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It's been exactly one year since I got my Blackthroat 'Brutus'
He's now 5ft 6" and growing. A little video taken this weekend.

>>It's been exactly one year since I got my Blackthroat 'Brutus'
>>He's now 5ft 6" and growing. A little video taken this weekend.
>>
>>

Excellent stuff!

Here's your prize; a close-up of a recent milestone in the hobby...can you guess what it is? I'll tell you what, getting the opportunity to shoot stuff like this is every photographer's dream!

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Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

I'm pretty sure it's not a mata mata ;p

It's adorable though. Is it an albino ? Great shot, whatever it is!

>> Is it an albino ?

Was that your best guess?

It's only days out of the egg, and my buddy is only the 4th known keeper to successfully reproduce these in captivity. They're Leucocephalon yuwonoi, sometimes called the Sulawesi Forest Turtle.

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Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

[Was that your best guess?]

'fraid so.

Very cool turtle. Congrats to your buddy!

>>[Was that your best guess?]
>>
>>'fraid so.
>>

Oh...you better try harder next time. But here's a little consolation prize, a red beardie close-up

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Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

Congrats Susan! He is almost 6 feet.... How big was he when you got him? I guess what I am asking is how much did he grow in a year...
-Dan
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1.1 Savannah Monitors (Annah & Terrance)
1.1 Nile Monitor (Lyle)
1.0 Timor Monitor (Timmmmaaayy)
1.0 Blood Python (Kevin)
1.0 Ball Python (Martin)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Bella)
2.0 Bearded Dragons (Peter & Jack)
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake (Hector)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boas (Wayne & Maude)
1.0 Dwarf Gecko (Little Girl)
1.0 Curly Hair Tarantula (Pube)
1.0 OBT Usumbara Orange Baboon Tarantula (Sin)
1.0 Emperor Scorpion (Ashoka)
2.0 D. auratus (Poison Dart Frogs)
1.0 Peacock Bass (Gary)

Thanks Dan. I don't expect him to keep growing at the rate he has, but what do I know? He was 28" when I got him and some months he grew about 6", while others, less than 4". This past year, he's grown 3ft 2". I think it averages out to over 3" per month?

Nothing could have prepared me for the 'wow' factor.
I still walk in the room and go "damn" Brutus, have you grown again?!

Sometimes it seems like they grow every time you walk into the room doesnt it. Ive further reduced my collection to now just Sobek and Stanley (the flaviargus). The last red ackie went to a new home.
Maybe sometime we might get one more smaller lizard. Albigs grow fast, its amazing to see them grow like that, but sometimes its disappointing to see them grow so fast, they are definitely much easier to deal with when small.
I was suggested once to try baby pigs for Sobek food, I might have to consider it. Maybe Ill look around for them again.

Yes, that's exactly it. The growth rate is astonishing.

[I was suggested once to try baby pigs for Sobek food, I might have to consider it. Maybe Ill look around for them again.]

I've seen your video of Sobek eating a large guinea pig, but have also heard of Albigs dying after eating a piglett. Very hard to convince me they would be a natural prey choice!
Also, I was feeding him large and Xlarge rats, till a couple of weeks ago, when my new frozen shipment of chicks and jumbo mice came in. BIG difference in energy level!! I think all his energy was going to digesting the larger rats and fur etc, whereas now he seems to be more alert, in general.

I did notice the ease in swallowing larger items for him as he got bigger, his throat is like that of a pelican! But I'm not feeding him very large prey items anymore. Well, maybe large bird?

I was suggested to try the smallest size of piglets on her (1.5 lb I think), but I held off because I like feeding smaller prey items. Thats been a few years since I was offered a few to try but decided to hold off, since then shes grown quite a bit (some length, but filled in more so than anything. When albigs grow as adults, length doesnt come so quick anymore, but they get bulkier, wider, thicker, and heavier, much more so than what they were at any length in their younger life.
I think a problem with albigs and eating bigger heavier prey items is that many are not kept in a way that will allow them to take advantage of them, instead they need to stick to much smaller prey. If offered the ability to make use of the bigger prey they can. This is where even higher basking temps make a difference.

Keep in mind I didnt feed large rats, adult quail, and large guinea pigs until Sobek was 6ft long. I fed lots of week old chicken peeps, day olds, adult mice, etc. These were easy for her to swallow, albigs mouths are not as wide as some other similar sized species.
When I hear about people feeding adult rats to their 3-4ft albig I ask why? Worse yet when the average keeper wants to feed medium to large rats to a bosc monitor.
Years ago I had an enormous bosc, he was 4.5ft long, at that time I was raising a young albig that was a few feet shorter. The albig would eat 3 times the amount of food the bosc was capable of stuffing in, and digested it 4 times as fast. When the 2 lizards were similar length there was no comparison, the albig still ate several times what the bosc was capable of even swallowing.

Oh well I'm just going to keep screwing up my guesses if your going to reward me like that! What a great shot.
I have a citrus yellow X red flame beardie, so am partial.

Thanks

SAw this and thought of you Susan. Not mine, barrowed from another site. This pic was taken in the amazon

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1.1.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
0.0.2 mud turtles
1.1.0 Savannah Monitor
0.1.0 Blackthroat monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.1.0 Mountain Horned dragon
2.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Bearded dragons
cats, dog, ferrets, rabbit, rats.

(You must have seen my profile photo!?)

Nice big mata mata! Thanks