Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, i'm new to this forum, and was thinking about getting a blodd python. i have some questions.

1. How big do they get?
2. Cage size from hatchling to adult
3. Are bloods agressive, or calm like ball pythons.
4. Feeding
5. Temps, humidity, and basking.

Any other information would be very helpful. Thanks

Mike.

Hey,
Well to answer your question in the following order, here is my point of view.
The size of the animal depends on various factors: one - the type of blood or short-tail you plan on purchasing, feeding schedule and heating and size of prey item and even enclosure size. "Malaysian bloods" or as some call them, "Sumatran red bloods" (not to be confused with the "Sumatran short-tail" ), are the purported biggest of what was considered the Python curtus, complex. This taxon is now only recognised by one individual animal and widely accepted as the only species existing within the species (no longer a group). "Malaysian bloods", get quite large for their type with females reaching lengths of up to 7ft. More commonly they are 6ft, with males reaching a good 5ft or 6ft.

The second largest of the short-tails is the "Borneo short-tails", with a purported length as an adult of 5-6 ft for females and 4-5ft for males. There have been reports lately, of males of the Borneo taxon, reaching lengths of 6ft. That is huge for a Borneo, particularly a male. I have a male that is approaching that length (5.5ft +) and I wouldn't doubt if it reaches it.

The shortest of the short-tails, is the Black blood or the correct name or moniker, for it, would be the "Sumatran Short-tail", of southern and south western Sumatra. Females reach the larger size of the sexes with 5ft plus not being uncommon and males reaching a grand size of 4-5ft. Again, these sizes should some day be revised as there have been large animals reported lately.

Cage size: Cages can vary from the plastic shoe box on up to a glass aquarium tank of 5-10 gallons, modified to maintain proper humidity levels and temperatures that are acceptable for the proper maintenance of a blood or short-tail. As the animal grows it will obviously have to be upgraded to a larger size tank or enclosure and again modified to keep temperatures and humidity up to par for the health and well being of the blood. For adults, a cage size of 4ft or larger is not uncommon. I am presently using 45"long melamine cages fitted with Pro-Product, heat-panels and controled by a "Helix basic thermostat". Lighting is provided by a 16 inch GE, under cabinet florescent lighting fixture fitted to the rear wall of the enclosure; for the Bloods and Borneo's and soon to come Sumatran short-tails.

As Bloods and short-tails mature they should become placid and more tractable with time and proper handling. They do accept handling - with some accepting and even seeming to relish it more than others. In my experience, male Malaysian bloods are not as tractable as are females, but with time they can be more accepting of some and even tolerate cage intrusion when servicing cages.
Borneo's are said to be the second most easily handled of the short-tails with Black bloods being the best of the group.

Feeding is not a problem provided that you feed your animals a proper sized meal for its size and on schedule. Hatchlings usually accept food right away prior to shedding about a month or so later. Food size would consist of a rat pink to a small mouse of 10-14 grams for a hatchling blood. For short-tails of the Borneo type and Sumatran short-tail, hatchlings or animals of several months of age should be fed mice or rat pups of equivalent size too; 8-12 grams.

As the animal matures the size of the food item should also, increase in size. For a yearling blood or short-tail, you can offer it 2-3 med-Lg', mice according to its size and weight per week. As the animal grows they can be put on larger food items of the larger type: Medium to large rats or even med sized rabbits.

For an adult blood or short-tail, large or jumbo rats can be offered once a week to every 2 weeks accordingly. Some animals must be put on maintenance diets as they mature as some can get too large and unhealthily fat; If they are sedentary and don't get much exercise.

As for temperatures, some animals are kept in plastic rubber maid shoe boxes that maintain humidity quite well, and are heated from underneathe with flex watt, or plumbers heat tape. The temperatures should be regulated or monitored using some kind of thermostat and monitored with a digital thermometer. A hot spot or warm area, should be kept about 85-88 degrees fahrenheit, with a cool end of at least 75-77 degrees. It is difficult to do this with a plastic shoe box as there is not much room for the heat to diffuse or dissipate, so a more or less uniform air temperature is maintained. That is ok for a young animal (hatchling up to one year of age).

Larger animals can be given more room for warming up and providing them with a larger area to thermoregulate. Some keepers use humid boxes containing moist long fiber sphagnum moss that is kept inside a plastic tub with a hole cut out for easy access. For a young blood or short-tail this is imperative as they can suffer from respiratory infections if they are allowed to dry out too much. A humidity range of at least 60-70%, is recommended for young animals. As they mature and are at least 2 years of age, the humidity is not as crucial and can be kept at about 50-60% RH.
This should give you some idea of what is involved; good luck!! - Angel
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