Happy Birthday to me.

[Dianne]

Other than coloration, what is the difference from the BRB and the CRB?

I’m think it is mostly locality and coloration. I haven’t studied the BRB much, but from the little I’ve read husbandry is the same, cooler temps and high humidity for both. That said, I’ve never kept my guy with any higher humidity than my BP’s. Everyone in my collection is on cotton sheets/fabric as a substrate for ease of cleaning, with water bowl and hides. Most of the year humidity is in the 60’s, but this time of year it can drop to the 50’s due to the house heat. Humid hides can help, if they use them...my guy usually doesn’t. He always has a large water bowl, and while he drinks plenty, he has never been one to soak much...even when in shed. He has never been a burrower either, even when I used aspen, and then later cypress, as a substrate. It’s like he missed a couple of chapters on how CRB are supposed to behave.

I’ve read they can live 20 years or slightly longer. According to the original owner that I got Hudson from, he was born in 1988, making him 30 this year. Even if that wasn’t accurate information from the owner (no reason to believe it wasn’t correct), I personally have had him since 1996/1997. He was definitely an adult when I got him, though in very poor condition. So just going by how long I’ve had him, he’s no less than 21 with great body mass and muscle tone, though I really do believe he is 30 based on his size when I got him. My female corn, Yin (who just passed), was 16 and no longer had the muscle tone like when she was younger. The same goes for my male corn, Yang (also 16), and my Bci, Duncan (26). As they have gotten older, I’ve noticed they aren’t as strong and don’t tend to hold on to me like they did when they were younger. I am definitely supporting them while they cruise along in my hands or lap. They don’t even grab on so that they don’t slip. Much like we lose muscle tone as we age.