Merauke and northern bts pros/cons?

[Egfi224]

Hi, I'm in the research stage of getting a bts! I'm in the process of buildings an enclosure, and researching which ones are available to me.
The only ones I have access to are the northerns (from a breeder) or a merauke (from a local reptile store, they say its captive bred). I can't find any info on the meraukes! I was wondering if some people who have owned either could help me compare the two? Maybe with pros and cons or something.
Thanks!

[starscream3232]

Northerns are always 100% captive bred and born. Meruakes are mostly imported. There are a few people that have successfully bred them. And they the ones that have successfully bred meruakes definitely wouldn't wholesale them to a pet store. Most of the time if meruake is listed as captive bred in a pet store or expo it means if was born form a wildcaught imported females that gave birth while in captivity. When dealing with blue tongues CB means captive born (from gravid imported female) and cbb means captive bred and born (which means the parents are captive bred or long term established imports that bred while in captivity). Meruakes generally need higher humidity and since most are imported they will need a vet check to clear up parasites. There are species specific care sheets on the main page of this forum. Good comparison between both species.

[tbets]

I too was faced with a dilemma when I decided I wanted to purchase a BTS (ended up getting a baby northern by the way).

Northern Pros:
-Guaranteed captive bred and born since exporting in Australia has been illegal for awhile.
-Usually much easier to tame because of the above reason.
-Do not require much humidity in order to thrive.
-Are, in my opinion, a bit more hardy because they're forgiving without having to have a dead set humidity (less shedding and skin/scale problems).
-Easier to breed if you're ever looking to breed.
-Can be found and purchased a lot from breeders, which sometimes means better availability.

Northern Cons:
-Usually more expensive.
-Are typically more desired, while there are many more northern breeders, the babies typically go very fast because a northern is usually first choice (apart from the more rare species).

Merauke Pros:
-The longest BTS species reaching lengths of up to 28 inches (good if you want a "bigger" BTS).
-Great if you live in a humid area due to their humidity requirements (they typically need 80% humidity).
-Typically one of the most friendly and docile BTS sub species (owners who have owned many sub species have said this).

Merauke Cons:
-Many are wild imports.
-Babies are typically captive born from wild caught mothers taken while gravid (there's a decent difference between capitve bred and born versus just captive born).
-Require pretty precise humidity which can be a bit of a pain if you live in a dry area.
-Are difficult to breed if that's something you're thinking about doing.

Ultimately you can't go wrong with either one providing you get a baby that's at least captive born, northern will have to be captive born and bred. The care is very similar apart from the humidity the Meraukes need.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Meraukes require more humidity but are just as good captives as northerns as long as the are CBB.

[Egfi224]

thanks everyone. I forgot to respond! I decided on the northern, as i didn't want to risk having an animal that was wild caught! I picked up the little guy yesterday and I am in LOVE