Merauke scrub python female, progression thread

Good afternoon all! Just starting up (yet another) progression thread, this time with something a little different. Today I received my female Merauke scrub python from Dan at DMExotics, and lemme tell you she is a stunner! I handled her for a bit and now I'm gonna be letting her settle in for about a week or so.
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Very cool!

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Well done!!

I was so close to doing the same with DM Exotics. I decided on a SD X Dwarf retic. But if I ever add another. Scrub is what it will be.

Thanks guys! I was deciding between a scrub or a burm for a long time, but I figured because scrubs are a little less common I would go with them :) They still have negative connotations since a lot are still WC, but from what I've seen its just like any other species where the more you work with them, the more calm they become :)

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Originally Posted by spazhime

Thanks guys! I was deciding between a scrub or a burm for a long time, but I figured because scrubs are a little less common I would go with them :) They still have negative connotations since a lot are still WC, but from what I've seen its just like any other species where the more you work with them, the more calm they become :)

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It will be a great display snake should you set it up that way. Highly arboreal and from what I hear, rather active.

Scrubs are way fun and cool. Congrats!

Thanks! She is settling in nicely and I figured I'd grab some more pics, when I discovered she has a light blue tone to the scales on her lips! Very interesting :)
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She reminds me of a retic, very pretty.

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Originally Posted by Fraido

She reminds me of a retic, very pretty.

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I think they are very similar. A Timor python reminds me of a natural scrub and retic cross.

https://www.google.com/search?q=timo...vPnVTnIm1WM%3A

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nli3u8bZNAQ

It seems to remind others of that as well.

I'll take one of each LOL!

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Originally Posted by Gio

I think they are very similar. A Timor python reminds me of a natural scrub and retic cross.

https://www.google.com/search?q=timo...vPnVTnIm1WM%3A

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nli3u8bZNAQ

It seems to remind others of that as well.

I'll take one of each LOL!

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I can totally see it!

Cool, cool snake! I often thought about getting a scrub for a few years. But I just have not read much about actual experiences.
I hope the OP keeps this thread updated. Congrats! :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Cool, cool snake! I often thought about getting a scrub for a few years. But I just have not read much about actual experiences.
I hope the OP keeps this thread updated. Congrats! :)

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If you like carpets and can get a docile scrubby, I think you'll be very pleased.

And I'll be very jealous.

She's so pretty! About how big will she get?

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Originally Posted by Sirensong26

She's so pretty! About how big will she get?

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I'd probably guess ON AVERAGE 8' to 11' with room for exceptions.

The big scrubs are the Kinghorni from Australia. Similar to the dwarf and super dwarf reticulated pythons, there are smaller localities of Amethystine python.

I've seen a bit of conflicting information published as to whether or not the males or females get larger. Some of the reading I've done indicates, at least in the wild, males are larger due to male/male combat which is similar to certain species of carpet python that engage in that same behavior. However, captivity often/almost always, changes things. Having that in mind females frequently end up at least equal in size if not larger than males.

Unfortunately I have not read enough in-depth on these as I ended up taking the retic route.

^ What Gio said :) The biggest recorded scrub I believe was 14 feet! I also agree with in the wild males are bigger, but captivity changes everything.
I got her to eat today (I had thawed a rat for my corn snake and didn't realize he was in shed, and I didn't want to waste the rat) And I didn't realize how slow they strike! I am used to the crazy fast strikes of my other snakes, she is very lazy about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awyqrFnVHO4

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Originally Posted by spazhime

^ What Gio said :) The biggest recorded scrub I believe was 14 feet! I also agree with in the wild males are bigger, but captivity changes everything.
I got her to eat today (I had thawed a rat for my corn snake and didn't realize he was in shed, and I didn't want to waste the rat) And I didn't realize how slow they strike! I am used to the crazy fast strikes of my other snakes, she is very lazy about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awyqrFnVHO4

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I love your new snake and hope you keep these updates coming, good or bad.

I want to hear the new owner's perspective and I think others would too.

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Originally Posted by Gio

If you like carpets and can get a docile scrubby, I think you'll be very pleased.

And I'll be very jealous.

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Well you know I LOVE Carpets!

I think that I will always have a void until I get a giant of some sort.

