NATURAL HISTORY
Amethystine or Scrub Pythons are found in the tropical north of Australia and further north in PNG and the Indonesian side known as West Papua. They also occur on some of the island provinces or regencies to the south and west of Papua. They were moved out of the genus Morelia and are now known as Simalia with scrub pythons being categorized into 5 species. The Australian species kinghorni, which also happens to be the largest, is not in the hobby aside from the occasional rumor of some odd animal in Europe somewhere. I have keeping experience with all 4 of the other species but this video will be more closely focused on Simalia amethistina which comprises the majority of my personal experience as well as breeding. Scrub pythons are semi-arboreal with bodies that match being quite long and not as heavy bodied as other large constrictors. These snakes will eat a variety of prey and have a very long reach when striking out at food. They have amazing physical strength for constricting and also very long teeth so they are well adapted for life in the trees and on the ground. Simalia amethistina have a large range and vary drastically in appearance from the classic banded bar-neck types in the north to the busy patterned or patternless phenotypes in the south which can also come in a range of colors from very dark to very light and even gold and yellow. Localities are commonly known from importers or online resellers but there are some reliable observations from herpetologists, birders and even youtubers like myself who have documented living specimens on location.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
To date, we have personally observed wild scrub pythons on the island of Kofiau and Waigeo and road kill animals in Sorong…and hopefully next month we will be adding some more to that list, but if you are watching the channel you will know. Pythons are nocturnal so they are most active at night so that is when we go out looking for them. In addition to field observations, we have seen a massive amount of wild-caught specimens that I am inclined to say is probably more than any other industry person or hobbyist because of our fasicination with this genus and we were pursuing them long before they became popular among hobbyists which is a relatively new phenomenon. That essentially means that while there was virtually zero interest in the hobby in scrub pythons, we were working heavily with them and I started my scrub fascination in the mid-90’s so from a hobbyist collecting wc animals, breeding those wc animals and then becoming an industry person with a strong interest in scrubs is quite a bit….and those now pushing themselves to the forefront had to get their stock from somewhere so you have to remember that.
CAPTIVE CARE/DIET
So, another tropical snake requiring tropical conditions. Arboreal habits means you should provide height and branches or platforms for climbing. Grounded or elevated hides are readily used so they are a staple for me. Stress is always a concern and I find new arrivals soaking heavily in water bowls so in the beginning I will use very small water bowls that are too small for aninmals to sit in but large enough obviously to drink from and supplement with direct misting for hydration. Extended soaking causes skin blisters in most animals but by keeping them dry and out of water I don’t ever experience this issue. I feel the soaking aspect is for security and by using a small water bowl, it forces animals to move into hides for security and I almost always can replace the water bowl with larger sizes after about a week as the snakes learn to feel comfortable in hides instead of the safety of a water bowl. For feeding I will usually start with live rat pups to start with but animals that do not feed may defensively strike non-stop at what they perceive as a threat so be aware of that as nose wounds can occur from constant strikes….this can lead to many other health issues. They will also strike and visual cues caused by people so I keep them in places where there is no foot traffic. Animals that do not feed I will try bird scented f/t rodents and if no luck I will move next to actual f/t chicks or quail. Most of the time, scrubs will feed and can also be slowly brought back onto rodents over time with scenting. My personal preference is to switch everything onto f/t rodents but you have to be prepared for it not always being straight forward and simple.
BREEDING
While scrub pythons are being bred in captivity, the majority are farm bred or field collected. I bred scrub pythons several times and never really temperature cycled other than standard night time drops. As discussed in previous videos, those night time drops were affected by outside temperatures so while thermostats are programmed to drop about 10 degrees for 12 hour night cycles, in the winter when it is colder outside it does tend to drop the full 10 degrees but in the warmer summer months, the ambient may not make it down to the full 10 degrees. Again, palpating females for follicles tells me where things are at as far cycling for reproduction and the animals will give other clues such as restless males, females hugging heat, basking upside down or twisted, changes in appetite or basking locations, etc. While this may be controversial, I can only talk about personal experience and apply it to what I see others experiencing. Scrub pythons seem to be very selective of their mates. I have seen females reject certain males and be very receptive to other males so my animals seemed to have favorites. Many times I tried to breed proven females with certain males for particular traits such as demenaor or appearance and I often found myself resorting to certain males that I knew females were fond of. If you notice among hobbyists, repeat successful breedings with certain pairings and no success with others. There are people regularly producing Wamena or Tanimbars and other uncommon localities or species but missing on a wide range of other scrubs within their collections. I tried to breed my Tanimbars for a couple of years and my female went on to another keeper who used another male and got clutches. This is just a theory of mine but is also based on my personal experience. However, this challenge is part of what makes scrub pythons special because if they ever reached the level of commercial over production you see with other species, I think the overall care and respect for the species would suffer greatly. It is already a big mystery as to where the thousands of retics produced annually are ending up because we should have hundreds of thousands 18-20’ retics in the hobby but we don’t and that sounds like a topic for a whole other video.
-My adults would breed, females ovulate and would lay eggs all in the standard way that other pythons go through the reproductive motions. Clutches could be small or large in number and eggs are quite big. Incubation times vary depending on what temperature you incubate at but I usually went for 87F and that would take them about 80-85 days to hatch.
ESTABLISHING BABIES
Babies will hatch out a dark red color and some may have some pattern showing while other will appear patternless. While there are some patternless animals, the typical pattern does set in over time and the red color starts to fade into their adult coloration. Babies are usually snappy and defensive but I have found that this is what makes them easier to get started feeding. Timid animals that are hesitant to strike sometimes are more difficult to get feeding so I always welcomed that defensive nature. Live fuzzy to hopper size mice seem to work best but I always have day old quail chicks in the freezer just in case I need to get fancy. Babies will switch to f/t pretty easily once they get that hunger. The soaking thing with imports can sometimes play a part in the babies so always be aware of that and make adjustments if that is happening.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I realize that not everybody is like me and my interest in reptiles came from a completely different place. I wasn’t trying to belong or fit in, wasn’t trying to impress anyone, I was just fascinated by reptiles. I didn’t want to be the popular kid in school and while I had no desire to be the homecoming king, I also had no interest in dressing in all black and getting high in the bathroom. I just wanted to emulate the people that I read about in books and alsothe breeders that I learned from at expos as a teenager in the 80’s. For the species that I really gravitated to, seeing them in the wild was the ultimate step in bringing this fasicnation full circle and I don’t know if this became so important to me because I learned it from reading those books or what. Now this didn’t necessarily have to be the last step in the process, but with life’s obligations standing in my way of really being able to spend time traveling, it seems to be the reality for me. The evolution of my reptile journey has already taken us to some far off places and expanding our business has played a huge part in all of that.