# King Cobras (pic heavy)



## Jazzz (Dec 11, 2013)

I was lucky enough to do a king cobra trip with Bali reptile rescue and Longqi on here. We did a 2 day trip and relocated 3 nests, 85 eggs, and 2 female kings in west bali. 

The first king was an impressive 3.5m female who was a little flightier then usual apparently. 









Her nest was in a pretty tricky spot in a clump of bamboo. Recovered 35 eggs from her. 





We then went to a second nest, however, couldnt find the female so just recovered her nest. 





It wasnt all reptiles though, we also got to feed these adorable rehab juvenile hornbills.





That night we went herping through some nice paddies getting a banded krait, retic, a couple of bronze backs, rat snake, banded wolf snake, assorted toads, one mystery litoria, bali chameleon and a tokay. (i apologise for the average photos). 




Tokay




retic




retic




Banded krait

The next day we went back into king country and found the third females nest. A very small number of eggs at only 16. We found out why when we found her in a rock pile as she was only 2m long. She was still impressive at that size though putting on a nice defensive display. 




Her nest




Her habitat





















After bagging her (and taking some pics) he headed back to the depo where a few of the rehab, and resident, reptiles were waiting. 





All up it was a fantastic trip and i would strongly recommend anyone heading to bali to check them out!


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## [email protected] (Dec 11, 2013)

Awesome pics, I definitely will drop in when I'm over there


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## raycam01_au (Dec 11, 2013)

fellow Qlder 

you are a braver gal than I hahahaha fotos are awesome, I would have run away screaming like alittle Boy  was gunna say Girl, but after seeing your pics, I will go with boy hahahaha

awesome stuff those cobras are WOW


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## andynic07 (Dec 11, 2013)

Great photos and looks like a wonderful experience.


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## Umbral (Dec 11, 2013)

Great pics! I'm a bit surprised how small those eggs are considering the size they grow to. They must start off pretty small.


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## Trimeresurus (Dec 11, 2013)

Umbral said:


> Great pics! I'm a bit surprised how small those eggs are considering the size they grow to. They must start off pretty small.



Small and stripey!


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## Umbral (Dec 11, 2013)

I was just comparing egg and adult size of my Tanami womas and those and although the cobras grow much bigger the eggs appear to be a lot smaller.


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## Jazzz (Dec 11, 2013)

Yeah I was pretty surprised at the size of the eggs as well, I was expecting a little larger!

thanks!


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## junglepython2 (Dec 11, 2013)

Such awesome snakes, are the eggs incubated or destroyed? And are the kings released?


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## Jazzz (Dec 11, 2013)

Eggs are incubated and kings are released to a safe area. They are nesting on private land and the locals are more then happy to kill them, which happens a lot.


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## missilly (Dec 11, 2013)

Deadset the raddest thing I have ever seen! You got some courage girl!


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## $NaKe PiMp (Dec 11, 2013)

wish there was more girls like you


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## longqi (Dec 12, 2013)

Altogether we collected over 80eggs
We checked temperature and humidity before opening the nests
All eggs are now in incubators with original nest material at those temps

We are talking with king breeders and experts from everywhere
Seems baby kings have very high mortality rates
We have our own theory about this and looking for confirmation now
Hopefully we can get them released quickly away from humans but at similar altitude and habitat

Big one already released because in excellent condition
Smaller one is a skinny young mum
So bunged a feed into her and probably a couple more before release


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## imported_Varanus (Dec 12, 2013)

Stunning snakes and a great read!


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## Jazzz (Dec 12, 2013)

It was definitely an experience!

Longqi and his team were very professional and we never felt that we were in any real danger.


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## moosenoose (Dec 12, 2013)

Saw your tail pulling on Facebook somewhere....and I suspected Longqi was behind it  Awesome piccies! And fabulous experience!


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## Renenet (Dec 12, 2013)

That's it, Longqi. I'm coming to visit you one day!

Nothing wrong with those photos, Jazzz. What an awesome experience.


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## longqi (Dec 12, 2013)

She handled the second king like an expert
The bigger one was a lot trickier because it didnt follow the rules much


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## Jazzz (Dec 12, 2013)

Haha probably, they are all on Facebook. 

I had a big problem with my lens fogging in the insane humidity but they came out ok =] 

thanks longqi, although I feel like that's a little more credit then I deserve. It was amazing how the team handled them, couldn't believe it!


