ewarshaw wrote:As to Edmund being an Eastern BTS, no I am not 100% sure and will try to post some pics in the near future so that you experts out there can tell us. The person we got our baby from is an officer of the Chicago Herpetological Society and has had this particular breeding pair for many years. She told me it is an Eastern, and I had no reason to doubt her authority in the matter (and no knowledge base either
).
The differences between these two forms can be very subtle and are not always easy to identify even for many experienced reptile keepers. Honestly, unless a person has a great deal of experience with this Genus (Tiliqua), there is a very good chance that they will get it wrong. This is true even for many experts, as no reptile expert can be an expert with the subtleties that are often involved in correctly identifying the different forms and or subspecies in every genus.
For years now the Irian Jaya has been imported here in the US in massive numbers, and often it is misrepresented (both intentionally and unintentionally) as the Eastern BTS. When this happens just one time, it can lead to many many future offspring being incorectly identified, and then the cycle often continues to go on and on as many of us here have seen over the years. You can imagine how the problem becomes compounded when this ends up happening multiple times. Anyway, please send photos, and I will be happy to have a look for you. The more photos the better.
