Ok guys...

Im moving to Germany in December and I will be gettin my own place so I will have loads more room for my slithering friends!

I really really want a GTP for a Display piece, it wont be happening for at least another 6 months, but I want to start gettin things ready, and get familiarised with them before I go for it.

SO I have a few questions...

As it will be a Display Piece, visual appeal is the most desired aspect, coming second only to the total health and wellbeing of the snake.

Ive already read many caresheets and although they say it has to be Medium to High Humidity, they dont actually give a figure for it.

I would really really like to put a fog system in the vivarium since in the habitat they come from, it rains alot and its warm and its usually foggy/misty as it draws closer to dusk/dawn, plus it would look STUNNING to have a carpet of mist/fog above the substrate at certain times of the day, like it would in real life.

Any advice on humidty/fogger would be appreciated.

With the substrate, I like the idea of using florists styrofoam with a layer of Cypress Mulch on top of it, but how easy would that be to clean out?
Any suggestions on a good substrate that would accuratly depict the natural habitat while being easy to clean out.

One other question... heating.

It was suggested to use a topcover heat panel to heat the viv, this seems strange to me, heat rises does it not?

How would I be able heat and sustain a suitable thermogradient in a 24-30" tall viv?

Thanks folks.

__________________
Duane

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0.0.1 Banded Cali King 'Angel'
0.0.1 Royal Python 'Odin'

I would keep your set up simple; I personally dont like fog systems due to the necessary vibration involved. I would also try to achieve a humidity cycle through a heavy spray once a day and then a drying out phase. Too much humidity causes problems with bacterial and fungal build up. Cypress mulch or orchid bark is ideal for a substrate and will hold enough moisture to last the day.

If you go over 24inch tall it is difficult to heat/dry the botom of the cage without using heat mats on stats etc. I use radient heat pannels with pulse stats and they work very well. A horizontal gradient is what you are looking to achieve as these snakes always choose security over temps and wont necessarily perch low down to find a prefered temp.

Get a copy of Greg Maxwells book. His advice is excellent and works!

Stephen

Thanks for that!

Yeah, I read up about the vibrations they use to make the fog, so I found a nice external fogger that feeds the fog in through a tube, rather than having the unit in the vivarium. Wold that be ok?

I was planning on giving a spray in the mornings when the fogger gets switched off and then switching the fogger back on in the evenings once its dried out a bit. That sound ok?

Heating, I suppose I could put a heat mat under the viv, purely to dry out the substrate and use the overhead as the primary source of heat for the air temp. But like I said, how effective are the overheads? Ive always known heat to travel up, not down, do how would an overhead panel work with obtaining the horizontal gradient I need?

__________________
Duane

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0.0.1 Banded Cali King 'Angel'
0.0.1 Royal Python 'Odin'

Anyone?

__________________
Duane

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0.0.1 Banded Cali King 'Angel'
0.0.1 Royal Python 'Odin'

Hi all,

AngelKeeper,

These snakes also fascinate me too, I have just got G Maxwells book the more compleat chondro the newist book.

I have just started to read it, (not cheap) but well worth the money I suggest you buy the book you will get all the information you require, from someone who breeds and knows what he is talking about.

slither61

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As has been said, Greg Maxwell's "The More Complete Chondro" is the best book out there on gtp's in terms of their captive care.

Here's what I do in relation to the issues you've raised;

1 Humidity - I don't bother measuring it with hygrometers as a humidity cycle (rather than a constant level of it) is what you should be aiming for. I mist my enclosures by hand once per day to provide a 24 hour cycle.

2 Substrate - I use either paper towel or newspaper as they're both hygenic and quick and easy to clean out. You don't need constantly damp naturalistic style substrates to boost humidity levels if you've got the correct ratio between ventilation and spraying cycles.

3 Foggers - Don't and wouldn't use them as they're notorious for clogging up and I think they encourage laziness in keepers which could result in problems not being spotted at the earliest opportunity.

4 Heating - Use an over-heat heater such as a ceramic bulb (with guard) or reptile radiator (my personal favourite). Never use bottom heating as the primary heat source for gtp's because that would mean that the floor of the viv would need to be very very hot in order to get a hot spot of 30-32C at perch height. I know of chondro's that have literally been cooked to death when bottom heat has been used and they've decided to spend some time on the ground (something that many chondros do from time to time). And by the way, its hot air that rises, heat itself radiates out in all directions from its source.


cheers

Stuart

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I keep Green Tree Pythons, Emerald Tree Boas, Black-Head Pythons, Woma Pythons, Irian Jaya Pythons, Royal Pythons, Leopard Geckos and dart frogs.

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Pretty much as Stuart has said.

Humidity shouldnt be at a fixed figure, but try to get a cycle going. I spray mine for a good 10-20 seconds every morning (it tends to rain early morning around that part of the world), and when in shed, I spray again in the evening. If you want a figure to work on, then I'd say 70% after morning spraying, and aiming for 80-90% for shedding times.

As my GTPs are display snakes, I use eco-earth for substrate, spot cleaned as needed, and changed totally once ever 2-3 months. It holds moisture well, but doesnt need to be soaking in the slightest.

Foggers are crap... simple as. I had one in for my GTP for about 3-4 days. In the time it needed topping up 2-3 times a day! And REALLY promotes the growth of mold! I was having to strip the substrate out every day to keep it mold free. They are useless for GTPs, and in the end created more work than just spraying properly.

For heating, I use a ceramic on a dimmer stat. I've tried using mats stuck to the sides of vivs, I've tried using AHS heaters, and tbh, as I use exo-terra vivs for my tree snakes, I find resting a ceramic on the top of the mesh far simpler. I've also got a exo-terra hood on the top of mine, which firstly helps with humidity, and secondly makes the viv look a lot nicer for display.

I actually need to strip out my GTP display viv tonight, and give my GTP her 2 weekly health check over (she was burned when I had her, and gets checked every 2 weeks to make sure the burns are healing properly), so I'll try to get pics of the viv being re-assembled step by step.

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Really want a GTP!! No experience with them but I can tell you something about foggers - they're crap! There is one that's good, it's called the lucky reptile super fogger. The machine it's self is not in the viv, the fog comes in through a tube that you feed into the viv, so that means no vibrations as someone else mentioned. You will find that with all foggers the fog allways falls downwards, so if you get something like the exoterra fogger you will have to make a shelf or something for it to sit on inside the viv at the very top. The tube in the lucky reptile one means that you can just feed the tube in at the top of the viv and the fog will fall downwards from the top covering the whole viv instead of having a layer of fog on the bottom and nowhere else. They're the most expensive foggers about though, about £90 or something I beleive.

That would be awesome dude, some pics will really help! Thanks!

And yeah, Myo, that was the fogger I was planning on, but after reading the above threads Im deciding against it... I might still get it though, and use it VERY rarely, like when I have visitors or something, as I said, it will be a display piece, so I would like it to look amazing (especially for pictures).

But I will stick to no fog and normal spraying for normal everyday use.

Thanks for the advice guys! Much appreciated!

__________________
Duane

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0.0.1 Banded Cali King 'Angel'
0.0.1 Royal Python 'Odin'