GTP Care

[Derek1]

Went to the show today. My nephew was dead set on a GTP. He was set on a Red Tail as I posted about in that forum. Anyway he pulled the trigger on a GTP. And his wife flipped the F out. So now it's mine. As I had a feeling would happen.

I've read some online care sheets. Seems pretty basic and easy. Bit I would like some care do and don't from you current and experienced keepers.

Not sure if it's a male of female. But it's a great looking snake!

[Minkness]

Er...Congrats?

Not sure how to approach this news lol.

Cool snake though!

[Derek1]

I do really like it. My wife hates snakes, but she was with me when we bought it and really likes its. I've been drinking beer and just staring at it most of the night.

[sunkissedpython]

Just watch the humidity and temps super close! Beautiful little guy congrats on the addition!

[dave himself]

Congratulations mate personally I would put in a few more branches at different levels this will help him thermoregulate and exercise. Plus some more leaves for cover just until you get him settled in and eating. And on a side note try getting any cage maintenance done during daylight hours

[David VB]

They're not all that difficult tbh. And gratz, it's a Biak locality. Known to be the most defensive of them, and i can only agree on that I got a male and female and during daytime, i can just do anything in their enclosure, but forget about that when the evening or night arrives

I spray the enclosure avery 2 or 3 days, making sure it dried before is make it wet again. I heat it with a heat panel, which a can make wet also, so that it evaporates over a short time. Max temp is 30°C, i recommend not going any higher. At night time everything is out and it never drops under 20°C.
The most important thing imho, is the feeding. Do NOT overfeed this species, because they tend to have prolapse much faster than any other (i don't have every species, so maybe some others have it too). It did happen once on my male and i only feed him every 10 to 14 days a mouse that is just a bit thicker than his body.

Apart from the above, enjoy your little fellow Once they get to change to green, it's absolutely amazing to watch them.

[David VB]

This is how i kept mine when they were juveniles (first few months in a tub with 2 branches and some fake plants) :


And this is now, when they're adult :

[David VB]

Here's a short vid of the misses in her tub, when she was little :



And the male, when he was just put inside the current enclosure (looks a bit different now, because of plants dying) :



Greetz.

[Derek1]

Thanks for the info guys.. I feed him a small fuzzy yesterday and he ate no problem. Can you recommend where I get a quality heat panel?

He's pretty small right now 18" or so. I did not build this enclosure, but there are a few levels of branches in there. Will a standard 10gal tank work for now? I want to change up from what he is in now.

[sharthun]

Originally Posted by Derek1

Thanks for the info guys.. I feed him a small fuzzy yesterday and he ate no problem. Can you recommend where I get a quality heat panel?

He's pretty small right now 18" or so. I did not build this enclosure, but there are a few levels of branches in there. Will a standard 10gal tank work for now? I want to change up from what he is in now.

RBI Radiant Heat Panels

I have 5 RBI 40 watt rhp's and love them. They come with a power plug that that can be disconnected to pass the wire through a small hole in the enclosure.

[yeloowtang]

hey !! congrats
you can get the best heat panels from pro-products.
a 10 g size is perfect for a while, best example would be the 12x12x18h exo terra cages.
but you would need to cover the screen top with a piece of glass or acrylic to help keep the humidity in there.
temps you want the hot spot to be 85-86
humidity, spray in the morning so it goes up to the 80% and let dry out to 50%
over the day.
the thing is, that with a smaller cage witch is best for these little guys, getting a heat panel will be tricky because the cage is so small..
you could set it up so it covers only part of the top, or it can be done with a strip of 4" heat tape running on the top back of the cage.
both of witch will have to be controled by a good themostat, a VE or herstat conmtroler.
a ranco controller is also a good choice, no options like the other ones but will do the job..
a heat panel for the adult cage, most people go with a 24x18x24 modified exoterra,you would need a 12x12 40W panel. but this all depends on the temps in the room you keep it in..guys at pro product would tell exactly what you need
so by having the controllers probe at the top under the heat source, with a perch up there and some at the lower end of the cage, this should give you a nice temp gradiant.
substrate: it looks as if you have bark down there.. if you want something nice, best would be spag moss, keeps humidity better and way less chances of having you GTP grab it's prey and have it touch the groud to grab a piece of bark by mistake.. ingesting that could be fatal..
the ideal would be paper towels for a while, keeps thing sterile, and easy to clean..
as mentioned above , having more perches, vines and plants in there would be best..
feeding: less is better with them, rule to follow is every 7-10 days for a neo and 10-14 days for sub adult then 14+ for full adults and always give a prey item either slightly smaller then the widest part of it's body or max the same size of the widest grit, never give a huge meal where you can see a lump in it's belly, while nothing bad may ever happen, this is the #1 cause for a prolapse, then if that happens !!! you will need to be extremely carfull for a while as it will be prone to happen again.
feeding it small items and less often is the way to go...
hope this helps, as said earlier, they are considerd advanced snakes for keeping but aren't all that dificult if you invest time and respect the conditions they need.
best of luck
steph

[Derek1]

Great info!

I but the bark in cause that's all I had on hand short notice. Actually he is in about that size enclosure, but it's a plastic fish tank. Wonder if the heat tape will be ok on that or if I have to use glass? I was thinking of using organic potting soil mixed/spag moss. I have a container of springtails and doodle bugs I can put in as tank janitors. I was thinking that would be a pretty "natural" forest floor setup. Think that would be ok?

[David VB]

Originally Posted by Derek1

Great info!

I but the bark in cause that's all I had on hand short notice. Actually he is in about that size enclosure, but it's a plastic fish tank. Wonder if the heat tape will be ok on that or if I have to use glass? I was thinking of using organic potting soil mixed/spag moss. I have a container of springtails and doodle bugs I can put in as tank janitors. I was thinking that would be a pretty "natural" forest floor setup. Think that would be ok?

That's just fine yes I would watch the plastic with that heat tape though. Not sure if it will give problems or not.

[CrotalusFan]

Another vote for Pro Products. I can't really say that I have any experience with another brand but I'm very happy with mine. Bob's a good guy also and will be happy to talk things over with you to get you the best panel for the job. As mentioned though; I think you'd be more looking at one of those in the larger enclosure.

This was a very helpful post for me also so thanks! I've been considering one myself lately. In truth I like the looks of the Emerald better but it sounds like they could require even more patience and time than I have to offer. I was looking at an AP A10 24X24X36; or an A20 48X24X36. Much of what I read says that 36" is overkill for height though and that you're better off with width so I'm in the same boat as you.

[shaunyboy]

buy the book.....

The More Complete Chondro,by Greg Maxwell...


its pretty much the GTP Bible and will give you all the information you will ever need


cheers shaun