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  1. #11
    BPnet Senior Member jmcrook's Avatar
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    Re: Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by WrongPython View Post
    One big thing I'd definitely like to improve on is seasonal husbandry. I more or less stumbled through the seasons this year and could have prepped the boas for their winter turn-down better. At the very least, this is more or less the case for the Sonoran (who's from a higher latitude/more seasonal locale) than the longicauda (who's more or less equatorial and seems to be doing pretty well right now). Currently in the process of drafting up a seasonal feeding, photoperiod, and heat-period schedule so I have something more definite to stick to.

    I'd also like to improve upon the enrichment I offer the boas, particularly now that I know both of them better. The longi likes to perch and hide, so I'm planning on getting him a couple of different perching and hide options and switching them out throughout the year. The Sonoran's a bit trickier. She hasn't really responded to any of the "toys" I've given her yet, but she seems to enjoy time out of her enclosure, particularly when she gets to climb any "tree"-shaped things and watch TV (the moving images and sounds seem to satisfy the wallflower aspects of her personality). I've already re-arranged her cork so she has a ledge to sit on by her favorite enclosure door (ie. the one from which she can most easily watch the room, the TV, and I), and she seems to appreciate it. (Her pushing also stopped when I did so. Coincidence? Probably not.) Next on the list is to get her some branches/grapevines/what-have-you for some new perching and climbing options, and maybe a fake plant or two to spruce up her enclosure.

    The longi's due for an enclosure upgrade, so there's also that to plan for. There are definitely things I'd like to do differently this time around. First off, I'd like to have the RHP be more of a auxiliary/ambient heat source, instead of a primary/basking heat source. For the latter, I'd prefer to have either a DHP or a halogen bulb for a few hours a day (think peak basking times in the wild). Secondly, I'd like to have a small strips of display LEDs installed and use those as the primary photoperiod lights, with the UV-B light only coming on during basking hours. This would simulate more intense sunlight around peak basking times. An enclosure like this has a lot of moving parts, but I think it would be a very enriching environment if done properly.

    Finally, I'd like to continue avoiding reptile impulse purchases and grow my little snake pit in a controlled manner. I've actually done pretty well on this front so far and would like to continue that trend. At this point, things will go one of two ways: either I'll build boa pairs, or I'll get a carpet. Either way, I'll be putting a lid on things for a while afterword. Three/four snakes of the sizes I have is my maximum "easy pet load" capacity, and I'm not quite sure I'd like things to move beyond that right now.
    Great ideas all around here! I as well will be doing seasonal husbandry differently next winter. I plan to start dropping temps about a month later (Mid-Late December) and get some animals cooler than others. Hoping to have everyone, or most of them, in some form of enclosures with RHPs at that point so I can manage things a bit more compartmentally. I always forget how long it takes Mississippi to get cold and I'd like to use the weather outside more to my advantage when cycling my snake room. I'll probably use a similar schedule of temperature drops weekly until bottoming out for a couple weeks and bringing them all back up. I'll feel more comfortable about doing that with them all older and larger.

    Interesting that your sonoran seems to need entertainment in that way. If it works, it works though! Still trying to figure out how to get my surinam boy from cramming his entire head into the gap at the cage lip. I'm probably just feeding very conservatively and he's begging to eat like a glutton. Sorry 'boutchya kiddo... He'll get a bit of an increase in size or frequency but it will be modest. Next option is stick him in a 4x30x24 that has different doors/cage lips he can't do that with.

    Photoperiods are something I don't address in great detail aside from a window in the snake room. I have remote multicolor LED strips in all enclosures so I could put them all on timers if I wanted.

    Enrichment is always a fun thing to address. Once I put coco husk chips back in boas cages the suri started burrowing and what not a lot more like he did when he was little. May give him deeper substrate when his sole heat source is from above. He does like to bury his waste though, so I could see that getting annoying for me really fast.

