Reptile & Amphibian Forums

dont really post much, but read daily. thought i would post somethng. my blackthroat is now 5mos old and is just a bit over 3feet in length. he is in a 5x3x3cage (LxDxH). he has 1' of dirt. a mixture of screened soil and top soil. he has a 145F for a basking spot on average, and on the cool side it is normally around 76F. he has a burrow throughout the cage and at the bottom of it, its like 67F on average. he has a large water dish, and humidity of around 60-80% i spray it daily. he is eating a diet of adult mice, small rats, and roaches.
really need to get some pics of him. he is a definite male. he hisses and sometimes pulls his tail back like he is going to whip me but never does, just walks around my room when i let him. and looking for a female for him
just thought i would finally post something. pics coming soon

I would love to hear more about this amazing specimen, this is unheard of i believe.. Especially in captivity. What are you feeding this monster? I have heard of water monitors that grew between 3.5 to 4 feet the first year but not BT's. SHvar has a pretty big one 6 feet at 2.5 years but at the rate yours is growing it may top that! UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! Good job if theres any truth to this post..
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Jaye- " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

Actually it isn't that unheard of as my btm is 8months and 4ft, also a male. He went from 12' to 3ft in less than three months!
Great job on your bt!

This is one of my old pics...
Post a pic of yours like this one, here Sobek was 8 months old and 4ft. Oh and my fiancee in the pic is 5ft tall.

She was 7 months old here..

I'll post back tomorrow and probably laugh at my last post/.
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Jaye- " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

I pulled the chart I kept of the first year for reference.
I wonder where he got his BT, I havent heard of any CBB around since Pro Exotics and Dan Turner a few years ago. Hows 16 inches at 2 months old, 4ft long at 8 months old, 5ft long at a year old, 6ft at 2 years old and 6ft 2 inches at 2years 5 months sound? they can grow extremely fast.
I remember Mark Bayless quoting one that supposedly made 6ft at a year old!!!
The problem with imports is that you never know just how old they are, they could be sold as hatchlings and unfortunately be over a year old. I found one of FRs banded whitethroats for a friend, that beautiful beast is Sobeks age, when she was 5ft long he was 19 inches long, the former owner was not taking proper care of him. Now hes around 3ft and gorgeous. Ive had imports in the past that went from skinny bony tick covered skeletons at around 24 inches to 4.5 feet in no time at all.
I wish him good luck and hope to see pics and hear more about it soon.

i got "Scotty" from a man in Calif. he showed me the eggs, and some hatchlings. i got him in Feb. at a month old and around 7-8inches. and as far as feeding i said what i feed him. i feed him once a day and as much as he will eat. which is normally a small rat and 1 or 2 adult mice. or 5-7 adult mice. i also throw in roaches a lot and he eats a lot of those also. when he was younger i fed him mostly crickets and superworms. he grew great on those until he got around 20" then i brought in the mice. i'll take some pics of him soon and post them if i can figure it out, and ask the guy i got him from if he can get some pics of the parents. he was "Limestone" never actually gave me his name, and i only talked to him through AOL instant messenger and email. i am serious about his size and age. total truth, and he is 3.2lbs

z

Mine was captive born as in a wc gravid female came in, and they hatched the eggs at serpents den.

When I first for Fluffy he/she/ it was in bad shape. I guess living off catfood can do that. Now that Fluffy has figued out mice, cricket, roaches and crawdads are yummy you can almost see the critter grow. I got Fluffy May 6th and can tell you for a fact, he's grown 8 inches in 2 months.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I spoke with everyone except Goannaranch practically, they all told me the only CB or CBB whitethroats or BTs in the US were at ProExotics from Rob Faust, Pete Zulpich, and from Goannaranch. I personally spoke with Serpents den, they said the same. Anyways Ive worked as a hobby for a while in the reptile industry helping some businesses out, and thats the second statement most dealers tell you when you ask them about their CB monitors, they say well actually we hatched it (only one egg or two, hmm) from a WC mother. Thats because again the price can go higher, ask them to prove it and ask how long it incubated. Ive heard that "hatched from a wild caught gravid female" sales pitch before, more times than Id like to. Its safe to assume that anyone who cant prove CB or CBB are selling imports among this industry.
Heres an idea, go to a vet and get it checked for worms or other internal parasites naturally found in Africa. Now understand that one negative test means nothing, it may take a few tests over time to get a positive.
Be careful of who sells you CB animals in this industry.

Being that albigs lay many many eggs 20-52 on average per clutch, he should have sold babies to many people at the same time. Im not saying that he has lied to you, but Id see proof before putting $300 on a CBB animal, especially when its the time of year that so many imported hatchlings come in. When the amount of people who have bred albigs in North America in so long is so small that you can count them without running out of fingers Id be a bit more careful of believing dealers.
After all $300 per hatchling is about average cost to feed for a month or 2, feed and house parents for 6 months to 18 months, and incubate for 6 months, then you make a few dollars from that $300 each from so many. The last CBB BTs which were photographed extensively, one instance was videotaped from beginning to end, because its such a rare event in captivity. There were a few hatching from Gary Quirk a month or 3 ago, they were BT/WT cross offspring.
3.2 lbs seems light for that size but Id like to see pics of it. Shadow is 50 inches long total and over 10lbs. I seem to remember Shadow was over 5lbs before he was even 3ft long. As far as a light skinny monitor goes my friends 44 inch water is even 6.5-7 lbs.
Hope to see pics soon.

3.2lbs may be a little light, but remember he is growing very fast. he still has a very nice rounded tail. in no way can you see any of his bones. i think maybe Gene may have seen it when it was smaller, like after i have had it for like 2weeks. i know i told him about it. and so you know, i did not pay $300 for the blackthroat. his female laid 22 eggs, he admitted it was his first time breeding monitors, and only got 6 out of the 22 to hatch. he has held back 4 and sold 2. he is going to see from the 4 which ones are female (if any) and then he said he will sell the males. he gave me pics of the monitors breeding, her laying the eggs, eggs in the incubator. a pic of one of them hatching. and the overall 6 of them. so please dont be so quick to doubt it. not everyone who breeds them is a business, or a big name breeder. if i can get ahold of him i will ask for him to send the pics again and i will send them to you on your email. i will take some pics tomorrow.
now how do i post pics? i used to post a long time ago, but havnt in like 2yrs.

Not everyone who breeds monitors is a business, no but niether are Pete Zulpich, Rob Faust, and a few others, they are hobbyists. Give me his contact info in email, and Ill speak with him (name,phone number, email, etc).
By the way $300 for a cbb albig is about standard price to recover what was spent on caging, food etc for the parents, thats not making more than a few dollars. I bought Shadow for $245, the shipping through Delta Dash was paid by Faust at $70 I believe. Sobek was $225 plus shipping etc at $275 delivered.
FR sells albigs for $300 a piece, and Dan Turner was selling his for $350 a piece I believe, those prices are without delivery Im sure. If you ever saw albig eggs they are about 2.25 inches long, they arent very small.
Im not at any point saying that you lied, but you are going by the sellers statements. Im a careful about believeing his claims, like I said Ive heard those claims many times before.
Good luck and cant wait to see the pics. Post them in a photo gallery online and add the URL to the space where it says "image URL". The account for a photo gallery here is free up to 1 megabyte I believe.