Herping in Thailand and Malaysia, 2010

Mid september this year, Matt minchin and myself headed out for a few weeks herping in 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. This time of year is the rainy season, and we had decided to head out at this time as snakes tends to be more active during this period, making for a more productive herping trip.

After spending a day in Bangkok, visiting a few friends who sell reptiles within the infamous chatuchak weekend market, we caught a 16 hour bus journey south to Krabi province. After hiring a jeep, we spent a week herping in and around Phanom bencha national park. Here are some of the species we encountered:

A large sun beam snake, Xenopeltis unicolor, caught at a plant nursery on the edge of Khao Phanom Bencha national park.



A dark dog-toothed cat snake, Boiga cynodon, also caught at a plant nursery on the edge of Khao Phanom Bencha national park.



Homalopsis buccata caught along a stream at Khao Phanom Bencha national park, Krabi province



Juvenile Homalopsis buccata, caught along the same stream



Habitat of Homalopsis buccata


Green cat snake, Boiga cyanea, caught within the restuarant of the eco resort we were staying at.



Paradise tree snake, Chrysopelea paradisa, also caught in the restuarant a few nights later



Painted Bronzeback, Dendrolaphis pictus, Khao Phanom Bencha national park. One of the hardest species i have had to photograph, these things are super quick!



Trinagle Keelback, Xenochrophis trianguligera, Khao Phanom Bencha national park, Krabi, Thailand. This snake was missing most of its tail.




After our time in krabi, we caught another bus south down to Staun, and then the ferry over to Langkawi island in Malaysia. Again, we decided to hire a car and spent a week herping on the island, mainly around Telaga tujuh and Gunung Raya.

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









Muellers blind snake, Typhlops muelleri


A Reticulated python found along the stream leading to Telaga Tujuh



Another Boiga cyanea, this one caught on Langkawi



A Cryptelytrops venustus found on the road, Langkawi, Malaysia







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



Matt with the racer



And now for some random shots:

A view from the top of Wat Tham Seua at sunset



The stream leading to Telajah Tujuh, the seven wells waters, Langkawi



A night time view of the forest close to the top of Gunung Raya



Outside of a large cave temple in Krabi. The monk escorted us around for a few hours looking for Ridleys cave racers, but sadly we found none!



A misty road leading to the top of Gunung Raya



In total we caught 25 snakes that covered 17 species. Of course, i have many more photos, of snakes,frogs, lizards and turtles that we also found, but i think that will have to do for now.

cheers,

Tom

Wow ! Seems like a very productive field trip indeed... Gorgeus snakes and great photos of them ! Thanks for sharing !

wonderful tom. especially the picture with matt and the oxycephalum, i just love them chasing people around...


cheers

thanks for sharing
Mario

Great pictures thanks for sharing looks like a amazing trip

Very nice herping trip. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures with us.

Looks like a great Trip my friend , thank you very much for posting this
Greets Ralph

Wonderful trip Tom with a lots of nice snakes:) How long have you been there? I love the pic with the sunset. Cheers

Nice shots from your Trip Tom. Looks we share the same herping area! I spot out some points that looks very familar to me.

greets,

Peter

Nice shots. Sunbeam snake (Xenopeltis) looks awesome. I allways wanted one. Especially some more blue-purple coloured specimen.

Regards, BKK

Some excellent photography work, Mr. Charlton. The Homalopsis specimens are interesting... Always good to see specimens photographed in relation to scale and habitat. Thank you for posting this. Sincerely, Jon Davidson .

I too really like the one with Matt & the racer mate.

Very nice serie of pictures!

Cheers,
Harold

Looks like a fun trip. You found some pretty great stuff. SE Asia is on my list of places to herp, but it'll be a few years yet before I make it. Thanks for sharing.

Well done, glad you like my country.... I did quite a lot of road-herping in KL, though many a times we only managed to chance upon roadkill. Let me know if you plan to come to Borneo in the future.

Cheers and best regards
AA

Thanks guys

Alexander Ang wrote:

Well done, glad you like my country.... I did quite a lot of road-herping in KL, though many a times we only managed to chance upon roadkill. Let me know if you plan to come to Borneo in the future.

Cheers and best regards
AA

Hey Alexander,

I have been to Borneo many times before, in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Infact, it is one of my favourite areas of south-east Asia. I have only travelled to Sabah and a few days in Brunei, not yet down to Sarawak or Kalimantan but i will in the next few years for sure.

cheers,

Tom

Quote :

I have been to Borneo many times before, in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

You´ve been there so many times? It´s almost your second home:D

wow I love to make tha trip one day, you took really cool pics, thanks for sharing, do you have more pics pleas, thaks