    I say dive right in a get that WOW line Jungle from Mike Curtain! Boas are fantastic, don't get me wrong, and I love both of mine to pieces. But something about Morelia scratches a deep, multi-decade itch for me in such a good way and I'm beyond glad I did it.

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  3. #12
    BPnet Senior Member jmcrook's Avatar
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    Re: Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by Snagrio View Post
    Sometime this year I'm going to get a T8 for my ball python. He's not quite big enough yet but he's growing steadily and the makeshift enclosure I concocted out of a 30 gallon fish tank has been proving to be a real pain in the neck maintenance-wise. For now though I'm ironically right in the middle of an ambitious aquarium project (125 gallon that I'm almost entirely overhauling to begin a live planted system, the tank itself is over the double the size of any aquarium I've worked with before) so snake stuff has to be put on the back burner for the time being.

    Though, given how infamously long they take to ship (I know they take a while but Hugplox's having been ordered back in Sep and still not having arrived, geez) I might have to consider putting money down for one sooner than I planned...
    Fwiw, the T8 is a quick(er) ship item. Shouldn’t take as long but even with their products being as great as they are I have a hard time justifying waiting half a year or more for goods I’ve purchased.

    Ordered three big cages from Herptastic Reptiles recently, got very prompt responses, and was quoted 10-12 week lead time or sooner. Worth it to me to try another manufacturer even if I don’t necessarily ~need the cages right away at all. Rather have them and not even need to assemble them for a while after receiving and then have them on the ready than be on the edge of my seat waiting for cages I needed 3 months ago.


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  5. #13
    BPnet Veteran WrongPython's Avatar
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    Re: Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    Interesting that your sonoran seems to need entertainment in that way. If it works, it works though!
    Yeah, Adelita seems to be a bit on an odd one in terms of snake personality. She's a hungry hungry peachy wallflower who's main joys in life are gastronomy, judging people, cinema, and that after-the-rain smell (she really likes to sniff around after I mist her enclosure). I picked her out because she seemed very curious and intelligent (on top of being a friendly little peach), but the degree to which she truly is has surprised me. She's very "with it," aware, and openly expressive around people compared to other snakes I've worked with. Finding forms of enrichment that truly "click" with her and satisfy her mental needs has been a challenge.

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    I say dive right in a get that WOW line Jungle from Mike Curtain! Boas are fantastic, don't get me wrong, and I love both of mine to pieces. But something about Morelia scratches a deep, multi-decade itch for me in such a good way and I'm beyond glad I did it.
    Mate, don't tempt me. The only real reason I haven't pulled the trigger on a Morelia anyway this season (against my better judgement) is snake housing. Both the fact that I don't have spare snake housing on hand, and that I would probably be upgrading Kuzco and the alleged carpet at the same time (that'll suck when they both need 4'x2'x2's, and downright painful when it's time for the "grown up" 6'x2'x4's).

    So I don't need to be reminded about Mike's WOW-line Jungles. Or his ocelots. OR those tiger-y looking caramel coastals Owen's got for sale. OR the tiger Darwins, Papuans, and the one striped coastal Nick's got on his website. And Lord help me if Eric actually decides to sell the Papuans that he hatched this year, especially those banded ones.
    0.1 Sonoran Boa sigma​: "Adelita" ('19 Hypo het. leopard)
    1.0 Boa imperator longicauda: "Kuzco" ('19 het. anery)
    0.1 West Papuan Morelia spilota​: "Pandora" ('20)

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  7. #14
    BPnet Senior Member jmcrook's Avatar
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    Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by WrongPython View Post
    Yeah, Adelita seems to be a bit on an odd one in terms of snake personality. She's a hungry hungry peachy wallflower who's main joys in life are gastronomy, judging people, cinema, and that after-the-rain smell (she really likes to sniff around after I mist her enclosure). I picked her out because she seemed very curious and intelligent (on top of being a friendly little peach), but the degree to which she truly is has surprised me. She's very "with it," aware, and openly expressive around people compared to other snakes I've worked with. Finding forms of enrichment that truly "click" with her and satisfy her mental needs has been a challenge.