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Originally Posted by spazhime

^ What Gio said :) The biggest recorded scrub I believe was 14 feet! I also agree with in the wild males are bigger, but captivity changes everything.
I got her to eat today (I had thawed a rat for my corn snake and didn't realize he was in shed, and I didn't want to waste the rat) And I didn't realize how slow they strike! I am used to the crazy fast strikes of my other snakes, she is very lazy about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awyqrFnVHO4

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That was hilarious how she just let the rat rest in the crook of her body. It was like she was thinking, "I'll just save this for later". :)

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Originally Posted by Reinz

Cool, cool snake! I often thought about getting a scrub for a few years. But I just have not read much about actual experiences.
I hope the OP keeps this thread updated. Congrats! :)

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About 20 years ago I had an adult pair. I never managed to get them to breed but they were great feeders and were manageable. The female was smaller than the male at about 7' and was puppy dog tame. The male was over 9' and was tame for the most part. He did tag me once completely unprovoked and it hurt pretty bad (his head was the size of a shoe box) but never did it again and was never defensive. For the most part they were both very calm and I handled them regularly.

My guess is they are much like most other species. Temperaments can vary from individual to individual so choose wisely based on what you are looking for. I would not want to work with an aggressive 10' scrub. The one in the video may be slow striking but I have seen how quick they can move when they want to. I wold not underestimate one when it is inspired.

Yeah these guys can get very big, and being arboreal they have larger than average teeth as well! I am incredibly lucky and this female is docile, and I plan on keeping her that way :) I asked specifically what her temperament was just to be sure. This girl has not done anything defensive other than musk a little bit, even right out of the box.
The slow strike was just a surprise to me, as I am used to species who hit fast and hard when hungry. Considering the negative connotations with scrub pythons I was expecting a flighty bitey baby that would need taming down. But she is very calm, even when taking food it seems :)

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Originally Posted by spazhime

Yeah these guys can get very big, and being arboreal they have larger than average teeth as well! I am incredibly lucky and this female is docile, and I plan on keeping her that way :) I asked specifically what her temperament was just to be sure. This girl has not done anything defensive other than musk a little bit, even right out of the box.
The slow strike was just a surprise to me, as I am used to species who hit fast and hard when hungry. Considering the negative connotations with scrub pythons I was expecting a flighty bitey baby that would need taming down. But she is very calm, even when taking food it seems :)

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That's great to hear. I've experienced much the same with my new retic, however I have seen him move extremely fast and I'm not fully convinced he's tamed down. He does hit hard and fast for a little guy, and I'm hoping with the right setup he'll be semi arboreal. One of the BIG attractions to scrubs is the semi arboreal behaviors they posses. I think the best display snakes show both arboreal and terrestrial characteristics. I never know what I'm going to see with my boa constrictor or carpet python. They split their time between perching and hunting and chilling out on the cage floor. Although they often chill out up in my man made canopy off of the floor.

Scrubs will certainly fit into that category and I have no doubt a male retic, kept lean and mean will be equally as entertaining.

But because I have a retic and not a scrub, I'll be forever curious as to what the scrubs are like.

You have something special there IMO.

The only unfortunate quality of a scrub python is the cameras inability to truly capture their velvety and iridescent complexion. If there ever was a snake that photos just could not do justice to it would be the scrub python.

Even in the first two days I have noticed she prefers her perches to her hides, which is excellent since I would love to show her off without having to lift hides. What surprised me the most is her intelligence, with my other snakes they seem to go forward just for the sake of it, she seems to look around and take in her surroundings with her eyes before going anywhere. She will back up and look at me, not in a strike position but in something that could easily be mistaken for a strike position. She'll do that then sniff for a bit, just looking into her eyes I swear I can see her intelligence. She is a very special snake and I am forever grateful I chose her over a burm or retic, I am excited to get a bit more knowledge about these guys out there. I do also agree, cameras don't seem to capture her colors quite right. Once she is settled in more I will be taking her out for natural lighting photos before it gets too cold :)

Put her in a display cage and make it nice!!


http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3580.jpg

Very neat girl!


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For sure! Her adult cage is gonna be a nice 14 foot display cage, I've got an 'office' room I don't use that will be converted in a few years. Expensive project but for sure going to be worth it! I weighed her before feeding her yesterday and she was at 124g. She is settling in quite nicely as well :)
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Originally Posted by spazhime

For sure! Her adult cage is gonna be a nice 14 foot display cage, I've got an 'office' room I don't use that will be converted in a few years. Expensive project but for sure going to be worth it! I weighed her before feeding her yesterday and she was at 124g. She is settling in quite nicely as well :)
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That's going to be something !!!

Wow, I'm looking forward to seeing that enclosure as well as the size of your girl by then. :)

Thanks guys! I am very excited, this is gonna be a few years long project, haha.
I have noticed that she likes to pee every time I interact with her, which obviously is fine its just something I'm not used to haha. Its not quite musk but its almost there?

