Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone

I am new to this forum due to my recent acquisition of two baby gilas (Thanks Jim!). As some of you can tell from my screen name, I am typically an arboreal viper keeper. I have lusted after gilas for many years and I finally decided to get some. I look forward to sharing pics and information with you all. Take care.

Derek Morgan

Welcome aboard Derek, congrats on the new gilas. I wouldn't be suprised if they don't quickly become your favorite herps in you collection. Feel free to post some more pictures and ask any questions you might have.

Brian Leibow

I already adore these guys. One of them is extremely nippy and nasty right now and the other one is like a leopard gecko. I know better than to take the easy-going one for granted. It is amusing that they have such different personalities.

So to keep the humidity up with carefresh do you just keep the bottom portion of the substrate damp? Or does the waterbowl keep it sufficiently humid?

Thanks for making me feel welcome here.

Derek

Congrats on the new animals!! Personally, I keep a large water bowl in the enclosure and they soak when needed.

Chris
-----
Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps

WOW!! I like that, Chris. Thanks for sharing. I am a big fan of semi-graphic feeding pics. Of course, if there's a gila in it then I like all of them. I have been trying to catch in action the baby that likes to gape, but it does it so fast that I miss it.

Here's the friendly one trying to come out to say hello. I'm not tricked so easily.

I'll enjoy every single pic that you guys post, so don't be shy. Thanks.

Derek

Actually, I'm keeping my hatchlings on paper towels with a bowl large enough for soaking, like Chris. Rubbermaids or a rack system help keep the humidity higher. The carefresh has the unfortunate effect of drying out the cage and the babies are more prone to dessicating. If you do keep them on carefresh, be sure to spray them daily and keep their bowls available at all times. And don't let the quiet one fool you, they are way faster than they look!

Brian

One of the guys who used to work at Glades was in a bad wreck one year and missed a herp show that I saw him at every year. When I saw him the following year I asked him how he was doing. He had broken his legs and an arm and had gone through nine months of physical therapy. It all sounded like a very painful ordeal. "It was nothing compared to the time I got bitten by the gila, though," was his reply to my sympathy. With that for perspective, I have a very healthy respect for these guys!

I had a guy buy a pair of bamboo viper babies from me one year in Hamburg and he kept and bred lots of colubrids, so I wasn't too worried about his experience level. I told him to keep the vipers warmer and more humid than he kept his colubrids and he'd be fine. The vipers are used to drought and rainy seasons and they are extremely tolerable of both conditions, so they're very easy to keep. The guy calls me up three months later because his animals both have RI and he doesn't know why. It turns out that he was misting them daily and keeping wet towels wrapped around the top of the cage. He had 97 percent humidity and it was 97 F in the tank! Only when I told him that he had a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and fungi did it click for him. Since then I've been very specific about preferred temps and humidity on my website, even though I personally may never even pay attention to my hygrometers.

So when people say that the gilas actually prefer cooler temps and higher humidty than you'd expect, it leaves the door open to a lot of interpretation. I'm just trying not be a newbie and make dumb newbie mistakes. So I appreciate your comment about misting them daily and keeping the waterbowl full. So far, so good here. They love digging through the carefresh and I'll try to make it work for them. I'd hate to stick my new prizes in shoe boxes where I can't show them off. Thanks.

Derek