Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the ETB world. I do not currently, nor have ever, owned an ETB, however I am beginning to think hard about it. My ETB experience consists of reading whatever I can about them and admiring them in pics and zoos. I won't even think about purchasing an ETB until I have the perfect enclosure/set-up and know as much as I can take in about them. To me, they have always represented the top of the line snakes and I have spent my entire lifetime preparing for the moment I take that big leap. Anyhow, my current question pertains to the differences in the locality ETBs (i.e., color/pattern, size, behavior, price, etc.). I'm also interested in knowing what the best cages are. I live in SoCal, where it is very dry and would need to get or build a cage that holds water in the bottom in order to keep the humidity up. Are there any that are commercially available.

Any and all insights would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

SSSammy

First off, there is no data to prove any sort of locality claims on any ETB. What you are seeing on some websites and from some dealers is nothing more than an attempt to describe a certain color pattern or characteristics of a given animal. Anyone claiming to have a true "locality" needs to be viewed with extreme skepticism. They should really be using the more accurate term of "genetic morph or type." For a more detailed understanding, the best article that you can read is at this link, http://www.finegtps.com/Morphs.html Simply replace ETB for GTP and the rest of the details are pretty much the same.

In my experiences, behavior seems to be varied by the individual animals not so much by the color characteristics or given traits. However, if you want to talk basins, they seem to have a greater propensity towards being calmer in attitudes as a general rule over northerns. But at night, all bets are off. They go into feed mode and a calm animal can turn on you faster than Exlax.

As far as caging goes, there are some nice lower end cages like BARRS, Visions that get the job done. Better or higher end cages are made by Habitat Systems. Acrylics are a great way to display an animal but offer little in the way privacy for a shy animal. Not to mention the constant cleaning and wiping you have to do keep them spotless. Lets not mention the "scratch." Get an acrylic and you will soon see what that means.

Your selection really depends on two things; your wallet size and your intended location of the cage.

I will read the links and check out the cages you recommended. When I decide that it's time to acquire an ETB, I am interested in only the best (especially when it comes to housing/caging). I want the best cage for viewing, humidity, and ease of maintenance. The latter 2 are the most important to me.

Thanks again,

SSSammy

forget about locality info on etbs. i think there may only be a couple of imports that anyone even claims to know where they came from. if you want to find out about etbs there are two main places on the web. http://www.corallus.com and http://www.thetreeboaforum.com is where the heavy hitters of the species hangout. the best cages for visibility and easy maintainence are acrylics and you can find out about those there too.

np