retic food frenzy

[scottyy]

out of curiosity how often do u guys handle your snakes? i know that i dont get to handle my girl as often as i would like to but she is still calm and i can handle her with no problem and i hold her maybe 3 times a week. i would more often but as everybody knows ya gotta go to work unfortunately.

[TeaNinja]

i used to hold my snakes once or twice a week, now that im working 5-6 days every week i hold them even less.

[stephanbakir]

as needed but generally once a week

[Lankyrob]

Each of mine probably gets held once or twice a fortnight on average except my GTP who gets handled roughly every two or three months.

[scottyy]

y hold the gtp only once every few months?

[TeaNinja]

i don't remember 100%, but i think it's because they are extra prone to stress or something.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by TeaNinja

i don't remember 100%, but i think it's because they are extra prone to stress or something.

It because as baby they tail are real easy to break. And when your talking about a snake that use it tail to hang on to branches all day you just don't want to chance it. But a lot from people put removable branches in they cages. So they can just lift the whole branch out with out hurting them. Plus this up them feel more secure.

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by scottyy

y hold the gtp only once every few months?

THey are much more fragile than most snakes, as mentioned their tail is extremely important to them and if it is damaged quite often they cant adapt to feeding on the ground (normally they hand upside down from a perch).

My gtps clutchmates are all dead - the shop i buy from had the whole clutch and they were all sold to so called experienced keepers (except me - i was pretty new to the hobby and got a lot of flak for buying it). Everyone of them died either from poor husbandry or from damage when they were small.

Our GTP will always be a display snake rather than one that is handled and used for shows etc.

[scottyy]

as they get older is their tails less fragile and you can handle them more frequently? i always see the gtps at expos and always thought they were awesome but wouldnt get one for another few years

[stephanbakir]

IF you damage the tail, as mentioned their tail is extremely important to them and if it is damaged quite often they cant adapt to feeding on the ground (normally they hand upside down from a perch). (quoted from Rob)

[Lankyrob]

I think most successful GTP owners have them as show animals - the guy i bought it from used to breed them A LOT and never handled any of them - he used removable perches to transport them and NEVER had skin to scale contact.

[scottyy]

yes i see wat you mean. pretty much if their tail gets damaged their done for just about. are tree boas the same way? because i have always wanted a gtp but never did any research for it because i may not get one for another few years but now i dont think i want one because i like to hold my animals so that definitely wouldnt be for me. i think that feeding her in the cage has made the response stronger because now she will strike at anything that moves around her cage, but that will probably only be temporary until she realizes that every friday she will get fed and no midweek snacks

[Lankyrob]

Have never researched ATB's but i can only assume they have similar issues?