GTP's & Temps

[solar 17]

lts my experience that "temps" considered to be "the norm" may in some cases may just not quite warm/hot enough imo the 30.0c-30.5c considered to be paramount.
l personally run my basking area at 32.5c, and find that some of my adult GTP's use up this heat, while some seem to like the conventional 30'5c.
But its also my experience that you get a far better feeding response out of those GTP's that do like/use the hotter temps, now my enclosures are 1200mm high and 600mm square with a neat fitting black plastic tub in the bottom that has 1-2mm of water in it, to help maintain humidity and also to make cleaning easier as most GTP's have a fair amount of liquid in each bowel movement unlike other reptiles, thats why personally l don't use/have any substate in my GTP enclosures.
Getting back to the temps in each enclosure l use three levels of perches so the GTP in question has a total choice of temps from 32.5c down to 23c, lts also my personal experience that these slightly higher temps will help you kick start a fresh season of eating, now l am only suggesting these higher temps if your Greens still get a choice (of temps) of course these slightly higher temps means slightly higher humidity which will assist with a lot of the dry flakey sheds/sloughs that have been talked about in the immediate past few weeks by several keepers
......solar 17 (Baden)


l

 

[lgotje]

hey Baden I like the idea of how ur setup is but I find that some of my gtps will go to the ground and cruise about and rest on the floor do u find that your gtps will sit in the tubs of water at all?CheersLocky

 

[user 29560]

Not disputing your findings in any way, solar, but as food for thought I'd note that I've been reading a lot of literature from American breeders of chondros (including Greg Maxwell's lauded 'More Complete Chondro' book) and you're right that ~30c seems to be an accepted warm spot, but I'm also reading some claims that animals are thriving even better at 29c, and that the assumption they require much higher heat is not standing up.

Personally, I've been keeping my chondro's warm spot at 29-30c all the time (no night drop) and he/she switches into hunting mode like clockwork every single night as soon as the lights snap off. Caudal luring pretty much through the entire evening and showing definite signs of preparedness to eat when I even pass close by the cage. So far, every feeding attempt has been met with enthusiasm.

I imagine what's most likely is that every animal has a tolerance for a rage of temperatures and from specimen to specimen, there may be a slight shift in the preferred range, so maybe there's an occasional snake that seems to respond better to 32 while another responds better to 29 and it just takes testing and close observation to find the best setting for your animals. The age old argument that nothing is so precisely controlled in nature is also something I try to keep in mind when I'm fretting over all these specifics.

 

[longqi]

The vast majority of ours are outside
Seldom get 30C during the day now and drop to 18C most nights
No worries with any feeding

Yes some of our swim regularly

Interesting thing with temps
They say beardies etc need 45C basking spot???
I cant imagine any wild coastal area beardie has ever remotely felt felt 45C as temps near the coast rarely reach 30C let alone 45C

 

[ingie]

Interesting thing with temps
They say beardies etc need 45C basking spot???
I cant imagine any wild coastal area beardie has ever remotely felt felt 45C as temps near the coast rarely reach 30C let alone 45C

Not as a general air temp, but a nice flat rock in full sun would get scorching hot and radiate heat upwards like a heat mat. That combined with sun from above I am sure they would be able to heat up to 45 degrees.

Monitors need ridiculously hot basking spots but I don't imagine there are many places in Australia that get temperatures of 65 degrees... Its all about where you sit

 

[Greenmad]

I used baden advice yesterday as i was having trouble with a male that has come out of coolong not wanting to eat and had a very poor shed. I rasied the temps to 32/33 degrees in his hot spot and after 1 hour he ate. I normally only use 30 as a hot spot but found that raising the temp a little brought on a good feeding responce with this male.

 

[solar 17]

Not as a general air temp, but a nice flat rock in full sun would get scorching hot and radiate heat upwards like a heat mat. That combined with sun from above I am sure they would be able to heat up to 45 degrees.

Monitors need ridiculously hot basking spots but I don't imagine there are many places in Australia that get temperatures of 65 degrees... Its all about where you sit

l have a female bredli thats approx.2.4 meters and 10-11 kgs and she will bask at 40+ degrees for days and then go to the bottom of her 2.2 meter enclosure at room temps for days and this female lays 35-43 eggs every year, while another big female l have rarely likes it above 32-33c l believe like humans there is a variance in likes and dislikes...
My original point was in this thread if your GTP is not a good eater and appears sluggish it doesn't hurt to try slightly higher temps as a couple of mine thrive at slightly higher temps and all of this is done giving them a "choice"
........solar 17 (Baden)

 

[deebo]

As long as the animal can regulate its body temp does it really matter what the hot spot temp is?

