Bredli Keepers

Captive care and husbandry.

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DanW
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Bredli Keepers

Post by DanW »

Hey,

Looking into getting a pair of '09 Bredli. Was curious what people prefer for caging, heating, etc ?
Feel free to share any pics as well.

Thanks for any info
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

I keep and breed Bredli. Just hatched out 23 of them a few weeks ago. Love Bredli.

I just typed a huge reply, but after thinking about it I realized I should take a bunch of pics, etc. So......later today I will reply with a large post about my experiences with Bredli.
DanW
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by DanW »

Sounds awesome. Can't wait.
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

Ok, I snapped of a few pics. Nothing major, but it'll give you an idea of my setup. The adults.....as you can see I use shelving as perches. Used to hang some pothos, but that got messy and was ultimately not sturdy enough. The light is a 75w, which I use very sparingly. Only soon after feeding, and then when the female is gravid. I keep them in here year-round, and allow them to breed as they wish. They do it like clockwork, every december-january (roughly, it can vary a few weeks here and there). The temps at the "cool" end bottom out at 78F (on the shelves) with the hot spot at 110F (or warmer, depending on the day). I turn the warm light on for a few hours a day, at most. The other end has a florescent bulb, which offers a light cycle with minimal warmth generated.
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Female.....using one of the shelves. This is where they typically reside, at a temp of 82-84F. I use a temp gun to check periodically.
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Hatchlings.....set up in tall deli cups, with perches. As you can see, they use these perches a lot. The room temp is about what the adults are kept at, 78-84F. This set up not only gives them the perching I think they desire, but also helps keep the humidity up as they offer their first couple of sheds. Once they feed a few times and grow a bit, I move them into traditional rack-style tubs. I started using the deli-perch system as an idea that I thought might get the babies going on food. It worked. Most of the babies eat on their first attempt under this system, so I feel it is beneficial for possibly security reasons. Small cups, with vertical space. That's my theory. :) Anyway, that's about it! Bredli are simply awesome! They are much more mellow than other morelia, in my experience, and get some nice size if you want a moderately-sized python. Very manageable. I'm not one who keeps "large" pythons, so these work great for me.
Image
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justinm
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by justinm »

Scott,

I'm thoroughly impressed with your setup, and the breeding, the deli cups... It's just amazing! You need to do a writeup for the Mag, this is very interesting to a guy like me who didn't pay two seconds of my time to them til know. I don't have room, but I do have a long memory and this will be something for the future for me, certainly.
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Sam Bacchini
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Sam Bacchini »

Got my first clutch this year, sadly all duds...
DanW
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by DanW »

Thanks for all the info, the hatchling setups are a great idea.

How big is that enclosure and how big are your snakes? What size did your female starting breeding?
Wondering what your feeding them, and how you do it with two large snakes in one enclosure?

These will be the biggest snakes I've owned once they are full grown. I'm very excited.
Paul White
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Paul White »

awesome cage; did you buy or make it? I like! I'm always in the market for new cages.
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monklet
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by monklet »

Great stuff Scott!
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

DanW wrote:Thanks for all the info, the hatchling setups are a great idea.

How big is that enclosure and how big are your snakes? What size did your female starting breeding?
Wondering what your feeding them, and how you do it with two large snakes in one enclosure?

These will be the biggest snakes I've owned once they are full grown. I'm very excited.
Custom cage, purchased at East Bay Vivarium almost 15 years ago. I've used it for indigo snakes, monitors, mangrove snakes (those were fun!), as well as a finch aviary. Actually, the finch aviary was probably the coolest animal setup I've ever had. It worked perfectly for a group of finches for many years. Now.....Bredli Pythons. Dimensions are 6x2x3.

I've kept them together for the last couple of years with no problems at all. I feed them separately, of course. Once winter rolls around, they "naturally" cycle. I put the female in a CB70 when she is close to laying eggs. Small enclosure....yes, but think of it as a nest box. She coils up on the heated area in the back, which is set at 90F, and lays/maternally incubates them perfectly every time. I'll try to find some pics of that scenario.

The female is somewhere between 7 and 8 feet, with the male being closer to 6 feet. The female is just now starting to get fed more often. She maternally incubated the eggs (that's how I do python eggs, I let the females handle it), and they just hatched a few weeks ago.

Bredli take a while to mature, so I wouldn't expect your's to be ready for another 4-5 years. Some people say up to 7 years for full maturity! My experience has been around 5 years. Someone had mentioned they got their first clutch this year.....and they were duds, how old is the female? She might be too young.

Here's a pic of my female, incubating her eggs. She has a 99.9% hatch rate, with only ever losing ONE egg! And I think that one was a slug, so incubation wasn't a factor. I'm a big believer in maternal incubation, the success rate made me believe! :)
Image
DanW
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by DanW »

Thanks again, I really appreciate the detailed response and the pictures. They sure are beautiful snakes.

I'm prepared for the long wait to maturity, it'll just make it more exciting when they finally breed.

Your success with maternal incubation is amazing, may be something that I seriously consider in the future.

Dan
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Cole Grover
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Cole Grover »

Bad. Ass. Those things are killer, Scott.

-Cole
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

Shot from today of the adults......
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monklet
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by monklet »

Scott Waters wrote:I'm a big believer in maternal incubation, the success rate made me believe!
To what would you attribute this Scott? Wouldn't the temps remain at ambient level or are they able to produce some heat through muscle contraction or some such? Or could it be some other agent.

In either case, great pic! Very cool 8-)

Brad
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Phil Peak
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Phil Peak »

Thats great info Scott. Am I reading you correctly that your low temps even in the winter are around 78°F? I have read that Bredl's were late breeders (seasonally) and that greater success was had with cooler temps than is the norm with other Morelia as far as cycling goes. I really like your set up and it makes for an excellent display. I enjoy keeping these snakes as well.

