Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

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Azemiops
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Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

We left Australia just over 3 weeks ago and have since spent time in Indonesia (Bali, Flores and Komodo national park) Singapore, and the west coast of Malaysia.

After a few days surfing in Bali, we caught a flight out to Labuan Bajo, Flores, and chartered a small boat to take us round Komodo National park for 3 days. We stopped off at both Rinca and Komodo, along with several smaller island. The target species for this trip was Daboia siamensis, which I had failed to find on my last trip out here in 2007, but again we didn't find any. Apart from the 'standard' dragons, we spent one night herping on Komodo and found two common wolf snakes, Lycodon capucinus.

I photographed a lot of dragons, so won't bore you with to many pictures.

Sleepy Komodo dragon, Varanus komodensis - Rinca Island, Komodo N.P

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Dragon nest - Rinca Island

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Another dragon, this time on Komodo Island.

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One of two common wolf snakes, Lycodon capucinus, that we found in a night - Komodo island

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After Komodo N.P, we headed back to Labuan Bajo and had a few days to kill, so decided to make our way to Istana Ular, the snake cave of Flores. For anyone who has seen it, this is the same cave where Brady Barr got bitten by a decent-sized reticulated python whilst filming a documentary for national geographic.

After surviving the roads, a rather long trek and wading balls-deep in bat guano, the cave did not disappoint and we found five reticulated pythons inside, and one Lesser Sunda pit viper, Cryptelytrops insularis, outside the cave.

A ceremony was performed by one of the local villagers before we were allowed to enter the cave

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One of our rewards, a reticulated python, Broghammerus reticulatus. This was the largest we found, and was around 200cm - not quite the 20 footer we had all hoped for!

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Lesser Sunda pit viper, Cryptelytrops insularis

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Habitat

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We then flew back to Bali and spent three days around Ubud, herping in the evenings around the local rice paddies.

We got two painted bronzebacks, Dendrelaphis pictus, sleeping in tree's along the edge of the paddies

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And two keeled slug-eating snakes, Pareas carinatus

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And no Asian post would be complete without one of these guys....

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We also made a quick visit to the monkey temple in Ubud, where visitors enjoy being attacked/harrassed/abused by the local long-tailed macaque population.

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After leaving Indonesia and spending a day in Singapore to visit the zoo, our next major stop was Pulau Pangkor, Malaysia.

We spent the evenings in and around the forest, but didn't turn up as much as we hoped for. Still, we couldn't be too disappointed with our finds.

Juvenile female Wagler's pit viper, Tropidolaemus wagleri

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Adult male

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Habiat

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Green crested lizard, Bronchocela cristatella

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Water monitor, Varanus salvator

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We headed north after Pulau Pangkor, and decided to head to Pulau Langkawi for three days, an area we have had great success on previous trips.

The first snake to be found was an adult vine snake, Ahaetulla prasina.

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And soon afterwards a female Pope's pit viper, Popeia popeiorum . This was a great find for me as, on our last trip to the island I found 6, but all males. This was my first female I have had chance to photograph.

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I also got one male on this trip, but as I started to photograph it, the heavens opens and after wrapping off a couple of 'tourist' shots as proof the snake existed, I decided I had enough photos of males from my previous trip and let it. I won't bother posting the images here as they sucked!

Another great find was this little beautiful pit viper, Cryptelytrops venustus, crossing the road late one night.

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And finallly, the most recent snake we caught (just 2 nights ago) and quite possibly my favourite find....ever. An adult Malayan krait, Bungarus candidus. To say I was happy with finding this snake would be a massive, massive understatement. I've kept and worked with kraits in captivity before, but this was my first wild Bungarus sp., and the first B.candidus I have had the opportunity to photograph.

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That wraps it up to this point. I still have another two months out here so no doubt more photos will ensue.....stay tuned!

Thanks,

Tom
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Dr. Dark
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Re: First few weeks in Indonesia and Malaysia

Post by Dr. Dark »

WOW Tom, that was amazing! Killer post with great photography...I eagerly await your next posts...two more months...WOW! I am SO jealous!
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Re: First few weeks in Indonesia and Malaysia

Post by justinm »

Awesome shots, and a cool vacation for sure. I wasn't aware that Retics aren't in the genus Python anymore.
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Re: First few weeks in Indonesia and Malaysia

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Wow. Great herping success, especially with viperids. Great photos too.
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Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Thanks very much guys.

