Boelen's Pythons
Boelen's Pythons (Morelia boeleni) are one of the most sought after and rarest pythons in herpetoculture.
There are relatively few specimens in captivity and captive reproduction is EXTREMELY rare. Only a handful of successful clutches have been produced in the USA.
Boelen’s Pythons have a somewhat dismal record as captives too. I believe as more are captive produced that longevity and reproduction records will improve.
I got a pair of baby Boelen’s from Danny and Jimmy Gorman in 2004. They proved to be rather undemanding and are hearty eaters. At first I had to scent the prey items with some egg-yolk. This tricked the babies into eating mice. After a few meals they began eating unscented mice. Unfortunately, they both were males, which many a breeder has found to be a poor tactic with producing offspring. In early 2008 I acquired a young female from Bushmaster Reptiles.
It is my dream to raise baby boeleni to adulthood and have them produce baby boeleni of their own. This is a long term project. At best I might get babies in 2010, but it may take longer.
I have found that even though most every species of boa and python I’ve worked with has been fine with shaved aspen as a substrate, I’ve decided to just use newspaper after having to remove pieces of aspen from their mouths.
Here is the one thing I have found with Boelens. They do NOT tolerate typical python temperatures. If you try to keep them like retic’s, bloods, carpets, etc., they will not do well. I never let their ambient temps get above 83 degrees F. I also turn off the heat every night and let it get down to room temps. Mid 60’s at night any time of year is perfectly fine. If they’re hungry, they’ll even be out hunting at these temps.
Here are a few pictures taken by Jaime Sola of Barcelona, Spain, of his gorgeous Boeleni.
An extremely well done caresheet is available at:
206-240-4057
