Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering about these dwarf kings that have been around the classifieds lately-Just how "dwarf" are they? Just curious, because of several localities of dwarf reticulated pythons that have gotten much larger than expected once they got popular and fed on a schedule instead of eating what they can, when they can. Wondering if these will be the same, or stay "small"(I know, 8-10 feet is still big, but it's smaller than 15-18)

Depends. There are several true species of king cobra rather than just the one. The taxonomy has been in progress for a while now but should be out soon. The olive coloured equatorial kings (e.g. Javanese locality) are certainly much smaller than the big Malaysia orange or other king types.

Cheers
B
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
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Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
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Population and Evolutionary Genetics Unit,
Museum Victoria
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http://www.venomdoc.com

>>Just wondering about these dwarf kings that have been around the classifieds lately-Just how "dwarf" are they? Just curious, because of several localities of dwarf reticulated pythons that have gotten much larger than expected once they got popular and fed on a schedule instead of eating what they can, when they can. Wondering if these will be the same, or stay "small"(I know, 8-10 feet is still big, but it's smaller than 15-18)

With the retics, bear in mind that it would not be inconceivable that some less than 100% honest people might be selling hatchlings as "dwarf" retics to make extra money, when they are in fact "normal" (i.e., very large) retics....

There are size differences among kings, but I am not aware of any that would qualify as "dwarf" kings. Like BGF said, the Malaysians tend to get particularly large.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
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WW Home

Being a huge ophiophagus fan, it's bigger the better! It is neat to know that different localities differ in size, but if someone were looking for a cobra of smaller "large" size I would recommend the black forest cobra; they are very striking in appearance, but I don't believe get larger then the smaller kings mentioned. (This of course would avoid the problem of miss represented neonates/juvies)

That sort of depends on WHY they want the dwarf. If they want something easier to work with, I don't think I would recommend a forest...

I'm by no means bragging, but I've only handled one venomous snake that I considered to really test the limits of my handling abilities (and this is out of various Naja, Dendroapis, even Oxyuranus), and by far the absolute worst one was a forest! Of course, all snakes are individuals and I'm sure there are many black and green mambas that are bigger terrors to deal with than this forest was, but for me, she was pure evil. She was the only snake that I've literally had to 'dance' with while hooking/tailing her to avoid her tagging me.

Forests should, under no circumstances, be considered a 'safer' snake to go with than anything. They have their own little tendencies that make them every bit as dangerous, IMO, as a mamba, king, or probably even taipan.

As for the dwarf kings on the classifieds, to me, they look different from normal O. hannahs. They have a more...petite?...head structure. However, I have zilch experience with kings so I won't comment further about their physiology. It may be best to wait until they've been kept in captivity for a while to verify their size. To give credit to what someone else already mentioned though, what's a king without the size?! Then again, I've never been a fan of dwarf retics either... Be safe.
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
1.1 Retics (1.0 Tiger Het, 0.1 Dark Lavender)
1.1 Olive Pythons
1.1 Woma Pythons
1.1 Ball Pythons (Het Albino)
http://www.rivervalleysnakes.com

I have a pair of the Java Kings here, as well as Malayans, Banded's and Thai's. The Java are certainly smaller and more petite than the others but this hardly makes them dwarves. The male I have is/was 10 feet 4 inches when we recieved him. They are not nearly as heavy bodied. Which for those that know kings make them a heck of alot more dangerous than a big heavy king.
King does not need to be big to be King. These Java ones are as intelligent and agile as their cousins. Respect well earned.
A side note, they are advertised as natural rodent feeders, this is rumor, nothing more. Their natural body weight would indicate otherwise. As well as their preference for snake scenting.... advertisement...anything to make a buck...
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

How the opportunity to make a buck leads to so many new species and forms of species popping up...lol. I'm still waiting on the bps het for fur, feet, and feathers.
-Chance
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Chance Duncan
1.1 Retics (1.0 Tiger Het, 0.1 Dark Lavender)
1.1 Olive Pythons
1.1 Woma Pythons
1.1 Ball Pythons (Het Albino)
http://www.rivervalleysnakes.com

That's good to know about the forest, I've only dealt with one before that was, dare I say tame so to speak (didn't fight the hook much or hood).

Since I've never actually kept cobras myself, I thought that it was clear that my above post was opinion only and not fact