Here's a few more recent finds. I've changed the thread title, and will just keep adding new photos here to save starting a new thread.

After Pulau Langkawi, we headed to the Cameron highlands for a few nights. We stayed around Tanah Rata and hit the jungle trails at night.

The first snake was a Vertebral slug-eating snake, Asthenodipsas vertebralis. We also found a juvenile the following night, but it was heavily in slough so I didn't photograph it. A shame, as the juveniles are heavily banded and very pretty.

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We found a few Robinson's angle-head lizards, Gonocephalus robinsonii, both during the day and sleeping at night.

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We also found one adult Popeia nebularis, but unfortunately it was just out of reach and slowly disappeared after being disturbed.

We have recently flown into Sarawak, and last night spent a night in Bako national park.

The first snake we found was this rare little dragon snake, Xenodermus javanicus, sat in the middle of a shallow pool along one of the many jungle trails around the park.

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Next up, was a male Borneo temple viper, Tropidolaemus subannulatus. This is the first male I have found, and despite how common they are, only the third I have found on 4 trips to Borneo. I found two females back in 2004.

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And finally, a young water monitor, also from Bako N.P.

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Thanks,
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CCarille
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by CCarille »

Fantastic trip post!

Absolutely beautiful Cryptelytrops photo Tom!! It would make a great plate for an id guide.

The Asthenodipsas is a fantastic find and the Xenodermus is an absolutely stunning find! Such amazing scalation on him!

My sentiments echo Dr. Dark's: Very jealous and I'm excited to see more posts/photos.

Best of luck the rest of the way!
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

How did I miss this post? Wow! I'm honored to finally have the chance to meet you in person this afternoon...I'll put our five-hour roadcruise to good use by mercilessly squeezing every last photography secret out of you while you're unable to escape from the car :-)

This guy's expression is just priceless..."What, another shot? Aw, maaan....alright, alright.....just get it over with, willya?"
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intermedius
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by intermedius »

Just an amazing post. I loved that Pope. :D
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Just an amazing post.
Yep. Absolutely stellar.
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Azemiops »

We are currently half way through the Asian part of our trip now, and are sitting on 42 snakes covering 21 species.

Some more photos:

After Bako National Park, we had the pleasure of catching up with Hans and his son for a few nights of good food and herping around Kuching.

The first snake we came across was this large purple kurki snake, Oligodon purpurascens. By far the largest kukri I have ever caught.

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Shortly followed by an adult Lycodon subcinctus

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During a walk around Kubah National Park, I found this whip snake, Ahaetulla prasina. It had been knocked by a car but was alive.

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And, although we didn't find one, I had the chance to photograph one of Hans's previously caught Borneo short-tailed pythons, Python breitensteini.

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After a week in Sarawak, we flew north to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and headed straight to Kinabalu National Park to spend a few nights. This area is around 1000 metres+ above sea level and gets fairly cold in the evenings - its surprising the amount of reptile and amphibian species that can be found in the area. We saw tons of frogs, but unfortunately I rarely photograph them, mainly because I actually don't particularly enjoy photography, but like getting nice photos of snakes, so it has to be something really interesting for me to get my camera gear out. I'm also bad for only photographing a few of the lizards that we find!

First find, an adult lined reedsnake, Calamaria griswoldi. We ended up finding 3 in total.

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A very cool little angle-head lizard, Phoxophrys cephalum.

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And the best find, a huge adult female Sabah bamboo pit viper, Trimeresurus sabahi. And when I say huge, I really mean spectacularly huge!

In-situ shot

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And some more

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I still have plenty more shots to put up, but that will do for now.

And although I have said it to him already, I'd just like to thank Hans once again for his hospitality during our time in Kuching!

