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So today we're going 

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to be discussing
 how to set up a reptile enclosure.

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So there are thousands of reptile species,
 however, we're just going to keep it

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quite simple to a snake, royal python
 and a bearded dragon.

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So first thing that we need to do,
 you need to know what size your animal is.

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So bearded dragons, for example,
 when they are fully grown, they will need

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a minimum size of a four foot
 by two foot by two foot enclosure.

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So that's four foot
 by two foot by two foot.

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So it's really important
 to measure the enclosure before

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we actually buy the enclosure itself.

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So what we need to do,
 we need to measure the length of it.

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We also need to measure the depth

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and the width as well.

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So if the vivarium that you've chosen

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is four foot by two foot
 by two foot, fantastic,

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we can house an adult bearded
 dragon in there, bearing in mind as well

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that these are minimum
 welfare requirements.

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This is the bare minimum
 that we should be aiming for.

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So I usually say
 that let's start from a 4-2-2

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and let's work our way up from there.

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So what piece of equipment are we going
 to need to house our bearded dragon with?

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So we've got a couple of products on here
 at the moment, so we've got a UVB bulb.

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So this will basically, in layman's terms,
 prevent the animal

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from getting diseases
 like metabolic bone disease.

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We've also got a basking spot bulb
 and a deep heat projector,

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although you could also use a ceramic
 bulb instead of a projector.

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So all of these bulbs work in tandem

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together to make sure
 that this animal is in tip top health.

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So as previously said,
 the UV bulb prevents the animal

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from getting any
 nutritional disorders like MBD.

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The halogen replicates
 the sun in terms of heat,

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so this allows the animal to exhibit
 its natural behavior of basking.

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The ceramic or the deep heat
 projector will basically,

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well the ceramic will be used
 as an ambient temperature,

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but the deep heat
 projector can be used alongside

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a basking spot bulb,
 so quite close to each other.

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So we're about to be going to pop these
 pieces of equipment in the enclosure?

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So it's really important,
 so if we slide the glass.

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So it's really important that this UV bulb
 has a reflector on it as well,

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so typically when these are bought 

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they come with the controllers
 and the reflectors to turn them on.

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So usually we would just pop it 

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on the top of the enclosure like that
 a little bit off centre,

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then we would use the basking spot bulb
 and have it very similar to this motion

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or this way instead,
 that makes it a bit easier. OK.

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So therefore, the animal will still
 go to the basking spot area, but

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also still be exposed to UVB radiation.

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And then the ceramic will be placed

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at the far end, set on the thermostat,
 so it's a little bit cooler,

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where as the deep heat
 projector can be also placed

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quite close to the basking spot bulb.

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So the reason why we do
 this is why we have more bulbs on one side

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and the other is so we can replicate

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natural thermal gradients
 inside the enclosure.

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Now thermal gradient
 is basically where it's warm

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one end and a little bit cooler
 and another one.

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This is really important
 for our animals to thrive,

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so we need the really hot
 areas of the enclosure

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so the bearded dragon can help
 metabolize the food and break it down.

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We also need the cooler side,
 so if the animal does feel

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a little bit too warm,
 it can also go and cool down.

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Another reason why they need this hot area
 and cooler area is because they are cold

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blooded or a more appropriate term
 ectothermic or poikilothermic.

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This basically means
 that they need external sources

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to heat them up, whereas mammals like us,
 we are endothermic.

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So we produce our own body heat,

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so we don't really need
 any additional heat sources.

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So when it comes down to substrate 

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there are loads of different options
 that you can go for,

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as I've previously spoken
 about in a different video.

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However, I would typically go
 for like a nice sandy soil mixture.

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This is basically
 so the animal can exhibit

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its natural behavior
 through digging that type of thing.

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Another common misconception
 with bearded dragons and enclosures

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as well is that people keep these really,
 really, really dry.

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Now, it's really important that we should
 offer some sort of wet or moist area

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within the enclosure so this can be done
 by offering like a moist hide

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or stack in some cork bark
 on top of each other

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and pop in some moss in there
 just so the animal has got access

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to, like microclimates
 within the enclosure itself.

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So once we've dealt with
 the substrate, it's now time for décor.

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So our décor is completely up to you
 within reason what you want to pop

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in there. However, we I would usually
 because I'm a bit of a natural bug.

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I would usually go for things
 like cock bark logs, branches, stones,

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that type of thing and just set it out
 underneath the basking spot area.

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I would typically pop
 like a big rock in there

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just so as well the rock can
 absorb all the heat.

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When the lights go off at nighttime,
 that rock will then still be a

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little bit warmer, so it will be emitting
 some sort of heat energy.

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So when it comes to the nighttime, then 

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we should turn any light
 emitting bulb completely off

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any additional heat sources
 like ceramics can stay on

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as long as they're on lower temperatures 

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just to keep that nice ambient temperature
 in the enclosure.

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Reptiles are quite used
 to natural temperature drops.

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This is another thing
 that can prevent them from getting

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like respiratory
 infections, that type of thing as well.

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If you were to get another 

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reptile, so, for example,
 something like a leopard gecko,

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then we would recommend having a couple
 of additional hides in there.

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So definitely one moist hide
 and one dry hide, but you can mix up

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two moist hides, one dry
 hides, two dry hides,

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one moist hide is completely up to you
 as long as the animal has got access

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and as well, it's also dependent
 on the animal's natural history.

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If we were going for something
 like a African fat tailed gecko,

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which look very similar to leopard geckos,

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these guys need a little bit more humid,
 so we would recommend

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all of the hides inside
 the enclosure are all humid hides.

