The Most Trusted Name in Private High End Reptile Breeding.

ALL NEW 100%PROVEN CEYLONESE MORPH!!!!!

That's right folks, this is the ONE-AND-ONLY CEYLONESE MORPH....... ON THE PLANET! We un-knowingly started this incredible project with a seemingly "normal" male Ceylonese Python some 8 years ago. We raised him up and bred him when he was 30 months old to another normal female Ceylonese Python and produced a clutch of 12 "normal"-looking ceylonese babies 6 months later. Right at the time that these babies were hatching the father went through a sudden and dramatic color change from a normal looking ceylonese with brown blotches on cream-colored background to startling Pastel Yellow colored blotches on a Pastel Grey/White background color. All in one shed he made this complete change! We were floored by this sudden and drastic color change and we immediately decided to keep all the babies in the clutch. Just in case this was a genetic trait. We have been holding our collective breaths for the last three years as these babies were raised and then were bred (last year) back to their father and also to thier Pastel brothers (These are Pastel to Pastel Breedings!!). The first to go through her change was Maxita. She went through her sudden and dramatic change last March (2008) after giving us her clutch of 11 eggs. Then at 38 months old two of her sisters and one brother also went through their Pastel Changes. Above and below is her sibling, Maxima. She went through her AMAZING Pastel Change on August 2nd (2008). There's also pictures of her below from before her drastic Pastel change and immediately after. The "before" picture was taken last May. The "After" picture was taken the day before yesterday, August 4th. She went through her change Aug 2nd.

Maxima Before the Pastel Change                                          Maxima After the Pastel Change!

Maxima as a baby

Ceylonese/Sri Lankan:

These can be incredibly calm and easy going once they are past their intense, "fight or flight" instinct that is deeply ingrained in their very genes regardless of only being captive bred for over 3 decades. The smallest of the molurus family and to many, the most attractive, these reach adult sizes of about 6 to 10 feet for males and 8 to 12 feet for females. Like all species there are monstrous exceptions to this rule and just like 28 foot retics there are 15 foot ceylonese, but these are rare.

Here at High End Herps we do try to breed for tractability as well as for beauty and we hope to one day breed out their inherent aggressiveness within several generations of very selective, docile specimen, breeding. As a very purposeful point in the interim we give extra attention to handling our baby ceylonese and usually by month 3 even the nastiest babies are usually gentle, easy going with predominately calm dispositions.

                                                                                                       Baby Maxima

Feeding:

Baby Ceylonese can be a bit finicky and in our experience they tend to not prefer mice or rats, but fowl chicks or small birds. Nonetheless, we painstakingly work with them until they accept frozen/thawed rats before they are listed for sale. This is of course primarily for our customers convenience.

Caging:

An optimum-sized environment for your ceylonese would be a cage that is large enough to move about in freely, while still small enough to cause the ceylonese to feel secure and not "exposed". When a ceylonese is small, (2 to 5 feet) this may be a cage that is as wide as the snake is long and half as deep. Needless to say, when a ceylonese is a 10 foot adult this method wont be as practical. For an adult ceylonese a 3 by 6 foot cage will usually suffice, though if it is possible to provide more space and size, please do so.  

Many keepers like to use hide boxes to help their little ceylonese feel safe and secure. We often use these if the ceylonese (based on each snake individually) shows signs of discomfort or "cage insecurity". If they appear to feel comfortable, safe and secure without a hide box we certainly don't want to create any unnecessary dependencies in them that could last into adulthood. These can get annoying. 

It is advisable to have a thermostatically-controlled heat lamp on one end of your enclosure, providing a basking spot of low 90s temperatures (92-94). The ambient, or general area, temps should be 80 or above and up to 86. If you live in a region with a dry climate you can move the water bowl closer to this basking spot until the cage humidity reaches an optimal level (60% to 80%). Make sure to use a non-tip-able water bowl as ceylonese are very active and willusually tip thier bowls daily. Misting the inside of the cage twice daily or more may also help raise and maintain a more comfortable humidity level for your ceylonese. If the humidity is still too low check the size of the cage vents. If they are too large try covering them slightly and gradually more until proper humidity levels inside the cage are achieved. DO NOT EVER cover the vents all the way or to a point where the snake is deprived of adequate, fresh air.