Thanks,

Tom
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Thanks for the kind words, Tom - it was a great pleasure and a one-of-a-kind experience having you guys over!
I actually don't particularly enjoy photography
Well, for somebody who doesn't, you sure as hell take absolutely fantastic photos. I've stated more than once before that I'm a huge fan of your photo style, and seeing you live in action was an epiphany. The two herping nights with you and Drew made complete hash out of my usual photography philosophy, which was ruled by laziness and a sense of "as long as they can see what it is, it's good enough". No more. I've spent the last two Sundays meticulously researching the various elements that go into your shots, and I'm so happy with the results that I shall never slack off again. "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing" and all that. Thanks again for boosting my photography awareness to a whole new level!

Oh, and cool snakes :-)
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Re: Indonesia and Malaysia 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
I actually don't particularly enjoy photography
Well, for somebody who doesn't, you sure as hell take absolutely fantastic photos. I've stated more than once before that I'm a huge fan of your photo style, and seeing you live in action was an epiphany. The two herping nights with you and Drew made complete hash out of my usual photography philosophy, which was ruled by laziness and a sense of "as long as they can see what it is, it's good enough". No more. I've spent the last two Sundays meticulously researching the various elements that go into your shots, and I'm so happy with the results that I shall never slack off again. "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing" and all that. Thanks again for boosting my photography awareness to a whole new level!

Oh, and cool snakes :-)
Thanks Hans, its definitely worth putting the effort in to get the shots you want/need.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by jordo »

Awesome post! I love the wider angle viper shots.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Bladeblaster »

Awesome pics Tom, bet you can't wait to get back to Gloucester LOL :lol:

Regards,
Terry.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by kcmatt »

Great stuff, incredible animals. We always see tropical species symmetry from some of the New and Old World species. I thought some of the similar aspects between your Xenodermus javanicus and the Nothopsis rugosus I found in Costa Rica last month rather remarkable, esp. head, nostril, rough keel and scalation generally (recognizing Xenodermus is much more pronounced):

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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Brian Eagar »

Very nice. I love all those green snakes. Especially that Wagler's pit viper.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

kcmatt wrote:Great stuff, incredible animals. We always see tropical species symmetry from some of the New and Old World species. I thought some of the similar aspects between your Xenodermus javanicus and the Nothopsis rugosus I found in Costa Rica last month rather remarkable, esp. head, nostril, rough keel and scalation generally (recognizing Xenodermus is much more pronounced):

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Thanks very much for the photos, there certainly is a resemblance between the two. There is a another species found on Borneo, Stolicka's stream snake, Stoliczkia borneensis, that also looks very much like Xenodermus javanicus.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by mikemike »

EXCELLENT sets, Tom. Looks like you guys are having an incredibly eventful trip. Looking forward to more. Thanks a lot for posting.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by brianz »

Fantastic shots!! Absolutely outstanding execution, from composition to post-processing. So hard to pick a favorite, but I'd have to go with the tokay gecko.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Well, another week has past since the last lot of photos. Time for a few more -

A bit of background information of what we've been up to. After Kinabalu national park, we headed to Sandakan and spent a night close to Sepilok. From there, we travelled down to Sukau for a few days of cruising the Kinabatangan river and a visit to the Gomantong caves. Then a trip back to Kinabalu N.P for a night before spending our remaning few days in Kota Kinabalu. We flew back to Kuala Lumpur and headed straight to Bukit Fraser for a night, and that brings us to now.

A huge adult female Borneo temple viper, Tropidolaemus subannulatus - Sepilok, Sabah.

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We saw this adult Paradise tree snake, Chrysopelea paradisi, that had just finished eating a frog. It was in a tree just behind the reception of our guesthouse.

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One of two mangrove snakes, Boiga dendrophilla, we saw along the Kinabatangan river. They were to high up for us to get a better look.

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Female proboscis monkey. We saw three groups on one river cruise, amounting to about 20 animals. We also saw an wild orangutan, but I didn't get any shots. As you can see, my mammal photography isn't quite up to scratch!

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During our single night back at Kinabalu N.P, we found this Borneo black snake, Stegonotus borneensis, along with one DOR Calamaria griswoldi.

