Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any ideas on building an arboreal setup for these guys? Hopefully something relatively simple, for a carpenter I am not! Thanks in advance, Don.

This recent import has acclimated well. He just started taking frozen thawed rats and never offers to bite. He even mellows out after being out for a while. I've been told this is a probable guyana locality. Real heavy keeling of the scales vs a pair I previously owned that were most likely central american locales.

You have your localities backwards. The import looks to be most definitely Surinam or Guyana (South America) and the captive hatched looks like Honduras or Guatemala (Central America). The difference is Central American Spilotes are rounder bodied and the bands are more broken up near upper body. South American specimens tend to be more keeled and the banding on upper body are more simple and a kind of a baby puke yellow. Here is a few from Honduras.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Guyana = S. America = Heavier keels.
Seemed right to me
Cool snakes either way.
Cheers,
James

I think you responded to a previous post and told me that. No question the surinam/guyana has a different look, more tiangular and heavily keeled scales. Thanks for the info for the second time.

The picture with your house in background looks like a surinam.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Great looking Spilotes you have. I am going to try and build some cages over the next two weeks and am not much of a carpenter myself. I will let you know how they come out as I am going for function rather than looks. I am going to make them 3'x3'x6' with solid walls on all sides to retain heat and humidty for each pair.
My spilotes came from Guyana and have been in quarintine for seven months now and it is probably about time I made them some permenant cages.

If you choose wood, polygem is a company that offers zoo waterproof coatings for whatever you build.

http://polygem.com/zoo/zoopoxy.php
Link

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

That would be great. I also am not hugely concerned about the looks of the enclosure. Would rather just have some kind of plan prior to building or it could get ugly.

Depending on how large you want to go, you might check out a prefab fiberglass shower stall. Might even be able to find a used one.
Good luck, & let us know how it goes.
Cheers,
James

I never thought of using a prefab shower stall....thats a great idea. I was going to cover plywood panels and the frame with contact paper before assembly for moisture proofing and ease of cleaning but the shower stall sounds easier.

I've seen some cages made out of the shower stalls and they look great. Let us know what you decide.
heres my new cbb spilotes


Nate

That would be big. But I'd really like to give these ample space. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it.

Hey Don. First, as always, all your Spilotes are looking great!

Second, as far as building the cage itself, I find it's easiest to come up with your cut list and take it to the lumber store (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) and have the top, bottom, back, litter dam/lower lip and two sides cut there - basically all the big pieces. Then put the basic box together with all purpose screws. Depending on the length, I like to also put a brace in the front middle for added support. Then you can stain it if you want and seal it with polyurethane and finally seal all the inside joints with Silicone.

After that it's a matter of venting, putting on some doors (several options for doors) and making sure you can run lighting and heat to the cage. You can also build in shelves for additional hiding and basking areas to maximize the interior space.

Hope that gave you some ideas. With a little planning (measure twice and cut once!) and if you can use some basic hand tools like a circular saw, jigsaw and drill/driver, you can make a pretty nice cage for a whole lot less than the store-bought kind! Oh yeah, put it on wheels! Will make it a whole lot easier to move in the long run!

Billy

>>Any ideas on building an arboreal setup for these guys? Hopefully something relatively simple, for a carpenter I am not! Thanks in advance, Don.
>>

Here's couple more cages I did many years ago and which are still going strong. The one in my previous post had sliding doors and the two below have different style doors. For me, the doors have always been the hardest part.

Billy

Thanks for the advice. I remember a guy on here saying he preferred a wire caging setup for spilotes as it created a more spacious effect for the animals. I guess that would create more heat and humidity challenges. I know I tried briefly to put the central American spilotes in a 55 gal. aquarium once and that didn't work so well. He got spooked and I thought he was going to damage himself whacking into the glass. It was back to the plastic tub, which I guess suffices, but it makes sense to me that an animal that basks in the wild should be exposed to some UV light.