some elapid picts

[Nodrog]

My newest addition Northern Death Adder Acanthophis praelongus

 

[Sdaji]

I've been watching this thread since it started, I've been dying to post some of these into it!

 

[Scleropages]

Wow they are soo Awesome!!

 

[Kenno]

Are they any relation to the Albino lAdder ine Simon Stone was working on a few years ago? Are they pure Northern Adders? it seems interesting that there is variation in the colour of the lure's between individuals.

Regards

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day Kenno,

I'll answer on behalf of Sdaji...these are pure 'Acanthophis praelongus'. I believe the albino juveniles were spontaneous from a normal adult pair. There is significant variation in the juveniles.

Finally, some albino elapids are going to become established in captivity!

 

[grizz]

I've been watching this thread since it started, I've been dying to post some of these into it!

I like, good luck with them mate.

 

[Kenno]

G'day Kenno,

I'll answer on behalf of Sdaji...these are pure 'Acanthophis praelongus'. I believe the albino juveniles were spontaneous from a normal adult pair. There is significant variation in the juveniles.

Finally, some albino elapids are going to become established in captivity!

Gday Jonno

Firstly congrats on your new business venture, great stuff mate!

i suppose it means nothing but they do look strikingly simillar to the line Simon was working on, like i said, means nothing, both being adders and both being albino's. Just wouldnt mind Sdaji jumping on and clearing the air, and perhaps giving an explanation. ;-p

regards

 

[Sdaji]

Hi Kenno,

Within a single litter of Death Adders from many areas you'll get a ton of variation. Northern Death Adders are particularly variable. These haven't been crossed with anything else and are pure praelongus - no antarcticus, pyrrhus or wellsi. Check out the article if you're interested, or send me an email and I'll keep you updated, or both - [email protected] As Jonno said, they were created by surprise, I was more astounded to see them than anyone else, and literally couldn't believe my eyes at first as I gazed into those tiny red pupils.

I was completely unaware that Simon Stone was ever working with albino Death Adders, and I'm very surprised to hear it! I have discussed my albinos with him at length, and he has told me about the 'normal' Death Adders he used to work with, but never mentioned having albinos. As for looking similar to "Simon Stone's albino Death Adders", I expect that there would be similarity between the appearance of any albino Death Adder lines, just like I suspect there would be (will be) very similar animals between albino Darwin, Coastal and Jungle Carpet Pythons (though there will also be differences). Take away the melanin and you're left with yellow and red pigments, it's not like my line was going to be green or blue Having said that, I think we're going to see high oranges, high yellows, 'ivories', high contrast, maybe even pattern morphs over the next 10-20 years, all potentially from this line.

I doubt I will ever outcross even to other praelongus (though at first I did consider the option, and at the time I was working with multiple praelongus lines), and even if I did, I would keep some animals true to the original line with no added blood for as long as I was keeping Death Adders. I'm sure other people will outcross, perhaps even to other species (the scaleless albino is inevitable, and regardless of the controversy, right or wrong, it is going to look freaking cool! - no, I haven't started working on it and don't intend to, partly because of the hybrid issue, but also because I don't have any scaleless Adders). Even aside from purity issues, I'm sentimental about the line and wouldn't want to 'taint' it even with new blood from the same locality.

I hope that clears some air

Oh, I just saw your lure comment. When they were born I expected that as adults they would all have white lures (don't ask me why, and it now seems a bit stupid!). I was very surprised to see their lures change in different ways as they grew. I suppose it isn't surprising as it is completely normal for Death Adders from the same litter to have a range of lure colours, but the range from bright lemon yellow to a rich orange wasn't what I expected. Oh! Perhaps I should point out that as youngsters they all had fairly similar lures (like the one pictured) but they changed - the top picture is a young adult, the middle picture is a youngster, the last picture is a similar age to the middle one. I still haven't worked out how to tell the red albinos from the grey albinos. I suspected early on that perhaps the lure colour could be an indication, but I think I later decided that probably wasn't the case. It's early days and there are certainly lots of things to be learned about this line!

I could type underwater! Sorry, I'll shut up now! :lol:

 

[wizz]

very nice sdaji so when u start to sell them how much will they be

 

[Caissaca]

Where are those "pure praelongus" from? Bear in mind that the praelongus of most textbooks includes a number of different forms, the "real praelongus from northern Qld, and at least other forms from the Top End/WA, A. hawkei and A. cf. rugosus.

