Ok... before I get the lectures on why a GTP may not be a great snake for a first time snake owner......... I can understand your concerns, but I have been fascinated by this snake. I just am not drawn to any other snakes the way I am drawn to a GTP, so I feel that this is the best purchase for me. So... Getting to the topic on hand... The local Reptile Shop has a CB ETP for sale. Been there for about a month. I was surprised to see that it did not sell for Christmas. It is a Yellow Biak, and I'm told its approx. 8 months old. It is still full yellow, with only a few scales showing any signs of green. I would have thought by 8 months that the snake would start to change. Asking price is $500, but I was told that they would work with me. $500 is a bit steep for me, but I have some gift cards, and...well.... maybe I deserve a nice Christmas present for myself. I am going there today to see if I can watch it feed...as today is delivery day for all things food at the shop. Do you guys feel that purchasing the snake would be a wise idea?? Or should I wait and see if he happens to get in any hatchlings? This snake is "tame". They had it out of the tank, and were handling it for a while the other day while I was in the store. Don't forget..these are seasoned handlers.. I am a nOOb with snakes, so I'm expecting some blood to be drawn when I go to handle...(which I know will not be everyday. This is a "display" snake) What do you guys think?? Am I biting off more than I can chew?? Should I wait for hatchlings?? Or should I strike at my opportunity now? (I snapped a few pictures of the snake while at the store last week. I'll post them up when I get home) Thanks again!
ETB not ETP, I think it can be done but I personally have not had the money to by a GTP or ETB, Temps and humidity are important with these species so do your research and expect the price of the snake to only be about half of the total cost once you but a big enough enclosure, hydrogemeter, digital thermometer, UTH or preferably radiant heat panel, thermostat or at least rheostat, hides, branches, substrate, water dish etc. I can understand why you appreciate these boids and I will be probably the only one who will tellyou to get what you really want rather than a starter snake. I would advise looking at Jungle Carpet Pythons as they are semi=arboreal and have beautiful yellow and black colors. These are much easier to take care of and more forgiving of mistakes. If you are going to get a GTP or ETB I advise the following: 1. Buy all the supplies and equipment and set it up before bringing the snake home, making sure the temps and humidity are right (Do not guess with these snakes by a digital thermometer with probe). 2. Do a ton of research, buy a book and search the internet. Try to find a forum that specializes in these snakes rather than a general herp forum like this. 3. Buy some repti-aid and provent-a-mite. Treat every thing except the water dish with Proventamite and treat the snake with the repti-aid per the directions on the bottle 4. Locate a vet that treats herps. This is a big investment and while no pet should be disposable, if you have hundreds of dollars invested it hurts not only the animal but the pocket book if something goes wrong. 5. Ask the pet shop when it last fed, what it ate and if you can watch the next feeding. Good luck. Remember if you are going to do this, do it right.
Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP no, its GTP Green Tree Python is what I'm looking at. Done! I've been talking to the store owner for a few weeks now, as well as GOOGLE! (but mostly for pictures lol) All my furnishings and cages get the 10% bleach treatment before anything new lives in them. So I'm not to worried about giving my new investment mites.. I'm more worried about bringing the mites home. I have some Shed-Aid at home now..(which I know don't do anything for mites..just sheds) Been there, done that.. Taken my Iguana, BD, Tokays, and Crestie there. Known the vet for 2 years Feedings are usually every Thursday. That is the day all Crickets, Mice, Worms (etc) are shipped to the store. This is not an impulse buy. I've been checking this snake out for the last month (and not just GTP's, but this exact snake has been in the shop, and on my list)... I still have not made my mind up on purchasing the snake, since it is a lot of coin for an animal. Also, I liked your suggestion on the Carpet Pythons. CP's would have been my 2nd choice.... if I don't get the Green Tree.
Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP You typed ETP Make sure it has not been sexed, I don't know much about GTP's but know they should not be sexed at a young age. Make super sure it CB, you don't want WC or CH, not with a GTP. If you want one and are ready for one and fully understand that it cannot tolerate keeping mistakes at all then go for it. They are not a particularly good handling snake and can have bad attitudes to go with those super sized teeth! Of course, since I have two, I would tell you to go with your second choice...nothing like a nice Carpet Python!!
