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OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by hoyta on November 1, 2006
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hey everyone,again! i'll be getting in a baby eyelash viper very soon. he'll be cb. can someone give me the basic care for them? i will be using a 10 gallon, placed vertically, for its cage. i have a 10 gallon vert conversion kit on its way that has a door on the front.
substrate? types of perches? thanks alot for your time!-adam hoyt
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by Viperlady on November 1, 2006
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Hello, Adam
I'd sak you to consider several aspects for the care of an eyelash viper.
1.- If the specimen is a newborn or juvenile, I'd think the 10 gall is OK for it as long as humidity levels are well kept and continously observed. However I would recomend a smaller quarantine tank or plastic box with adequate ventilation. Advantages of plastic are a)Reduces stress because it is not completely transparent. b)easy to clean. c)smaller size permits a better adapatation to a new home and won't present what is known in my country as "the big terrarium syndrome". It shouldn't be a problem with a snake you are supposed to feed directly with a pair of tweezers in case it wont readily bite the prey. d) maintains humidity and temperature on the required range for longer time than glass. e) doesn't have sharp edges that might be dangerous for a newborn.
My viper is about 15" long and still lives in a plastic box a little smaller than a 10 gall.
2.- Level of humidity is extremely important, so I've found that cage-like lids are not very safe in this cases, because they let out too much humidity, added the presence of a heating mat which of course favors evaporation. You might have to test your enclosure for this. If you've ever been to Chiapas or Guatemala, you should know how high humidity rises. That is one of the reasons why I keep my eyelash beauty with kitchen towels as substrate. This particular towel is not made of paper, but of the same material used for baby towelletes, and it works perfectly because it doesn't dry out as quicky as paper bags or newsprint, and since they're white they permit a better visual analysis of feaces. Later on you may want to change that lab-looking substrate for an artificial grass mat, which also has the advantage of being really easy to clean. You should just be careful with loose fibers that the snake might swallow when feeding.
3.- Ive used nylon fabric foliage (artificial plants I got at crafts stores) and plastic branches to prevent the appearance of any fungus or the probable proliferation of unwanted bacteria. Plastic is washable, you can microwave it or boil it when cleaned and my viper seems to be very happy with it. He doesn't seem to care about the material his plants are made of, but just how well he can climb up and rest on them. I personally have never used any natural plants.
4.- If your new snake is too small even to eat mouse pinkies, you may chop off a piece of the pinky and using a pair of tweezers touch the last third of the snake with the piece of prey. Bother the viper with the prey several times until a strike is provoked. Well, I tell you this because I had to do it that way for the first couple of times.
OK, good luck, and hope I helped a little
Take a look at my Viperinae-crotalinae gallery. There are a couple pics of my Bothriechis.
http://www.hasawanetworks.com/Viperinae-crotalinae.jpg
Regards
Harumi
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by tj on November 1, 2006
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"i'll be getting in a baby eyelash viper very soon".
That's probably the biggest thing to consider. If it's a baby and you've never kept eyelash vipers before, you may want to get one that is not so young, and one that is well established. Babies can be a pain to get feeding and you will need to be very patient. Make sure you get one from a reputable dealer and make sure it is feeding. Matt Harris and David Kornely would be my top choices. I think Joe Switalski has some for sale as well, he's also a good bet. They all have alot of experience with them, and have CB animals that they take good care of.
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by hoyta on November 1, 2006
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hey, thanks for the advice! what should the temps be for the eyelashes? the lid i was talknig about was a full lid, not the screen ones you see from time to time. i do have a few shoebox plastic containers laying around... i might use one of those. plus, they are alot cheaper! LOL
as for the pinks- is ther e abetter body part that they accept more? also, this snake is a cb snake, but is a baby. i've had alot of experience with baby snakes, so i think i'll be ok:)
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by tj on November 1, 2006
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If you keep it between 75 and 82, you'll be fine. I've even kept them at lower temps and they did great. As long as it's in the 70's and moist, but not too moist, it'll be fine. I used forest bed for substrate and some fake palms and trees for perch's/cover. You want them to feel comfortable, so cover and trees are essential. You also don't want too big of a cage, as good as it sounds, bigger is not better, it stresses them out when they have that much room.
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by Buzztail1 on November 1, 2006
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Here is some information from our articles section that you might find useful:
Derek Morgan's article:
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/8
John LePage's article:
http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/17
Karl H. Betz
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by hoyta on November 1, 2006
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cool! thanks alot for the info! i guess,like i said before, i will keep the viper in a shoebox size container for awhile. i'll keep perches in there, as well as a mixture of bark and sphagnum moss. i keep alot of dart frogs, so i'm guessing the conditions are the same... Costa Rica and all! LOL
what is the growth rate for these guys?
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by canuck on November 1, 2006
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I keep all my arboreals Including schlegs at
84 deg F day and 78-79 night.
They always eat well at these temps.
I use the little plastic critter keepers for babies.
Put in a chunk of artificial jungle vine and twist in a silk leaf or two for shade. (they dont like direct light),
Add a little sphagnum moss for bedding and to keep up humidity.
Place the little keeper in a larger tank(10 gal etc.)
for security and put a screen on top.
Pinky heads have always been what i have had success
With first off.
Regards,
Tom
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RE: OK, how about care for eyelashes?!
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by hoyta on November 2, 2006
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alright! good stuff, and i'll be sure to use all this info you all have provided. thanks!-adam
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