# New Arrivals! (Black Headed Pythons )



## Najakeeper (Mar 10, 2013)

I was at the Hamm show yesterday, the show was great but the space is just not enough. It was very crowded, thousands of people and looking at the stands was very difficult.

*Bad thing:* I was promised a Samar cobra (_Naja samarensis_) but the guy sold it to someone else so I ended up not getting anything venomous from the show. Maybe this is also good, lol.

*Good thing:* I picked up my pair of Australian Black Headed Pythons (_Aspidites melanocephalus_)! Absolutely amazing snakes from a fantastic genetic line.

Here is the female:







And the male:







I think the male is in shed because he is acting crazy and behaving like a pissed of taipan! 'Cos of hitting the glass all the time, he already has a bruised nose.

Video coming soon...

Reactions: Like 5


----------



## Najakeeper (Mar 11, 2013)

And here is the first feeding video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQqD8uy21RE

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## mmfh (Mar 12, 2013)

I absolutely love these snakes! They just arnt within my price range yet  very nice looking, great buy.


----------



## 2bears (Mar 12, 2013)

Nice looking Blackheads, I keep and breed them if you have any questions would be glad to help.
2Bears


----------



## Najakeeper (Mar 13, 2013)

Thanks guys. So far, so good. 

The male was a bit aggressive and bruised his nose striking the glass but both his nose and temper seem much better. They seem to enjoy their naturalistic setup and high basking temperatures and they both ate. For me, these are one of the most interesting non-venomous snake species. Nothing short of amazing.


----------



## Najakeeper (Mar 15, 2013)

*Some interesting observations: *

-Both the male and female spend a lot of time right under the basking spot and they barely utilize the colder end of the cage. The basking temprature is around 35 degrees celcius (95F).

-Male is completely cage aggressive, female is much better. Male will coil in S shape attacking position, open his mouth, hiss and strike just like a venomous snake. They both calm down when they are taken out with a hook and do not try to bite when they are outside.

-Female will eat small or large mice in my presence. Male ignores anything when I am in the room, and ignores small mice even if he is left alone. He eats large mice as soon as I am out of the room.


They are very interesting snakes, I enjoy their presence in my snake room a lot, much more than any non-venomous I have ever had before. Australian fauna is so amazing.

Here is the female, which is the smaller and the darker of the two:

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Najakeeper (Apr 22, 2013)

So, I have found the male's weakness, rats!

I have offered him a frozen/thawed rat hopper and he pounced on it right away. He didn't care if I was in the room or not. Here is a very long video showing him swallow a large prey item in 19 minutes  :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aqk5S7IwFk

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Arachtion (Apr 22, 2013)

You tried knocking the males temps down a little? I have two bloods, kept under identical conditions one was very pissy and the other fine, cooled the angry one down a little he calmed right down, even in the same species I was surprised one liked it around 4c cooler than the other


----------



## Najakeeper (Aug 8, 2013)

They have been eating, shedding and growing fine. The male is still a bit aggressive in the cage, the temperature changes did not change his behavior but he calms right down after he is taken out. 

Here is the latest video that I shot.

[youtube]kw1lplypvKE[/youtube]

And here is a still shot from the video:

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Spepper (Aug 10, 2013)

Absolutely *beautiful* snakes!!  They're amazing.


----------



## Smokehound714 (Aug 11, 2013)

Ahhhhahahahaha that last pic killed me.


  "DURRRRRR!?"


----------



## Shrike (Aug 11, 2013)

Wow, gorgeous snakes! Any plans to breed them? They fetch a good price on our end of the pond.


----------



## Najakeeper (Aug 11, 2013)

Shrike said:


> Wow, gorgeous snakes! Any plans to breed them? They fetch a good price on our end of the pond.


Yeah, they fetch a high price anywhere including  Australia and yes, I do plan to breed them in the future. But first I want to see if the male will turn out to be calico or not. This genetic mutation shows itself right around the snake hits "puberty" so I have to wait a year or two.


----------



## Najakeeper (Dec 2, 2013)

Got bitten by my male BHP on Saturday. I reached in to clean the cage and he got me on my finger and promptly constricted my lower arm. After 2 minutes of agony, a lot of blood and no intention from him to release my finger, I put him under water and he released immediately. A lot of blood and 17 little teeth marks on my right ring finger. I may need to treat this boy like he is one of my venomous snakes.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Malhavoc's (Dec 2, 2013)

Najakeeper said:


> Got bitten by my male BHP on Saturday. I reached in to clean the cage and he got me on my finger and promptly constricted my lower arm. After 2 minutes of agony, a lot of blood and no intention from him to release my finger, I put him under water and he released immediately. A lot of blood and 17 little teeth marks on my right ring finger. I may need to treat this boy like he is one of my venomous snakes.


