Time to turn to the pro's

[ReptiZone]

I will be geting some baby emeralds hopfuly in like 6 monts.

So I am talking the time today to get the extra reserch done.

I need to know the temp requierments embient and basking, day and night. Humidity Day and Night. you know the basic stuff

what is a good cage to start with.

I have dealt with snakes for a few years now but never worked with emeralds.

I want to breed them in the future so I wana do it all 100% so there is no stress on the animal.

This may look stupid coming from me cause normaly I get it all from books I hardely ask importent Questions on the site. But these animals are too expencive and fragile IMO to mess around with I wana here it from the ppl that work with them and have them in there collections.

I here a 5-10 gallon tank standing on it's side is a good cage to start with with a UTH stuck on the back (What would the the bottem of the cage if it was standing the proper way is this true.

That should cover the main aspects of my reserch for now if I find some interseting points I will post them. Thanx in advance.

[BoidKeeper]

Read this, it's almost all you'll need to know.
http://www.amazonbasin.com/
Trevor

[Linds]

Originally posted by chondro python
I here a 5-10 gallon tank standing on it's side is a good cage to start with with a UTH stuck on the back (What would the the bottem of the cage if it was standing the proper way is this true.


Absolutely not. This is one of the worst setups you can keep an arboreal snake in. They are up in the trees therefore good ventilation is one of the key factors in housing them. You cannot maintain any cross-ventilation in a tank, and especially when you have to block off the top to get their humidity needs met. They will be sitting in stagnant air all day and this can be a deathtrap. Rubbermaids are great for young ETB and custom work well for adults.


All that asides, day time temp of 85 works well with a nightime low of 75. Cycle humidity 80% (day) and 60% (night). They need to have some point to dry out, so its important that the humidity drops at night. They do not tolerate high temperatures and they eat smaller prey items (in comparison to what ground dwellers may consume). Something slightly smaller than their girth is suitable.

Good luck with your new snakes! :D

[ReptiZone]

Thanx linds and boidkeeper the info wil be well noted.

You see I right my own care sheets based with the info that ppl give me and my own experience in like 2 years I will be noting my progres and state what worked best for My animals in Question.

Tha is why I like direct opinions so I can coppy and past it to a clean page and place it in the right catagories.

like if I get 3 difrent opinions for heat/humidity I try one and if somthig like my animal dosent eat I try the next one and so on till I get positeve results the one tha is (The winner) will be modified to my own wordes and place in a procidure manual that wil be given out to my staff in like 5-10 years when i go live with my own littel thing. so you se my reserch is the most crusal step in my buissnes but it is better to get the info from ppl that have or had the animal I am reserching on.

[CraigC]

How you approach enclosures initially should be based on your situation. You must do what is necessary to achieve proper "natural habitat conditions". We have turned an upstairs bathroom into a "neo room". Since our temps and humidity in south Florida are almost identical to the natural habitat, we let mother nature provide temp variation through out the day and night. Humidity is supplimented with wet paper towels on the bottom of the "shoe box" containers that we keep neos in until they are yearlings. Water level is high enough to also double as drinking water. Flex-watt is used underneath the enclosures to help with humidity and temp in the colder months. A room heater is also used if needed during the winter months. We don't need to mist due to the normal RH and the sheds come off in one nice "doughnut". The "shoe box" containers are set up with a removable climbing/perching lattice-work, made from 3/8" delrin rod that has been roughed with sandpaper and held together wit all plastic wire ties. These small, opaque enclosures give the neos a sense of security. Cleaning daily is an absolute necessity for neos in my opinion. Neonate etb's are most easily started on live prey and being ambush hunters, these small enclosures work well at keeping the prey within the range of the neos senses.

Just as a curious side note, there is a post in another forum where an Emerald, kept in a naturalistic enclosure with a fish pond, actually hunts and eats the fish, waiting for them to break the water's surface to strike. Kinda makes me think that movement attracts them more so than heat.

Sorry about the "book", but this is what we have found to be successful for us.
CraigC

[Zoe]

We have turned an upstairs bathroom into a "neo room".

Hehe, poor fellas ;)

Zoe

[CraigC]

Zoe,
I guess I should clarify that the bathroom is not used for anything else and having a convenient "poop" disposal is great! LOL
CraigC