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Ok, I'm getting a snake it's a morph of a reticulated python, it has a long body, it's not fat and big. Here in the Philippines the average temperature is 24 Celsius ( 75 Farenheit ) to 31 Celsius ( 88 Farenheit ) it's already summer here. The snake is almost one foot.
1. Basing on the average temperature, do I need a heat mat or heat lamp?
2. How big should the container be? ( I'm using the big plastic one ,like a tub)
3. How often and how much mice should I feed it?
4. Good decorations to make my snake feel at home? ( ex. rock, branch etc. )
5. A good name.
Please label your answers
Answer
NOTE:
THESE ARE NOT BEGINNER SNAKES!
Reticulated Python can reach up to 25 feet or more in length and weigh up to 350 pounds. The keeper of this type of snake should have a lot of experience with other large boids.
Edit-you need an additional person per 6ft length of the snake to for any interaction.
Basic supplies:
A secrure enclosure
Heat mat
Heat lamp
A rheostat or thermostat to control heat mats
Thermometers
UVB light source
Substrate
Logs or other items for hiding areas
Spill-resistant water bowl
Snake hook
Heavy gloves(welding gloves cover the fore arm)
1.
Provide your retic with a basking spot of 88-92 °F and an ambient (background) temperature of 78-80 °F. The ambient temperature should not fall below 75 °F. It is vitally important to KNOW the temperatures at which you are keeping your snake(s). DO NOT GUESS!! A great way to monitor temps is to use a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe. Stick the thermometer to the inside of the cage on the cool end and place the probe on the warm end, and you'll have both sides covered at once.
There are several ways to go about heating the enclosure: undercage heating pads, ceramic heat emitters, basking bulbs (both regular daytime & red "night" bulbs) are just a few. With heat emitters & bulbs it is necessary to really keep an eye on the humidity within the enclosure, especially if combined with a screen top, as both will dry the air quickly. Use thermostats, rheostats and/or timers to control your heat source. Do not use hot rocks with snakes as they often heat unevenly over too small of a surface area & can cause serious burns.
Providing proper humidity for reticulated pythons is important to ensure a healthy environment and aid in shedding, but as stated previously too much humidity can be as problematic as too little. First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your snake with a humidity level of 50% - 60%, you have a couple of options.
1. Use cypress mulch or a similar substrate that can be misted & is mold-resistant. Cypress is good for this as it turns a tan color when dry & a rich brown when wet, giving a visual cue as to when it needs to be dampened again.
2. Make a "humidity box" for your snake. This consists of packing a plastic container with damp sphagnum moss (think well-wrung-out wash cloth to gauge moisture), cutting a hole in the top or side & placing it in your python's enclosure so that it can access the box as it pleases.
2.
The Reticulated Python requires an enclosure that is at least half their size in length and a third of their length in width. Enclosures can be as simple or elaborate as one is capable of caring for. Remember that the more "stuff" you put in a cage, the more "stuff" you have to clean & disinfect on a regular basis.For an adult Reticulated python, a vivarium 3m Length x 1m Width x 1.5m Height is ample. These pythons are one of a few species which are generally not worried about the size of their enclosure. The more room you can provide; the better. Many keepers decide to dedicate a whole room to their beloved python. Other keepers may decide to use a corner of a room as the back walls and ceiling of the enclosure, and simply build 2 front walls. This will cut down the costs of building and allow for a larger space for the python.
3.
Hatchlings should be offered small mice or rat pups, and as they grow the mice or rats should become larger. An adult Reticulated Python should be converted to larger food items such as rabbits. One of these every 3-4 weeks is ample. Hatchlings should be fed on a regular basis, every 7 days is ideal. Their metabolic rate is very high and as they are growing, they need a lot more food to keep them going. The only exception when adult females should be fed more is when they need fattening up for egg production, or just after they have laid. An egg-laying female should be fed double the normal amount for several weeks after they have laid
4.
