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CAVE RACER
The cave racer inhabits limestone caves all over Asia and there are at least 10 species of Orthriophis taeniurus ranging from China, down through the Asian mainland to Malaysia and Borneo. The racer used to be classed as Elaphe taeniura. It is often called the Beauty Snake in the pet trade. I am trying to do research on the snake as it has not been studied much and is an area that needs a lot of work.
These photos show a selection of cave racers. The first 4 photos show a racer eating a bat.
Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi, formerly known as Elaphe taeniura |
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shed skin |
young racer |
scar on back |
racer in Mulu, should be Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi, but this one has a less patterned marking |
racer in Mulu, Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi |
racer in Mulu |
and some food for the cave racer........
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Mulu bat flight |
Mulu bat flight |
I was lucky enough to see 3 cave racers mating. At least 2 were waiting and 1 was waiting its turn!
I found a dead cave racer in Gua Kanthan, Perak, in 2001, and collected the teeth :
racer teeth |
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