Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey there has been a lot of debate about canarys and suspicion because few if any truly large full grown adults have been found.there are many sub adults and small adults but very few seem to be full breeding size.at first i though that this was because they do not retain their yellow untill breeding age but only stay yellow to sub adult -small adult size. now im kinda thinking that maybe the lack of huge breeder adults is due to the fact that this island morph just doesnt get that large.maybe what we are seeing are actual adults but when compared to typical chondros,they seen like juvies.i know that with many reptiles there are huge size differences with mainland forms and island forms and sometimes the size of the island restrics the adult size.i know that with leachies giant geckos the mainland of the same species often gets almost 40 percent larger than the island forms.so....do you guys think that this may be the case with canarys??we may actually be seeing adults and they are just 40 percent smaller than most other forms??

It would be a geographic variation not a "Morph". And I have a friend that had two adults brought in that were quite large. Both were extremely yellow.

There are many who feel this locale is somewhat smaller than average. To date, nothing is really known for sure.
I have seen pics of large (approx. 700g)animals that were yellow. You can purportedly purchase larger green animals from this island (i believe there is a 500g green female for sale right now that is supposedly from this island).
You are correct in saying that mostly smaller animals (yellow) have been available.
I think it would be a stretch to say a 300g animal was an adult, no matter how distinct the locale.

Image

Canaries can reach large sizes I have one that is close to 1500gms and another just shy of 1200. These are both completely yellow by the way.

here is a picture of one of the adults.

here is one more with head shot.

hey thanks for the photos.i have been wanting to see an adult canary but have never seen one until now.hey,so when the first captive bred start coming out of this local what do you guys think the hatchlings would sell for??id love to get my hands on one.also,its just speculation of course but if you crossed one of these almost 100 percent yellows to a normal green what do you experienced breeders think the offspring would look like? would they just be a yellowish green all over or look like the high yellow animals where there are yellow and green alternating scales?

Only time will tell what may be produced when outcrossed with other variations of chondros. I have had offspring from crosses look nothing alike, so the only safe assumption is that there will be alot of variation.

Those are some beautiful chondros. It seems they have a nice yellow shade to them. I don't want to be negative, but do they seem to have also gone greenish?

My have all stayed yellow so far. The largest female exhibits the ability to change color but I have experienced this with other chondros. It is just more apparent with the lighter yellow color. Her blue gets more blue and her green scales get more green from time to time, especially after meals and before sheds.

The Kofiau Island (Canary) chondros are not a small form of the species. They get just as large as other chondros.

Well when it comes to just how big they will get we'll have to wait and see. Myself I think they may be slightly smaller and more slender than some other locals time will tell.

Will be interesting to see what comes out of crosses with these guys.
Randy
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I don't care if the glass is half full or half empty !
I just want the full glass I paid for !

well they might be more slender because they are all WC and probably start out with internal parasites... their are a few parasites that i think can't be killed... like lung parasites... this might be why some are considerably smaller then others...
i have seen a few in the 40" range and they were nice and plump...

time will tell... i am excited to see what happens when a lemon X canary cross is done...

Shiloh
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Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)