A hide box and some thing to climb on are all you really need. Enclosures can be as simple or elaborate as one is capable of caring for. Remember that the more "stuff" you put in a cage, the more "stuff" you have to clean & disinfect on a regular basis. When choosing d?cor, think about the safety of the snake. Make sure that whatever you decide to use, it is securely fixed and that no rocks, wood or anything heavy can fall and possibly injure, or even kill the snake.You can add shelves use plywood and 2x4s or just 2x4s for climbing.
Having items to climb are great but don't over do it. A clean well maintained practical cage is the main concern. You must also make sure that everything used is parasite free. If anything has been picked up from outside, or has originally come from outside, such as cork bark, you should either boil it, or place the item in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes.
5.
Here is a link to were you can find some names
http://www.20000-names.com/dragon_names.htm
Care sheet
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&id=9
Cage design and building-the first one will be useful for a short term setup in a rubber-maid type container.
http://www.sprucenubblefarm.com/chondros/basicsetup.php
http://www.timelessspirit.com/enclosure.html
http://708designs.netfirms.com/customcage/customcage.htm
Books
The Art of Keeping Snakes
by Philippe De Vosjoli
Boas & Pythons: Breeding and Care
by Erik D. Stoops and Annette T. Wright
Burmese Pythons: Plus Reticulated Pythons And Related Species
by Philippe De Vosjoli and Roger Klingenberg
NOTE:
THESE ARE NOT BEGINNER SNAKES!
Reticulated Python can reach up to 25 feet or more in length and weigh up to 350 pounds. The keeper of this type of snake should have a lot of experience with other large boids.
Edit-you need an additional person per 6ft length of the snake to for any interaction.
Basic supplies:
A secrure enclosure
Heat mat
Heat lamp
A rheostat or thermostat to control heat mats
Thermometers
UVB light source
Substrate
Logs or other items for hiding areas
Spill-resistant water bowl
Snake hook
Heavy gloves(welding gloves cover the fore arm)
1.
Provide your retic with a basking spot of 88-92 °F and an ambient (background) temperature of 78-80 °F. The ambient temperature should not fall below 75 °F. It is vitally important to KNOW the temperatures at which you are keeping your snake(s). DO NOT GUESS!! A great way to monitor temps is to use a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe. Stick the thermometer to the inside of the cage on the cool end and place the probe on the warm end, and you'll have both sides covered at once.
There are several ways to go about heating the enclosure: undercage heating pads, ceramic heat emitters, basking bulbs (both regular daytime & red "night" bulbs) are just a few. With heat emitters & bulbs it is necessary to really keep an eye on the humidity within the enclosure, especially if combined with a screen top, as both will dry the air quickly. Use thermostats, rheostats and/or timers to control your heat source. Do not use hot rocks with snakes as they often heat unevenly over too small of a surface area & can cause serious burns.
Providing proper humidity for reticulated pythons is important to ensure a healthy environment and aid in shedding, but as stated previously too much humidity can be as problematic as too little. First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your snake with a humidity level of 50% - 60%, you have a couple of options.
1. Use cypress mulch or a similar substrate that can be misted & is mold-resistant. Cypress is good for this as it turns a tan color when dry & a rich brown when wet, giving a visual cue as to when it needs to be dampened again.
2. Make a "humidity box" for your snake. This consists of packing a plastic container with damp sphagnum moss (think well-wrung-out wash cloth to gauge moisture), cutting a hole in the top or side & placing it in your python's enclosure so that it can access the box as it pleases.
2.
The Reticulated Python requires an enclosure that is at least half their size in length and a third of their length in width. Enclosures can be as simple or elaborate as one is capable of caring for. Remember that the more "stuff" you put in a cage, the more "stuff" you have to clean & disinfect on a regular basis.For an adult Reticulated python, a vivarium 3m Length x 1m Width x 1.5m Height is ample. These pythons are one of a few species which are generally not worried about the size of their enclosure. The more room you can provide; the better. Many keepers decide to dedicate a whole room to their beloved python. Other keepers may decide to use a corner of a room as the back walls and ceiling of the enclosure, and simply build 2 front walls. This will cut down the costs of building and allow for a larger space for the python.
