guest bed room, so I figured I'd try to take some pic of my female Papuan. As per usual, they failed to come out terribly well, the first two are body shots of her prone on the bed. The third is an attempt at a head shot. (I took maybe 30 of these...almost none came out. very hard to keep her still. By the end of it she was a little pissy, so I gave up before she got more irritated. Very tractable snake, just a little camera shy.)

A little more close-up, attempt at better lighting.

Gives the colors, if nothing else. The flash washes them out. Natural light, due to her iridescence, shows up way to bright. Plus I'm not terribly handy with things like cameras. She just moved up in prey-size, and is due a defecation, so she may look a little bloated in these photos.

>>Gives the colors, if nothing else. The flash washes them out. Natural light, due to her iridescence, shows up way to bright. Plus I'm not terribly handy with things like cameras. She just moved up in prey-size, and is due a defecation, so she may look a little bloated in these photos.
>>
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What is wrong with the tail there?

That's scar tissue. There are a few other flecks of it here and there. She was an import as a neonate, so its not nearly as prolific as you see on a lot of papuans. I'd love to be able to buy CB...but that just ain't happening with this species, though give me another three years and maybe I'll have some scar-free papuans!

from almost yellowish to the dark deep olive they can attain (almost black). Good luck with her and we all hope someone of us can get some scarless captive bred babies soon. How many do you have? And what size/ages are they? Here is one of my big females that copulated like crazy last year but did not give me any eggs. Maybe I can get lucky this year and instill the Papuan Craze to the masses. Good luck. Frank Kincade.

Hello- I have been admiring your papuans since you first began posting the pictures- gorgeous graceful creatures. Sadly, I have only the one female. I have been in the market for another since about a day after she arrived, but it looks as if I will have to buy a fresh-imported group and acclimate them myself. (A lot easier with these guys than most any other python I can think of.) sell off one female and keep another female and a male. She was imported about a year ago, as a neonate. So I guestimate that she is in the range of 18 months old. Unusually for Papuans, she wasn't a great feeder for the guy who initially acclimated her, so at the time I acquired her (only four months ago) she was just under 500 grams and somewhere a little over four feet long. In this time she has taken off- she would feed so much more frequently if I let her, and post-defecation she is weighing in at about 1700 grams, and somewhere in the 6-7 ft range. So still a growing baby. From what I've heard, they take a long time to reach full maturity, but I'm hoping that she was captured at a young enough age to breed in captivity. So it looks like another three years at the earliest before she would be at a mature enough size. In that time, I hope to come into another young female, and a male.

If you do get lucky this year, I would love to join the line as close to the top as possible! I've devoured everything there is in print about these guys, which takes all of about fifteen minutes- I went through the trouble to get sent an article published in the Russian Journal of Herpetology back in 1996 on the successful reproduction in the Moscow zoo, but they said very little- just "standard" python breeding procedures. I really hope this year pans out for you and I've always looked forward to your insights, comments and PICTURES about these guys.
Take care
-SWA

waiting list as well as try to get some updated pictures. Thanks for your response and I will stay in touch. Frank Kincade.