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Steeve B
04-02-03, 09:45 PM
Here’s a story I just have to share, just to show bad things can happen at anytime anywhere to anyone.
IV been sick all week so I relied on a friend to care for my personal collection at home, this collection consist of only cb monitors I chose as future breeders, I only hatched 2 out of 3 microsticus from last year, they turned out to be a pair. This is the only pair I know of in any collection, I lost there parents last year, needless to say they are very important to me. Today I asked my friend if every monitor feed, he tells me yes no exception, so as always this is an exercise to help him remember the species, so her I go asking about Jobiensis and finchi and so on then I ask about Microsticus. He says well I haven’t seen them; they must be in borrowing, so I ask him when did you last see them? He replies well I haven’t seen them yesterday and today. Now I know these monitors and they don’t hide, they have escaped there cage.

This is so sad, I fund them in the coldest corner of my house extension, under an isolation panel iv laid down to cut frost from entering, they where literally beside an ice patch almost frozen, as I picked them up I called my wife to show here the dead monitors, I was 100% sure they where dead, but my wife said run hot water on them.
So I did with the smaller one, to my surprise she showed sing of life so I placed her under the heat lamp, then I did the same thing with the much bigger male but nothing, I hade no idea what to do, still no sing of life after 10 minutes of hot water, by then the female was moving and appeared out of danger, but I was left with this life less male and really felt bad about this, I figured what do I have to lose so I started blowing in his nostril blocking the other and holding his mouth shut, in my hand I could feel his lungs inflating every time I blew, after five minutes my wife said Steeve let it go now its dead, she was right about trying to save them with hot water, and somehow I knew she was right again, as I realised this guy was over with, it broth tears to my eyes, and I was almost ready to put him in the freezer for good, I saw a small muscle spasm beside the rear leg, I continued blowing an extra five minutes then he became all rigid and took a puff of air on its own, I put him under the heat lamp 30 minutes later he opened his eyes, and 2 hours later both appeared as if nothing as happened. Aim so happy words can’t describe it

Iv learned a lot from this accident, hopefully you will too, but the one thing that strikes me the most, they had all this space to walk about and hide freely yet even in death they remained a couple. Doesn’t this make you think?


:w :w :w :w :w :w

LdyDrgn
04-02-03, 10:17 PM
Wow Steve. I am glad they came back for you!

Bryce Masuk
04-02-03, 10:44 PM
Wow I all have to say is Never Ever Ever give up on a reptile because they may snap back into life when you dont know it hopefully they wont get nasty R.I.'s though they are a real pain to deal with

Andy_G
04-02-03, 10:44 PM
Good to hear they came back!

Trace
04-02-03, 11:57 PM
Wow! What a story. You are one lucky man to have found them when you did and to have the presence of mind to be able to revive them. I must say I'll be double checking my cage doors from now on.

Congrats again! :D

Trace

Steeve B
04-02-03, 11:59 PM
Thanks for your concerns, the female just eat tonight, the male refused but he appears to be his normal tong flicking self.

On this photo the female is digging, the male is just looking at me, they escaped thru this door my friend omitted to put the latch.

Man that was a close call, it who’d not have been any worst if it was my lacies
Kind regards



http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/959ap03-001-med.jpg

markb
04-03-03, 03:39 PM
Hi Steve,
Congratulations and Commendation for your efforts in saving your microstictus' lives! Too bad Robert Falcon Scott did not have you at the South Pole when he said, "I'm going out for awhile" never to be seen alive again in Antarctic winter....

Some years ago, in Long Island Herptarium the then curator had 2 V. s. cumingi that escaped in the dead of winter, found weeks later frozen solid; you bang them on a wall and they were rock solid! He (Curator) thawed them out in warm water and heat and they came back to life, had siezures, spasms, but were alive - they never were the same after that episode....but alive.

It is said all living Varanids migrated from northern latitudes millenias ago, perhaps this trait of being frozen/thawed is a relic trait of adaptation not seen in 'tropical' varanids today?

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Steve....
mark

reptilesalonica
04-03-03, 04:52 PM
Agreed with Bryce Masuk. Never give up when you try to save a reptile. They have a different biology and just like some frogs that their heart beets every hour in the winter and in the spring they wake up normaly, reptiles can get back to life much easier than a mammal would.
Lucky you Steeve B. congrats!
~Greg~

Steeve B
04-04-03, 04:49 PM
First let me thank everyone for there kind words, both of my Microsticus are fine and eating now, no sing of any after effect.
All of you guys are right! Aim a very lucky man; I know from experience none of my other monitors including my Argentina Tegus who’d have survived this.
I have never been a fan of so called tame monitors, but I have to admit Microsticus, Dumerils and my Tegus are so easy to handle, they make working with them pleasurable. All my other monitors are totally non aggressive, but some of them have very sharp claws witch makes them not so fun to handle, others are flighty and much prefer being left alone, of all my animals there’s only one ssp I consider dangerous the Sorong croc, in comparison the Merauke croc is a puppy.
Kind regards

Linds
04-04-03, 07:15 PM
Wow! Luck is on your side! Glad everything worked out, and that they have made full recoveries :)

Steeve B
06-22-03, 07:18 PM
News of my Microsticus….