    Mate, don't tempt me. The only real reason I haven't pulled the trigger on a Morelia anyway this season (against my better judgement) is snake housing. Both the fact that I don't have spare snake housing on hand, and that I would probably be upgrading Kuzco and the alleged carpet at the same time (that'll suck when they both need 4'x2'x2's, and downright painful when it's time for the "grown up" 6'x2'x4's).

    So I don't need to be reminded about Mike's WOW-line Jungles. Or his ocelots. OR those tiger-y looking caramel coastals Owen's got for sale. OR the tiger Darwins, Papuans, and the one striped coastal Nick's got on his website. And Lord help me if Eric actually decides to sell the Papuans that he hatched this year, especially those banded ones.
    I honestly doubt they’ll ever ~need a 6’ enclosure and 4’ tall might be a bear to control temps. Although you could absolutely maximize the variety of little micro climates available in that space. I’m also certain they wouldn’t turn it down either. I’ll admit I’d be pumped to see how you’d deck out a 6 footer. Adelita’s enclosure is pretty sweet

    That jungle carpet though... and a quarantine tub for a juvenile carpet wouldn't need to be more than 15qts...



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    Last edited by jmcrook; 01-11-2021 at 11:08 PM.

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  9. #15
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    Fwiw, the T8 is a quick(er) ship item. Shouldn’t take as long but even with their products being as great as they are I have a hard time justifying waiting half a year or more for goods I’ve purchased.

    Ordered three big cages from Herptastic Reptiles recently, got very prompt responses, and was quoted 10-12 week lead time or sooner. Worth it to me to try another manufacturer even if I don’t necessarily ~need the cages right away at all. Rather have them and not even need to assemble them for a while after receiving and then have them on the ready than be on the edge of my seat waiting for cages I needed 3 months ago.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Yea I ordered AP because of the great reviews and even with the lead times the positive reviews sold them to me. That being said though I'm with you, I have a hard time justifying waiting 6 months or more to get something. I won't complain too much about the company because everyone says they do great work, but I mean.. I've found forum posts going back to 2011 complaining about their lead times, which tells me two things. One, they're worth the wait as people are clearly still buying them regardless, and two the company is taking their time fixing the problem.

    Regardless, I'm looking forward to getting it and getting it set up, but I think if I bring home another snake, I might give another company a shot.

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  11. #16
    BPnet Veteran Caitlin's Avatar
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    Great blog post, and good timing. I am right in the middle of assessing and re-working enclosures for my crew - it's such a priority that I recently decided not to keep a beautiful HCQ Tiger Carpet Python produced by Will Bird that I actually won in a raffle. Even as I write this I am having a hard time believing that I'd turn away a great snake like that (I am giving him to a friend who wants to start a breeding project), but I really, really want to be sure that every animal I currently have is being kept in the best possible conditions.

    I'm waiting on a 4x2x2 enclosure for my garter group, and 30x15x15 enclosures for the Children's Pythons and the Anthill Python. The young Dumeril's Boa is also going into a 30x15x15 for now - he's a slow grower so I have time to decide on what he'll need once he's at his adult size.

    My focus is on optimal lighting, establishing options for microhabitats insofar as it's possible in an enclosure, and on enrichment activities both in and outside of the enclosures including food puzzles, scent-trail 'hunts', and doing target and station training so that the snakes can voluntarily shift to a holding station or temporary enclosure when I clean, rather than having me just reach in and grab them. Plus I've noticed, just based on their behaviors, that the training activity itself seems to act as enrichment for most of my snakes.

    I've never been really crazy about bioactive setups (that's a whole separate topic) but am seriously considering setting one up for the garter group. We'll see.

