Jose Jalapeno...

[Will0W783]

...on a steeek!


I went to That Pet Place in Lancaster yesterday for their Reptile Invasion Day. Basically it was a huge 35% off sale on reptiles and 20% off supplies, along with demonstrations and booths by local herp societies and reptile rescues. I met a lot of really cool guys and gals from the Lancaster Herp Society, and since I live about a half hour from Lancaster, I think I will start going to the meetings. Anyway, I generally don't like to buy reptiles from pet stores, but anything I had ever gotten from TPP was always healthy. They had a nice GTP there that I'd watched go through his color change (they had the poor bugger for over a year) and no one ever showed interest in him. Of course that could be because they wanted $500. But with the sale going on he was closer to $300. So I asked how his temperament was and they weren't really sure. They were so afraid to open his cage and get him out..lol. But he was fine. They got him out and probed him and I handled him and he was curious and a tad jumpy, but not at all hissy or bitey. They had records on his meals, sheds, color change and defecations since they got him in on Feb.12, 2009. So I got the poor little fellow and he's now settling in nicely with me. I have decided I most likely will never try to breed my other male Archi because of recurrent respiratory issues (no underlying infection shows up in tests and he eats and is otherwise active and chipper, just bubbles and wheezes). This new little fellow is a Biak locale, CBB, 2 years old and has the same kind of nice black barbed wire pattern on his back that my girl Sunset does, along with nice clean blues and blacks. I'm very happy with him and look forward to working with him. Here he is!

[Freebody]

$300 :Wow: they sell for like $1300 over here if your lucky enouph to find one. He a real good looking fellow you got their, i want to get one so bad, but they are so much and so rare, i have not seen one for sale in a couple years. GRATS!

[Lankyrob]

Congrats on the purchase - he is BEeeeeutiful!!!

[shaunyboy]

very nice kimberly i really like how bright his green is.

cant wait to see more pics of him once he's settled in.

its nuts how your gtp and my jag share the same symptoms.yet none of us or our vets can get to the bottom of it.my jags been doing ok not too gurggley.next time he gets bad he's going to another vet for a second opinion.the new vet was my old vets mentor so im hopping he can figure it out.i will let you know if we ever find a soulution that may be of some help to your gtp.

cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

Thanks Shaun. At this point, I refuse to put him back on Amikacin- it will burn out his kidneys. He started whistling again last night and I was almost in tears- this is killing me. He's in the exact same kind of conditions as my other 2 and my emeralds and nobody other than him ever gets sick. He eats and is active and looks healthy and doesn't whistle or pop until you disturb him and he gets excited. I just don't know at this point, other than that I will keep him and love him and enjoy him as long as he has a good quality of life.

Little Jose Jalapeno should produce nice babies with Sunset though, and we'll see if the calm temperament of the parents gets carried over to the babies. I really don't know why so many people are afraid of them and why Biaks have such a bad rep. I haven't really found them to be that aggressive.

[shaunyboy]

same with my jag just said to my wife last night he'sa not sneezed for a few weeks.i must have jinxed him as he gave a small sneeze today.

gtp's have the same reputation around my aera.out of roughly 10 gtp's i know of personally only 2 of them are bitey.

your new guy is really nice im loving the brightness of his green.

cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

I thought he was an Aru-type until they told me Biak. He does have a lot of the yellow on the sides indicative of the Biak locale, but when he's all coiled up all you see is this bright deep green with blue highlights on his face and white speckles on his back. I was shocked at how calm he was, really. I was freehandling him easily last night and he hasn't even hissed at me as I move about the room and fuss with cleaning in the cage.
I felt bad for the poor fellow being in that pet store for a year and a half; he was due for a good home!

[Freebody]

im glad to hear he so calm :)

[marvelfreak]

Jose is one handsome fellow. Nice eye popping color. Can't wait to see more pics. Good to here you got another friendly GTP.

[Will0W783]

Thanks Chuck! Friendly, and at least tolerant, GTPs are not that hard to come by. A lot depends on how you approach the snake and how calm you are around it. If you are handling a snake and you are afraid of being bitten, you are much more likely to get bitten. I think they can sense your nervousness and it makes them nervous in turn. I always use removable perches for my arboreals, so the entire perch can just be gently lifted and removed from the cage. Then it's up to the snake to come off of the perch, or just hang out on the perch watching me if it prefers. Also always set up arboreal cages so that you can approach the snake from head-on or below. You never want to approach a perching arboreal snake from above, as this replicates where their natural predators (birds of prey and such) would be, and activates their defense instincts. I also try to open the cage and do something in there, whether it's adjust a fake vine, or refill water, or pet a snake, at least once a day, so that they get used to my presence in the cage without getting fed. This helps to cut down on feeding strikes.

[shaunyboy]

my old jungle crazy bert was like that willow.if you pussy footed about in front of the tank before getting him out.

he would say to himself ive got a scared one here then precede to attack like a bloody machine gun the second you put your hand in.i swear ive never seen a snake with so many s'ss tucked in just ready to pounce.most of mine will s up twice this guy could get his body to go into 4 or 5 s shapes.i kinda miss him,he was like a true wild animal.(i know all my snakes are wild at heart but you know what i mean) im sure he thought he was really in the jungle (pardon the pun).

if you just walked right up straight in and grabbed him you got 1 maybe 2 bites.

[Lankyrob]

Willlow - will be setting up my perches on Thursday - just wondered how you make yours removable?? I was thinking of permanent eyelets in the wall of the cage with hooks in each end of the perch so that it can be hooked in/out easily.

Any thoughts appreciated! Cheers rob

[Freebody]

use the cup things you see in your bedroom closet. i didnt use them for my perches in my cage but as soon as i read willow had removable ones i was thinking Damn good thinking, i should have gotten these and done that lol another trip to the hardwear store for me.

[Will0W783]

Yup Freebody, those are what I use. I have plastic ones though, and you silicone them in where you want the perches to be. In my case I have the perches staggered horizontally by 6 inches and vertically by 10 inches, with 5 perches in the cage. You also want to make sure you use perches that are wide enough for the snake. You want it so that when he coils, the bottom of the front and back coils are just able to touch, so he will feel he has a good firm grip. A lot of people use perches that are too thin. What I did for actual perches is scorched PVC pipe. There are good online threads about how to make them. I will google it and pm you a link to the directions I used. They are great because they are textured for the snake to grip and they look and feel like real branches, but they are non-porous and are a snap to clean.

[Freebody]

YouTube - How to Make SCORCHED PVC PERCHES (for your aboreal/tree snakes) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgBPbb7ko7k) here you go, i was checking that out before, i seen some of them posted on bcretile forum and then watched this video, his voice is so anoying but the video is somewhat informative, kinda exactly what you would think when you figure scorching it but good to see before you roast your own.

[Lankyrob]

Thanks for the reply guys and thanks Willow for the PM.

[infernalis]

Congrats! What a handsome fellow, I like the name too.

[Will0W783]

Thanks Wayne! I had promised to name my next arboreal snake that, and it seems to fit him. He's settled in quite nicely and eats like a little horse. :)