My good friend Michael Cole approached me earlier in the year to ask me if I would like to take a trip to Indonesia with him. The goal being to study in depth the quarantine and treatment protocols in place at his reptile breeding farm and also have me check over the nutrition and overall health of the animals at the facility. Needless to say my answer was a huge YES. We set our departure date for late October and we planned a stay of 2 weeks, which should give us plenty of time to meet our goal.
We landed in Indonesia and I felt I was home, not in Orlando but home as in Puerto Rico. The similarities were amazing. The weather, the landscape, the friendly and helpful people and the food were so similar that I was impressed beyond belief. We arrived at the farm and immediately I can tell you I was completely shocked by what I saw. It is widely assumed that a “farm” is nothing more than a holding facility with horrible hygiene issues and cramped quarters for the reptiles. In essence, a death camp for reptiles before being exported. This piece of paradise I was taken to was by far the best breeding facility I have seen in my whole life. The buildings and the cages were immaculate. The trees and bushes were landscaped to perfection. The house we were staying in was a palace. The animals were in top shape in terms of body mass, alertness and breeding status. This was not a huge mess I needed to work my butt off to fix, this was a true top-of-the-line breeding facility that really needed some expert supervision to make sure they are doing the right thing. At that point I knew my job got very easy indeed and that I would really have time to enjoy this trip.
The following will be a photo journal of most of the animals I saw and was able to photograph. I brought back way too many photos and I will not be able to post everything of course but I will do my best to show a few of the species we saw and worked with.
Pythons: There were way too many species represented at the farm but the most notable ones were the Green Tree Pythons. With so many locale types and pattern variations it is hard not to fall for these gorgeous animals. Below is a small sampling of the many Chondros we saw at the farm.
Green Tree Python
Green Tree Python
Green Tree Python
The next best represented species was the Reticulated Python. I had never paid attention to this species as I am not a huge Retic fan but after seeing all the monsters at the farm I had to change my opinion. I am definitely a huge fan of Retics now and the pics below will show you why.
Reticulated Python (normal coloration)
Reticulated Python (Anthrax morph)
Reticulated Python (Titanium morph)
Reticulated Python (Caramel morph)
Reticulated Python (Amelanistic or true albino morph)
Reticulated Python (Hypo morph)
Reticulated Python (Calico morph)
By far the Calico morph was my favorite but just when I thought that looking at adult breeders was the highlight of the Reticulated python tour, I was in for a treat. This was after all, a breeding facility, so we went into the incubator room to welcome a few new reticulated pythons into this world.
Hatching Reticulated Pythons
Retic baby thinking of coming out
Baby Reticulated Python
I was completely amazed at the sheer beauty of these snakes up close but they were far from being my favorites in the farm. After seeing several breeding specimens of Timor, Carpet, White Lipped (both black and gold), and Olive Pythons, amongst others, I came across what to me is the most regal of all pythons, the Boelen’s Python. The breeders in the farm were spectacular and I had not seen Boelen’s pythons as big as these ones. A few were in shed so not many good pics were taken but here are 2 of the best.
Boelen’s Python
Boas: The farm has an impressive collection of South American boas but the boa species that really caught my eye was the breeding stock of Viper boas (Candoia aspera). These normally drab and relatively dull-colored boas surprised me when I saw the different color varieties being bred at the farm. Here are a few specimens that caught my eye.
Viper Boa (salmon pink color)
Viper boa (yellow)
Viper boas (yellow adult and normal colored adult)
The pink one bit me pretty good when I tried to handle it. Thankfully they are a Viper boa and not a true viper or I would have been in deep trouble.
Blue Tongue Skinks: The selection of these guys was incredible. I almost couldn’t believe at how many different colors and patterns I was looking at. Here’s a sampling.
Blue Tongue Skink
Blue Tongue Skink
Blue Tongue Skink (I really liked this one)
Blue Tongue Skink (nice orange and white!)
Blue Tongue Skink (almost patternless!)
Baby Blue Tongue Skink
The baby above was 1 of 11 we found in one of the cages at the farm. They were adorable and very brightly colored as you can see.
Monitors: Monitor species are quite possibly the flagship of the farm. They have bred and produced many species such as Salvadori, Dumerili, Rudicolis, Melinus, Yuwonoi, Prasinus, Beccari, Macraei, Reisingeri, Kordensis, Ober, Bohmei, and many others. Pretty much every Indonesian species is represented at the farm and has been produced. There are also a few other species that are non-natives but are also being bred, like for example Varanus cummingi. Below are a few pics for your drooling pleasure.
Black Tree Monitor
Varanus boehmi
Varanus boehmi looks like a cross between a black tree and a yellow tree. It is an amazing looking species that has been doing well and producing well at the farm.
Blue Tree Monitor
Green Tree Monitor
Varanus kordensis
Varanus kordensis is very similar to the Green Tree Monitor (Varanus prasinus) but they look different in person and differ in their coloration and pattern.
Tri-Colored Monitor (Varanus yuwonoi)
Tri-Colored Monitor (Varanus yuwonoi)
Yellow Monitor (Varanus melinus)
Mangrove monitor (gold locality)
Dumeril’s Monitor
Black Rough-Neck Monitor (Varanus rudicolis)
The Black Rough-Neck was one of my favorite monitor species at the farm. They are so prehistoric looking that I spent a long time with them. Several pairs are set up and have produced some babies so I am hoping they keep at it.