Wouldn't a hotter hot spot just enable it to warm up quicker and then it can move away from the heat?

I was actually thinking about this sort of thing the other day......

 

[Waterrat]

This is very interesting topic and I have been thinking about it quite a lot lately. Currently, our ambient temps fluctuate between 14 and 26 degrees, depending on cloud cover. One would thing that at 14 degrees the GTPs would be clinging to their perches and not moving - that's not the case at all. They night activities are unpredictable, different between individuals and not necessarily related to ambient temperatures. Of course they don't eat this time of the year but I don't see any problem with that, they will catch up when it gets warmer. I always thought if they have the chance to bask during the day, they will be active at night - again, not necessarily. On Saturday it rained, was windy and cold during the day but the snakes were cruising after dark.
I wonder if in case of intensive keeping, i.e. steady, regular set temperatures over weeks, months or years actually cancel the activity trigger. I wonder if their activity patterns are driven by climatic changes which are essentially absent when permanent optimal conditions prevail.

M

 

[zuesowns]

It makes sense to provide up to 33c when the snake has the ability to choose between it's desired temp.

this advice could be taken into consideration with all species, not necessarily related to GTP.

 

[solar 17]

This is very interesting topic and I have been thinking about it quite a lot lately. Currently, our ambient temps fluctuate between 14 and 26 degrees, depending on cloud cover. One would thing that at 14 degrees the GTPs would be clinging to their perches and not moving - that's not the case at all. They night activities are unpredictable, different between individuals and not necessarily related to ambient temperatures. Of course they don't eat this time of the year but I don't see any problem with that, they will catch up when it gets warmer. I always thought if they have the chance to bask during the day, they will be active at night - again, not necessarily. On Saturday it rained, was windy and cold during the day but the snakes were cruising after dark.
I wonder if in case of intensive keeping, i.e. steady, regular set temperatures over weeks, months or years actually cancel the activity trigger. I wonder if their activity patterns are driven by climatic changes which are essentially absent when permanent optimal conditions prevail.

M

Hey Waterrat l think you answered your own question apart from throwing doubts on my keeping of GTP's you had rain on Saturday night we have had none for many weeks and no humidity to speak of but if you are in doubt of my snakes having a feeding response don't be because as many witnesses will verify they will take your arm off after sunset most nights of the week and as for "essentially absent" conditions you implied they have a choice of 32.5-23 during the day and room temps at night, with a warm spray each morning
.......solar 17 (Baden)

 

[NathanBennett]

Exactly! Well said Mike.
I have found that if keepers have enclosures set up to have optimal temp, humidity etc 24/7, that the animals begin to act differently from those kept in more natural fluctuating conditions. I always have found that mine benefit from slightly cooler temps at night and during the cooler months, and warmer during the day and warmer months.
Another advantage to this, is that they then become easier to keep, without the worry of trying to keep it perfect all the time.

 

[Waterrat]

Hey Baden, settle down I didn't throw any doubts on your keeping, I respect you as one of the best. I wasn't even referring to your practices, I merely threw in my observation on my animals.
I am sure we both know a good number of keepers who set their thermostats on day and night temps and that's it, hence my remark about "essentially absent" variation.

cheers
M

 

[Retic]

I must admit I have never understood this need to give an animal a specific temperature let alone down to half a degree. In the wild temperatures fluctuate wildly and to me as long as the temp is around a few degrees either side of 30 it is fine. I'm not questioning anyone's practises but it just seems overly precise to me.

 

[Waterrat]

Boa, I think a lot of keepers prefer to feed their animals in regular intervals (for convenience) and climatic changes could upset this regime. To some degree, I question regular feeding just the same - snakes in the wild don't get fed every Friday.

disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and does not relate any particular person's husbandry practices or opinions.

 

[Retic]

Exactly, I don't feed at regular intervals either. I just think sometimes we can try to be too exact.

 

[Waterrat]

My snakes (adults that is) don't feed for 3 month of the year, some years 4 months. I friend of mine asked me "you starve you snakes for that long?" How funny! Who starves the thousands GTPs at Iron Range each year?

Lockhart River, Qld - July 2011 - Daily Weather Observations