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP before i start my boring lecture let me just tell you that im happy that you chose a snake you like to start with, unlike most other people who just look at what they have and wonder what they can fit into that. GTP's are about the hardest non venomous snakes you can find, they are very well known for feeding problems and sutch and i wouldn't advise it to you. alsow you mentioned that some blood will be shed learning to handel it, thats not a problem for the snake but keep in mind that boa's and python's have the wurst bite you can find. their mouths are not clean and teatch may break and stick in the wound, wounds often get infected. also when you begin with keeping snakes you can onley get sow far with bookknowledge and advise from other people, the rest is mostly trial and error and this snake has zero tolorence with mistakes. thats why most people start of with more fogiving snakes. the last factor is that this is a verry expencive snake, the snake alone is already 500$ but with the costs for the cage and interior,... you can atleast dubble that. i would not even consedder buying one myself for the ime being but if you really want to have it i suggest you take your time, learn as much about it as possible, don't hold back on the costs and make sure you house it even better than the minimum subscribed requirements for it. whatever you do i wish you the best of luck.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Just figured I'd place an updated post.. I wanted to thank all of you for your replies! I went into the shop last night, and asked to see the snake feed. The snake went for the pinkie with-in seconds of it entering the tank. I'm still considering purchasing the snake. It really is a beautiful creature. I'll post some pictures of it that I took at the shop sometime this weekend. Have a good New Year.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP i wish you the best of luck with it. and happy new year
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Thank you.. and thank you I still need to convert the pictures from RAW to Jpeg so that I can post them. The Snake is home, resting comfortably- I hope Going to try and get a vet visit in this week, so I can have it checked out for any potential problems.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP GTPs are very cool snakes. They require alot of time and effort. I agree, it should not be sexed yet and shouldnt be handled much. Chondros are very delacate as babies. Very fragile spines. A tame biak is nice. They are known to be the meanest. My advice is if you get it, never mess with it after dark. They are more likely to bite. They have the second larges teeth of any non venomous snake. As said before, make sure you have your stuff set up before. As long as you follow the heating and humidity guidlines and keep it watered and fed, its really no problem. $500 is too much for a biak in my opinion. The good thing is its feeding though. I would suggest going to a reptile show and getting one straight from a breeder. Even getting one from kingsnake.com would be cheaper. I would also suggest getting one thats had atleast 10-12 meals in it aslo. This will give you some time for it to adjust and not freak out if it doesnt eat for the first few weeks. For mite spray, I think reptile releif is worth less than crap. Has never worked for me. I would say provents a mite is good for provention and I use a bottle of nix diluted into 1 gallon of water for treating mites. This has never failed for me. It sounds like you are doing some good research. Keep it up. You also sound well prepared. www.finegtps.com also has great info and a forum of some of the top breeders to better answer questions. also here are some teaser pics for you. My setup is very simple. I have a rubbermaid box with air holes, 3 bamboo perches, a water bowl, 1 fake plant and I use reptile bark for substrait. I'd use paper towl for the first few weeks on a new one(ive had mine for almost 9 months). For heating I use a heat pad aluminum taped to the bottom of one side connected to a rheostate and I put in a digital thermometer that reads indoor, out door and humidity (walmart $12). put the reader on one side where you can read it and put the probe on the other. I'd suspend the probe where your new gtp hangs out the most so you can have a constant reading of the temp there. Good luck.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Now that I am thinking about it, I should have posted this in the "other python" forum... Here are a few pictures of my new "friend". Its been exploring the cage nightly. Hopefully the move hasn't stressed him/her out too much... I still have not offered food. I figured I'd wait to see if he/her decided to show its tail.. Once I see that, then I'll know its hungry again for food. Please let me know what you think! http://www.w2lie.net/e107_plugins/gallery2...?g2_itemId=7463 (Sorry, I don't like to hotlink my images.. )
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Very nice color. The green is on its way. If he's exploring then thats a good sign in my opinion. I had a chondro that wouldn't move at all. It turned out to be sick and didn't last much long. Got a crappy deal from a lying distributer. I'd give him about a week to settle then try feeding him. I hope you have feeding tongs. I'd never go into mine with my hands.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Beautiful snake! Congrats on getting him/her. I moved this, I had left it in general 'cause you weren't sure but now that you have him...
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP well, good news... Took my GTP to the vet yesterday to get checked out (Sanity Reasons) Vet gave me (ok my snake) a clean bill of health No kinks in its spine, no mouth rot, no "floaters" in it's pooooop.... This morning I came downstairs, and the snake was shedding.. so that's cool too ! And best of all.. I had the snake out of it's enclosure a few times this weekend..... This snake is very tame It hissed and puffed up when I moved in with the snake hook, but it took right to my hand with out any problems.. It crawled right out, and then curled up on a few fingers, and the palm of my hand. I'm a happy camper
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Very nice. A tame biak would be very cool because they get the biggest of all the chondros. Good luck with your new one. They are very cool snakes. Mine is due for a shed anytime now and im looking forward too it.
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP dude, i know you feeling... the day i get out of my residence building i am starting to build my GTP enclosure... but its different because this wouldn't be my first snake
RE: Re: RE: May be purchasing my first snake....GTP Arus are very nice. I have a soft spot for sorongs though. Mine is the nicest gtp I've ever seen. Never stricks at me when I need to work with it. Its still small so I don't mess with him too much. I can't wait til it gets 100g so I can sex it already.
