Sanzinia

[garth]

Hi all

The Sanzinia finally arrived last sunday and are settling well into their 500euro, climate controlled vivarium (that was supposed to only cost 150euro and is why my wife is pissed off with me) and the female (Tiana) already has one rat under the belt. They are settling in well and I am super-chuffed with them. Next on the list, A. madagascariensis. The male (Tojo) is quite a large snake and very chilled out. He spends the majority of his time on the ledge basking while Tiana hides in the flower pot.
I'm hoping to seperate them soon, but a second viv seems very far away.

Here are a few pics

Vivarium furniture and decor


Tojo, the boy


Tojo


Tiana


Tiana


They are unrelated and were born in Sweden and Denmark. Both are around 6 years old and a bit on the podgy side.

The previous owner has seen their tails locked and suspects that Tiana may be gravid, but Sanzinia are known well for phantom pregnancies, so I'm not holding my breath for babies just yet. I have a well planned and controlled programme for them which I'm sure will yield babies in 2011 or 2012 .

I am very interested in boosting my collection with some dwarf bitis pairs and some SA colubrids (spotted house, skaapies, etc) in later years and I intend to use CB sanzinia to trade with. But lets not count our chickens before they hatch.

[10gbooj]

Wow Garth, congratulations on those. They are really good looking and i wish you all the best in your breeding project
Ps. You can always send some down to our awesome land if you feel the urge

Regards
Jacques

[Karin]

those are two really good looking snakes - congrats on getting them, and good luck with your breeding attempts.

[fredsmith]

Wow. Quite a different looking boa.

Congrats and good luck.

[froot]

Wow! They look in great shape. Very little green on them though, were they sold to you as the mandarin phase? I've seen many photos of these with the same colouring being called mandarin phase. It seems to me there is an intermediate between the normal green phase and the true mandarin phase.

I love these snakes and I really enjoy seeing photos of them. I wish you all the success with them, congrats.

[Bushviper]

Very nice and possibly a bit chubby. The male could do with skipping a few meals. Dont try to drop his weight too quickly or else he will possibly never recover. Just offer him smaller food every 10 days or so.

It is usually possible to tell if the female is gravid by her colour. They tend to go almost black when they are gravid.

[Constrictor Girl]

So so beuatiful!!! Congrats!!

[Westley Price]

Man, I what I would give to work with these beauties! They are awesome snake and you are one lucky guy to be working with them!

And also congrats on getting a CB pair. They are sure to do a million times better than any WC animal would.

Keep us posted with any developements.

[Mitton]

Such HOT snakes, all the best with them!!

[garth]

Froot, they were sold to me as mandarin phase. BTW, is there any link between Sanzinia m. voltany and the mandarin phase? There are still quite a few Sanzinia and Acrantophis madagascariensis floating around this side on the cheap. Last heard of a female green phase for £250 and 0.2 juv ground boas (not Dumerils) for £200 for both. They're next on the list.

[armata]

Hi Garth
You will no doubt get dwarf adders in Europe.
If you come looking in DeHoop I will shoot you!

Stay well

T

[garth]

Damn Tony, it was all planned so well, Brekkie in Rooi Els, Whale watching in Hermanus, steal endangered adders in Die Hoop.....now I must change the itinerary AGAIN!!! There certainly are dwarf adders in Europe and I bet you there are healthy colonies of armata and albanica(, et al).
Off subject slightly, but hows the book coming along?

[froot]

And now?

[garth]

Sorry, that should be for another thread or PM. Was referring to Tony's new Viper book.

[garth]

Just out of interest, there's an adult pair of mandarin phase Sanzinia in the UK for sale for £600. Cheap if you've got that much (+ shipping, etc) burning a hole in your pocket. I suspect its another frustrated hobbiest that can't get them breeding.