Apodora Update

[John1982]

I've had this fella a little over a year now and figured it was time for an update. I was on the lookout for a nice male hatchling but couldn't find any available that fit the bill. When I saw the ad for this snake, listed as a female, I scooped him up regardless and was pleasantly surprised when he probed super deep on either side. In over 20 years of keeping reptiles, a plethora of them being snakes, I've only named a handful. Here's a clue on how I feel about this particular species; meet my Apodora papuana - Pappy.

When I first got the little worm - deep in shed:

First outside photo session:





Pappy was in a particularly green mood today so I got him outside for this latest photo session:

[cassidyy327]

he has such cool colors!


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[AlexisFitzy]

He's so handsome! Such a cute face and awesome colors he's grown so much from the first pic.


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[jclaiborne]

awesome coloring!

[John1982]

Pappy thought he'd give a go at some reading, it didn't take. When I went to move him he had that "touch me and I poop on your books" look in his eye so I let him hang out a while.










Since this is Pappy's thread I'll post these here too. My sister's kids getting some handling time during a recent visit.

[jackal_727]

He's awesome! How do you like him? I've been going back and forth between an olive and a Papuan. Can't really find much info on the big difference between the two. Any advice?

[John1982]

I have never kept olivaceus so I can only tell you what I have learned about papuans through reading and personal experience in keeping them. The experience is limited to 2 individual snakes: a female I bought roughly 10 years ago, she was actually sold to me as olivaceus, and the male I currently own. Most of the papuans you see for sale are farm raised in Indonesia and imported as hatchlings - I have no reason to believe mine were different as neither seller could tell me their origins specifically. The female was roughly 6 feet when I got her but closing in on 14 feet some years later when she was rehomed. The male I got as a freshly imported hatchling and am growing him up nice and slow, just as I did with the female.

I'll start out with strength as it pertains to safety. These snakes are unbelievably strong. The fact that they are on the more slender side only increases the awe when you handle one. Nothing really comes close, when they're of similar size, to the grip an apodora can put on you. Let this be a warning, if you choose to work with this species, to be prepared to handle a snake that's easily stronger than you while in a deceptively smaller package. That's not to say they don't get large, upwards of 17 feet if reports can be trusted, but they stay on the more slender side even as adults.

While I've read about people having nippy papuans - especially young ones, which I don't entirely get as this is common in many species - mine have been complete dolls from day one. The female had a feeding response that would rattle the room when she hit a rabbit but my male, while always an eager feeder, takes his prekilled meals much more calmly. They are on the more active side and like to roam a lot. They handle very similarly to retics in that they are exceedingly curious when out and almost always on the move - not a "lapdog" species. Mine never show head shyness and very little tail shyness(other than being caught off guard - very calm when they see and know what is going on); while they explore I could walk up and touch them on the nose without receiving a response other than the customary tongue flick.

Now for some random fun facts about apodora. They were originally in the Liasis genus, bounced on over to Morelia for a spell, eventually landing in their very own where they are the sole species - Apodora papuana. They can change their color, seemingly at will, but the how and why aren't entirely clear. They are typically more on the green side but can also turn an olive yellow or deep, almost purple, black and quite a few shades in between. Their flesh is actually black so when you see skin between scales or when you look inside their mouth during feeding it's all black as opposed to the white seen in many snakes - pretty neat. There have also been reports of ophiophagy, most notable are females that decide a male would make a better meal than mate.

Like I said, when I bought my first papuan it was under the impression that she was olivaceus. I had seen them vaguely in books but mainly just fell in love with the snake I was handling at the expo. I had never even heard of a papuan python when someone pointed out that's what "Olivia" was actually. As far as I'm concerned - one of the best reptile related mistakes I've ever made. I still think olivaceus are great snakes but I can't give you any personal insight into keeping them. If I had to choose I'd personally pick apodora but I'm clearly smitten and biased.

[jackal_727]

Awesome thank you for the post. The one thing I've been thinking is that olives stay smaller so Papuan pythons might be out for me. Ohio has crazy laws regarding snake size so it's not worth trying to rehome in the future if it outgrew what the law allows. I've always been fascinated by them and I hope in the future laws change and give me an opportunity to work with this species.