Billy the saltwater crocodile is off to his new home :) oh and 3 baby freshwater crocs have moved in :P

As a lot of people know for the last 10 years we have had a saltwater crocodile living with us as somewhat of a pet. When we got him he was very small but alas, after a decade of good feeding he is outgrowing his home in Beechworth and will be moving on to a new specially built habitat in Gippsland, Victoria.

A little background for those who don't know

Billy was rescued from a leather farm in Darwin Australia, he somehow managed to find his way into the care of my mum and has lived with us ever since. He was young when we first got him, probably about a year or two but we aren't really sure.

Since then he has lived all over Melbourne in many different residential houses, when he was small he would swim around in the bathtub and wander around the living room (mouth taped shut ofc)
As he got bigger his enclosures grew until eventually my family moved out into the country where we constructed a nice large area with 2 pools, a hill to sun himself on, and plenty of bushes to hide and explore in.

Yum dinner time

Saying goodbye

To say farewell we are having a big party, though this will probably be enjoyed more by the humans I have no doubt Billy will appreciate all the extra meat he will get.
We have invited the whole town and people from all around to come and farewell him. He has been both the main attraction and one of our favorite animals at Beechworth Wildlife Stays, it will be a sad day to see him go but I also know there is a very good chance he will love longer than I

At 3m long and easily over 200kg (I know because I had to try and drag him around by the tail and he was having none of it) He is an absolute killing machine and it is easy to see how they managed to survive what wiped out the dinosaurs.

The new baby's

Since Billy is leaving we decided we needed someone to make a home in his old habitat and ended up getting 3 freshwater crocodiles that are about 25-30cm long each. For now they have a smaller enclosure to ensure they can't slip out of any gaps and escape but all 3 are healthy and well and very cute.

They have been officially named Otis, Ike and Moby. Not my personal choices but that's what they stuck with for the next while, not that they know or care.

They are feisty and still very timid around people. With Billy you could tell when he tried to attack it was because he would just of been happy to eat you but these three are scared of being handled and to be fair they are still babies.
There has already been multiple bites but they only have tiny little razor teeth so it hurts but it cant hurt you if that makes sense.

Hell they even dressed up for Christmas with all the other animals!

For anyone that lives here you're more than welcome to come down on Sunday and see him before he leaves, just google Beechworth wildlife stays for the address.
I will try and take lots of pictures and videos of him before he goes and he really will be missed. When he had a health scare and we thought he was going to pass I remember everyone crying and being upset. I never thought Id cry for a crocodile... It was a shame when that happened but it was also one of the few times I got to be close to him at his current size, the scales and his skin feel amazing and you can feel the power in his limbs.

We wish you a safe journey and a happy new home Billy and I know you'll do justtttttt fine.