I've been thinking of switching to natural myself, or something that appears more so..I still use Delrin though found myself using a mini disc cutter to slice some deep grooving in them
so the ventral scales can get a grip on them. I also like the idea of veiwing my animals in a different coil, perched in a Y fork for example. Guess i'll start getting that together.
I understand the natural thing, but imo we lost the natural-habitat-battle long ago when we plucked them out of it.
I have a friend that uses naturals and pvc in different basin cages, I can always ask him how he feels it effects the behavior of the animals.
Ed and Rob; I think you guys are keeping it real and I respect that.
Who knows I might get me some real branches in the future.
What type and what sort of treatment do you guys recommend?
Note: A dutch breeder lost a pregnant female due to her getting stuck in some real branches. So keeping it simplistic is still a key factor.
Note: A dutch breeder lost a pregnant female due to her getting stuck in some real branches. So keeping it simplistic is still a key factor.
???? that makes zero sense....
Ok, it might be my bad English but I think you can guess what happened.
If not I made a drawing. I do not know the exact perch placement because I did not see it with my own eyes.
It could have been a once in a million accident, but it's just another thing that I keep in mind when I place my perches.
Chris... when I say "using natural branches as perches... I do not mean creating forks and crannys where an animal can get caught into it... that's not what I mean at all.... to use the above diagram to justify using slick, smooth acrylic rods for snakes that live in trees is absurd...
Try to put yourself in the snake's position and think how tough it would be to keep a grip on an acrylic rod.....
And don't worry Chris.... your English is fine....
Rob
And don't worry Chris.... your English is fine....
We'll I guess not, because you do not understand me correctly.
I just brought it up not to justify acrylic or anything synthetic, but to remind people they should be weary when using real wildly shaped branches not to create hazardous situations without them realizing.
You are quick to jump on your hind legs.
Or maybe I'm just misinterpreting.
Like I told you before I can always use sandpaper on them or engrave your name a thousand times, that would give them some good grip. :wink:
Gr,
Chris
GTChris,
No one is jumping on there hind legs. Rob is just saying that is not common, maybe there was other issues with the female that died. If a collector finds a pregnant female in the perches, it may have just apeared that she was stuck because she was lifeless. With the dead weight it could look that way. A life less snake body would slide off the perches until something caught it and it was stuck there.
Here is a pick of a basin in its natural state along the amazon basin river.
Nothing simple inside there.
Sandpaper would be good!! 80 grit with a good scrubdown after.
Ed M.
Ed M,
If that is what Rob was saying then I am amazed.
I agree with you totally on anything you just said.
Dead snakes can look like they went true hell and back, when all they did is die peacefully.
I don't know the full story, maybe the female was still alive when the collector found her.
Who knows, you could be right, all I know he was very convinced about it.
Trees in the wild are most of the time more bendable then anything we screw tight shut between those cage walls.
Beautiful picture by the way.
Very offtopic but could you have any of those in super high res?
I still have this wish for a picture of a ETB in it's natural habitat framed in my hallway.
Chris
Chris,
Here is a closer shot.
Ed
I'm no expert but I do have to say that the notion of an arboreal snake getting stuck on some branches and dying sounds a bit fishy.
Sounds like one of those stories where only half the information is being told.
Ed. I still have those photos from that expedition you sent me .( thanks again) I searched The Field Herp forum for the background story a while back. The photo's were by Jeff Lemm, who found the basin whilst with a group of bird enthusiasts boating the banks of the Rio Acuyali, near Lima in the Iquitos region of Peru. The reflection in the basins eyes from the lamp gave its position away. It was 30ft up from the level of the river and took some effort to get it down. The bird nuts on the boat claim the basin had just eaten a parrott, as they could feel the beak through the snakes belly. I guess they didn't release the animal that night as a photo in that set was taken in daylight. Off the thread but thought some might find it interesting. Here's 2 others from that set.
dont discount how easily things can get stuck.
Matt sent me this video of when he worked at the zoo
with elephants.
Norm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMKjxMCNnjw
But most can squeeze trough eventually, pregnant females are another thing.
I get where you are coming from about it being fishy, it's just that the person had nothing to gain from telling me a bogus story out of nowhere.
I did not ask or anything.
But again who knows.
I would never rule out the fact that any arboreal can get stuck.