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Back in Kota Kinabalu, we spent a few days hitting up the islands that make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. We visited Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan and Pulau Gaya. Herping was most definitely not a priority - we were there for some beach and snorkelling time - but boy is it hard to resist!

Despite its tiny size, just 25 acres, Pulau Sapi is home to a huge population of gigantic water monitors, Varanus salvator, that take advantage of the food scraps from tourist BBQ's. I spent a lot of time watching and photographing them.

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On my last few trips, the monitors have had access to every part of the island, but in recent years, Sabah Parks has put up a fence around the BBQ section to prevent the monitors from causing problems. Whilst I was photographing them, a big guy broke through part of the fence and was causing quite a stir, so I helped him on his way back over before the locals got the brooms and sticks out. At this size, they are unbelievably heavy and strong.

Before the comments start, no I am not anorexic, I just have a fast metabolism. I'm sure it will go downhill when I hit 30....ha. And no, the shirt is not off to be macho...remember, this was meant to be a beach day - my fiancee was less than pleased when the herping began....

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And a very surprising find, this tiny male Borneo temple viper, also on Pulau Sapi. Me and Drew hit a small jungle trail that cuts through to another beach, and 5 minutes through, I saw this snake perched at the end of a leaf 60cm off the ground. I had to leg it back for my camera bare-foot so I could get some shots.

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The last herp we found in Borneo was this Gonocephalus borneensis that we found on Pulau Gaya.

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Back in West Malaysia, we spent a day and a night at Bukit Fraser.

We found two Chanard's mountain reed snakes, Macrocalamus chanardi, crossing the road mid morning.

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They were both well and truly tiny

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A very fresh DOR Calliophis intestinalis

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Dark-headed cat snake, Boiga nigriceps. Despite its colouration, not to be mistaken for the green-headed cat snake, Boiga cyanea.

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The final find to date, a sub-adult blue coral snake, Calliophis bivirgate flaviceps, that we found on the verge of the road, cruising over some leaf litter. This snake was a nightmare to photograph, not because it was aggressive, but because of its tendency to hide its head under its coils.

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We are currently waiting for a ferry over to Pulau Tioman, so hopefully more to come in a week or so.

Thanks,

Tom
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Krazy!!!
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

We've traveled up the east coast over the last two weeks and are now back on Langkawi island, on the west. The clock is ticking and we have just 12 days left of the trip until we return to the UK after 14 months away.

We made a trip over to Pulau Tioman for a couple of nights, but the herping proved to be terrible. We struggled to find anywhere to look that was relatively close to where we were staying, and seeing as there is just one small section of road on the island near the airport, travel was difficult. All we could muster up on land was one snake and two geckos, but I did manage to find a yellow-lipped sea krait, Laticauda colubrina, during a dive.

An endemic to the island, Tioman bent-toed gecko, Cyrtodactylus tiomanensis

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Round-eyed gecko, Cnemaspis limi

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Asian vine snake, Ahaetulla prasina

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After Tioman, we spent a night at Tasik Chini, and again only found one snake! These were not good times.....

This juvenile Ptyas korros was found crossing a road between plantations mid day.

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We continued north, and after a few stops, made our way up to the Perhentian islands. Our idea was to spend time diving and relaxing, but of course, the jungle called and we found an amazing spot behind our bungalow. The area consisted of a rocky stream bed that was mostly dry, but with several pools at various points along the way.

I'm came across these two going at it two nights in a row in one of the pools. Both were absolutely massive.

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The first snake I came across was this adult common wolf snake, Lycodon capucinus.

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And then shortly aftewards, this little gem. a sub-adult female Wagler's pit viper. She's just starting to go through her colour change, which is why she looks a little 'messy'.

This is an in-situ shot, she was resting like this around 120cm off the ground.

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And a better look at her

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This little forest dragon was sleeping on a branch along one of the trails.

Acanthosaurus armata

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After a somewhat lengthy python drought, this was a welcomed find.

In-situ

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Plumbeous water snake, Enhydris plumbea, found in one of the pools.

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Adult mangrove snake, Boiga dendrophila, found cruising along the forest floor.

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We've spent the last 4 days on Langkawi, and have been finding similar species to what was found on our trip here 6 weeks ago, along with a few new species.

