Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone i plan on purchasing a gtp in the next week or so, i will have him in a rack for a while but eventually would like to have a display type setup for him. I keep bp's and i have an atb, so im not new to snakes. Anyway just hoping to get some advice on these guys so any suggestions concerns comments etc. please. Also just wondering baout temps and humidity from what i understand the tub temp should be mid 80's with an ambient temp in the high 70's correct, can anyone give me an exact temp and humidity please? Judd

I house all of my hatchlings in 3 gallon rubbermaid or sterlite tubs in a rack. The temps on the warm end are approximately 83 degrees. One thing I have noticed is chondros do not like higher temps. Use the same temps for adults also. As for humidity, you want the cage to have a good amount of humidity each day, but you also want it to dry out over night. I try and spray all of my cages each day. Sometimes I let it go two days if I spray too much and the cage doesn't dry out as soon as I would like it to. Just remember, just because your cage is wet doesn't mean there is high humidity. The best way to know you have good humidity in there is if the front of the tub or cage gets a nice film of moisture after spraying. I would say for approximate numbers, you are looking at 40-50% when the cage has dried out, or lower depending on your location, and then with spraying it should jump to around 80%.

As for purchasing a gtp, please buy from a U.S. "breeder". It will make your life so much easier when it comes time to trying to feed your new snake. There are a lot of people on the classifieds here that will say its captive born and raised, but in all reality they are farm hatched and then shipped into the U.S. Always ask for pictures of the parents, if they can't or won't provide that then you know they are farm hatched. Farm hatched are not always bad, but there is an added risk involved such as possible parasites and the added stress of multiple shipping. I wouldn't buy any farm hatched unless it was from Bushmaster stock. Even then I would be very hesitant to buy one. Also you have no idea how many meals have been put into it over its life time. A good chondro breeder will not let any snake out of their facility until 10 or more meals are in the snake. I don't ship until I have 20 meals into them. I make sure that any snake from me eats when it arrives at its final destination. I am not trying to sound like an advertisement, besides I don't have any chondros available right now. I am just trying to give you the best information so you do not get screwed in the long run.

You might pay a tad bit more for a pure captive born and bred chondro. You will find farm hatched for around $250, while you could find a bunch of good captive bred stuff from a good breeder for not much more than that. Most will also provide a much better quality of after purchase service than the importers will. A list of breeders can be found over on the MVF forum under the classifieds section if you are having problems finding a breeder.

Hope that helps.
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Mike Bair
Chondro Dreams

Hey Mike i love your website by the way!

I keep all of my chondros at 83 degrees with a 88 degree hot spot during the day. At night I keep them at 78. The humidity I keep at 75-90%, and i let it drop down to 65% at night.I like to use water as the substrate. It makes it very easy to keep the humidity at where i want it. Sure it is harder to clean, but with a snake that cool and that pricey, ill do want ever it takes.

Good luck
Kyle with ALL ABOUT REPTILES
www.freewebs.com/kyleherp/
0.0.3 corns

Hey thanks for the input guys. The info you provided is pretty much what i got too. I am buying from a breeder here in the states who is awesome and ive bought animals from him before. He explained the whole farmed animal thing to me. I already have seen pics of the mom and pop from the snake i am buying. My question is should i start him out in a rack or would it be too much trouble for him to set up a nice display type enclosure with fake plant cover over his perches? I have a helix tstat for him too so humidity/temps are not a problem.

forgot to add that i wouldnt mind keeping him in a rack i have one im not using with 25 6 qt tubs, but would it be possible to keep him in a display without stressing him? Thanks again guys.

I think the rack would be better if you have an appropriately sized tub. Babies tend to get easily stressed and too large an enclosure can lead to failure to feed and thrive. I keep my babies in tubs until they are about a year- year and a half old...depends upon the animal and then move them into a larger enclosure. I keep the humidity up most of the time on the younger stuff and then cycle the humidity to allow the cages to dry each day. I let it drop to around 60% and then mist them each night to bring the humidity up to around 90% for a while. It drops off after that. I keep my temps at 82-83 degrees. I'm finding much better feeding responses and activity at the lower temperatures.
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5.5~Cornsnakes
3.4.1~Green tree python
2.1.2~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

Thanks Meg, i guess im gonna go with the advice and put him in my rack. the tubs are 6 qt's each. Funny cause he will be the only snake in a 25 tub rack. I guess i have no choice then to get more gtp's!!!

You won't stop at one.....they are truly as addictive as potato chips!
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5.5~Cornsnakes
3.4.1~Green tree python
2.1.2~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com