Makes me think of the game we play with children " whos got your nose?"


----------



## Najakeeper (Feb 21, 2014)

Here is a video of my female shedding:

[YOUTUBE]-7e_lKrBIkQ[/YOUTUBE]

She is getting to be big.

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## CitizenNumber9 (Feb 21, 2014)

How difficult is it to care for this species compared to other types of pythons? Would you recommend them as a "beginner" species? 

Very beautiful looking snakes


----------



## Najakeeper (Feb 21, 2014)

Well, they are bit pricey to start with. They get to a decent size and can be mean at times but care is quite simple and they are hardy animals. Still, I would start with something cheaper in case things go wrong.


----------



## CitizenNumber9 (Feb 21, 2014)

Najakeeper said:


> Well, they are bit pricey to start with. They get to a decent size and can be mean at times but care is quite simple and they are hardy animals. Still, I would start with something cheaper in case things go wrong.


Thanks for the info  You have some beautiful specimens. I don't think I would try getting any for a while (poor, young adult x) ) but they sound and look amazing!


----------



## viper69 (Feb 21, 2014)

Naja is right. I own a Woma- the black-headed's cousin also from Aussieland.

The blacks are larger, can be more feisty.

Womas max out at about 4' and disposition is exceptionally good. Unlike boas and balls, they are VERY VERY observant, highly visual snakes! They will watch you and track you for hours at times. They are also EXCELLENT eaters. It's one of the few snakes I'm aware of that experienced breeders from Australia have said can get "obese" quite easily. The reason is they rarely turn down food even after a normal feeding.

They have a great feeding response so if you don't handle them you MIGHT get nipped, but it doesn't hurt.

They run about $225-275. You won't see them often at all. If you need an experienced breeder let me know.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## RzezniksRunAway (Feb 21, 2014)

They're beautiful, and I love their enclosures. I have a hard time walking away from BHPs when I see them, and womas. I just don't have the space for them currently, but I'd love to own one, or both, eventually. 

Maybe post some full shots of the enclosures, if you feel like it? I like when people put effort into replicating the natural habitat of their animals, you get a much better range of "natural" behaviors.


----------



## Najakeeper (Feb 22, 2014)

RzezniksRunAway said:


> They're beautiful, and I love their enclosures. I have a hard time walking away from BHPs when I see them, and womas. I just don't have the space for them currently, but I'd love to own one, or both, eventually.
> 
> Maybe post some full shots of the enclosures, if you feel like it? I like when people put effort into replicating the natural habitat of their animals, you get a much better range of "natural" behaviors.


Here is a video showing the full enclosure, check the 8th minute.


----------



## viper69 (Feb 22, 2014)

Najakeeper said:


> Here is a video showing the full enclosure, check the 8th minute.


Video? hah


----------



## Najakeeper (Feb 22, 2014)

viper69 said:


> Video? hah


 [youtube]GFCi1vnaQso[/youtube]

Reactions: Like 3


----------



## Perentie (Feb 26, 2014)

very nice. To the OP: If they're basking most of the time, try giving them more heat. These animals do not like basking; they are vulnerable to predation, so the best thing is a get in, get hot, and get out. Give them a variety of temperatures, going up pretty high, and let them choose. To the guy who suggested cooling him down: never cool down an animal to make it less aggressive. It just isn't capable of being that energetic if you cool it down too much.


----------



## Najakeeper (Apr 30, 2014)

Perentie said:


> very nice. To the OP: If they're basking most of the time, try giving them more heat. These animals do not like basking; they are vulnerable to predation, so the best thing is a get in, get hot, and get out. Give them a variety of temperatures, going up pretty high, and let them choose. To the guy who suggested cooling him down: never cool down an animal to make it less aggressive. It just isn't capable of being that energetic if you cool it down too much.


Thanks for the comment. I have increased the heat a little bit and they seem to enjoy it.

Here is an update on the male:

[YOUTUBE]j-JjYFcneOc[/YOUTUBE]

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Smokehound714 (Apr 30, 2014)

man, these snakes are so beautiful.  I'm still cracking up at that pic from the first page, btw


----------

