Female chondro

[Lasiodora]

I snapped up some pics of my female. The lighting sucked once again but she looks beautiful nonetheless. I'll get some up of the male when I can.

First pic is her hunting. You have to be careful with them at night. All the pics were taken from a distance

 

[Lasiodora]

Here she finally realized there would be no food. She was still very alert. She's a pup in the daytime.

 

[atavuss]

gorgeous snake! are those wires on the pvc piping next to her thermometer sensors?
Ed

 

[Lasiodora]

Thanks Ed. The black wire is the thermostat probe. The white is the thermometer probe. It keeps the cage at a steady 84.
Mike

 

[MrT]

She sure is beautiful.
Are they mature and breedable?
Thats a Tree Boa, right ?
I'm just starting to get into snakes, and I'm getting hooked, quick.
I have a 66% het Redtail boa, male.. I'm trying to find a female as we speak.
Anyway, that a fine looking girl.


Ernie

 

[Valael]

Those things are absolutely beautiful. Yet another thing I want one day... So many awesome things, so little room and time.

 

[Bry]

*wolf whistles* That's a pretty girl there, you should be proud.

Ernie, no, the snake is a Green Tree Python (GTP). Chondro is a term that came from the old scientific name (Chondropython viridis) before it was changed to (Morelia viridis). People still use it commonly to refer to these GTPs.

Bry

 

[Caska]

She's absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I miss having snakes... I used to have 2 male and 2 female ball pythons and a solomon island boa. I had to get rid of all of them when I moved though, my boyfriend hates snakes so he won't let me get any more

 

[Lasiodora]

Thanks all.
Ernie,
She has like a year to go before I can breed her. Next fall hopefully. She turned two in may and the last weight I got from her was 210g. I need to re-weigh her. She needs to be at least 1000g before she is breedable, but I'm aiming for 1200-1300g because I want to let her maternally incubate her first clutch. The male is ready though. He turned six in June. He's just waiting on her . What's you red-tail het for? Albino? The emerald tree boa and the green tree python look the same at a glance but the emerald's head shape is a lot more different and they also give birth, no egg laying. This an example of convergent evolution. They look the same but are two different animals that evolved to live the same type of lifestyle.
Mike

 

[Phillip]

Actually Morelia was the 1st name then it changed to Chondropython then back to Morelia. But to keepers of them they will always be Chondros. Awesome female by the way.

Phil

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Lasiodora
Thanks all.
Ernie,
She has like a year to go before I can breed her. Next fall hopefully. She turned two in may and the last weight I got from her was 210g. I need to re-weigh her. She needs to be at least 1000g before she is breedable, but I'm aiming for 1200-1300g because I want to let her maternally incubate her first clutch. The male is ready though. He turned six in June. He's just waiting on her . What's you red-tail het for? Albino? The emerald tree boa and the green tree python look the same at a glance but the emerald's head shape is a lot more different and they also give birth, no egg laying. This an example of convergent evolution. They look the same but are two different animals that evolved to live the same type of lifestyle.
Mike

is the GTP easier to keep than the emerald? don't they require high humidity?
Ed

 

[Valael]

In a previous thread (long ago) someone stated that chondros are considerably hardier than emeralds. I think he even said they're quite a bit more docile.

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by Lasiodora
Thanks all.
Ernie,
What's you red-tail het for? Albino?
Mike

Mike, Bry, Phil , Nick or Ed,
Like I said, I'm only just getting into snakes..
Therefore I dont know that much about them.
I thought het was for albino only. But now I know there must be het for other things. What, I dont know, and the whole het thing has me confused anyway. My son has explained it to me before, yet I still dont get it. :?
He said if I breed my 66% to a female 66%, I'd get about 25% baby albinos. Is this correct? Or is there more to it ?

I can research it, if its to much trouble to explain.

Thanks,
Ernie

 

[Lasiodora]

Ernie,
It all boils down to simple genetics (which is not always simple to me ) In any case, het is short for heterozygous. Here's a good site: www.geneticswizard.com

Ed,
Emeralds and Gtps are both easy to keep if their husbandry needs are met. Both require a humid enviornment. Temperment varies with each individual. You can find calm individuals. The reputation of being mean and hard to care for comes from people dealing with wild caught adults. They are a lot harder to establish and usually never calm down. Many die. It takes a lot of dedication and a good vet, plus experience to establish a wc animal. If you get a well started cb baby of either species they will do well. I mean look at the set up I have my female in (she's been in there since May). It's very simple but the temp and humidity requirements are kept within the required range. I know of emerald keepers who have their snakes in the same type of enclosures.

Oh and the name was changed back to Morelia to show its relatedness to the carpet python.

Thanks Phil.
Mike

 

[Bry]

Ernie,

The site Lasiodora linked for you is a good place to start. The term '66% het' simply means out of all of your boas siblings, there is a 66% chance that your boa is indeed a het for albino.

Hypothetically speaking, let's say your boa's mother had 21 babies, and 14 of them were het for albino, the rest are normals. However, they all look normal. The only way to tell the difference would be to look at the DNA. The breeder has no choice but to sell them as '66% het', which basically means there is a 66%, or a 2 in 3, chance that one of the boas you pick may be a het.

As for the whole Morelia/Chondropython thing, I've never heard that they were Morelia before being changed over to Chondropython (then again, I haven't been around as long ). It makes sense to me, as there are quite a few similarities between carpets and Chondros.

Bry

 

[MrT]

Bry,
Thanks for that.
If a breeder said it was 100% het for albino, then he/she must have had the dna checked? Or?

Ern

 

[Phillip]

Chondros do tend to be both easier to keep and easier to breed than emeralds. The main ease in keeping being the young are better about feeding and keeping it down in general.

On the het thing to get 100% het you simply breed and albino to a normal. That produces normal looking offspring that are 100% het for albino. On the 66% hets it's a crap shoot as they could be normal which is why I don't really care for the potential het concept.

Phil

 

[Lasiodora]

Chondroheads,
There is an excelent book out right now. It's called The Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell. You can't go wrong with this book. It is excelent as a reference for experienced keepers or as a guide for beginners. Anyone interested in chondros should get it, even if they aren't going to buy one immediatly. It's the only book out that's on chondros only.
Mike

 

[Valael]

God those are beautiful snakes.


But I've got a hard on for almost every single arboreal snake out there, especially the constrictors.

 

[Longbord1]

pretty how big are they and do u hold them they are like emralds
mike