my custom gtp enclosure

[Woma_Wild]

No doubt about it, it's a great looking enclosure however, I would not use it to house a python.
I'm new to snakes but I bred discus for many years. IMO, a fully planted tank with fish is high maintenance and not as easy as people think. It's best left to the experts .lol.
Not too bad if the plants die but replacing livestock, that's an expense mistake.

There's something to be said for "fake decor" - easily bleached.

Your water quality will be a concern and you can't train your snake not to drink the tank water - not only poo but leaching off from plant matter and soil.

 

[champagne]

Gtp do not need high humidity. They are able to tolerate it but it is not needed. I keep all my gtp's at the same temps and humidity as my other carpets, with no problems. It is best to just spray in the morning and let it evaporate over the day. The enclosure should be dry by night.

 

[OldestMagician]

Any chance of replacing the water with clear resin? Would look almost identical without any of this hassle.

Maybe pour it, place a bowl or something covered in cling film into the resin, pull out when set and use that as your water dish?

 

[caliherp]

Wow it's this is a incredible vivarium. I have to agree with pythoninfinite on this one. This enclosure is not suitable in the long run for a GTP. It will work seemingly well for a wile, but sooner or later it's health will deteriorate. If I were you I would get a different more suitable enclosure for the GTP. I'd put some more branches with epiphytes on them and add a group of small prolific arboreal gecko species in there. That's just my 0.2.

Regards, Patrick

 

[Rogue5861]

Would be great for a mix species frog tank. Mags, greens and white lip's would look great in there.


Rick

 

[herp.derp]

A constant 60% is still pretty high, but... oh well....

Jamie

some parts of northern queensland where gtps live never drop below 60% humidity

No doubt about it, it's a great looking enclosure however, I would not use it to house a python.
I'm new to snakes but I bred discus for many years. IMO, a fully planted tank with fish is high maintenance and not as easy as people think. It's best left to the experts .lol.
Not too bad if the plants die but replacing livestock, that's an expense mistake.

There's something to be said for "fake decor" - easily bleached.

Your water quality will be a concern and you can't train your snake not to drink the tank water - not only poo but leaching off from plant matter and soil.

the water is currently perfectly clean and is tested weekly to ensure it stays that way
at one point the PH was too high, so indian almond leaves were added to naturally lower it.
fish have now been added, along with a sea snail. plants have been added to the water as well. this will also naturally keep the water levels stable. the placement of the branches make it very unlikely that the snake will poop in the water, and even if it does, it can be spot cleaned once seen, but the filter will handle it even if not seen

again i must make the point, this whole thing wasnt just thrown together with no thought, the creator has been doing this for many years now. he is an absolute expert at what he does and i am extremely confident in the future of this enclosure

 

[Pythoninfinite]

some parts of northern queensland where gtps live never drop below 60% humidity



the water is currently perfectly clean and is tested weekly to ensure it stays that way
at one point the PH was too high, so indian almond leaves were added to naturally lower it.
fish have now been added, along with a sea snail. plants have been added to the water as well. this will also naturally keep the water levels stable. the placement of the branches make it very unlikely that the snake will poop in the water, and even if it does, it can be spot cleaned once seen, but the filter will handle it even if not seen

again i must make the point, this whole thing wasnt just thrown together with no thought, the creator has been doing this for many years now. he is an absolute expert at what he does and i am extremely confident in the future of this enclosure

Well, you've obviously spent a lot on it, and put a lot of thought into it, so I expect you'll have to make it work somehow. I think my biggest concern is still your understanding of GTP husbandry and their captive needs. But you can say, quite correctly, that it's none of my business...

Jamie

 

[humba_jumba]

The op should just listen to these guys, especially pythoninfinite and waterrat... They clearly know what they are talking about... Your enclosure at some point in time is going to be a bacteria factory and is probably going to have some affect on your python... You should drop the pride and just listen, these guys aren't often wrong and they know what they are talking about...

 

[Bryce]

Great looking enclosure you have there. I agree with a bit of what has been said here but The point I will make is, its lacking in my point of view is the space in which the animal can rest on the floor. My GTPS love having a good lay on the floor from time to time. It doesn't appear to have that in your enclosure.

All the best with the enclosure.

 

[champagne]

some parts of northern queensland where gtps live never drop below 60% humidity

a lot of people don't understand correct husbandry of captive reptiles... the main thing people don't understand is there is a wide range of conditions available to a reptile in the wild and they can move to suit them. It gets up to 40c in Darwin so keep a Darwin carpet python at 40c and see how long it is alive for. There are rattle snakes in America that live in areas where they get 6ft of snow each year, does this mean the snake needs 6ft of snow put in its enclosure to survive? its a great enclosure but you are asking for trouble putting a GTP in there.

 

[Amelia]

I agree, this enclosure isn't suitable for a Green tree python, the first thing that comes to mind is respiratory issues. I take no delight in telling you this after you've obviously poured a lot of thought into this project but rather than see a beautiful (expensive) animal suffer the consequences you should reassess this enclosure, ditch the water at the very least.

Even if your GTP appears to be surviving, wouldn't you rather offer him/her optimum conditions?

