Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know how many bloodlines there are of Oreophis porphyraceus coxi. I ask because I have recently brought several CB European Bred specimens, and it got me thinking, because the Imported WC's are so difficult to maintain in captivity, actually how many different bloodlines are there. So if you have any info on this, it would be brilliant if you would share.

Thankyou Suex

Hi,

I could be wrong, and if that's the case, I apologize, but based on what I've heard this is the answer:

All captive bred specimens of O. p. coxi descent from a couple of wildcaught animals kept by a well known German breeder. This breeder has gotten his animals from a U.S.A. based importer/exporter. This handler has collected the snakes in Loei Province Thailand. As part of the deal, when the wildcaught animals reproduced, some of the captive born offspring was imported by the handler from Germany to the U.S.A.

I have been told that the German breeder has received about 2 dozen O. p. coxi from Loei Province Thailand, but that most of these animals died. I have also heard that about 5 to 7 animals survived and that they are the founderstock of the entire worldwide captive population of O. p. coxi. So, basically what I'm saying is that there are No different bloodlines of O. p. coxi. The same goed for the U.S.A. captive population of R. boulengeri and E. prasina. Captive born specimens of both these species have been imported alongside captive born O. p. coxi from the same German breeder by the same U.S.A. based importer/exporter.

Regards,

Bert Grit

Thankyou so much Bert for taking the time out to reply, I was pretty sure that all european stock of coxi originated from Klaus, but was unsure whether anyone in the US had had success with Imports. My search for unrelated stock seems futile then, the best to hope for is maybe F1 or F2 CB babies at this time. Lets hope for the future that new blood does indeed enter the hobby soon, as it would be a real shame if the captive population dwindled through the symptoms of inbreeding.
I'm not sure about Rhino's here in the UK, but prasina I believe we have two bloodlines one from Germany and one Russian, but this again is only hearsay.

Here is a piccie of one of my females.

Best Regards

Suex

Hi,

I think that for F1 O. p. coxi you will have to buy your animals directly from K.-D. Schulz. Perhaps that Andreas Gumprecht (a friend of Schulz) can hook you up with F2 animals. Their e-mail adresses can be found on this site: http://www.bushmaster.ch/HTML/BreedCent1.htm ('pitvipers' = Gumprecht; 'ratsnakes' = Schulz). I have been told that Schulz lets all his animals breed with eachother, so basically there are no different bloodlines of O. p. coxi available.

About the Rhynchophis: as far as I know the entire population of R. boulengeri (U.S.A., Europe, Asia) originates from wildcaught animals from the Exotarium in Tula, Russia. You're right about the Elaphe prasina: there are 2 different lines. There is a line of animals from Tam Doa, Vietnam, wich originates from the same Exotarium and there is a line of animals from Loei Province, Thailand, wich originates from Gumprecht in Germany. If I'm correct Gumprecht collected the founding stock himself. I know also remember that Gumprecht told me that he has personally collected O. p. coxi from Loei Province, Thailand.

It's best if you contact both gentlemen and ask them about the origins of the O. p. coxi population. I am interested in hearing what you find out about this. However, there is a possibility that both gentlemen do not want to disclose this information. I'm not sure why this is, but I have noticed this before (since I'm interested in locality specific snakes).

Regards,

Bert

wc vaillanti). I was under the impression that the range for coxi was relatively small and that most of the stock was from the original import group. I was curious about the kind of mandarina you see in England. I have seen some very impressive photos of wc and cb animals in Germany and wondered if herpers in England work with some of the light colored Sichuan lines too. Any links to posted photos would be appreciated.
Regards
John

Hello John,

I am interested in wich particular German animals your are refering to?

Personably, I'm a fan of the Vietnamese E. mandarinus (there are 2 or 3 lines of these in Europe). I have a absolutely beautiful CB 2004 male from Vietnamese origin, I really want to post a picture of, but unfortunately my 4.0 MegaPixel digital camera refuses to accurately capture the colors of this snake (I have tried several times). When I take a picture of the animal the colors in the picture do not even come close to the real colors of the snake, so it's no use for me posting one of these pictures.

Regards,

Bert

Yes, the vietnamese lines are definitely some of the animals that I was interested in. In addition there are several Sichuan lines that I have seen on-line from German breeders/keepers. I sent the web-links to you separately to avoid upsetting the commercial censors here. But there are several. I wasn't sure if my particular aesthetic preference in mandarins (very light gound color) was shared anywhere else. I know many like the red tipping in the ground color but I don't. I think it's because I'm red-green color-blind. It definitely tilts me toward things colored yellow (and blue too, but we'll leave turquoise prasina for another thread). But I was interested to know what European enthusiasts saw as the range of mandarina types available.

Regards
John

That mandarin is amazing looking! I'm not a fan of the red tipping either. Where did you get him?