There are many suitable substrates (cage floor covering) in the market today. Any that are highly absorbent and somewhat sterile are acceptable. Many herpers/breeders (including us) use newspaper. Use a minimum of 2 sheets thickness per foot of snake. Other breeders use different types of cypress bark or mulch available at most garden supply stores. Cleaning should always be performed the moment a mess is detected. This will help to ensure that your ceylonese remains healthy, content and clean.

Handling:

Once your baby ceylonese is tame it is usually a pleasure to handle. If you get your ceylonese from someone other than us this may take many months or even years and maybe never. Most ceylonese need lots of daily work when young to tame them down, and most breeders do not take the time to do this. Why? Because it involves a lot of intense pain and quite a bit of bleeding, lol (seriously). But it's worth it because once a ceylonese is tame they are a very rewarding python species to own. 

Young, otherwise tame ceylonese can sometimes briefly relapse when they are frightened by something looming over them or being latched onto forcibly. Until they are completely docile try to not breathe near their faces as this may trigger an instinctual defense mechanism concerning the encroaching face of a possible predator. Also do not seize them tightly or forcibly as this can easily send them into a defensive panic. When a python is young (and old) it can be easily frightened. This can often be caused by a myriad of seemingly ordinary things. It can be triggered by a sudden, alien (unknown) smell. It can often be from a sudden movement looming over them or seeming to come at them menacingly (in their tiny, primitive mind). It can be caused by suddenly being in a wide, open space. It can be caused by being nearly blinded by bright sunlight in a strange place. It can be caused by many things that we don't usually anticipate or consider "different".

Even the most docile snake can suddenly become very frightened and perhaps bite the first thing that moves in front of its face. As the intelligent one in the relationship it is up to us to understand the situation and to be patient and to remain calm. If your python suddenly freaks out, try to figure out what scared him before you do anything else. We recommend that you do not put him down or put him back in his cage in the event that he bites. You don't want your python to learn that he can make you go away with a bite. This will often lead to more of the same behavior later and this is not good at all when your python is much bigger and thus the bites are much more painful. Nip it in the bud early on. 

In the event of a bite bring your hand slowly up under his chin and out of his direct view, and allow him to smell you by letting his tongue touch your skin. As he probably already "knows" you, by smell, as a harmless part of his normal world this scent will likely be very reassuring to him and he will begin to calm down once again. Not always, but usually. Your scent can represent normal, safe things to him during a time of fear, uncertainty and the unknown.

When we say that your python "knows you" we do not suggest that he or she knows you in the way that a good dog knows and understands you, with conscious intellect. Your snake will never develop feelings of goodwill or warmth toward you. Nor will he ever actually like you, or miss you when you're gone. He is not capable of these complex emotions. He will be almost entirely indifferent to you. You really only are relevant, at best, as the "bringer of food". This is not because he is necessarily "anti-social", but because he is not a species of an animal form that ever evolved a complex brain with inherent social dependencies and capabilities. Simply because this cognizance and interspecies-dependency, evolutionarily speaking, was never needed for reptiles to survive the eons, the way it was utterly necessary for pack animal species such as wolves or lions to survive. Snakes are loners by nature except for during winter den hibernation (non-tropical species) and annual mating.  Now, before this cold, hard fact depresses you keep in mind that you can still achieve and maintain a productive, safe and enjoyable (for you) relationship with your snake built on trust, familiarity, contentment and security (for him).

All the pictures above of baby ceylonese in their eggs are of this year's (2008) clutches of Pastel Ceylonese to Pastel Ceylonese breedings. These babies may very well turn out to be Super Pastel Ceylonese babies.