3.
Hatchlings should be offered small mice or rat pups, and as they grow the mice or rats should become larger. An adult Reticulated Python should be converted to larger food items such as rabbits. One of these every 3-4 weeks is ample. Hatchlings should be fed on a regular basis, every 7 days is ideal. Their metabolic rate is very high and as they are growing, they need a lot more food to keep them going. The only exception when adult females should be fed more is when they need fattening up for egg production, or just after they have laid. An egg-laying female should be fed double the normal amount for several weeks after they have laid
4.
A hide box and some thing to climb on are all you really need. Enclosures can be as simple or elaborate as one is capable of caring for. Remember that the more "stuff" you put in a cage, the more "stuff" you have to clean & disinfect on a regular basis. When choosing d?cor, think about the safety of the snake. Make sure that whatever you decide to use, it is securely fixed and that no rocks, wood or anything heavy can fall and possibly injure, or even kill the snake.You can add shelves use plywood and 2x4s or just 2x4s for climbing.
Having items to climb are great but don't over do it. A clean well maintained practical cage is the main concern. You must also make sure that everything used is parasite free. If anything has been picked up from outside, or has originally come from outside, such as cork bark, you should either boil it, or place the item in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes.
5.
Here is a link to were you can find some names
http://www.20000-names.com/dragon_names.htm
Care sheet
http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&id=9
Cage design and building-the first one will be useful for a short term setup in a rubber-maid type container.
http://www.sprucenubblefarm.com/chondros/basicsetup.php
http://www.timelessspirit.com/enclosure.html
http://708designs.netfirms.com/customcage/customcage.htm
Books
The Art of Keeping Snakes
by Philippe De Vosjoli
Boas & Pythons: Breeding and Care
by Erik D. Stoops and Annette T. Wright
Burmese Pythons: Plus Reticulated Pythons And Related Species
by Philippe De Vosjoli and Roger Klingenberg
If you could build your dream horse farm/ranch, what would it look like?
Starlight
This is a fun question for a change. I'm asking people to use their imaginations and pretend that they just won the lottery, or that they have a rich relative who died and left them a fortune. If you had all the money you wanted and could build your own dream horse farm, what would it look like? How many acres would you buy, and where? Would you live on the property or off of it? What kind of barn or facility would you build if you could? What sort of amenities would it have? How many horses would you have?
Like I said, this is just a fun question to allow people to take a break from the stress of getting ready for Christmas ( and Chaunakkah, for those of the Jewish faith) and do a little dreaming. There are no right or wrong answers here- just some fun ideas. Please, be nice to one another for a change.
Nice answers so far. FF, I especially like your idea, although I would allow boarding at any facility I built. Yeah, I know it can be a pain in the @ss to deal with boarders, but at least it helps pay the overhead and the bills and makes the place self sustaining, so that when the money runs out from the lottery or the trust goes dry, I will at least have something to fall back on....What about the rest of you? What are your ideas? What kind of place would YOU build if you had the money?
Another note- just because a few of you don't care to have teenagers around doesn't mean they're all bad. After all, you all were teenagers yourselves once. We've been lucky enough where I live now to have had some nice ones that actually were pretty reasonable. They're all in college now, and one of them is married and doesn't get home very often. But when they were younger, they weren't bad.
Answer
I'd stay here in northeast Florida, I like my area so I honestly don't want to move. It would be within short riding distance of state parks as well.
It'd be about 300 acres of predominantly cleared land still scattered with oak trees for shade and shelter.
