new to the forum

[vanckirby]

hello all! i am new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself and say hi. i had snakes my whole life growing up until i got married and the wife was not okay with the idea. i gave my reptiles away and now 11 years later i am getting back into it despite her protests. a friend called me up with two 1 1/2 year old green tree pythons that he wanted to get rid of. he offered them to me for free with tank and stand included. he told me that one was a biter and the other was pretty touchy. i decided to give it a go and that i would take them. i figured it was a good idea to become a member of a forum for when questions came up. i have had the snakes for about a month now and have been handling them regularly and have fed them once. i will be feeding them for the second time this week. they are a little touchy (which i have read to be the case in general about gtp) but i have been very slow and patient with them. once they are off their branch they relax quite a bit. neither one has bitten me yet and i am enjoying them a lot. here are a couple of pictures i took with my phone.

[dembonez]

could u imagine is the two snakes at the bottom picture were just one!? lol


BTW!! WELCOME!!!!!!

[vanckirby]

any info or advice that you guys might have for me would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[DavidG]

Nice looking animals. Please, get them into separate tanks! Gtps can be cannibalistic, not to mention the scars of one attacking the other on mistake at feeding time. Tubs are the best bet (on a budget) with these guys to promote good health. Gtps do not handle like ball pythons, so you want to leave them alone most of the time. Occasional handling is not bad, but it should not become a daily practice. Keep a mist bottle ready and squirt a little if they get antsy. Any specific questions should be made into a new thread so that fellow chondro keepers can see and respond quickly.

Welcome to the club!

Check out Moreliaviridis.yuku.com

[anatess]

Welcome! You got some cool looking snakes!

In case you're considering an extra set-up for the other gtp for cheap, check this out:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...l-boxes-8.html

You can buy the RUB from Staples for under $25 depending on size, hot glue the "V" things (can be plastic or wood or whatever) to hold a pvc pipe or similar. Add a water bowl and you're good to go. You can punch holes if you need more ventilation (there's a small gap on the lid so you can use it without the holes).

If you want the "display" look the like one on the link, then you can punch out a section of one long side and hot glue plexiglass onto it (or you can screw it in if you want to be able to remove it later) - you can find really cheap versions of the plexiglass at lowe's/home depot.

Sorry to hear about the wife. I was like her before (but my husband didn't own snakes before we got married, so I think your wife was silly to ask you to get rid of them... if she can't stand snakes, she shouldn't have married you knowing you're a snake kinda guy!), but now I'm cool with them. I even handle them now!

[mainbutter]

For anyone who keeps GTPs, The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell is a must-have book IMO.

Welcome to the forum!

[steveboos]

For anyone who keeps GTPs, The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell is a must-have book IMO.

Welcome to the forum!

It's also very expensive, so if you only own these guys for the joy of it and don't really intend on getting serious, the Morelia Viridis website linked above is your best bet!!

[anthonym]

It's also very expensive, so if you only own these guys for the joy of it and don't really intend on getting serious, the Morelia Viridis website linked above is your best bet!!

Its a $45 book.. We spend WAY more than that on our animals, etc. I think the info contained in that book is definitely money well spent.

[DavidG]

Jumping into the book debate.... The price is not unreasonable. Look at other books, hard copy with as many pages. It's a similar price. However, Rico puts out a book for 10 bucks that's much less entertaining and straight forward. It's available on his site and covers the basics. The more complete chondro should be considered though. It contains a lot of useful info.

signalherp.com

[vanckirby]

thanks for all the help guys. they are in separate tanks now. the guy i got them from only had them in the one. i had been feeding them separate before i got the new tank. they are lots of fun and much more friendly after their shed.