Need Some Advice From Carpet Python Owners!

I have been wanting a carpet since I first saw one at my first expo but they were to much for me at the time (I came home with a ball and baby boa instead). So I spent some time with other snake species and gained experience and now my interest has been renewed seeing all these gorgeous carpets on BP.net. I have read several care sheets about them, including the Reptile MagaZine article. I would like to hear from carpet owners on the experience of owning a carpet and I have a couple questions:
*Could a carpet python be housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank?
*What is the most docile subspecies/most managable
*Are there any quirks or care tips I should know?
*Favorite carpet morph?
*Approx. price range?

Thanks in advance for your Time and contributions!

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*Could a carpet python be housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank?

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A 40 gallon breeder tank should be okay for an average sized adult Irian Jaya Carpet Python, although i would personally go with an enclosure with more height.

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*What is the most docile subspecies/most managable

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It truly does vary from snake to snake, i've had some Carpets that were very docile and others that wouldn't hesitate to bite, i would say Irian Jaya's are the most manageable due to their small size.

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*Are there any quirks or care tips I should know?

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Carpet Pythons are semi-arboreal and they are very active so i've always provided Carpets with a larger enclosure than i would with a snake of comparable size.

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*Approx. price range?

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You are looking at between $50 and $200 for a Coastal, Jungle, or Irian Jaya. the quality of the snake is what will determine the price.

Thank you, that helped a lot.

Does that ($50-200) include morphs or just normals?

Do You know of any good breeders?

150 and up if you want to get into the better looking morphs.

AC Reptile
Will Bird
Nick Mutton
Luke Snell

40g maybe depending on the snake. I have a 75% Diamond (male) that could live in one. I would say 4'x2'x15" would be a good place to start.

They all have quirks as all snakes do :p

Thanks I'll have to check out some of those breeders

I know very little about carpets, so I'm of little help there. But I will second Nick Mutton as a breeder to check out. He is one of the few US breeders that has 100% pure lineage animals, and has excellent looking animals. He also wrote a book, the complete carpet python. I'm not putting down any of the other carpet breeders out there, just saying that Nick is top notch.

I love my carpet I got her as a 6.5 foot rescue :) first few weeks she had to adjust to new house. She is so much fun an pushing seven now couple inches shy when she's out she like to slither around I live in a trailer so my living room is perfect for her to explore. I have her in a 4x2x2 Rubbermaid right now with perches half way up half way across under her light. She spends most her time on perches so her final cage (in process of buildin snake room an that) will be little higher then 2 feet since she likes to climb. I say get one you'll love it!:)

C'mon, You guys know what I want..:P PICTURES!!! :D

*Could a carpet python be housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank?
Depending on it's adult size.. yes. Even some coastals (typically a larger subspecies) can be smaller as adults, some IJs (typically a smaller subspecies) can get large enough you'd want a 4x2 floorspace. I'd plan on needing to buy a pvc cage down the line.

*What is the most docile subspecies/most managable
None. I've seen only mild anecdotal and contradictory evidence regarding subspecies tendencies towards disposition and personality. IMO a carpet python is a carpet python when it comes to what its personality might be down the road. The one standard is that hatchlings are small and easily scared and adults much less so. All are typically active handlers and pretty darn smart and alert as far as pythons go.

*Are there any quirks or care tips I should know?
Excluding diamond carpet pythons, these guys have extremely standard python care and are surprisingly tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and seasons. Diamonds and high % diamond crosses seem to thrive better with cooler summer temperatures and surprisingly cold winter temperatures compared to the other subspecies.

*Favorite carpet morph?
The world's best diamond jungle jaguars are just stunning to my eyes, but to be honest, my favorite carpets aren't always "morphs". Ridiculously-tipped yellow and black diamonds and diamond crosses are a favorite of mine, but the true prize for me would be one of the Brisbane-line coastals that Nick Mutton and a handful of other lucky fellows have. It's incredibly hard to find the standard patternless-headed coastals outside of Australia, and that particular line is the best of the best.

*Approx. price range?
$50 for (relatively) ugly animals that usually have no lineage, are often crosses, and shouldn't be bred

$200-600 gets you access to plenty of great animals and great breeding projects of all varieties, including some morphs.

Just like ball pythons however, the stuff you're going to really drool over will run you more than just a couple of benjies. The first albinos offered in the US probably went for 10k or so.

Just so you know, carpet pythons are NOT something where there is a "current market value" for a given morph. At any given point in time, one guy's 75% jungle jags might not be selling at $500 a pop while another guy's 75% jungle jags are sold out with a price tag of $1200.. and it's pretty much always because the more expensive ones come from better looking parents. Selective breeding means so much more to moreliageeks than trying to take a jaguar, a zebra, and an albino and take a few generations to make albino zebra jags. Like I said, my favorite carpet pythons at this point in time (which I would pay more for than any other) is "just" a fantastic looking normal.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

*Could a carpet python be housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank?
Depending on it's adult size.. yes. Even some coastals (typically a larger subspecies) can be smaller as adults, some IJs (typically a smaller subspecies) can get large enough you'd want a 4x2 floorspace. I'd plan on needing to buy a pvc cage down the line.

*What is the most docile subspecies/most managable
None. I've seen only mild anecdotal and contradictory evidence regarding subspecies tendencies towards disposition and personality. IMO a carpet python is a carpet python when it comes to what its personality might be down the road. The one standard is that hatchlings are small and easily scared and adults much less so. All are typically active handlers and pretty darn smart and alert as far as pythons go.

*Are there any quirks or care tips I should know?
Excluding diamond carpet pythons, these guys have extremely standard python care and are surprisingly tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and seasons. Diamonds and high % diamond crosses seem to thrive better with cooler summer temperatures and surprisingly cold winter temperatures compared to the other subspecies.

*Favorite carpet morph?
The world's best diamond jungle jaguars are just stunning to my eyes, but to be honest, my favorite carpets aren't always "morphs". Ridiculously-tipped yellow and black diamonds and diamond crosses are a favorite of mine, but the true prize for me would be one of the Brisbane-line coastals that Nick Mutton and a handful of other lucky fellows have. It's incredibly hard to find the standard patternless-headed coastals outside of Australia, and that particular line is the best of the best.

*Approx. price range?
$50 for (relatively) ugly animals that usually have no lineage, are often crosses, and shouldn't be bred

$200-600 gets you access to plenty of great animals and great breeding projects of all varieties, including some morphs.

Just like ball pythons however, the stuff you're going to really drool over will run you more than just a couple of benjies. The first albinos offered in the US probably went for 10k or so.

Just so you know, carpet pythons are NOT something where there is a "current market value" for a given morph. At any given point in time, one guy's 75% jungle jags might not be selling at $500 a pop while another guy's 75% jungle jags are sold out with a price tag of $1200.. and it's pretty much always because the more expensive ones come from better looking parents. Selective breeding means so much more to moreliageeks than trying to take a jaguar, a zebra, and an albino and take a few generations to make albino zebra jags. Like I said, my favorite carpet pythons at this point in time (which I would pay more for than any other) is "just" a fantastic looking normal.

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Thanks for the help! Found it very informative and well done, can tell you have experience :)