Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[jon_g]

Very nice looking vivs and snakes,

Ive studied quite extensivley chondros in their natural conditions, and have had alllot of my ideas completely rewritten on how I used to keep them in the UK.

Perches to me are certainly an area where the snake often chooses a thinner branch here, Often you will find large chondros on the end of a very tiny branch, one i used to think of as way too small...In reality the chondros I have seen are more often found perching on them as a choice.
_________________
Life in Bali is sweet,

http://www.worldwidefauna.com

Exporters from Indonesia, You have tried the rest now try the best!!

http://worldwidefauna.com/index.php?cPath=52_22

http://www.ecoterrariumsupply.com/

[Stuart Marquis]

Very good point jon_g. There was also a recent post on the Morelia viridis forum about how chondros may prefer to perch on sloping perches rather than horizontal ones as most branches tend to grow outwards and upwards towards the light.

Stuart

[kingcobra]

that would seem to be a rather flimsy support for what,although hardly a heavy snake, must weigh something!, as regards sloping branches,its difficult enough trying to find and set up straight perches,without trying to fit angled perch supports!!! , possibly this behavioural characteristic in the wild could motivated not so much by light,but by prey at higher tree levels?
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we all have the spark of divinity within us, but are we responsible enough to use it?

[Stuart Marquis]

Kingcobra, that's not necessarily the case. In captivity even the larger chondros tend to rarely weigh much more than 2000g. In the wild average chondro sizes are likely to be substantially smaller due to more infrequent feeding and less nutritional foods available. Indeed there is evidence that females in the wild will breed when considerably lighter that the 1000g mark usually aimed for by captive hobbyists.Its also less likely that a chondro will live long enough to grow that big in the wild. A relatively small branch of maybe only 20-25mm in diameter will likely be able to take that weight quite easily. Try snapping a broom stick in half with your bare hands, it takes quite a lot of force...more than I can muster anyway! Its also worth noting that there is anecdotal evidence that chondros kept on overly large perches can be more probe to spinal kinks.

With regards to the sloping perches, this idea was originally raised in relation to Hatchlings that tend to perch in lower lying shrubbery rather than higher up in the tree canopy. Its also the branches that are growing upwards towards the light making them sloped, I wasn't suggesting the snakes were attracted to the light, though they may of course be attracted by food higher up in the canopy.

Yes providing sloping perches is a bit more of a challenge and its certainly not yet of proven benefit, but if it were to be shown to benefit them then I think they should a least be used in combination with horizontal perches.

Cheers

Stuart

[jon_g]

There are a few suppliers that sell natural perches that slope (ecoterrarium for instance...lol)

Since seeing indonesian reptiles in their natural environment I have changed many of the ways I keep the animals here.

Also do you think these trees stay still?? NOOOO they move around quite allot in the wind which doesn't seem to bother the chondros at all.

Even a 2kg snake wont break a small branch at their weight is spread out and not in just one place, from my obsevations the adults seem to like to form a complete cirecle around the branch they are on, and move quite big distances every day.

I would agree that the cryptically coloured babies are often found at lower levels,

Offering captive animals a naturalistic setup is beneficial for the animal and also the owner. Although these are a challenge to build and maintain.
_________________
Life in Bali is sweet,

http://www.worldwidefauna.com

Exporters from Indonesia, You have tried the rest now try the best!!

http://worldwidefauna.com/index.php?cPath=52_22

http://www.ecoterrariumsupply.com/

[kingcobra]

i think ideally, i will be looking at two horizontal perches per viv,with exo-terra silk plants for cover,but i may also add some exo-terra vines as wellto enable greater thermoregulatory choice,and assist in animal perambulation. if it is not critical regarding width of perching as suggested ,i may opt for medium vines,rather than the large i was considering,this may have an added benfit of not crowding the vivarium too much. i want my chondros to feel secure(especially as the vivs are all glass),but i dont really want an over-fussy and elaborate set up either.
thanks for the information on behavioural aspects stuart and jon,i will use the info and compare with noted behaviour on my own captive bred pair.
_________________
we all have the spark of divinity within us, but are we responsible enough to use it?

[jon_g]

Good luck setting your vivs up, I'll snap some photos of similar cages tomorrow and show you what we do here,

Designing cages is great fun,
_________________
Life in Bali is sweet,

http://www.worldwidefauna.com

Exporters from Indonesia, You have tried the rest now try the best!!

http://worldwidefauna.com/index.php?cPath=52_22

http://www.ecoterrariumsupply.com/

[kingcobra]

[jon_g]

Indeed life in bali is sweet, and you have mentioned 2 of the many reasons I chose to leave the UK!!

From memory I know of 2 localities called Wosi, one around 25 km from wamena and one in the south of halmerhera.

There are many smaller islands not far from kafiau which are being explored for new varieties of animals, as kafiau threw up some very nice animals (yellow prasinas, chondros that stay yellow longer and striped candoia)

not great photos below, but they give you the general idea.
_________________
Life in Bali is sweet,

http://www.worldwidefauna.com

Exporters from Indonesia, You have tried the rest now try the best!!

http://worldwidefauna.com/index.php?cPath=52_22

http://www.ecoterrariumsupply.com/

[kingcobra]

crikey! those are large enclosures! and i can almost FEEL that lovely humid tropical warmth in those pics. meanwhile here in "civilisation" , it is raining, misty, cold ,damp,dark, and partly flooded.its dark outside when i get up to go to work and dark when i finish work, and i work indoors!!!, now WHY oh WHY would i ever be jealous of where you live?
oh and petrol is now £1.03 per litre!!! and my car ,while not a 6 litre 4x4, does a lot of miles in heavy traffic!!
_________________
we all have the spark of divinity within us, but are we responsible enough to use it?