The first snake was a very unfortunate find - a very fresh DOR juvenile monocled cobra, Naja kaouthia.

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You are now going to be bored with lots of photos of pit vipers and reticulated pythons, but seeing as I have photograph several since we got back here, I may as well share them.

Reticulated python on the road.

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A real nicely-patterened animal, around 2 metres in length.

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And a short while later, we found this larger, 3 metre reticulated python, also crossing the road.

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We have one spot on the island which is amazing for Trimeresurus fucatus, and rarely, if ever, does it fail to deliver. We have found seven so far this time around, and I reckon that number will be increased over the next few nights.

Juvenile male Trimeresurus fucatus

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Adult male

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Adult female

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Other than when they are crossing the roads, this tends to be the sort of areas we find them, in drainge ditches containing lots of foliage and water. Not surprisingly, you also get a lot of frogs in these.

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And another species that is also commonly encountered in this drainage ditches.

Malayan soft-shelled turtle, Dogania subplana

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Fresh DOR juvenile red-tailed racer, Gonyosoma oxycephalum. An absolutely stunning animal, that could almost pass as alive in the photo.

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Malayan bridle snake, Dryocalamus subannulatus. We have found two over the last three nights.

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An Asian giant toad, Bufo asper. The photo, of course, doesn't do justice to it's size.

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And finally, an adult triangle keelback, Xenocrophis trianguligera

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I'll be putting one final photo post on here at the end of the trip, with the last lot of species we find and photograph.

Thanks very much,

Tom
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Mattsnake »

Incredible Tom!! I really can't wait to get over there and see it all for myself!
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Dave »

Tom, it sounds like you are posting as you go over there. If you're still there, I have a request! I'd love to see any arachnids in their natural habitat that you might encounter. Specifically tarantulas in the genus Lampropelma, Haplopelma, etc Also scorpions and centipedes. That would be great to see.
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Jason Luke »

Awesome photos!!, well done on a great trip
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Tom, I've heaped truckfuls of praise on your photography over the years, but I have to admit that of all your masterful photos in this post, this is the one that truly gives me goosebumps:

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You all know it, but let me re-state the obvious: there is no more awesomely awesome feeling in the world than driving around a bend on a tropical forest road at night, and being greeted by a sight like this.

DAMN, I love this $hit :-)
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Dave wrote:Tom, it sounds like you are posting as you go over there. If you're still there, I have a request! I'd love to see any arachnids in their natural habitat that you might encounter. Specifically tarantulas in the genus Lampropelma, Haplopelma, etc Also scorpions and centipedes. That would be great to see.
We are still here Dave, but to be honest I have seen only a handlfull of scorpions and centipedes, and very few bird-eating spiders! If we encounter more, I will do my best to photograph them.

Heres one we found on a previous trip to Malaysia though, if it is of interest. It was crossing the road during light rain.

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Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Tom, I've heaped truckfuls of praise on your photography over the years, but I have to admit that of all your masterful photos in this post, this is the one that truly gives me goosebumps:

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You all know it, but let me re-state the obvious: there is no more awesomely awesome feeling in the world than driving around a bend on a tropical forest road at night, and being greeted by a sight like this.

DAMN, I love this $hit :-)
LOL Hans, the one photo that I put no thought or effort into, turns out to be your favourite. One thing we did remark on, was that of the hundreds of snakes I have caught on roads over the years, I believe this was the first time I have ever seen one actually travelling up the road as appose to across!

Thanks,

Tom
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

the one photo that I put no thought or effort into, turns out to be your favourite.
Ain't life cruel? :-)
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Dave »

Thanks Tom! I'm looking forward to whatever else you find as well! The spider from the previous trip is probably an adult male Cyriopagopus schioedtei, the Malaysian earth tiger (that's my guess, anyway lol). Cool find!
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Time for the final update. The trip is finally at an end after 14 months (12 of those spent in Australia), and I'm back in KL, ready for our flight home to England tomorrow morning.

Picking up from where I left off in the last update, our final day in Langkawi turned up some gems. We headed to mangroves and hired a boat to take us out for an hour to search for mangrove pit vipers, Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus. It take long for us to find three - two females and a male.

