Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can someone (Dave B.)or anyone else.. Please tell me how to tell if a snake is a black blood or a borneo. I am soo confused, and would really like to know what I have...LOL.
I can email pics if that would help. Also is there a price difference? Thanks a head of time
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Thank you
Darin Gray
Stone Cold Reptiles

Hey,
Well for starters there is that all inclusive and unforgettable color difference which should in most cases be your first hint to what the animal is. For instance: Black bloods, tend to be darker in color with fewer definable saddles as the animal matures. They have orange eyes with granular (suboculars) scales just beneath the eye making contact with the junction of the supra-labial lip scales. Females can get to lengths of 5ft, while males only reach lengths of 4-4.5ft total. There are exceptions to these lengths given.

Their temperment is described as being less tempermental than the other short-tails, but I've yet to meet a nasty Borneo short-tail.

Borneo's, are stoutly built too, and are larger than Sumatran Short-tails (Black bloods), with a brown to dark brown or dark or light tan background color with brownish to saddle brown saddles or blotches. Some individuals may possess a posterior stripe, running the length of the lower third of the body towards the tail dorsally. Their eyes too, can be orange in some animals, and you will also find that they have granular (suboculars) scales just beneath the eyes, making contact with the junction of the supra-labial scales.
They are more heavily built than the Sumatran Short-tails, and get larger too, with females reaching lengths of 5-6ft in length, and males getting from 4.5ft-5.5ft. There are recent reports of larger individuals, but these are the norms.

For a more detailed description to the morphology and phenotype differences of the two described short-tails, you should read the paper written by:
J. Scott Keogh, Dave Barker and Richard Shine.
If you need a copy of it email me and I will send you a copy.

Hope this helps.
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In the theater of my life, this pickle has no goal!!

Hey,
Just wanted to say - would you send me a picture of the snake to check out for you; or just post one here. Thanks - Angel
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In the theater of my life, this pickle has no goal!!

Thanks for the info, judging from the desciption what I have are borneos. I am trying to get pics small enough to load here. My photo shop sucks..LOL Thanks again.
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Thank you
Darin Gray
Stone Cold Reptiles

ALSO... there is great Blood/Short Tail info and pics to be found in three magazine articels by the Barkers:

Reptiles, January 1996 & February 1996
The Vivarium, Volume 6, #3 (November/December 1994)

Also see Robyn Markand's excellent article from Reptiles January 2003 (available online at: http://www.proexotics.com/blood_article.html

These are all excellent sources of information!

Gotta LOVE these animals!

-Jason Northam
Northam Exotics

>>Hey,
>>Well for starters there is that all inclusive and unforgettable color difference which should in most cases be your first hint to what the animal is. For instance: Black bloods, tend to be darker in color with fewer definable saddles as the animal matures. They have orange eyes with granular (suboculars) scales just beneath the eye making contact with the junction of the supra-labial lip scales. Females can get to lengths of 5ft, while males only reach lengths of 4-4.5ft total. There are exceptions to these lengths given.
>>
>>Their temperment is described as being less tempermental than the other short-tails, but I've yet to meet a nasty Borneo short-tail.
>>
>>Borneo's, are stoutly built too, and are larger than Sumatran Short-tails (Black bloods), with a brown to dark brown or dark or light tan background color with brownish to saddle brown saddles or blotches. Some individuals may possess a posterior stripe, running the length of the lower third of the body towards the tail dorsally. Their eyes too, can be orange in some animals, and you will also find that they have granular (suboculars) scales just beneath the eyes, making contact with the junction of the supra-labial scales.
>>They are more heavily built than the Sumatran Short-tails, and get larger too, with females reaching lengths of 5-6ft in length, and males getting from 4.5ft-5.5ft. There are recent reports of larger individuals, but these are the norms.
>>
>>For a more detailed description to the morphology and phenotype differences of the two described short-tails, you should read the paper written by:
>>J. Scott Keogh, Dave Barker and Richard Shine.
>>If you need a copy of it email me and I will send you a copy.
>>
>>Hope this helps.
>>-----
>>In the theater of my life, this pickle has no goal!!

I'm looking at the Koge, Barker and Shine article and right off they describe bloods being seperate from short tails. Is a black blood not considered a blood python and only a description of a different short tail?
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Rob