Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it true that these stay smaller then normal retics, and are these guys a little tempermental? Are Bali's the same as all the other yellow heads, or are they different.
Thanks
Jeff

This is one of the questions I see most often on this board. I have three Bali retics, 1.2. I got them all in 2001, they were each about 8' long and (apparently) several years old. They get plenty to eat, and are a bit bigger now but mainly in girth. The length is still under 10'. There are many opinions regarding maximum size. I've often read that 12' is the general adult female size. I've spoken with someone who has a 15' female, and read that they can get a bit bigger than that. So mine seem to be a bit smaller than average. Temperament? I'm glad they aren't any bigger, each time I take them out I expect to get bitten. I use a hook, have tried opening the cage and handling them every day, etc. None of that has seemed to change their demeanor, so I'm grimly resigned to getting bitten.
The only time I've seen verifiably captive bred and hatched ones was from Notah Howe (sp?) a couple of years ago. I've had no luckwith breeding them. This year I also have a Jampea tiger male I acquired from Serpentine Dreams (produced by Mike Wilbanks) that may be large enough to try with them. I think working two males through may make a difference. There would be an an anxious wait, too -- Bali hatchlings, or Jampea / Bali & tigers? I generally am a purist for locality, but either result would be beautiful.
The attached photo is recent, last month I think. As you can see, it isn't a small snake, but not a 20' monster by any means. The concensus seems to be that they aren't dwarfs, like Jampea or Kayuadi, but still smaller than average. I haven't heard anything about the attitude of the captive bred ones, hopefully we'll hear from someone who can address that.

I had a 10 1/2 ft male the was fed once a month to keep him small. He came to me with his back bone sticking out. I took him from 15-26 lbs! All of my females were smaller (under a year old.) I've seen 16ft Bali's and heard of 20fters. Usually they do stay a bit smaller. Temperament? My Male was as calm as they get. Infact I even let him free roam while I was at home. One of my females was nasty in her cage while the other was also very calm.*The only time I've seen verifiably captive bred and hatched ones was from Notah Howe (sp?) a couple of years ago.* If you do a search I named about 2-3 people that had also been successful Captive breeding Bali retics. Notah Howe was the first to put them on kingsnake but was not the first to produce them. *The concensus seems to be that they aren't dwarfs, like Jampea or Kayuadi, but still smaller than average.* I'd have to agree as they aren't true dwarfs just a smaller local. I'll tell you what If you can calm a nile monitor you can calm anything!
-----
John Light
Pristine Pythons
ristinePythons@Hotmail.com">Contact Me

New Web Site Comming Soon!

I have a pair of 2003 CB Bali retics produced by Notah Howe. I don't know about maximum size, but they are about 6.5 - 7 feet now and are eating small rabbits. They have a great temperment once out of their cages, but they seem more "clingy" than my other retics. I always use a hook to remove them.

Jeff

I think most of the questions are covered, but I'll chime in a little. I have an 03 female produced by notah and she's probably just shy of 8'. She was a little crazy inside of her cage for a while, but lately I've just benn stroking her head with the hook and reaching in to get her with not problems. Her parents are 8' and 12' so I don't expect her to get much bigger than 12-13 ft. However I'm not going to bet the farm on it. The male I got was produced by Ben Tomsheck. He was borm in 04 and he's been cool as a cucumber form the start. I only use the hook about half the time to convince him I'm not food. He has a deliberate feed response and waits to make sure that it's food before striking. His parent were about 4' bigger. I figure that like has been mentioned before, they aren't really small enough to be considered dwarf retics, but I don't think you'll get a 25' monster bali either. I also wouldn't say they are just like a normal yellowhead either. They look amazing. I look forward to producing some babies in a couple of years and giving more people the opurtuntiy to enjoy some of these cbb beauties.