Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my jayapura gtp on november 13 2009 and right now (on november 16), somehow it (since i don't know if it's male or female) develops a blackish color on its scale..
wonder what it is but it got me worried..
the temp is at around 80F and humidity is around 80% (it's not too high for babies, isn't it?)
i already gave it gentamicin topically on it, is it the right treatment? If you guyz ever experience this or know how to deal with it, any help is greatly appreciated, thanks
btw its birthday is on August 10 2009
here is its picture, it's not good picture (since it was only taken by cellphone camera) i know but the "black" spot can still be seen around its neck

I think we're going to need to see some better pics, I can see a black mark but for all I can tell it could be a bug sitting on the snake's neck. Could it be a burn? I would also suggest posting this on the morelia forums..google it and you'll find them.

here is lot better pictures i took yesterday (nov 17)
so i still apply gentamicin antibiotic topical on that black spot, is it the right treatment?
it appears not lethargic by the way, i observe it moving around at night time..
Should i keep the humidity (at 80%) or make it lower during this skin disease?
Also i wanna ask if you guyz know the right feeding technique for this baby, i got it on november 13 and right now (on nov 18) it still doesn't wanna eat. The breeder said it already ate on last week before i got it home (around on nov 7), any help on this one too? thx ^^

Hard to say from the photos, but the gentamicin should help if it is bacterial. Are you using the 0.1 % ointment?

Kelly

yeah, it's 0.1% gentamicin but should i apply anti-fungal topically as well?
how do i know if it's fungal or bacterial?
should i make the humidity lower than 80%? it's at 75% right now, consider this one is still a baby i'm afraid it will dehydrate soon.

The 75% to 80% humidity shouldn’t cause any problems, and that range is about right normally. It can be difficult in some cases to distinguish between fungal and bacterial, but if the gentamicin does improve the situation, a vet visit is probably in order.

Kelly

I'd bump up your temps just a bit. I keep babies and adults at 82-85 degrees warm side. As far as feeding, the fact you're handling it and putting meds all over it is probably enough to stress the heck out of it. It might not feed for a while. What sort of setup do you have it in. Babies like yours are rountinely kept in just a plastic shoebox setup to give them more security. Too large a tub and they can stress as well.
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2.2~Cornsnakes
3.4.2~Green tree python
3.3.1~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

thanks a lot guyz, finally the skin disease has disappeared and now i'm trying to concentrate on the feeding..

the cage is about 30cm x 23cm x 23cm
is it too large? i put a water dish in it along with a coat hanger as the perch
it's not an opaque enclosure by the way..
should i get an opaque one?

i already tried a live pinky and also a live pinky dipped into a raw chicken egg but still no dice. Maybe i'll try with lizards or bird feathers attached to a pinky.
It's still a week in my home and i guess it's too soon to worry about this but in my point of view, the soon it eats, the better, right?
It's not lethargic at night and still moving around the enclosure. It's really tame when i handle it for the medication before, I don't know if it's really a tame one or it's stressed out, but if it's stressed out, shouldn't it bite me already?

If you guyz have any good feeding technique for neonates, I would like to know, thanks ^^
*first time handling a baby chondro here ^^

The size of your container sounds fine. Is it covered on most sides or is it see thru? I find babies need their privacy or they stress...at least a lot do. They can also go a very, very long time without eating so I wouldn't stress that it doesn't want to eat yet. If you've tried that many food items in only a week, you're trying too often. Give it a week before you try again. If it refuses, wait another week. I've had baby amazons go literally months without taking a single meal and then finally eat. They were thin, but otherwise fine. Both pythons and boas are slower metabolizing animals and they can go longer in between feedings. Even my neonates of either species are fed no more often than weekly...usually every 10 days or I don't get a decent feeding response.
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2.2~Cornsnakes
3.4.2~Green tree python
3.3.1~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

well, it was a see-through cage but i already covered all sides with plastics, guess doesn't work, does it? ;p
yeah i already got an opaque one and i'm gonna move the baby to that cage after i finish drilling holes on all sides.

yeah i'm trying no to worry too much, i was really afraid if the baby can't stand a long time without food. I still keep misting it tho..
i also wanna weigh it up but haven't done it yet, well i'm afraid i will make it more stressed up that way, rite?
how long does this neonate can stand without feeding by the way, thanks ^^

by the way, it seems to be a nice baby thou, i don't know if it's really tame or afraid, but it never bit the pinky even if i "tease" it for about 15 minutes and then i got tired..
i even tried poking its nose, neck, tail but still no aggresive behavior, but instead it was reaching up and trying to get on my hands just as it wanted me to take me out..
any idea to "tease feeding" it?
thx ^^

As was already mentioned, I wouldn't try to feed any more than once every 7-10 days. As far as feeding techniques though...I only have one gtp that has never had feeding problems but I have, with other species, gently pushed the nose of the pinkie up under their top lip and rubbed a bit so they get a taste. I don't know if this will work with a gtp but it might be worth a try.