 

[herp.derp]

ok, so after doing some further research and taking all of your concerns and suggestions into consideration, i have made some revisions and decided to make this post to clear some things up for everyone

the water will become a bacterial cesspool
the water is being filtered by a canister filter, aquatic plants have also been added which help keep the water clean, the water is changed once every 2 weeks, and water tests are done regularly
the water is being kept exceptionally clean

but what if the snake poops in the water?
last week he did. it was cleaned up once noticed, the water was tested and it is fine
though to prevent this from happening in the future, and thus making maintenance easier, the one branch which does sit over the water is going to be repositioned

but what if he poops on the land??
this can also be spot cleaned once its seen, though the organic matter will actually act as fertiliser and enhance plant growth

the humidity is too high! it will cause respiratory issues
concerns stemmed both from the water in the tank, and the misters
i took these comments into consideration and also bought and read The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell
the misters have been set to spray only once per day, as is recommended by the complete chondro, the rest of the day is spent drying out. the top of the cage is open, thus allowing sufficient ventilation
the humidity drops as low 45% by the end of the day

the plants will turn to mush!
many of the plants are aquatic plants and from marsh areas. they can be fully submerged in water and still thrive
like i said, adrian at exotic aquatic has done this for many many years and actually owns a store which displays similar set-ups, i assure you the plants are doing well. dont believe me, check his facebook

what if the snake falls into the water and cannot get out?
the rocks have been positioned in a way that should allow for easy access between the water and land
i actually witnessed the snake going in and out of the water last week with no issue

recently more plants have been added to the water, cat fish have been added, and a sea snail
also the snake has shed and is looking more vibrant than ever

 

[LB_Reptiles]

filter the water and put a turtle in it?

 

[andynic07]

ok, so after doing some further research and taking all of your concerns and suggestions into consideration, i have made some revisions and decided to make this post to clear some things up for everyone

the water will become a bacterial cesspool
the water is being filtered by a canister filter, aquatic plants have also been added which help keep the water clean, the water is changed once every 2 weeks, and water tests are done regularly
the water is being kept exceptionally clean

but what if the snake poops in the water?
last week he did. it was cleaned up once noticed, the water was tested and it is fine
though to prevent this from happening in the future, and thus making maintenance easier, the one branch which does sit over the water is going to be repositioned

but what if he poops on the land??
this can also be spot cleaned once its seen, though the organic matter will actually act as fertiliser and enhance plant growth

the humidity is too high! it will cause respiratory issues
concerns stemmed both from the water in the tank, and the misters
i took these comments into consideration and also bought and read The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell
the misters have been set to spray only once per day, as is recommended by the complete chondro, the rest of the day is spent drying out. the top of the cage is open, thus allowing sufficient ventilation
the humidity drops as low 45% by the end of the day

the plants will turn to mush!
many of the plants are aquatic plants and from marsh areas. they can be fully submerged in water and still thrive
like i said, adrian at exotic aquatic has done this for many many years and actually owns a store which displays similar set-ups, i assure you the plants are doing well. dont believe me, check his facebook

what if the snake falls into the water and cannot get out?
the rocks have been positioned in a way that should allow for easy access between the water and land
i actually witnessed the snake going in and out of the water last week with no issue

recently more plants have been added to the water, cat fish have been added, and a sea snail
also the snake has shed and is looking more vibrant than ever

It is good that you are taking all the concerns into consideration and not just blowing them off, hopefully this set up continues to work for you.

 

[herp.derp]

It is good that you are taking all the concerns into consideration and not just blowing them off, hopefully this set up continues to work for you.

while the cage is obviously meant for ornamental purposes, the wellbeing of the snake is my number 1 priority, and the set-up reflects this
i just want to show people that such a thing can be done

 

[herp.derp]

i noticed a couple of concerns as to space for him to lay on the ground. it may not have been illustrated well in the original pictures, but here you can see that there is more than sufficient ground space which the snake was happy to take advantage of
going through a shed in this picture as you can see

 

[Jack92]

That looks awesome man, nice work

 

[Amelia]

I don't see how a heated glass enclosure with a large body of water, & a filter could ever completely dry out. That would be my main concern.

 

[herp.derp]

im not sure how much drier than 45% humidity you expect the cage to get
here are the humidity patterns for Iron Range, where you can find GTPs in the wild, as stated by Pythoninfinate
Weather of Iron Range in Queensland - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia

you'll be hard pressed to find the humidity getting below 45%

 

[Luvbuz]

herp.derp - I've been following this thread since it started. Firstly I don't think ANYONE on here has the right to question your commitment to the well being of your beautiful GTP. You are obviously researching and adjusting the habitat and closely monitoring the enclosure conditions, well done champ, I'm impressed. Secondly, you have had the idea, thought about it, planned it, developed it and put it into practice, well done mate, many of us dream it but never do it! Thirdly, your commitment to taking on board suggestions regardless of how ill-informed some of the comments are, and thinking them through, using what advice you can and discarding the rubbish ones is to be commended. Again, well done mate, you have a wonderful specimen housed in a beautiful piece of furniture, in a living piece of art. Just sit back and enjoy it champ, it's well deserved! I wish most of the reptiles I see in my travels were as well housed and taken care of as yours!!!