    Just as an aside, I've got several enclosures from Focus Cubed Habitats, and like them so much that I also ordered the ones I am currently waiting on from them. My Ball Python and Brazilian Rainbow Boa are currently in their 36x18x18, and my GTP is in a 30x24x24. I was originally going to go with the classic 24 cube for the GTP, but even though he is a smallish male, he is so active at night that I wanted to give him some extra room. I'm glad I did. Like most good enclosure producers, they are hammered with orders right now and are struggling with materials supply issues thanks to shipping hassles due to COVID. Current build time on enclosures at the size I've mentioned are about 12 weeks. Less for smaller enclosures; more for larger ones.[IMG][/IMG]
    1.0 Jungle Carpet Python 'Ziggy'
    1.0 Bredl's Python 'Calcifer'
    0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa 'Mara'
    1.1 Tarahumara Mountain Boas 'Paco' and 'Frida'
    2.0 Dumeril's Boas 'Gyre' and 'Titan'
    1.0 Stimson's Python 'Jake'
    1.1 Children's Pythons 'Miso' and 'Ozzy'
    1.0 Anthill Python 'Cricket'
    1.0 Plains Hognose 'Peanut'
    1.1 Rough-scaled Sand Boas 'Rassi' and 'Kala'
    1.0 Ball Python (BEL) 'Sugar'
    1.0 Gray-banded Kingsnake 'Nacho'
    1.0 Green Tree Python (Aru) 'Jade'

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  13. #17
    BPnet Senior Member jmcrook's Avatar
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    Re: Areas you'd like to improve upon/explore within your husbandry and collections?

    Quote Originally Posted by Caitlin View Post
    Great blog post, and good timing. I am right in the middle of assessing and re-working enclosures for my crew - it's such a priority that I recently decided not to keep a beautiful HCQ Tiger Carpet Python produced by Will Bird that I actually won in a raffle. Even as I write this I am having a hard time believing that I'd turn away a great snake like that (I am giving him to a friend who wants to start a breeding project), but I really, really want to be sure that every animal I currently have is being kept in the best possible conditions.

    I'm waiting on a 4x2x2 enclosure for my garter group, and 30x15x15 enclosures for the Children's Pythons and the Anthill Python. The young Dumeril's Boa is also going into a 30x15x15 for now - he's a slow grower so I have time to decide on what he'll need once he's at his adult size.

    My focus is on optimal lighting, establishing options for microhabitats insofar as it's possible in an enclosure, and on enrichment activities both in and outside of the enclosures including food puzzles, scent-trail 'hunts', and doing target and station training so that the snakes can voluntarily shift to a holding station or temporary enclosure when I clean, rather than having me just reach in and grab them. Plus I've noticed, just based on their behaviors, that the training activity itself seems to act as enrichment for most of my snakes.

    I've never been really crazy about bioactive setups (that's a whole separate topic) but am seriously considering setting one up for the garter group. We'll see.

    Just as an aside, I've got several enclosures from Focus Cubed Habitats, and like them so much that I also ordered the ones I am currently waiting on from them. My Ball Python and Brazilian Rainbow Boa are currently in their 36x18x18, and my GTP is in a 30x24x24. I was originally going to go with the classic 24 cube for the GTP, but even though he is a smallish male, he is so active at night that I wanted to give him some extra room. I'm glad I did. Like most good enclosure producers, they are hammered with orders right now and are struggling with materials supply issues thanks to shipping hassles due to COVID. Current build time on enclosures at the size I've mentioned are about 12 weeks. Less for smaller enclosures; more for larger ones.[IMG][/IMG]
    Excellent post, Caitlin! Those are some cool looking enclosures for sure. We demand snake room documentation as things get upgraded hah!

    Target training is a really cool concept that I hadn’t ever really considered until the last year or so. Not sure that I have the time to devote to that but it’s fascinating to see you and other folks using it with good results.

    As for giving away that HCQ Tiger, look at it as an investment in the next generation of critters produced by it. Surely you wrote up a clause stating you are entitled to first picks after holdbacks are selected or that you get the snake back if the project is abandoned? Haha!


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