Well here's everyone except 2 that haven't been moved into the new snakeroom. I'm really astonished that folks don't think emeralds can be handled. You should check out Rico's article in the April '06 Reptiles Mag. I couldn't imagine not interacting with our emeralds by not handling them. You just can't sit holding them for hours at a time. Craig
Craig..I'm just interested in seeing that you dont provide any foliage/cover for any of your ETBs..why is that? Is that normal practice?
Emeralds don't seem to mind the Spartan conditions. We used plants awhile back and decided that they added no real benefit and were just something else that had to be cleaned. We don't have a misting system either nor do we spray them except during breeding season or during sheds and never directly on the snake. If I had one emerald that I wanted to have as a major display, I would go all out. Craig
Water substrate, with or without paper towels, prior to having a designated room. We still maintain a water substrate, but also humidify the room. Craig
Water substrate as in a layer of water at the bottom of the cage? That's got to be a mission keeping that clean all the time!! Imagine with the temps, you'll have stuff growing in there very easily?
LOL, I'd be more worried about someone using bark, mulch etc, when it comes to "growing things" or getting a good case of mouth rot when some of that bedding gets stuck in the mouth! Since every cage, except neonates and yearlings have removable trays which are cleaned every 1-2 days or as usual the next day as it seems someone takes a ..... right after the cage is cleaned! Having air circulation and relative humidity in balance tend to eliminate the stagnant environment that allows "growing things" to, well grow. Anyway, we have been keeping emeralds in this fashion since '98 and have been breeding them successfully since '02, so I guess our methods work. Craig
Thanks Craig, i must say..your setup looks beautiful! Those acrylic cages are nice..only color in the room is from your snakes..awesome! BTW..where're the cages from? What are their dimensions??
Relative humidity is allowed to get into the mid to upper 80's with a DTH temp of 82-83 F. Gravid females have the same relative humidity in the "basking spot" of 88 to 89 F. Obviously the RH is higher in the cooler parts of the enclosure. At night a "drying out" period is allowed with temps dropping into the mid to low 70's with RH in the mid to high 60's. These are normals, breeding is different. Craig
Thanks! The cages are homemade. Our standard adult cage is 24"h x 22"d x 22"w. I build larger ones for bigger animals as we have a couple of females that are pushing 6'. All of our emeralds get regular exercise outside when conditions permit. Craig
Homemade? Wow. They are very nice. Skunky, I assume you are asking because you are planning on getting and ETB, right?
Any chance of building for sale...say, for me perhaps I'm looking at several options, ATBs, GTPs and ETBs....havent made up my mind yet. The ATBs are hardier I believe ($250 odd), the ETBs and GTPs are gorgeous, but maybe a little out of my price range...although having said that, I have gotten a couple of quotes around $325 shipped for some juvenile Aru GTPs.
Sorry, I would have to charge $300.00 each to cover my labor and materials for "one offs", plus the packaging and freight costs would add another $100.00. I am working on a guide to construction which will get finished as I have time. Craig
I'm looking at them more closely now..how are you providing ventilation with these? With a grid or "something" (holes?) at the top?
There is a screen opening at top center where the CHE dome is. Gaps at the door and substrate trays were our standard ventilation prior to moving them into an environmentally controlled room. Now I am providing holes in the sides for ventilation as well. After moving them into the room, I have found that the substrate is lasting longer and is more or less a back-up to the room humidifier. We had to treat each cage as it's own ecosystem previously. Craig
