Bali Bird Market!

Hello everyone. Let's take a break from corals for a minute and have a look at some wildlife that I discovered at the Bali Bird Market located in Denpasar (capital of Bali).

But first, lets have a look at that aquacultured liverock that I was talking about on the last post. Unfortunately I can't divulge too much information at this time about this great man made eco-friendly aquarium rock. All I can say is that it is four months old and full of coraline algae. It is a bit heavy, but we are working on making it more porous and light. We hope to bring this great product available to our customers very soon. I will update on the progress.

So my coral adventures takes me to the Bali Bird Market. It is called a bird market, but it is more of a pet market - just happens that there are many birds for sale. The first thing that caught my eye as we entered the market was this local guy handling this cool looking snake!

My guess is that this is a reticulated python, the world's second largest snake, as it is known. I don't know what the world record is, but I just saw on Animal Planet Channel not too long ago that a 50 foot monster lives in a zoo in Java (the main big island of Indonesia, nothing to do with coffee). Evidently it was being taken care of by local village people on some island and was brought to the big island for display. I heard it eats four dogs a month (can probably eat an anaconda for lunch!). One day I will track down the zoo and go get some pictures to show.

This guy ended up being a charlatan, using the snake to get people's attention first. Then acting like a palm reader and pushing to sell little bottles of "cure all" medicine!

I was like, this is totally wrong! I thought coloring corals were bad, and these cute little chicks definitely deserve better.

Here is a close up of the colored baby chickens. Poor guys, even their feets are colored!

Nothing like the Jakarta Bird Market, but I was still excited to see what I would find!

Ok, this is a big no no in Bali. The Balinese are Hindus and respect all wildlife, especially baby monkeys! I guess the world is not perfect.

These turtles were surprisingly pricey. I suspect they were imported in from other islands.

Ok couldn't tell if this was a baby flying fox or just another bat.

This strange four legged fellow looked like a cross between an opossum and a dog. I think this is a weasel (the ricki - ticki - tavy that killed the cobra).

Ok for sure this a flying fox. Looks just like a vampire from the old horror flicks, hiding his face with its cape!

"Look into my eyes, I want to suck your blood"!!

Actually, this modern day vampire is a fruit eater. Here is one eating papayas!

Check out this strange lizard. It looks like an iguana but is actually a water dragon, a close cousin of the iguana.

Black scorpions anyone?

Of course one of my favorite lizards, the tokay gecko. They say that if you have a tokay gecko in your house, it brings good luck. I believe it if you can put up with its super loud singing at night!

Here's what the underside of the tokay gecko looks like.

Ok these are iguanas for sure!

I don't know the name of this large pheasant - turkey looking bird. But I do know that it comes from Papua (Irian Jaya)! If there is a Thanksgiving in Papua, for sure this is the bird to eat!

Ok so this must be the best looking male chicken I've ever seen!

This gorgeous Blondie bird comes from China and even has a name "Gold Vision", and you can have him for a cool $500 US. By the way, AYAM means chicken in Bahasa (Indonesian language).

Cute little finches.

A pair of gorgeous parrots from the very cool Indonesian island of Ambon! (between Sulawessi and Papua)

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. I hope you enjoyed our little trip to the Bali Bird Market. Stayed tuned for exciting new corals coming your way!

Cheers,
Eddie