Tigerlily
Active Member
Hi I'm new, I just bought a common tree snake Eden and I feel like I've exhausted the search function for CTS but still have questions.
eg:
She's quite shy which I understand is normal, and if I wanted a regular handling snake I should have gotten a bredli (still on the cards) but.... I'm not completely new to herps and I fell in love with the CTS.... Don't mind the extra mess at all, so beautiful so worth it... I guess my q is, is it possible for a shy (but never aggressive) snake to come around and tolerate semi-regular (few times a week?) handling? The only difference with her and the pythons I've had is that if I don't have a conscious grip on her she will easily slip away...and once she's done that she's off like lightning! I'd just like to be able to put my hand in her tank without her ducking back into her hide. I know it's early days yet..
They say don't stress your snake out w too much handling, but how do you know if a snake is stressed? Apart from obvious signs like not eating... Which brings me to the next q:
I'm transitioning her from previous keepers' live gecko&skink diet to pinkie mice. She will take the mice if I scent then very well with a gecko; she doesn't like to take it from me I just leave it near her hide and it's gone in a few hours. My question is, how long do you think it will take for her to accept pinkies NOT scented? I tried scenting w gecko poo and she refused it (I don't blame her...) I guess I'm going too fast. But is there some sort of tapering/weaning/transitioning timeline I can refer to? My gut is telling me that the answers I get will basically say it will take however long it takes, each snake is different etc.... But I had to ask, in case there's something else I could be doing.
She's about 80cm long but verrrry slender... Is this normal? She was sold to me as a juvie but that could mean anything and all the snakes in other members' pics seem so much more robust. I'll try to post a pic soon.
Do CTS need UVB lights or no? I've read different things and would like to know for sure...she doesn't get any direct sunlight.
have loads more Qs but hopefully someone can help me with these before I start asking more, I'm typing from my iphone so please excuse any weird auto-corrects I may have missed... Thanks in advance!
cheers
Tracy
eg:
She's quite shy which I understand is normal, and if I wanted a regular handling snake I should have gotten a bredli (still on the cards) but.... I'm not completely new to herps and I fell in love with the CTS.... Don't mind the extra mess at all, so beautiful so worth it... I guess my q is, is it possible for a shy (but never aggressive) snake to come around and tolerate semi-regular (few times a week?) handling? The only difference with her and the pythons I've had is that if I don't have a conscious grip on her she will easily slip away...and once she's done that she's off like lightning! I'd just like to be able to put my hand in her tank without her ducking back into her hide. I know it's early days yet..
They say don't stress your snake out w too much handling, but how do you know if a snake is stressed? Apart from obvious signs like not eating... Which brings me to the next q:
I'm transitioning her from previous keepers' live gecko&skink diet to pinkie mice. She will take the mice if I scent then very well with a gecko; she doesn't like to take it from me I just leave it near her hide and it's gone in a few hours. My question is, how long do you think it will take for her to accept pinkies NOT scented? I tried scenting w gecko poo and she refused it (I don't blame her...) I guess I'm going too fast. But is there some sort of tapering/weaning/transitioning timeline I can refer to? My gut is telling me that the answers I get will basically say it will take however long it takes, each snake is different etc.... But I had to ask, in case there's something else I could be doing.
She's about 80cm long but verrrry slender... Is this normal? She was sold to me as a juvie but that could mean anything and all the snakes in other members' pics seem so much more robust. I'll try to post a pic soon.
Do CTS need UVB lights or no? I've read different things and would like to know for sure...she doesn't get any direct sunlight.
have loads more Qs but hopefully someone can help me with these before I start asking more, I'm typing from my iphone so please excuse any weird auto-corrects I may have missed... Thanks in advance!
cheers
Tracy