 

[Sdaji]

wizz: I'm not one of these guys who puts prices and takes payments before babies are slithering around - some of them take deposits before the parents are even paired up! I'll put prices etc down as soon as they are born, which I am confident will be within two weeks (any longer and it will be later than I've ever had Death Adders of any type born, which I suppose is entirely possible!). If you would like to know when they're born (and get pictures and prices), email me letting me know and I'll keep you up to date

Caissaca: I'm amazed at how few people have asked that question! I suppose with the confusion caused by Death Adder taxonomy, most people can't really get their heads around it all (well, to be honest, it will probably be decades before anyone can claim to fully understand it, let alone have it published in a way the rest of us can follow!). When some people talk about 20-30 (or more!) different species/taxa of Acanthophis, it's no wonder that many of us stick to the traditional system!

For all the obvious reasons including not wanting to encourage poaching (not that you'd have any real chance of collecting a wild het, let alone identifying one, but some might try anyway, and I don't want to encourage it), I'm not going to give exact localities, but in time I'll certainly be open about the state and general area. It's certainly not anywhere near a 'traditional' antarcticus or pyrrhus, or anything 'borderline' like the Barkly Tableland. If you look at the distribution map given in a fairly recent field guide such as Wilson and Swan's, these Adders originate in something in the thick of what they call praelongus and not near the edge of that distribution (not that an albino from one of those areas would have been undesirable! ). If what the published books call praelongus has been split into 10-20 species/taxa, I don't know which of those names they would want to put on these albinos, but I am sure they would change every few years for quite a while! :lol:

 

[Caissaca]

Don't worry, I wasn't expecting details, just very general area (e.g., northern Qld, Top End, Kimberleys, that sort of level). Since what the books currently call praelongus is highly heterogeneous and more than one species/subspecies (although not 20-30!), it should be of interest to buyers and breeders to keep localities reasonably pure...

 

[Sdaji]

Don't worry, I wasn't expecting details, just very general area (e.g., northern Qld, Top End, Kimberleys, that sort of level). Since what the books currently call praelongus is highly heterogeneous and more than one species/subspecies (although not 20-30!), it should be of interest to buyers and breeders to keep localities reasonably pure...

In my experience, almost no one cares about locality (though you'd swear it was a different story from when to read online). When I was first breeding reptiles I was amazed that no one asked where the origins were, and since I was proud of knowing the origins of most of them I was sad when I told them they didn't care. I have accepted that very few care, but I'm still interested in locality myself, so I understand the desire to know! If buyers are interested in keeping things pure I'll give them the general area

 

[wizz]

pics

some of my 2010 herps

 

[percey39]

Love the western, great bandy's too

 

[H.bitorquatus]

cute little bandy bandys, have fun getting them all feeding!

 

[adderboy]

Sdaji, those albinos are awesome, although I've seen pics of your other "normal" adders, such as the djarras, and they are all very attractive snakes too. It may have been just a stroke of good luck to get albinos in a litter, but I can't think of many better people to have these entrusted to. I wish you well with them and hope to see pics of the next generation one day.

And one day, when praelongus is added to WA's keeper's list, I'll be in touch!!

 

[Sdaji]

I haven't seen too many captive bred Bandy Bandies! Well done!

cute little bandy bandys, have fun getting them all feeding!

+1 :lol:

Adderboy: Thank you for your kind words I only recently became aware that Northern Death Adders aren't on the list for WA keepers. I am very keen to see them added to your system! I understand there is a submission currently being considered by the WA wildlife authority... fingers crossed! If you want pictures of the next generation, give me a buzz with your email address, either by PM or email me ( [email protected] ) it will be *very* soon now

 

[adderboy]

Hey, will do! The reconsideration of the WA keepers list is loooooong overdue, and yes, the local herp society has asked for praelongus to be added. Seems like a strange omission in the first place anyway. But I'm not holding my breath. The review has been "under way" for a very long time now. However, it does stand to reason that it should be added, and if it is, I'll be chasing some.

Look after yourself, and expect a PM from me soon.

S

 

[H.bitorquatus]

This thread needs to be brought back to life seeing as someone brought back the colubrid thread.