Moving a Sri Lanka Ornamental

[Atlanta Native]

I have a Sri Lanka ornamenal that I need to transfer to a clean container. This T. has grown so fast that I'm afraid it might bolt and I'll lose it.:? As of now he is about 4". I have read that the way to move these fast T's is to put them in the fridge and cool them down so they will slow down. Has anyone here tried this? If so, what temp should I bring them down to? I would really hate to harm or even worse kill him. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[MrDeranged]

Couple of things.

How big is the enclosure that the T is in? Can it fit inside the enclosure that you want to move the T into? If this is the case, you can just put the whole thing in the new enclosure and let the T come out into the new enclosure on it's own.

Is there a hide in it's enclosure now that it hangs out in? Sometimes, you can just remove the hide with the T in it and just place it in the new enclosure. Alot of the time, they feel secure in their hide and wont move even if it does.

As for refrigeration, I would say 15 to 20 minutes tops!!! You will still want to do a cup and carry. By this I mean placing a cup over the T and sliding something slowly underneath the cup and effectively trapping it inside the cup. You then move the whole thing to the new enclosure and just release it in there.

Hope that helps some.

Scott

 

[Atlanta Native]

I appreciate the advice but I have a problem. I'm using a RubberMaid #3144 gallon starage container and I'm moving him into another identical container. I can't use the cup method because the mouth of the container is not large enough. So I guess I will cool him down then try to coax him out and into the other container. I'll put a thermometer in with him and let you know what temp I bring him down to. I was thinking about 45? What do you think? Thanks again!:?

 

[skinheaddave]

Identical enclosures is easy if they can be tilted on their sides (or one inverted). Place them neck-to-neck with the lids off and then scare your T into the other one (or just tape it together and wait until you should happen to see him in the new one).

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Atlanta Native]

Dave, Your brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? It's a no brainer but I just didn't think. I guess I was to worried about how I would do it w/o harming the T. I'd rather try that than risk harming him. Thanks again!!

 

[skinheaddave]

Not enough pressure. The best ideas are often formed when you find yourself stuck in a sticky situation. I came up with that technique after an attempted mating had become a royal run-around. We had both Ts caputre, but in the wrong containers. We developed a few transfer techniques that day. I had captured one of them in a large (11.4L) ice-cream tub, so I cut a hole in the lid to fit the neck of his jar and got him back home. I'm still not experienced enough with Ts to do things the hard way.

Cheers,
Dave