This is my male; he seems to have recovered 100% from his winter escape!
This is a fine specie, not aggressive don’t get as big as albigularis, very hardy and easy to care for. I really hope to breed them by next year.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/959croc_bite_200-med.jpg

Colonel SB
06-22-03, 07:37 PM
Is it a subspecies of white throat?

Steeve B
06-22-03, 08:05 PM
Yes it is! Mine come from Mozambique.

V.hb
06-22-03, 08:12 PM
then you sold them and they died because you lied !

Steeve B
06-22-03, 08:32 PM
Well albigularis who’d be much larger after a year, these I didn’t feed lots, I wanted a slower growth with them, I was told they go off fed several months in the year. I guess we can still consider this a rapid growth for this species.
Rgds


http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/959nv24_006-med.jpg[/IMG]

V.hb
06-22-03, 09:28 PM
Just out curiousity, those pictures are only a few months apart. What kind of feed schedule were they on, how often, how much and what? My female albig went from hatchling - 48 inches in a year. I am pretty sure this is a normal growth rate.

Steeve B
06-23-03, 04:07 AM
Well from the upper photo to the next, theirs 10 months apart, I think it’s vary average growth. But maybe it’s rapid for this specie? I fed these guys about every second day on rat pups alone, for the same time and food my black throats who’d be 4-5 feet TL. But you have to consider, with size! Food size increases as well making growth even more rapid. I don’t think these will ever get this big?

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/959untitled-stitched-01-med.jpg

Emily-Fisher
06-23-03, 05:54 AM
Wow Steeve..you are a really lucky guy! And I must say, you have more hope inside of you than most people that I know..keep it up! BTW, your white throats are beautiful!!

Tim and Julie B
06-23-03, 06:58 AM
That is an amazing story! Wow I just love seeing these monitor pics! Absolutly amazing! I have never even seen photos this good in most books or even heard of some of these sub species you talk about. Learning all the time. I still think you should write a book Steeve.

Colonel SB
06-23-03, 09:09 AM
What I wanna know Steve is where can I get a dwarf Cape?

depressor86
06-23-03, 09:11 AM
what a guy!

Steeve B
06-23-03, 02:18 PM
Theirs no such thing as a dwarf Cape! The entire Cap I have seen can grow to 5+ feet and are not very tractable. IV repeatedly refused them because of this. But next time aim offered some I will email you.

Tim; I did write a book! It’s 800 pages and contains about 200 photos of 17 Indonesian subspecies most unknown to the general public, in this book you will see photos of all the above species in full detail, from eggs, hatchlings, young, to breeding adults, basically full life cycle of 17 species. This kind of book has never been published before in such details. at this moment I don’t know if I will publish or not, I wrote this book in anger and frustration, now I think this who’d be to nice a present to the peoples I was angry with, I think I will do a few numbers and give them to friends Varanophils, some of my most prised literatures are unpublished ones.
Rgds

burmer
06-23-03, 06:01 PM
Thats a hell of a story. Great pics of beautiful monitors.

Sean_.E.
06-23-03, 07:16 PM
What a story! I am so glad that you found them! You did an amazing job! The phrase that fits this story the best is NEVER give up! Good job. B-E-A-Utiful monitors, I hope you are successful in breeding those beauties!

Tim and Julie B
06-23-03, 07:33 PM
Steeve screw the haters! You have so much knowledge about varanids. You should share your knowledge. Instead of all these cookie cutter BS books that have three paragraphs on each species and there is usually only the same twenty comman species even mentioned in most of them. Good reptile books are hard to find! Good varanid books are even harder to find! I will pre order a copy thanks, Tim B. :D

V.hb
06-23-03, 07:50 PM
I disagree with tim. I wouldn't buy any reptile book with Steves name on it.. Even if It was all I could get.. I'd rather buy a coloring book.

BoidKeeper
06-23-03, 08:14 PM
Good on ya Steeve!
Cheers,
Trevor

Mardy
06-23-03, 11:36 PM
THis whole damn post was great.

Mardy

Colonel SB
06-24-03, 08:12 AM
Totally Steve if you ever publish put me down for a copy, hell I'd love to read it now. V.albig's are my all time fav monitors! Thanks for all the good monitor adivce.