I'd have ten 10 acre pastures for the horses so I'd have ample pasture rotation space, five 2 acre pastures for quarantine and rehab. All of them would be planted with good pensacola bahia grass with some Florida 99 Alfalfa. Each would have a 24x36 three sided shelter to protect against rain with a hay rack built in the middle except for the two acres, they would have a 12x24 shelter. Each pasture would be fenced with no climb horse fence at a 6ft height with hot tape across the top of the fence. All the fence posts would be 4x4's concreted in at 4ft deep. Each pasture would have an auto waterer with water ran to each pasture. A waterer would be by the gate and also one under the shelter. Each pasture would also have a light pole by the gate so you can see when you go to get horses or let them loose to the pasture.
This is the waterer I like to drool over. Lol!
http://www.behlencountry.com/images/339/images/catalog/588/54150018_full.jpg
Barn would be a 20 stall barn with 16x16 stalls, a wash rack with drainage system and hot and cold water, two grooming stalls with cross-ties and shelving. I'd have a 16x16 tack room, separate 16x16 feed room (with small bale storage). Each stall would have an auto waterer, hay rack with a removable feeder. The stall base would be 6" gravel compacted down, 2" sand over the gravel with rubber mats on top of that and bedded 12" deep of fine pine shavings. All stalls would have a sliding mesh door on the back that would lead out in to 16x36 runs which have a sand footing. The barn would be equipped with fans for each stall and the tack room and feed rooms air conditioned. Except for the stalls the barn would be rough finished conrete
Stall would be like these:
http://buildingsandbarns.com/shopping/media/ccp0/prodxl/horsebarn-horsebarns-horse-barn-Open-Air-Horse-Stall-XL.jpg
There would be two barns, one for personal use and the other for boarder use (might as well have some help paying for the monthly bills the place would rack up!)
Then a 150x300 indoor arena complete with big @$$ (brand) fans and air conditioning. Footing would be a nice clay/sand mix. The building would be 200x350 so there would be 25 feet off each side, two sides with seating, the other side with several grooming rack areas with cross-ties for horses who haul in and a wash rack. There would be a wireless sound system installed and an announcer's both for shows and clinics. Lighting would be high efficiency overhead lighting. A watering system would be built in to the 6ft walls to cover watering the whole arena.
There would be two more outdoor arenas with the same type of footing and football field style high efficiency lighting. A covered 80 foot roundpen with lighting as well.
Of course I'd have a nice tractor with a front bucket attachment and fork attachment for moving hay. A good arena drag as well. Hay baling equipment to go with the tractor as well.
http://www.abiequine.com/products/arena_drags/kiser_dragmaster.php
Can't forget a Gator as well for moving horses to pastures and feeding any horses who stay out in the pasture.
A 24x60 equipment barn for the trailers, tractor, etc. A 24x60 enclosed barn for hay storage with adequate ventilation and dehumidifiers.
House would be 2,500 sq feet single story cedar log home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths with a large kitchen and an office/study. Master bedroom would have plenty of room and a large bathroom with separate shower and tub with his and her sinks. Large walk in closets with every room. House would have covered porch all the way around. A mud room would be off the kitchen and would contain the washer and dryer. Kitchen will have a large walk in pantry with a commercial gas range, double oven, dishwasher, overhead microwave, large side by side refridgerator and large sinks. All the floors would be hardwood.
The house would be on 2 acres, fenced in with three board cedar fencing with wire backing to keep the dogs in. House would have a 3 car garage as well. It would be away from the barns, in view of the pastures.
Out closer to the barns we'd have a few guest style 1 bedroom cabin homes with kitchens for the help.
A few RV hookups would also be available for overnight guests with living quarter trailers.
The property would have asphalt driveways through it for easy moving. The entire property would have a surrounding fence with a cleared truck width path to ride the fence lines and do any repairs needed. It would be 3 board fence with wire backing.
The remaining acreage would be planted and fertilized hay fields.
I'd stay here in northeast Florida, I like my area so I honestly don't want to move. It would be within short riding distance of state parks as well.
It'd be about 300 acres of predominantly cleared land still scattered with oak trees for shade and shelter.