Crocodile Monitor
Crocodile Monitor
Crocodile Monitor (gravid female)
The Croc monitors were impressive. They followed your every move yet were laid back enough to allow you to get relatively close without immediately trying to kill you. The breeders were gigantic, with some measuring a total length of about 8 feet at least.
The following pic shows how good a job is being done at the farm with true captive breeding of the species. The tray shows an assortment of monitor eggs (tree monitor and Timor monitor eggs) that have hatched in the past few weeks.
Timor and Tree monitor hatched eggs.
Chameleons: Panther chameleons play a big role at this farm with a great production that is now on the 10th generation. It is mainly self sustained with the vast availability of bloodlines but they are very open at stating that they do obtain some wild blood every so often to keep their lines diverse and prevent any possible inbreeding. I was extremely impressed with their breeding collection and their whole operation as this is the first true large-scale operation of CBB Furcifer pardalis I have seen. They are now expanding to do Veiled chameleons and I have little doubt they will be every bit as successful as they are with Panthers. This was a treat. Very few pics were taken because a lot of what they do is unique and likely proprietary information.
Turtles: My latest passion are turtles and I have been working with a few select species and wanting a few others that I have not been able to locate. When I saw the farm’s turtle collection/breeding stock my jaw dropped. I can tell you I am looking forward to the next batch of babies they have available as I will likely get every single one of them. Many species of aquatic turtles I couldn’t take pics of as they immediately swam into their deep ponds or they spent all the time there anyway (as in the case of the softshell species). Here are some good pics I was able to take.
Burmese Brown Mountain Tortoise
Burmese Brown Mountain Tortoise
Burmese Brown Mountain Tortoise
I was able to film the Manouria emys emys courtship where the male shows head bobbing and coloration changes on the head and neck as well as a very audible yet low growl. It was amazing to be able to film this and unfortunate I can’t post it as the file is too big.
Spiny Hill Turtle
Spiny Hill Turtles breeding
Spiny Hill Turtle
Spiny Hill Turtle
I am currently working with a nice group of Spiny Hill Turtles (Heosemys spinosa) but will certainly try to get some new blood from the farm when they have babies available.
Indotestudo forsteni
Indotestudo forsteni
I was unable to capture the whole courtship of the Forsten’s Tortoises before they copulated because I was too busy filming another turtles species (my favorite species which will follow). However, I was able to catch them in the act of copulation and already have dibs on any hatchlings that pair may produce. I was never one to pay attention to Forsten’s Tortoises but after interacting with them for 2 weeks they have made me want a breeding group of my own. Incredible personalities and very variable coloration make for a very unique and very small tortoise.
Sulawesi Forest Turtle Male
Sulawesi Forest Turtle female
Sulawesi Forest Turtles (male and female)
The Sulawesi Forest Turtles are by far my favorite semi-aquatic turtle species. I was too late getting into turtles and now they are very hard to find and many current owners refuse to let them go, even if they are not breeding them. To my surprise they have a good breeding colony at the farm with a great sex ratio. This is a true breeding group and is not disappointing in terms of production. Pictured are just a few of the specimens in the group.
But even the turtles decided to give me a show when a whole clutch of Pink-Belly Sideneck Turtle eggs was laid. A few hatchling Pink-belly Sidenecks were on hand having been born at the farm just a few days before.
Emydura subglobosa eggs
Hatchling Emydura subglobosa
Hatchling Emydura subglobosa
Rise of the Dragon: No trip to Indonesia would have been complete without a little field herping. The rainy season started early so we were not able to visit the places we wanted but even when we had to go to plan C for herping, we still got a huge surprise. The area was a very high mountain with lots of streams running through it. It was raining hard and we could hear the frogs calling. Our targets were the Blue-Webbed Gliding Tree Frogs (Rhacophorus reinwardtii) and the Tree Dragons (Gonocephalus chamaleontinus). We found 2 Gonocephalus almost immediately, a pair, but only 1 more during the night. They are hard to locate but once you are on the right tree, they are not hard to find. All the pics I took came out horrible due to the high humidity. We arrived at a pond and our guides turned off their flashlights and we waited. Shortly after, the calls of the Blue-Webbed Gliding Tree Frogs started and there were plenty around. Several were collected for the farm and also for export. Once again, the pics in the field were impossible but I managed to take a good one once we were back to drier areas.
Blue-Webbed Gliding Tree Frog
But the real find came towards the end of our trek when one of the guides called for us to come see his find. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him holding a juvenile Dragon Snake (Xenodermus javanicus). This snake is quite rare in collections and not many people can properly care for it. After seeing its native habitat, temperatures and diet I can only hope to get a chance at raising, and maybe breeding, this phenomenal animal one day. This snake was the highlight of the herping trip and will forever stay in my mind despite not being me the one who found it.
Dragon Snake
Dragon Snake
And that pretty much sums it up. Of course there is way too much to tell and I can’t possibly write it all up but you have a very good summary of what my life was in Indonesia while doing what I love, working with reptiles. As a Veterinarian I found very little that needed fixing but even the small stuff we worked on will have an even bigger impact on an already successful breeding operation. The honor of being picked for such an amazing endeavor and to be allowed to work with so many amazing animals is something I don’t have words for. I will forever be grateful to Mike for the invitation and one thing was certain once the time to leave was upon us, I will be back!
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