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Habitat shot

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The first female we found

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The second female, which was considerably larger.

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And on our final night trek, we turned up just one snake, a 120cm reticulated python.

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After Langkawi, we got a ferry south to Penang, where we spent just one day. No herping, but we did visit the famous snake temple.

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We then headed further south and returned to Lumut. Once again, we only had a night, but visited a spot that Peter Engelen had suggested, to look for more mangrove pit vipers.

First male

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Second male

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And a female

In situ

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Head shot.

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We then headed back over to Pulau Pangkor, this time for 3 nights. We didn't spend any time herping during the day, but in the evenings we did the rounds on the roads and walked a few patches of rainforest.

This little striped bronzeback, Dendrelaphis caudolineatus, was found curled on a branch one evening. I didn't spend any time trying to get good shots as it was in slough.

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The only other species we found this time was Wagler's pit vipers, Tropidolaemus wagleri, and we found several. I'm putting up several photos just to show the variation.

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We found four, all within 10ft of this abandoned hut. Unofficial snake temple of Pangkor?!

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And our final herping destination was back to Bukit Fraser, where we spent two nights.

Ridely's cave racer, Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi, found late one morning inside an abandoned golf club.

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Asian vine snake, Ahaetulla prasina

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Little reed snake, Calamaria sp. I've put not effort into ID'ing it yet, will update it when I do.

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Caecillain, Ichthyophis sp

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And finally, another Malaysian blue coral snake, Calliophis bivirgata flaviceps. This one was smaller than the last one we photographed. Drew also spotted a big 140cm (approx) adult the next night, but it was sat at the top of a steep bank on the edge of the road an dropped off when he tried to hook it, and quickly disappeared. That brings the blue coral total to four, including the one DOR.

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We finished on 98 snakes, covering 40 species. 19 of the total snakes was DOR - quite a small number considering the amount of time we have spent out here.

Total life-list (snakes only). I kept my list alphabetically rather than by family to make it easier for me update, so that's how I have posted it here.

1. Ahaetulla prasina – Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Tioman, Kubah N.P, Bukit fraser (6)
2. Boiga cynodon DOR only – Kuching (1)
3. Boiga dendrophilla – Sukau, Pulau Perhentian Kecil (3)
4. Boiga nigriceps – Bukit Fraser (1)
5. Broghammerus reticulatus – Flores, Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Pulau Langkawi (10)
6. Bungarus candidus – Pulau Langkawi (1)
7. Calamaria griswoldi – Kinabalu N.P (3)
8. Calliophis bivirgata flaviceps – Bukit Fraser (4)
9. Calliophis intestinalis DOR only – Bukit Fraser (1)
10. Chrysopelea paradisi – Sepilok (1)
11. Coelognathus flavolineata DOR only – Kuching (1)
12. Dendrelaphis caudolineatus – Pulau Pangkor (1)
13. Dendrelaphis pictus – Bali, Pulau Pangkor (3)
14. Dryocalamus subannulatus – Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Pangkor (3)
15. Enhydris enhydris DOR only – Pulau Langkawi (3)
16. Enhydris plumbea – Pulau Perhentian Kecil (1)
17. Gonysosoma oxycephalum DOR only – Pulau Langkawi (3)
18. Homalopsis bucatta – Pulau Langkawi (1)
19. Laticauda colubrina – Pulau Tioman (1)
20. Lycodon capucinus – Komodo Island, Pulau Perhentian Kecil (3)
21. Lycodon subcinctus – Kuching (1)
22. Macrocalamus sp. (unidentified) - Pulau Langkawi (1)
23. Macrocalamus chanardi – Bukit Fraser (2)
24. Naja kaouthia DOR only – Pulau Langkawi (1)
25. Oligodon purpurascens – Kuching (1)
26. Othriophis taeniurus ridleyi – Bukit Fraser (1)
27. Pareas carinatus – Bali (2)
28. Pareas vertabralis – Cameron Highlands (4)
29. Ptyas korros – Tasik Chini (1)
30. Stegonotus borneensis – Kinabalu N.P (1)
31. Trimeresurus fucatus - Pulau Langkawi (9)
32. Trimeresurus insularis – Flores (1)
33. Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus – Pulau Langkawi, Lumut (6)
34. Trimereusurs sabahi – Kinabalu N.P (1)
35. Trimeresurus venustus – Pulau Langkawi (1)
36. Tropidolaemus subannulatus – Bako N.P, Sepilok, Pulau Sapi (3)
37. Tropidolaemus wagleri – Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Perhentian Kecil (7)
38. Xenocrophis trianguligerus – Pulau Langkawi (1)
39. Xenodermas javanicus – Bako N.P (1)
40. Calamaria sp. (unidentified) – Bukit Fraser (1)

