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. Racers kill by constriction, not poison. Contrary to popular belief, snakes do not dislocate their jaws to swallow their prey. Their jaws are loosely connected so this allows them to swallow whole animals.

Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi, formerly known as Elaphe taeniura

shed skin

young racer

scar on back

eating a bat

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........

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!

racers mating.....

I found a dead cave racer in Gua Kanthan, Perak, in 2001, and collected the teeth :

racer teeth

© Liz Price 2008 Page last updated Dec 2008