Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just rescued a Green Tree Python who has been poorly taken care of. I have a lot of experience with corn snakes, none with this type. When I got him, he had partially shed, I'm assuming to the fact that his previous owner wasn't keeping his cage humid enough. I've since corrected the humidity problem, I keep it at 80%, temperature at 85 degrees. I've been misting him daily in the hope that he will be able to shed it on his own, have seen some positive results, but I fear that I'm going to have to do more. The big problem with this is that this snake has pretty much never been handled, he's very bitey. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do to help him finish shedding? I've made sure his eyes have shed, and there's no ring of unshed skin around him, so I guess he's in no immediate danger, but I'd like to get this corrected, he's(she's?) a beautiful snake. Also, this guy was feeding one live mouse once a month. That seems like a small amount to me. I've tried to get him to feed on a frozen mouse (warmed up of course), but he doesn't seem interested and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get him to take dead food. Any suggestions on that front? Thanks for any advice in advance.

He's in a 45 gallon aquarium, with a nice branch elevated for him to perch on. I'm considering building him a new perch out of pvc because my research has told me that this is easier to keep clean. I'm using reptile carpet to line the cage, I've cleaned and disinfected the entire setup since I brought him home. I use an infrared bulb to keep the temperature constant and a fluorescent to simulate a day/night cycle. I have a big water dish right under the infrared to help with humidity. I would really like to get this snake to be friendly enough to be brought out of his cage. What would be a good starting point for this?

First off: The aquarium might not be the easiest to keep humidity and heat up in. Depends upon the temperature of the area. In the summer, my snake room stays quite warm and humdi. In the winter though, the outdoor temps get below freezing at night and the room cools to around 70. If you have temps in the 80's all year round, you might do fine with an aquarium. Most adult chondros need a cycle of high humidity that slowly dissipates to around 65%. I spray the animals each evening when they become active. I have cages built specifically with humidity and temps in mind though so they hold the humidity well. With a poor shed, you're probably better off putting him in a tub with a bit of water and damp towels and let him crawl around in there and rub it off. You might have to leave him overnight. I use a UTH and regulate it to keep the water from getting too cool. Make sure you don't shed the snake out in a wet pillow case. I've known of at least 2 cases where the snake smothered due to the material being too wet to allow air in. I keep my chondros at 82 degrees and find they are more active that way. Chondros are not considered a snake that you handle on a regular basis. They stress easily if they are not a laid back snake to begin with. While I have quite a few in my collection that never bite, I only have three that I would handle with any regularity. Some will bite every time, some won't bite, but are so stressed that they ground themselves for days after being handled. Those are left alone for the most part and only taken out to photograph, weigh or measure. These are not like cornsnakes that will tame with regular handling. I've found that while they may mellow a bit, for the most part if they are biting as adults, they'll stay biting. You can try handling with smooth leather work gloves. It won't catch the teeth, and it will protect against a painful bite. They usually don't try to bite the gloves though as they are cooler than your hand and don't seem to aggrivate them as much. Greg Maxwell has a good care sheet on his website that you can check out. You might want to order his book too so that you have it as a reference. His website is: www.finegtps.com Enjoy the first of many chondros!

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5.5~Cornsnakes
3.4.1~Green tree python
2.1.2~ATB
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