Thanks again,

Tom
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Ruxs
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Ruxs »

I don't think any post has EVER made me feel so jealous...
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liucommajames
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by liucommajames »

straight up nutty.
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dery
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by dery »

im super jelous too. :x :lol:
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DracoRJC
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by DracoRJC »

This thread is absolutely incredible. I must go with you.
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Curtis Hart
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Curtis Hart »

Great job on that many snakes. I've spent a lot of time in SE Asia, and my combined trips don't add up to your one!



Curtis
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kyle loucks
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by kyle loucks »

Absolutely Epic!
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ahockenberry
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by ahockenberry »

Masterful images, specimens and presentation !
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Bill Love
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Bill Love »

That was a SPECTACULAR post ! I can't remember the last post here with so many perfectly illustrated species. Those that were posed were done so with artistic precision and superb lighting --- the telltale marks of a real pro shutterbug, IMHO.
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dery
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by dery »

what camera do you use???
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Azemiops
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Thanks for the comments guys, they are much appreciated.

This was the most successful trip we've had in almost 10 years of herping in Asia. It makes sense that with every trip, we're finding better spots and locations, which makes it easier the next time we head out - I already can't wait for the next one in 2013.

Cheers,

Tom
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Azemiops wrote: I already can't wait for the next one in 2013.
You're coming back? Well, you know who to look up if you pass through our little burgh :-)
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Azemiops
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
Azemiops wrote: I already can't wait for the next one in 2013.
You're coming back? Well, you know who to look up if you pass through our little burgh :-)
Sure Hans, I wouldn't dream of passing through Sarawak without catching up with you and little Hans. And anyway, we need to hit-up 'krait road' again and find me a B.fasciatus to photograph! Hope you've had a good day today mate :)
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Noel Thomas
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Noel Thomas »

Ridiculously awesome post!
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Keeper
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Keeper »

Super Nice! :D Enjoy it so much~~~~
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Will Wells
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Will Wells »

outstanding!!!
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Ruxs
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Ruxs »

I'm curious, did you ID that 'little reed snake' then Tom? I just arrived in Bukit Fraser, I found it hilarious that this Indian guy in the shop mentioned you guys when I told him we were here for snakes!
The herping conditions are less than optimal but we'll see if we can turn something up. Did you walk the roads or did you use a car?
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Azemiops
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

Ruxs wrote:I'm curious, did you ID that 'little reed snake' then Tom? I just arrived in Bukit Fraser, I found it hilarious that this Indian guy in the shop mentioned you guys when I told him we were here for snakes!
The herping conditions are less than optimal but we'll see if we can turn something up. Did you walk the roads or did you use a car?
I briefly looked into it, and although a 100% positive, i'm quite sure it is a very young variable reed snake, Calamaria lumbricoidea.

The Indian guy who owns the shop always seemed very interested in what we were finding each time we visited Bukit Fraser, although he wife was never quite so friendly!

Whats the weather like up there at the moment? We had little to no rain, and very cool evenings during our time there. We didn't have a car, and spent much of our time trekking along the many tracks through the rainforest, and a bit of time on the roads.
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Azemiops
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Azemiops »

That should read 'not a 100% positive ID' - for some reason I can't edit my post.

Thanks,
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rpecora
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by rpecora »

Wicked man!
Zach_Lim
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Re: Indonesia, West Malaysia and Borneo 2012

Post by Zach_Lim »

Pure insanity.
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