Phil
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

Phil: Sorry, I may have misspoke. My temps in the winter months will get to the lower 70's at the "cool end", but they tend to stay around the 78-82F area (up high, on the shelves). With a large enclosure you get a higher variation in temps, and I think that benefits them quite well. Bredli are from a warm, arid climate. I tend to disagree with them preferring "cooler" temps. Right now, for example, they are choosing the shelves which temp gun @ 86F, with the floor @ 82F. Usually within in the mid 80'sF is what they choose. And yeah, I guess they would be considered late producers if you compare them to many other python species. Eggs hatch for me in July or August on most years. That makes sense, given their natural history.

Re: maternal incubation...
I've done this for a handful of years now, with only ever losing one egg. That is why I'm a big fan of it. Maybe I just stunk at incubating python eggs myself, but I never got those numbers from doing it with an incubator. So that is why I feel so strongly about it, the hatch rate I've experienced under that system. And yes, the maternal twitching, appears to regulate the egg temps right at 90F. I set the heat at the bottom of the range I want (88-90F), and let her handle the rest. I guess that would mean she "partially" maternally incubates them, rather than me saying she does it 100% on her own.
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Phil Peak
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Phil Peak »

Thanks for the additional info Scott. I probably wasn't real clear on what I meant by cooler temps. From what I can gather the range of Bredli is like you said, warm and arid. What I was referring to is even though most of the year that describes the weather in central Australia, it is recorded that they see respectible winters where the temps can get quite cool and even drop below freezing. I read somewhere that some breeders have had good success with them by providing slightly cooler than usual cycling temps and a longer cool down period. Unfortunately this same source failed to give actual numbers. I was just curious what your experience was.

I'm really intrigued by maternal incubation and may give it another whirl this year. I tried once with Childrens pythons but I had trouble maintaining the proper humidity levels and the eggs desicated.

Phil
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

I use bark mulch as a substrate on everything now, which I believe helps in the humidity during maternal incubation. I used to use Aspen, but it dried things out to much for my liking.

Yeah, the temps can get quite low for these in the wild. Mine have the benefit of a large enclosure (fairly broad range of temp options), along with the northern california climate. Our lows get MAYBE down to freezing a few times each year. I don't keep them outside, but they are in a room that is not heated. The room temps drop down to 55F - 60F at night, and usually up into the high 60's to low-high 70's, depending on the day. That, along with the large enclosure, and I think they cycle perfectly. I provide a heat option for them, but the overall atmosphere changes for them, and whalla.....perfect for pythons. At least that has been my experience, anyway.

Looking forward to see some Savus, Phil!

scott
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Phil Peak
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Phil Peak »

Sounds as if you have all the bases covered Scott. Currently I use either pine shavings or cypress mulch with my pythons depending on species and humidity requirements. I am able to mist the cypress on occasion to increase humidity levels when needed so this may be the way for me to go if I try maternal incubation again. I'm still pretty much a rookie at breeding pythons but I've been enjoying them very much. After keeping colubrids for many years it has been a different set of challenges. Thanks for the pointers!

Phil
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Dan Krull
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Dan Krull »

Wicked.
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socalherper
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by socalherper »

Thanks for the great info on the Bredli Scott.
I have a couple of the 2011 Noes from Scott's Bredli shown above.
These snakes are amazing. The colors get better and better as they grow and I have only had them 3 months.
I am keeping them in reptile made enclosures 3 foot long by 3 feet high and 2 1/2 feet deep.
They are also on mulch bark with Eucalyptus branches.They are loving the cages.
When they get bigger I may change the branches to support more weight but for now they are thriving and eating rat fuzzies 2 times a week.
Here's a couple of pics of two of the Bredli.
I will update with pics of the enclosures in a bit.

The first is a picture from the day I brought him home Sept 2011.
Image

This picture is Oct.
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This picture is current and he is 4 to 5 inches longer and eating rat fuzzies.
Image


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AsydaBass
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by AsydaBass »

Wow Scott, those snakes are brilliant! I love that you posted photos of the setup and juveniles too. I haven't kept herps long term for a number of years now, but seeing photos like that makes me want to head to the next herp show and go nuts.

-Don
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Kelly Mc »

Thank you oh they are fantastic . Man they look good in that environment .
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Kelly Mc »

The babies all snug in their neo "security cups" makes me smile . Such a consensus of approval about their perfect perches .
Its unanimous!
condyle
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by condyle »

Nice setup and animals! Have any pics when it was used as a finch aviary , or when you had the Mangroves?
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Kelly Mc »

Your encl reminds me of one I used to call my Walk In used to house oxys . I had alot of hanging cover and the shelves narrower with a lip , like shallow boxes . Nothing replicates the stability and breadth of a large branch surface or bough like a shelf! Their repose says it all . Your environment is like a perfect , elegant equation .
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socalherper
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by socalherper »

Hi Bredli fans,
Here is a more current pic of 2 of my Bredli. They are doing great and eating like crazy.


Image
mrhoyo
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by mrhoyo »

I've wanted bredli for years now. I arranged to buy some at a show last year but the guy never turned up.

Scott,

You mentioned you keep them together but feed separately. How do you do this?
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Chris Smith
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Chris Smith »

Awesome!

-Chris
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Scott Waters
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Re: Bredli Keepers

Post by Scott Waters »

mrhoyo,

By necessity I keep them in a 6x3x3 enclosure, with two areas for vertical resting (shelves). So when I feed them I simply take one out and place it in a tub. The other one is fed in the enclosure.

scott
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