Brought her outside for some natural lighting photos :) She is still incredibly calm, I am so surprised at how mellow she is!
https://67.media.tumblr.com/008944b6...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://67.media.tumblr.com/40f369a5...mz4o7_1280.jpghttps://66.media.tumblr.com/cbfcb9d0...mz4o4_1280.jpghttps://67.media.tumblr.com/0aee40db...mz4o5_1280.jpghttps://66.media.tumblr.com/4fdae3d7...mz4o2_1280.jpghttps://67.media.tumblr.com/4f5db3de...z4o10_1280.jpghttps://67.media.tumblr.com/1337929a...mz4o9_1280.jpg

Just wait till her head is the size of a shoe box. Calm or not, she will be impressive!

Her eyes are wicked!

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Oh for sure! I know she'll be very impressive as an adult, thats why I am thankful she is so calm already haha. And aren't they?? I was incredibly happy with how those pics came out, her eyes are lovely!

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Originally Posted by spazhime

Oh for sure! I know she'll be very impressive as an adult, thats why I am thankful she is so calm already haha. And aren't they?? I was incredibly happy with how those pics came out, her eyes are lovely!

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Yep,,,

Keep em coming!

A quick shot of the quarantine set up I have her in. After I am sure she is 100% healthy I will put her on cocohusk substrate and add some more things in there :) We just installed the perches and next week I'll be painting them a brown color just for the fun of it.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...03103723_o.jpg

I love it!

Thanks for the update. That looks perfect for a snake that size, and she'll use those perches for sure.

I'll be looking forward to the larger, adult caging when the time comes. You have the potential for a really neat display setup with that species.

For sure! I already have plans in my head for the adult enclosure, haha. For now I just watch her be pretty in this smaller one :3
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o2_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o3_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o4_1280.jpg

I sure hope you are able to keep this thread going for a long time. I am very excited to watch her grow up! :)

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Originally Posted by spazhime

And I didn't realize how slow they strike! I am used to the crazy fast strikes of my other snakes, she is very lazy about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awyqrFnVHO4

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Pretty girl and I too am looking forward to watching her grow up with you. As for the slow strike, that might have something to do with the manner of offering. That first strike was definitely more defensive and didn't happen until the rat crossed back toward her(vulnerable) body - you'll notice she was pulling back almost before her mouth even hit the rat with no interest in throwing coils. I'm not saying it's a bad way of offering, I use it a fair bit myself when starting defensive youngsters on f/t, but your method was more along the lines of "tease feeding" rather than "zombie dancing" trickery. It also tends to get a fair number of slower/defensive strikes before the snake gets fed up and decides to simply "kill" the prey. I reckon once she's more comfortable with you, and taking food from the tongs as soon as presented, you'll see what kind of speed she can throw behind that mouth.

Yeah I had to 'annoy' feed her, haha. I was expecting a lot more of a feeding response, but I feel like because she is not so inclined to bite that she is also hesitant to strike at food. But I do agree once she gets used to the routine she will show me what she can really do :)

The leaves all fell off my tree last night, so I figured I'd grab some more fall pictures before it gets cold :) Good think about living in AZ, you can take outside pictures nearly all year long!
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o2_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o3_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o5_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o7_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpg

She is just about to go into shed, her colors darkened up today :)
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o4_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o5_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o3_1280.jpg

Wicked eyes! Love the outdoor shots.


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I love the head scales. All around great animal. You have a winner there.

Thanks guys! I got super lucky that she is both pretty and already mellow. I'll have to take another feeding video this week once she sheds, its hilarious because she wont strike anymore, she just gently grabs the prey and swallows it.
Anyways, got a really good couple of pictures of her deep in blue!
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o2_1280.jpg

Gorgeous girl, as with everyone else I'll be glad to see her grow. I ended up going with a retic because of their active, inquisitive nature, and their care information is more readily available than with scrubs, but an adult Merauke is a gorgeous animal.

That is one of my favorites here. I'm always checking the updates. I actually like her blue phase.

I look forward to seeing her in a decked out, large, enclosure

Thanks guys! I am excited to get started on her adult enclosure. For now we just have the savings built up and are making tentative plans.
She just shed last night as well!
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o1_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o2_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o3_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o4_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o5_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o7_1280.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...mz4o8_1280.jpg

Love it!

She has a rainbow like my retic.

Looks like there is some growth going on there.

For sure seeing a bit of growth from her! I'll be doing monthly weigh ins here in a day or so, we will see how much she's gained!