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## Porkbones (Dec 13, 2013)

Looks like an awesum experience !!! So lucky


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## paultheo (Dec 14, 2013)

wow Jazz thats the best thing i've seen for ages, a girl that handles the king of vens, impressive.Im seriously tempted to go visit you Longqi if thats a typical Bali rescue experience.


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## longqi (Dec 14, 2013)

This is NOT a typical day in Bali
Kings are only common now because it is breeding/nesting season
Rest of the year they hide away fairly successfully


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## Bushman (Dec 14, 2013)

That first shot of you holding the big cobra by the tail is a classic. One to show the grandchildren. 8) You look so happy holding the egg, it's nice to see.


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## Vikingtimbo (Dec 14, 2013)

In my books that would've been the ultimate herping experience, I'm really jealous! I love the close ups but that first pic showing you with an absolute monster is awesome!


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## Jazzz (Dec 15, 2013)

Yeah it's great to see her size! A shame she was a bit grumpy, although understandably. 

Hopefully a few of those eggs start hatching before I leave, that would be the cherry on top!


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## Bench_Warmer01 (Dec 27, 2013)

Love your pictures, looks like an amazing experience! I relocated this beautiful King in southern Thailand earlier this year.
View attachment 302912
View attachment 302911


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## Bluetongue1 (Dec 27, 2013)

I have to say that the photo of you holding a 3.5m King Cobra totally blew me away. I have seen a couple of 4m Kings up close in the glass enclosures that Eric Worrell had them in at the original Australian Reptile Park. The head alone was twice the size of my clenched fist and bigger than my flattened hand. These things were totally awesome. Given most snakes can lift more than half their body length of the ground, you could well be looking up at 7ft (2.15m) of snake in the wild. That aside, the sheer size of these giant elapids is enough to make the sphincter of even experienced elapid catchers pucker. Tou are one brassy young lady! You would clearly be an asset on any herping trip.

Blue


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## Jazzz (Dec 27, 2013)

Bench_Warmer01 said:


> Love your pictures, looks like an amazing experience! I relocated this beautiful King in southern Thailand earlier this year.
> View attachment 302912
> View attachment 302911



Attachments didnt work. Id love to see your pics! 

Thanks for the kind words bluetongue1, im actually usually really bad luck on herping trips! Although maybe thats changed now =P 
I was blown away with the first 3.5m girl, i cant imagine seeing anything bigger...


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## longqi (Jan 5, 2014)

The last nest of eggs you collected are hatching right now Jazz
2 out so far looking strong and healthy
Will release them later in the week


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## Jazzz (Jan 6, 2014)

Im so happy! / sad because i didnt get to see them =[


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## gus11 (Jan 6, 2014)

As fun as catching kings would be could you explain why removing the wild eggs to incubators and it seems reducing hatching success is considered beneficial? I understand locals may kill them once they hatch, that happens with all snakes everywhere. Is this program considered to have a longer term success rate than just leaving them be? How many release locations can you have that aren't already inhabited by kings? I'm not sure on this but I assume they will eat each other?
I know these questions come across as sounding negative but i am generally interested.


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## Wild56 (Jan 7, 2014)

*awesome chick lol love ittt *


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## Jazzz (Jan 7, 2014)

gus11 said:


> As fun as catching kings would be could you explain why removing the wild eggs to incubators and it seems reducing hatching success is considered beneficial? I understand locals may kill them once they hatch, that happens with all snakes everywhere. Is this program considered to have a longer term success rate than just leaving them be? How many release locations can you have that aren't already inhabited by kings? I'm not sure on this but I assume they will eat each other?
> I know these questions come across as sounding negative but i am generally interested.



Im sure longqi can answer this more thoroughly for you but as i understand it - the hatching rate is extremely high with the last clutch having a 100% success rate and hatchlings released shortly after. 
The locals know where the nest is and will, and have before, kill the female king and destroy the nest. These nests are only removed because the locals do not want them on their property.
I feel like any kind of success rate is better then a 100% death rate. Without a tracking program, which is extremely costly, it would be difficult to confirm a success rate, especially over such a short period of time. 
The area the kings are released into change and are not around people. The main area is extremely large so a dispersal can take place.


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## longqi (Jan 8, 2014)

I will answer this in more detail shortly on the bali reptile rescue thread
But what Jazz has said is basically correct


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