My new baby!

[Br8knitOFF]

He just arrived yesterday- I'm so EXCITIED. This guy was a HARD sell with my wife, so it makes his arrival ESPECIALLY special! I'm just DYING to hold him, but want to let him settle down for a couple of days- seems to be already calming down nicely...

//Todd

 

[Rennie]

Looks good mate! This is probably a stupid question but what is it? Olive?

 

[Br8knitOFF]

Yes- Liasis Olivaceus.

 

[thals]

nice lil Olive you got there Todd Yeah, I remember when i got my first lil baby coastal Rasta, was so very excited. I just wanted to hold him and simply couldn't stand waiting lol but I did and it's worth it in the long run. Needless to say he now enjoys lots of cuddles each day

 

[reptililian]

Hey Todd. Congratulations!!! Nice bub you've got there! Everyone I know who has an olive RAVES about how
sweet and docile they are... as adults! How long do they take to calm down? But more importantly, what's it's name??
Perhaps get your wife to help name it. This can often help bring round a reluctant partner!

Cheers, Lily

 

[Rennie]

Yes, I remember when I got my first, a CP, I didn't care about letting it calm down, plenty of time for that, besides, Buddy's still never bitten anyone!
But my mum n girlfriend hated the idea of snakes (mum lived on farms and believed the only good snake was a dead one) but I made them hold it
the first day and they came around very quickly! Mum said "thats not a snake, its an over-grown worm".
Now they love to watch my beardies eat, my mum feeds them as much as I do now.

 

[iceman]

thats a great looking olive u got there.

 

[staffsrule]

As Steve Irwin would say " Crikey what a little beauty" :lol: Seriously now he is beautiful, congratulations.

 

[Rediah]

Congrats mate! That is a great looking olive you got there. So whats her/his/its name? I just got 2 new snakes not too long ago and naming it is the hardest thing for me :?

 

[Br8knitOFF]

Don't have a name yet- it is hard with a house full of females that want to name it!

Not sure how long they take to calm down, but in the 24 hours I've had him here, he's already stopped striking at the glass! I probably wont mess with him for another day or two, then begin handling him. I can't belive how active he is, though- I've got some grapewood in there for him to climb, and some cork bark- he's ALL over the place! He also pooped 3x before the sun came up!

I did my homework, and it was either this guy or a water python (Liasis Fuscu) and went with the olive because I couldn't find one person who had a bad thing to say about them! I guess the waters can be a bit more fiesty, and more irratible... I'm still going to get one of them too someday... shhhhhhh, don't tell my wife!

//Todd

 

[olivehydra]

Great choice in snake Just noticed that you are in the U.S., are olives plentiful over there?

 

[Br8knitOFF]

No- EXTREMELY difficult to find. I've only found 1 other at a local reptile shop, wild caught female, around 7'. That was part of the problem in deciding which to get between the olive and the water, as the olives are so hard to come by, they also happen to be very expensive!

I got him from Jeff Hartwig- nice guy, and produces quality animals out here in the US:

http://www.jeffhartwig.com

//Todd

 

[danw]

looks lovely

 

[lutzd]

Wild caught? You have them in the wild over there? I guess there must be a lot of escapees for that to happen! :shock:

Of all my snakes, the olive is my favourite! Great choice!

 

[olivehydra]

Anyone notice anything unusual about the pic?........


Took me a while and maybe I've had a few too many Coronas but I went and checked my olives and noticed that the "American Variety" seems to be lacking a heat pit on the lower jaw. Olives have 5 and waters have 4 so maybe it might not be pure?? Just a thought.

 

[Br8knitOFF]

What?!?

Not pure??? Okay- that's it... no more extreme close-ups for you! 8-D

I've actually seen them with as few as 3 pits.

Either way, I don't care- he's my new baby!

I'm not interested in breeding, anyway.

Yes- the wild caught girl out here was caught down where they naturally occur here on the San Diego/Mexico border. The locals call them 'Mexi-Olives'. ;-D

They usually have more pigment in their skin, causing them to have more brown hues rather than green... 8-D

//Todd :lol:

 

[reptililian]

Uh oh, 3-pitted olives? Now he's REALLY going to be upset, Todd. He'll probably even suggest those olives have been cross-bred with a goat or something! Yes, gets a bit precious over his olives, does the ol' olivehydra! :wink:

 

[Br8knitOFF]

Actually...

:lol:

They local 'Mexi-Olives' are actually crossed with the legendary 'Chupacabra', or 'goat-sucker'...

Here's that close-up of another olive with only 3 pits... perhaps one of our own local 'Mexi-Pits'? Hmmmm, hard to say without seeing the rest of the animal... found the pic on KS.

//Todd

 

[Br8knitOFF]

Stop the presses!

I just cleaned the lens on my digital camera (wifey isn't good about taking care of her camera lenses!), and took another picture.

He doesn't have 4 pits as the original image demonstrates- check it out!

Does this mean that he's EXTRA-pure? :lol:

//Todd

 

[reptililian]

Yes. Yes it does. Extra-pure and totally goat-free! :wink: