Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

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Azemiops
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Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Azemiops »

During September 2010, we headed out for a 16 day herping trip to Thailand and Malaysia. This was the 7th year in a row that I had been out to South East Asia, so we decided to head to a few locations where I have had successful trips in the past.

After spending a day in Bangkok, we endured a 16 hour bus journey south to Krabi province, where we would spend the first leg of the trip. Here are some of the species we encountered:

A large sun beam snake, Xenopeltis unicolor, caught close to a plant nursery out of Krabi town.

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A dark dog-toothed cat snake, Boiga cynodon, also caught at the plant nursery. This one was found late one evening at the end of a long trek - a nice way of finishing the day. This was the first 'dark' phase B.cynodon I have found.

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Homalopsis buccata caught along a stream at dusk. This species is very numerous and we have found many over the last few years.

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Juvenile Homalopsis buccata, caught along the same stream

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Habitat of Homalopsis buccata
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Green cat snake, Boiga cyanea, caught within the restaurant of an eco resort we were staying at.

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Paradise tree snake, Chrysopelea paradisa. It was great to finally get my hands on this species - I have only ever seen one previously in Sumatra and it disappeared before we had time to photograph it.

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Painted Bronzeback, Dendrolaphis pictus - One of the hardest species I have ever had the pleasure of photographing, these things are super quick.

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Trinagle Keelback, Xenochrophis trianguligera. This snake was missing most of its tail.

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After our time in Krabi province, we caught another bus south down to Staun, and then the ferry over to Langkawi island in Malaysia.

One of the most common species we encountered was Popeia popeiorum, and each one was caught on the road at night, during light rain.

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Muellers blind snake, Typhlops muelleri

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A Reticulated python found along the stream in the middle of the day. It was coiled high up in a tree and at first glance looked like a birds-nest.

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With a bit of persuasion, we got it down for some better photos.

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Another Boiga cyanea, this one caught on Langkawi

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A Cryptelytrops venustus found on the road, Langkawi, Malaysia

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Red-tailed racer, Gonyosoma oxycephalum, at Telaga Tujuh, Langkawi

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Some frog shots:

Lebtobrachium smithi - Krabi Province, Thailand

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X.aceras - Langkawi, Malaysia.

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This one is from Krabi province, but I still haven't got an ID.

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Thanks,

Tom
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Warren
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Warren »

Great pics! Thanks for sharing, Tom!
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Kevin Messenger »

All INCREDIBLE shots!! Gorgeous animals! I'm hoping to herp Malaysia next September. Your shots are really getting me excited
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Kevin Messenger »

oh, and your last frog is in the genus Brachytarsophrys
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by MaartenSFS »

Niiice.. love the variety of Boiga. I have yet to find any species. We have one Xenopeltis over here as well. I can see why they are classified in their own family. I really like the colours of that Popeia popeiorum. How long was the python? That was a lucky find. I was just thinking to myself that your frog looked like the same genus as one we found this summer, but Kevin beat me to it. I forget that he lurks. :P

Looks like South-East Asia is not as herpless as they say. ;) Do you think going in the winter (January/February) would yield any results? I'm thinking of going to Vietnam or Thailand (depending on which one is cheaper) one of these winters..
DavidG
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by DavidG »

Awesome post!

I like t. venustus, but IMO, Typhlops muelleri is the whipped cream on a banana split - without it, the very essence of what makes a banana split worth its money, is lost.

I have yet to see the white-bellied blind snake in person (at least, a live one)...
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Dr. Dark »

Killer post! Some super snake species and photos!
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Azemiops
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Azemiops »

Kevin Messenger wrote:oh, and your last frog is in the genus Brachytarsophrys
Thanks very much , i've been waiting for an ID for this guy. Looks like it could be Brachytarsophrys carinense, but i'll have to look into it a little more. If anyone could give a positive species ID, that would also be great!
MaartenSFS wrote:Niiice.. love the variety of Boiga. I have yet to find any species. We have one Xenopeltis over here as well. I can see why they are classified in their own family. I really like the colours of that Popeia popeiorum. How long was the python? That was a lucky find. I was just thinking to myself that your frog looked like the same genus as one we found this summer, but Kevin beat me to it. I forget that he lurks. :P

Looks like South-East Asia is not as herpless as they say. ;) Do you think going in the winter (January/February) would yield any results? I'm thinking of going to Vietnam or Thailand (depending on which one is cheaper) one of these winters..
The Reticulated python was around 6ft. We had hoped for something a little bigger, but beggars can't be choosers. I've found many since 2004 - here's a shot of the largest I have found so far, from 2007

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I've haven't visited Vietnam, but you should still have success in Thailand in Jan/Feb time. I've had good success throughout the year, but sept/Oct time always works best for me.
DavidG wrote:Awesome post!

I like t. venustus, but IMO, Typhlops muelleri is the whipped cream on a banana split - without it, the very essence of what makes a banana split worth its money, is lost.

I have yet to see the white-bellied blind snake in person (at least, a live one)...
Thanks, glad to see someone else appreciating fossorial species! Only downside to blind snakes in photographing them - they never seem to stop moving. Ever.

Thanks again,

Tom
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Martti Niskanen
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Great post. I've been looking for a quick trip to S. Thailand within the next few weeks and this is getting me all worked up.
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MaartenSFS
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by MaartenSFS »

I doubt that your frog is carinensis (if that is still a valid species in your range), as that is what the old texts said the one we found last summer could have been (we think it's probably Brachytarsophrys platyparietus) and I have found that there are now many more species listed and carinensis is missing, which means the species have been split up. You can compare it to ours, though. Check out Kevin's Guangxi post and my Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 2011 posts. I'm not even sure what species you have down there, but there are several species in China and I know another forum member (Viridovipera) was quite keen on that genus and found one in Northern Vietnam.

That's a good-looking retic! We have Burmese up here but I don't to expect to find one, as they have become rare.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Absolutely fantastic prey and photos. Thanks for sharing these!!
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CCarille
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by CCarille »

Really fantastic post! You had some really great finds on your 2010 trip!
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Brian Willey
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Brian Willey »

Phenomenal! The Retic/stream photo is superb!
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TNWJackson
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by TNWJackson »

Fantastic photos Tom - those C. venustus pictures are something else (all the rest are awesome too). This is making me making SE Asia again!!
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justinm
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by justinm »

You've seen a lot of snakes I grew up dreaming about. This was a great post, thanks for waking up my lust for SE Asia again. If you have more post them up, this is a great area obviously.
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James K.
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by James K. »

wow incredible snakes and pictures
mikemike
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by mikemike »

Very awesome. SE Asia is definitely on my list.
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kyle loucks
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by kyle loucks »

justinm wrote:You've seen a lot of snakes I grew up dreaming about. This was a great post, thanks for waking up my lust for SE Asia again. If you have more post them up, this is a great area obviously.

Funny, I was thinkin the same thing!

Thanks for sharing.
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Toxic
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Re: Southern Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Post by Toxic »

That retic is stunning, thanks for the awesome post!
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