Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I currently have 1.0 yearling Green Tree Python. I keep it in a cage that doesn't have a screen top, and I mist twice a day so humidity is about right. It has been going off its perch at night and going under the newspaper on the floor. Is this normal behavior? Every morning I find it off its perch and coiled up under the newspaper. If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

I'm still new to chondros myself so i'm still learning a lot, but I have one question for you. Do you have any sort of hide for your chondro in its cage? I have been told by some people no self-respecting chondro would ever get in a hide, however more people have told me that any snake will use it for security if it needs to. Your snake getting under your newspaper is telling me it needs some place to hide.

How big is your chondro? You should take this into account when purchasing a hide, just because of the simple fact that the hide wont do anything if their back wont touch it. That's what gives them the sense of security - the hiding place coming in contact with their back.

That's all I know to say, hopefully someone else will have some input. However I think that behavior is just him looking for a hide, espeically at such a young age hes afraid everything is trying to eat him.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

I'm still new to chondros myself so i'm still learning a lot, but I have one question for you. Do you have any sort of hide for your chondro in its cage? I have been told by some people no self-respecting chondro would ever get in a hide, however more people have told me that any snake will use it for security if it needs to. Your snake getting under your newspaper is telling me it needs some place to hide.

Chondros will use hides if offered to them. The main reason they aren't used is that you'll never see your chondro. Once the get comfortable with it, they'll stay in it most of their time. Other things to consider with young chondro grounding is perch size, temps, and that they just want to lay on the ground for a day.......or week.

How big is your chondro? You should take this into account when purchasing a hide, just because of the simple fact that the hide wont do anything if their back wont touch it. That's what gives them the sense of security - the hiding place coming in contact with their back.

I'll have to disagree with this one. They'll use a hide whether or not it's touching their back. With chondros, I don't think it matters much. Being in a smaller dark place is what gives them a sense of security, not just something coming in contact with their back. Maybe he just wan't to take a break from the perch. Several of mine do from time to time. Sometimes for a day or two, sometimes for a week or two. In most cases it's just a chondro being a chondro, but it is something to keep an eye on.

Brandon Osborne

Thanks for your clarification on that, brandon. It seems that mine actually prefer a thinner perch. I have 2" burned pvc pipe in there right now... but there was this one vine that was hanging and he seemed to enjoy perching on that a lot more (until it fell lol.)

Should I burn some 1.5 inch? He's a 2.5 year old male, id say about 4 feet long. He's staying wrapped around that pipe, but I also saw him up on the ground pressing against the glass door last night. Could this be that he's trying to cool off.. or is it just normal for this to happen time to time?

The temps in the cage are 87 warm side/81 cool side. I have a pro-products RHP with a big apple thermostat on one side and two perches - one about 6 inches from the heater and one about 10 inches from it. I appreciate your input
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

Chris, I honestly think most keepers/breeders keep their chondros too warm. IMHO, 87 is too warm.......not by much, but a little high for my taste. I try to shoot for a warm side of 82-85, 84 is preferrable, and a cool side of 78-80.

I think infertility in females also has something to do with keeping them too warm during gestation. The only time I would offer a gravid female a warm basking spot, is if the room temp itself wasn't sufficient enough. During the breeding season, I don't offer gravid females a basking spot at night. It's the same as I do all year, with slightly lower temps. What I've noticed with my gravid females, is that they tend to take to the cooler side of the enclosure during gestation.

The best thing to do, is do what works best for you. Not everything you read or hear is necessarily the best way to do it......it's what has worked best for that particular keeper. After keeping them long enough, you figure out what is best for each individual....and believe me, they'll let you know.

Good luck and make room for more.

Brandon Osborne

Thank you for your replies, I really appreciate it. I don't have any hides in my cage, but will pick one up soon. BTW, Chris your GTP Monty is beautiful. Can't wait till mine gets older. Brandon, I must say you have spectacular animals. That picture of the mother GTP and the two babies is great. Again thanks for the replies, I just wanted to know if I should worry. I am expecting two more baby GTP's soon, they are so addicting! One more question to Brandon or whoever knows, looking at a baby Chondro, can you predict what colors it will have as an adult? Is is possible to tell if it is going to be high yellow, or high white or whatever just by looking at them before they go through their phase?

Thank you

To answer the color question.....no. There is no way to tell what a baby will look like. Unless you are breeding for locality types and breed adults that look alike there's no way to know for sure....especially when breeding designers. Sometimes you can get a good idea. For instance, babies from sarong or jaya types, will usually have a prominent dorsal stripe and will usually turn blue as adults. This isn't always the case, but it's more predictable than that of high white arus or even high yellow biaks. As I said, designers are another story. Good luck with the new critters.....and post some pics. Here's a 22 month old SCZ female doing what she loves to do.

Brandon Osborne

This line should have read,"For instance, babies from sarong or jaya types, will usually have a prominent dorsal stripe that will often turn blue as adults." After I read it, I knew it didn't sound as it should have.

Brandon Osborne

How is your cage furnished, do you have any greenery in the enclosure. My eight month old doesn't use his hides at all, but i feel a certain amount of greenery helps these guys feel more secure. By the sounds of things its a security issue. Unless he is on the ground on the cool end of the cage, then you may want to look at temps. My opinion is if a condro is constantly on the ground in a hide, then the cage furnishings should be re-evaluated, as in nature they are not found in rock crevices on the ground. Obviously, one can't say they don't go to the ground as this happens in captivity, i would assume it does in the wild as well. These snakes are arboreal in nature, that is what they do, a hide in my opinion is just a bandaid, it doesn't fix the problem. Is the cage in a high traffic area? That too could be a problem. Just my opinion, I only have two chondros, so i'm not as experienced as others but another option is always good. Clint

When I offered hides to mine, I made them in an upper corner of the cage, not on the ground. I don't think a ground hide would hurt anything, but an arboreal hide would eliminate being on a cool bottom. It kind of acts as a hollow tree so to speak. I bet if most people offered arboreal hides, they probably wouldn't see much of their chondros. Mine stayed in their hides in a very low traffice arean of my house.....when I kept them in a basement.

Brandon Osborne

Brandon, That stands to reason, out of curiosity what kind of enclosures where you incorporating. My guys are in tubs in a rack on the upper most shelves. I feel with them being enclosed on all sides except the front and a certain amount of foliage for them to hide in, helps with insecurity issues. Thats not to say if i put an elevated hide in there they wouldn't use it. Alot of this comes down to individual chondros as well as how people have them setup. Clint

Most of my chondros are set up in melamine display cages with one perch. I have a few tubs, and all babies and yearlings are in tubs. I've used live plants in the past, but only for keeping humidity up.

Brandon Osborne

Thanks Brandon. Here are a few pictures of my little GTP.

I know this picture didn't work, how do I post it correctly?

http://forums.kingsnake.com/tools-and-toys.php
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)