I recently had an amazon that would not strike for anything (I know...unbelievable but true). It wouldn't even strike at my hands, just crawled onto it if I tried to tease, chase, offer or anything else. It had not taken a meal since it was born in August. By November I was ready to freeze it as it was getting very thin. As a last ditch, I took the very hot pinky (minus the front legs and with the skull crushed) and hit the baby over the head. By the third smack the mouth started opening and it grabbed. I got it to eat and now I'm only needing to hit it once or twice. I also found it ate more rapidly if it was draped over the side of the tub. Perched chondros are not an issue, but amazons tend to split their time between the bottom of the tub and the perches. Most prefer to eat while hanging though.
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2.2~Cornsnakes
3.4.2~Green tree python
3.3.1~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

Wow, so you actually hit it in the head huh? so that's how to make it pissed off and attack eh?
all right, i wanna try that right away and see if that can change the story ^^

It didn't work on my other animal, but it sure worked on this one. It can't hurt to try....hope it does work. If nothing else, you can save the technique for future animals!
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2.2~Cornsnakes
3.6~Green tree python
4.3~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

You know what Meg, it finally ate...!!!!
wow can't tell how glad i was that day..

It happened on December 20 when i planned to feed it (with room light on actually). I didn't check on its cage for 3 days because i went out of town but i already misted the cage before. So it was the time to feed i guessed, the cage was still pretty humid too (able to see water condensation on the glass).
Then i thawed a pinky mouse for about 15 minutes and then slightly opened the skull and let the brain "juices" came out just a little. Then i put the brained pinky in a very hot water (just finished up boiling)and offered it but still no dice..
At first, the snake kinda showed an interest by moving its head closer and closer to the pinky but my arm muscle was shaking because i hold the pinky so hard with the tongs, kinda afraid to let the pinky fell as i thought it could frighten the snake but the result is my arm shook and it frightened the snake too and it crawled away from the pinky...
I kept offering the pinky in front of its head but it kept moving its head away from the food kinda wanting to reject the food, so i frustated..
Then i remembered your technique Meg by smacking its head with the pinky, not that hard, but hard enough till the snake crawled away vigorously lol wonder why it didn't even strike one bit being smacked that way lol ;p
I tried that for almost 30 minutes and got pretty tired and bored at the same time. During that time i kept re-heating the pinky with the hot water at the time i touched the pinky and i felt it was already cold, but still no dice..
One time it even "hold" the pinky, coiling it, but i knew it didn't intend to eat, it was just the snake trying to run away and coil the pinky thinking that it was another perch to grab on but the fact that i was tired feeding it so i just let it "coiled" the pinky and i thought probably it would eat that way (*giving up thought) lol
So i left the snake and the pinky that way with the cage lid opened, i chatted & browsed internet and came back to check that it still "hold" the pinky and finally dropped it..
So i grabbed the pinky again with tongs and re-heating it again then showed it in in front of the snake again without smacking the snake's head. I didn't actually pay attention to it and looked somewhere else hopelessly, didn't have any thought of the snake eating it but suddenly the snake finally bit the pinky's head and i didn't realize it because my head was looking somewhere else..
Then i looked back to the snake and found out that it bit the pinky's head slowly. It kinda making me confused. The snake just opened its mouth and take the pinky slowly without making any fast moving strike, it just opened its mouth and take it then put some coils on the pinky. That time i was really really happy..!!
I looked at it swallowing the pinky motionlessly (afraid of frightening the snake), but my heart was so glad finally the snake ate ^^

So i waited for 3 days later to check if the snake vomitted the food item and then it didn't vomit anything (thank God). So i changed the substrate along with the cage setup, thinking that the snake might explore around and defecated.
Tomorrow after that i checked on its cage and saw a stool which was great and this evening i found out the snake had shed, a perfect shed (40 cm long), so i'm really really glad today ^^

Thank you everyone and hope my story can be help for others ^^

Awesome!! I have had ones take it if you just sit motionless with it, but not often. I always try that at least once. Good for you for being persistant! Sometimes you just have to pester them until they give in and eat! I had an amazon (one of my holdbacks)that refused to eat and I finally got fed up and chased her all over her tub with a mangled, legless, squashed pinky. It took 45 minutes but she finally took it. The next time only took 15 minutes and then after that it took nothing more than opening the lid and presenting. Hope yours continues to eat for you. Make sure you wait before feeding again. I find if I offer too soon to the slow eaters they'll refuse. I tend to wait 7-10 days before offering so that they'll be good and hungry. Once they get the hang of it, you can go to every 5-7 until they are off pinkies.
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2.2~Cornsnakes
3.6~Green tree python
4.3~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

Yeah it took me for an hour to finally get the snake to eat, gosh, i was tired but the reward of seeing it swallowed the pinky was greater than ever lol ;p
hopefully it will keep eating for me like you said tho ^^

Just wonder one thing, if this baby snake should ever hatches and survives in the wild, this one is gonna die right?
Well, it took an hour to feed it by presenting the pinky in front of it the whole time. Surely there's nothing that's gonna stay in front of its face waiting for the snake to strike. So this kinda snake never survives in the wild, i guess?
Guess i know why this snake is considered as one of threatened species in Indonesia and protected by laws here in Indonesia, they have a really low survival rate that's why >.

Actually, it wouldn't be eating pinkies in the wild. More likely it would be taking small lizards and frogs rather than something like that. Due to living in the pet trade though, they have to be able to take prey that is not normally eaten by young snakes. We also feed much more frequently than a snake in the wild would. They are usually hungry when they go hunting. Food is not presented to them in that way.
-----
2.2~Cornsnakes
3.6~Green tree python
4.3~ATB
1.1~Sibon Nebulatus
1.0~Eyelash viper
1.1~False Water Cobras
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com