Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys!

Im new at this forum, been reading for a while but this'll be my first post. My name is Viktor, im 17 years old and i live in sweden, been working with reptiles for about 5 years.

Im planning on getting some snakes for this season, my absolute favorits are the australian pythons but since i cannot aford womas/blackheads nor Bredlis (very expencive snakes in Europe..) im thinking about maybe getting some Olivepythons.
What is your experience with these beautiful snakes? They look similar to the Apadora Papuanus, but since i want to work with mostly Aussiepythons i think ill go with the olive.
Id love to hear some opinions about this.
If you know of any good european breeder, let me know =)

have a nice day
Viktor -Sweden

I have kept both of these species (actually, they are quite different, to me anyways, morphologically and behaviorally), and although the papuans are beautiful (and powerful!), if you are looking for a trustworthy snake that seems to be very amenable to handling (I have one exception to that, a gigantic male with a gigantic attitude problem), I would definitely go with the olive (not to say the papuans are not, but having kept eight of these beauties, they seem to have a half-cocked/pre-strike boldness about themselves until you get them out at which time they are generally very well behaved, as compared to the olives which just come right out and immediately explore slowly as you handle them). You will not be dissappointed in the least bit with an olive (nor a papuan) and they are very durable and hardy captives. I love 'em.
Cheers,
Chris
P.S. maybe Wulf or somebody else could direct you to a source in your neck of the woods as I don't personally know of any.

Hi Viktor,

well there is only one Apodora papuanus breeder in Germany named Roman Bär. There are some olivaceus breeder (I know at least two in Germany). But perhaps you should get in contact with Bas from the Netherlands (http://www.pythons.nl/). He has olivaceus as well as papuanus...kind regards from me (Wulf) to Bas...

hope that helped...

Cheers,
Wulf
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http://www.leiopython.de ,
http://www.herpers-digest.com

Hi Wulf,
Thanks...
As far as I know, I am the only one who ever bred Liasis olivaceus in Europe (mainland) There are a couple of English breeders who bred olivaceus as well.
2 weeks ago I saw the first matings. I hope the female will lay a clutch as good as last year's.
Cheers,
Bas

>>Hi Viktor,
>>
>>well there is only one Apodora papuanus breeder in Germany named Roman Bär. There are some olivaceus breeder (I know at least two in Germany). But perhaps you should get in contact with Bas from the Netherlands (http://www.pythons.nl/). He has olivaceus as well as papuanus...kind regards from me (Wulf) to Bas...
>>
>>hope that helped...
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Wulf
>>-----
>>http://www.leiopython.de ,
>>http://www.herpers-digest.com

Thank you guys for all the answers!
I'll be emailing Bas soon, so check your mailbox later

Which size of terrarium do you use for olives?
I know they are cannibalistic, so i will ofcause hold them seperatly. Will a 6x3x3ft be enough? They are grounddwelling, arent they?

Have a nice day, and thanks again!
Viktor

Hi!
My name is Patic and I am also living in Sweden, I am more in to Apodora papuanus.
Do you know how I can come in contact with Roman Bär?
A friend of mine have a couple of papuanus, and they really are fascinating snakes.

With Best regards Patric

does not have an email address, but I have his business 'card'. Send me an email (bas@pythons.nl).
Cheers,
Bas

>>Hi!
>>My name is Patic and I am also living in Sweden, I am more in to Apodora papuanus.
>>Do you know how I can come in contact with Roman Bär?
>>A friend of mine have a couple of papuanus, and they really are fascinating snakes.
>>
>>With Best regards Patric

Hi, i have 1.2 Apodora papuana and they are absolutely gorgeous snake, but olivaceous are too.
I knew that the only european breeder of Apodora papuana was Roman Bar, the writer of a very intresting article on this snakes, on the german magazine "Elaphe", but I was never able to contact him, nor to find the number of "elaphe" I told you before.
Anyhow has his e-mail?
Thank you.
Valerio

Hey,
I'm glad you would like to work with these pythons, there are ups are downs to both snakes..........ok true olives are alil more shy then papuans and also alil less intelligent. An adult olive has more of an olive brown look to it while the papuans have a great deep green look and a blueish head. ALL aussie olives on the market are cb...ALMOST ALL papuans are wc....but they acclimate and tame very very easy. Aussie olives usually stay a more resonable size...I find a big adult female is about 10 maybe 11 feet while big papuans are can grow up to 14 feet (so I've heard never seen one quite that large tho). Aussie olives are more easily bred then the papuans ......papauans neeed to be at least 10 feet before breedable while olives are sexually mature around 6 feet for males and about 8-9 for females.

Thats all I really have to say they are both amazing animals and Good Luck.

Justin Morash

Hmmmm...having kept both species, and currently maintaining a large collection of olives (true aussies), I can certainly tell you that olives are definitely not shy (one of the few that will casually come right out when the cage is open, and casually go right back in when you are finished handling) and if you could measure "intelligence", would certainly be an extremely "intelligent" snake (although, if the snake is successful, can eat, crap, avoid predators, and reproduce, I'd have to say they are fairly "intelligent". Just wanted to give my two cents worth as I have bred these guys successfully, and keep a bunch of them and definitely have not seen that they are shy nor do they lack "intelligence", in comparison to the papuans that I kept which I did find to be more prone to be a bit more skiddish or perhaps more on the fiesty side (at least at first, but are great snakes). But, both are great species to work with.....oh, and I have a male olive that is approaching 14 feet but haven't measured him a while. No biggee, just my two cents.

I agree with Chris...I have kept both taxa and know from experience that Aussies are so much more trusting and curious than Paupuans...also they are one of the most intelligent snakes that I know and I have kept over 400 snakes and alot of different species... the Aussies get quite large also ..My male was around 13 feet when I sold him and the female was at least 11-12 ft..my female used to come out of her cage when I opened it and tap me on the cheek with her snout, then kind of wrap around me as if to say "lets get out of here".
I have also successfully bred olives and no doubt some of you out there have some that I produced ..
The sorriest thing to me was that such awesome snakes that are not the easiest to breed and not in alot of collections are sold for so little money..I couldnt sell my babies when I had them for anything more than $250 at best...
also I dont agree that you will be breeding an aussie at 6ft..it takes at least 5 and most times 6 yrs to even mature the females to successfully breed them
Michael Ball

I have no paupan experieince to speak of but I do have experience with Olives. I can truly say its the best and easiest python I ever owned. I know they say never trust any snake but she by far is the most trust worthy of my entire collection. I am actually thinking of moving more into live breeding and selling a large portion of the rest of my collection. Although adult breeders are extremely tough to come by. Anyway I say go Olive but I am bias. You can see pics on my web site

-TT

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http://www.Reptile-Pit.com

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