I'd have ten 10 acre pastures for the horses so I'd have ample pasture rotation space, five 2 acre pastures for quarantine and rehab. All of them would be planted with good pensacola bahia grass with some Florida 99 Alfalfa. Each would have a 24x36 three sided shelter to protect against rain with a hay rack built in the middle except for the two acres, they would have a 12x24 shelter. Each pasture would be fenced with no climb horse fence at a 6ft height with hot tape across the top of the fence. All the fence posts would be 4x4's concreted in at 4ft deep. Each pasture would have an auto waterer with water ran to each pasture. A waterer would be by the gate and also one under the shelter. Each pasture would also have a light pole by the gate so you can see when you go to get horses or let them loose to the pasture.
This is the waterer I like to drool over. Lol!
http://www.behlencountry.com/images/339/images/catalog/588/54150018_full.jpg
Barn would be a 20 stall barn with 16x16 stalls, a wash rack with drainage system and hot and cold water, two grooming stalls with cross-ties and shelving. I'd have a 16x16 tack room, separate 16x16 feed room (with small bale storage). Each stall would have an auto waterer, hay rack with a removable feeder. The stall base would be 6" gravel compacted down, 2" sand over the gravel with rubber mats on top of that and bedded 12" deep of fine pine shavings. All stalls would have a sliding mesh door on the back that would lead out in to 16x36 runs which have a sand footing. The barn would be equipped with fans for each stall and the tack room and feed rooms air conditioned. Except for the stalls the barn would be rough finished conrete
Stall would be like these:
http://buildingsandbarns.com/shopping/media/ccp0/prodxl/horsebarn-horsebarns-horse-barn-Open-Air-Horse-Stall-XL.jpg
There would be two barns, one for personal use and the other for boarder use (might as well have some help paying for the monthly bills the place would rack up!)
Then a 150x300 indoor arena complete with big @$$ (brand) fans and air conditioning. Footing would be a nice clay/sand mix. The building would be 200x350 so there would be 25 feet off each side, two sides with seating, the other side with several grooming rack areas with cross-ties for horses who haul in and a wash rack. There would be a wireless sound system installed and an announcer's both for shows and clinics. Lighting would be high efficiency overhead lighting. A watering system would be built in to the 6ft walls to cover watering the whole arena.
There would be two more outdoor arenas with the same type of footing and football field style high efficiency lighting. A covered 80 foot roundpen with lighting as well.
Of course I'd have a nice tractor with a front bucket attachment and fork attachment for moving hay. A good arena drag as well. Hay baling equipment to go with the tractor as well.
http://www.abiequine.com/products/arena_drags/kiser_dragmaster.php
Can't forget a Gator as well for moving horses to pastures and feeding any horses who stay out in the pasture.
A 24x60 equipment barn for the trailers, tractor, etc. A 24x60 enclosed barn for hay storage with adequate ventilation and dehumidifiers.
House would be 2,500 sq feet single story cedar log home, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths with a large kitchen and an office/study. Master bedroom would have plenty of room and a large bathroom with separate shower and tub with his and her sinks. Large walk in closets with every room. House would have covered porch all the way around. A mud room would be off the kitchen and would contain the washer and dryer. Kitchen will have a large walk in pantry with a commercial gas range, double oven, dishwasher, overhead microwave, large side by side refridgerator and large sinks. All the floors would be hardwood.
The house would be on 2 acres, fenced in with three board cedar fencing with wire backing to keep the dogs in. House would have a 3 car garage as well. It would be away from the barns, in view of the pastures.
Out closer to the barns we'd have a few guest style 1 bedroom cabin homes with kitchens for the help.
A few RV hookups would also be available for overnight guests with living quarter trailers.
The property would have asphalt driveways through it for easy moving. The entire property would have a surrounding fence with a cleared truck width path to ride the fence lines and do any repairs needed. It would be 3 board fence with wire backing.
The remaining acreage would be planted and fertilized hay fields.
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