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So if you're thinking about having a first
 like kind of reptile,

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we would typically recommend things
 like bearded dragons, leopard geckos,

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crested geckos, corn snakes, royal python,

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African fat tails
 those nice, easy basic species

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where the care isn't
 too far out of the way.

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If you do something a little bit wrong,
 they are quite hardy so we can easily

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pull that back and get you back on track.

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So a more advanced kind of reptile
 would be definitely animals and the

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verandas genus, so monitors even ackie

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monitors, which are relatively small,
 they can be quite a handful.

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They're more like
 intermediate. Boss monitors.

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They are definitely more advanced
 the bigger the animal

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usually is, while the more difficult
 they are to care for.

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Although chameleons,
 they are very difficult to care for,

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so they need really high temperatures

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in the daytime and really low
 temperatures at night

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just to simulate those nice days, day
 and night cycles

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when the temperature
 drops on a night time.

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This is where we'll see humidity spikes,
 so especially in panther chameleons,

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this is really important
 because this is the time usually where

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they have a little bit of a drink as well. 

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So sizing of enclosures
 is extremely important.

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So even though you've bought
 like a baby from your local

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pet shop, that baby will soon grow.

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So if we're talking about bearded dragons,
 if you buy a baby that's roughly about

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15 or so centimeters,
 there are thereabouts

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and about nine months time,
 it will near enough be fully grown.

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So it's really important, especially
 with bearded dragons, that we do

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get the adult size enclosure first
 and we don't really start messing about

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with starter kits or anything like that
 because the animals do grow

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and they do grow quickly.

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So moving on to snakes, then,
 so we're going to pick a royal python

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as our chosen case study species. So.

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In the royal python enclosure,

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it must have a heat guard on
 anything that emits heat.

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So royal pythons,
 among other snakes as well,

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will wrap themselves
 around the heat source.

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This is a little bit daft, but they do it
 and it can burn them.

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And in worst case scenario,
 it can kill them, unfortunately.

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So conscious to popular belief
 it's really important that again,

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we do supply snakes,
 even crepuscular and nocturnal species,

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so things like royal pythons 

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that we do supply them with UVB,
 so a lot of people

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don't supply them with UVB. 

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But if we're going to comply with
 appropriate animal welfare and appropriate

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animal husbandry, it is important
 that we do supply them with this.

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So UVB bulbs do have as well
 a guard to fit them, which is fantastic.

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So make sure all of your life support
 systems are guarded so our animal doesn't

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either burn itself, pull a wire out,
 electrocute itself, that type of thing.

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So once we've set it up,
 so we're going to set it of very similar

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to how we have done the bearded dragon.

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You can leave the basking spot in there

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if you'd like, or you can take it out,
 it's completely up to you.

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I would recommend
 keeping the basking spot in the enclosure.

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The animals will come out
 and bask a little bit, 

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so royal pythons then substrate.

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They do prefer a little bit
 more humid compared to dragons.

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So these guys come from
 western and central Africa.

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Excuse me, so substrate wise,
 you could use a mixture of cocoa

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fiber and orchid bark just to keep those
 humidity levels of a little bit more.

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However, you can still use lignacel
 or aspen bedding,

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which is like synthetically
 like produced is really good for absorbing

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the animal's fecal matter, but
 it just doesn't give that natural look .

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So you can still use it, though
 again is completely up to you.

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So once we sorted the lighting, heating

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and the substrate out
 is now getting onto decor.

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So new research has suggested 

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that royal pythons are actually,
 in fact, semi-arboreal.

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So this means they do
 like to have a bit of a climb.

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So it's really important that we introduce

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things for them to climb on
 in the enclosure.

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So they're not just a terrestrial animal,
 so they're not just living on the ground.

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So have let them have access

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to logs, cock bark, cock branches,

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that type of thing and as well
 make sure to have a humid hide.

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So in captivity is very,
 very common, especially

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in rural pythons
 for them to have poor sheds.

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This is a nook can be a number of issues,
 so it could be diet

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tree could be environmental,
 et cetera, et cetera.

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Usually it's a combination of all of them,
 but it's really important

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that we introduce
 this humid hide in there,

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just so it's a little
 bit easier for them to shed.

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So when it comes to diet as 

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well for royal pythons, we need to

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mix it up as much as we possibly can.

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People still do feed monoculture diets
 so where there is just like one prey item,

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so they'll either feed it
 like rats or mice or anything like that.

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But I feel it's very important
 that we should replicate

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that diet as much as we possibly can.

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So males in the wild
 will typically eat around about 70% birds

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and then descending back into mammals
 where female royal pythons

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is around about 68%
 or thereabouts will be mammal based.

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So it's very important that we should find
 the sex out of the animal as well.

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However, there are things available
 now to us that we can just feed out

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to these animals. 

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So things like quail,
 hamsters, gerbils, frogs,

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legs loads of other different options
 when it comes to food and feed him.

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So this conservation
 feed in is not recommended to feed

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live is always best
 to try and feed them frozen thawed.

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Reason for this is because it can stress
 the animal out itself

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if you're feeding live,
 if the live prey item as well isn't eaten,

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it can then also attack your animal.

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So it's just best
 if we just feed them frozen thawed.

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So keeping reptiles
 can be a very rewarding hobby.

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However, it's very important
 that when we're seeking out information,

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we do get the appropriate
 and the correct information.

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Make sure that we're adhering
 to the animal welfare

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and the five animal welfare needs,
 making sure that our enclosure

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is up to par, up to spec and as well
 if there's any advice that people need.

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There are also some forums out there
 that can help you with that. Thank you.