Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just lost two ATB's. After doing some research I think I may have failed miserably in the area of humidity-temps-aircirculation - I must have had high temps, low humidity and no air circulation, causing upper respiratory infections, and ultimate death of my two ATB's.

So, I need to correct these measures, so that I do not lose my last ATB. Any other thoughts from anyone on this?

Could use some feedback..

Thanks,
ALAN

In my experience, those could have led to the death of your amazons, but is it possible that they also had parasites or some other problem when you got them. were they wild caught? all 3 of my ATBs were wild caught and all 3 have been on trips to the vet. I think it is safe to assume that if one purchases a wild caught Amazon it will have to have medical attention. I think it would help and save money to buy captive bred. The reason why I did not buy captive bred is because the wild amazons were particularly beautiful and I could not find any cb amazons that looked that striking at the time. Is it possible that the amazons died of pneumonia caused by pulmonary parasitism? I once had a wc green anaconda with that problem that almost died. If you bought captive bred and you still have had some of these problems here is what I suggest that has worked well for me.

their humidity has to be around 80% or higher. I find that mine do quite well at 80-100% humidity. Humidity was the biggest issue for me. My first 2 were kept in a naturalistic enclosure that measured 4’ tall 2’ wide and 2’ long. There was a fig (ficus sp? ) tree that was 3’ tall planted in the enclosure. There also was a large water dish in there. they were misted with a 1 gallon garden mister twice daily. The enclosure was heated with heat lights. These interfered with the humidity. One of my amazons developed a respiratory infection and had difficulty shedding. To correct this I placed him in a sweater box with a piece of flexiwatt heat mat affixed to the bottom front. This helped to control humidity. this also saved his life I believe. Since then he has shed and there had been no problems. I am going to take down my naturalistic setup and place my female ATB is a sweater box also. My third ATB is indefinitely in a sweater box. I really do not like to use sweater boxes but until I come up with a better design for a rain forest setup that will have to do.

In my cages i keep 80/90 for non breeders and 70/80 for breeders this time of year. humidity should never fall below 70% or you are just asking for problems. Though you should never see steam condensing on the cage that can lead to mold and bacterial growth, aka serious problems.
The easyist way to combat this is to buy a quality cage, it is that simple. Would you use a screw driver to pound a nail??? NO you need a arboral cage meant for arborals. Go to emeraldtreeboa.org to see the correct setup for these animals, and i think you are in luck that the web master joe is taking orders for custom cages(the best on the market in my opinion) and the money is worth it because a living animal can feel at home in captivity!!!! right now i have 3 150 dollar halloween phase amazons in 400 cages, silly??? No, Just care enough to get the best for my animals. I also cant say enought about pro prouduct heat pannels.

heres a pic of joes work....