I know what it stands for (long term captive) bt, what does that mean? Does it mean an animal was wild caught as a baby, or what?

__________________

My Reptiles: 2.1 Rankins Dragons2.4 Leopard Geckos0.0.2 Ackies1.1 Royal Pythons3.4.8 Kenyan Sand Boas
Other Animals 1.0 Cockatiel
For Sale: 1.0 Het albino Black Rat Snake1.0 Western HognoseBaby Leopard Geckos
MY BAND!!! www.myspace.com/indianafoxx <---Check it out, let me know what you think

It means it was wild caught but has been in the country for a while. LTC in my opinion should really stand for 12 months + in captivity, but I've seen people use it for animals as little as 3 months in captivity.

Problems such as injuries, stress, parasites and diseases will show within the first 1 day to 6 months usually. If an animal has gone more than 6 months in captivity it stands a fair chance. If it's gone more than 12 months, you can say it's acclimitised and and most problems that would show from being WC would have been found out by now.

Of course different species show stress in different ways, you can have a snake that's LTC of 2 years but still won't eat defrost for example.
Losses of WC animals are far far higher in the first few months after importation.. the longer a WC animal survives the more chance it has of continuing that survival.. in theory. But in practice, if that animal has been kept alive via unnatural means, such as assist/force feeding.. then it is not a good indicator, the animal would still be dead without human intervention, it is not fully acclimitised to captivity.

At best it is just a rough judge of how long an animal has been in the country, and you should still ask all the relevant questions as if it were WC.

__________________

Also available right now for rehoming: 1 x Juvenile Male Bearded Dragon, 1 x Adult Female Curlytail Lizard

I believe it means its wild caught but been in captivity for over a set period of time, like as you say, WC as a baby and raised till adult. Ive seen some people state LTC for just animals that are WC but been de-wormed etc"!

__________________
Check it out! Original Oil Painting Auction for CHARITY - http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/off-t...-painting.html Member No. 996

Whites Tree Frogs, Litorea caerulea
Crested Geckos, Rhacodactylus ciliatus
Mossy Geckos, Rhacodactylus chahoua
Golden Retriever (Harvey)

Pets name: Fagin
Adopt your own!

It means that it was wild caught and has been in captivity for "some time" depending upon how unscrupulous the seller is that can be 2 years, 6 months or earlier this week. If you're thinking about buying an LTC, ask for evidence of feeding, shedding, worming etc. If the seller is genuine they should've maintained records of this stuff. If not.......well, it's up to you. Personally I'd steer well clear of and WC/LTC stock unless it was a) exceptionally well looked after and b) very hard to come by any other way

__________________
Snakes1.1.0 Dendroaspis angusticeps1.2.0 Morelia amethystina0.1.0 Naja naja2.2.0 Morelia viridis0.1.0 Corallus caninus0.1.0 Viridovipera vogelii1.2.0 Trimeresurus trigonocephalus 0.1.0 Boa constrictor imperator 0.1.0 Hydrodynastes gigas0.1.0 Naja kaouthia suphanensis 0.1.0 Naja nivea 0.0.1 Echis carinatus sochureki[option]

Others 0.1.0 Three legged cat

Wishlist Dendroaspis polylepisDendroaspis viridisZhaoermia mangshanensisParias sumatranus

"You can't deduct marks for the cheese, I didn't put it there!" (James May 2008 )

" A skunk knocked over my garbage bin and I immediately thought of you" (Futurama, 2000 )

Interesting question, just the other day I was looking at the Exotic Pets - Amphibian, Reptile and Invert UK exotic pet shop list and they define LTC as captive for 3 months +, that doesn't seem very long to me.

__________________
1.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles, 2.4.2 Common Musks, 1.0.0 Florida Red Belly,
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake,
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel, 1.2.0 Brahma Chickens,
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies,
0.1.0 Lionhead Rabbit, 1.0.0 Belgian Hare

Got to be at least a year IMHO !

I agree, even a year isn't really that long is it? I mean the animal has still been taken from the wild in the relatively recent past, but 3 months is nothing at all.

If someone asked you if you'd been living in your new house very long you wouldn't say "Yeah ages, 3 months now" would you?

__________________
1.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles, 2.4.2 Common Musks, 1.0.0 Florida Red Belly,
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake,
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel, 1.2.0 Brahma Chickens,
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies,
0.1.0 Lionhead Rabbit, 1.0.0 Belgian Hare