Carpet Python feeding and age questions

So this past weekend I picked up a baby carpet python. He weighs 40g and is about 20 inches long. I was told that his mother was a coastal and his father was a jungle.

Question #1) I'm feeding him 1 fuzzy mouse every 7 days. The fuzzy is slightly larger than my carpet pythons head. Is this good? I know with Ball Pythons that I should feed 15% of the snakes weight. What is the ratio for carpets?

Question #2) can anyone tell me the approximate age of my little guy? I'll post a picture of him when I have a chance incase that helps.

This is aside the point but try to switch to rats. Coastals usually aren't picky but carpets in general can be very stubborn and hard to switch from mice to rats. Him being a coastal you can expect him to get big and he will need rats unless you're ready to feed your snake like 15 full grown mice every week

Congrats on the snake. I adore carpets

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Originally Posted by SkYyame

This is aside the point but try to switch to rats. Coastals usually aren't picky but carpets in general can be very stubborn and hard to switch from mice to rats. Him being a coastal you can expect him to get big and he will need rats unless you're ready to feed your snake like 15 full grown mice every week

Congrats on the snake. I adore carpets

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I plan on, I just happened to have some mouse fuzzies and figured I would use them up first. I have 14 left, would feeding my carpet the remaining 14 cause me problems down the road?

here are some pics:

[IMG]http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0145.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0142.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...t/IMG_0147.jpg[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I plan on, I just happened to have some mouse fuzzies and figured I would use them up first. I have 14 left, would feeding my carpet the remaining 14 cause me problems down the road?

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Absolutely yes. If I were you I'd avoid problems by buying rats NOW.

If you get a carpet that's hooked on mice you'll be wasting $$ down the road on rats that it won't eat anyway.


...and by the way how is its attitude? Alot of young carpets are nippy but are known to grow out of it when they realize you're not trying to eat them lol

He's great he has only tried to eat my face once. Right now he is chilling on my arm. He seems much more active than my ball pythons but just as non-aggressive

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

He's great he has only tried to eat my face once. Right now he is chilling on my arm. He seems much more active than my ball pythons but just as non-aggressive

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That's awesome, I'm happy for you! Expect him to only get calmer and more used to you.

I always liked the way carpets looked and my love for them solidified the first time I held one (which was after alot of ball python handling). They are curious, active, alert, love to climb and are just awesome snakes. They're also graceful and come in all colors.

Not enough morelia love on this site!

It is ball-pythons.net but I hear you lol.

So back to my questions, can anyone estimate the age of my little guy?

I would guess around 9-13 months.. It really depends on how frequently he was fed and the temperatures of his previous enclosure(s).

Also the size of the prey items he was fed.. I've seen some that size at several months and sadly I've seen them the same size after at a few years of age.

Well I know that he's been well taken care of the shop I picked him us from is great, very clean and has nice healthy animals. So I'm going to guess that he is towards the younger end of the spectrum thanks.

Very nice carpet! I would guess 6-12 months, but its hard to judge from the pictures. I also recommend switching to rats asap before he gets hook on mice lol.

I was told that you should measure the food size by a carpets body thickness, not his head size, because they have bery big heads for their body. Is that true??

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Originally Posted by Jared2608

I was told that you should measure the food size by a carpets body thickness, not his head size, because they have bery big heads for their body. Is that true??

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I'm no expert, but from my research I believe that carpet pythons can eat proportionally much larger meals than ball pythons. The fuzzy I fed mine 2 days ago has already been digested to the point that I can't even tell that he recently ate and he certainly didn't have any trouble downing it lol

Hey! I have a jungle coastal mix as well. She is a BRAT though. Bites alllll the time. Used to poop on me all the time too, because she was so scared. I think when I got her she was 26 inches long. They told me she was 8 months. She's grown a lot, and finally put on a little weight to where she looks healthy, now. She chills all the time on the hot end of the tank, peeking at me. Glares like crazy when she thinks i'm going to pick her up though. I finally got her used to being picked up, so we can take her out of her viv and feed her. She will still bite after she eats though, if i'm not careful. She hates being exposed and will NOT hang out on your arm. Best case scenario is she will sit on your belly under your shirt *lol* Looks just like yours, except with a meaner expression *lmao*

We named her Silver, for her brilliantly silver eyes. She was my first real baby snake. I don't count our initial ball python, Saphie (Sapphire), because she is just about the most easy going animal in the world, even for a ball, so Silver is on the other end of the spectrum.

Do you notice if he likes to stay warm? I have briefly talked to other carpet or at least jungle carpet or mix owners, and theirs love to be hot hot hot all the time, just like my girl. She prefers to be at least 90 degrees ALL the time. In fact the weather turned cold and she got a little RI and I had to put a heat lamp, as well as UTH in there for her and she LOVED it. She's fine now, but I know she'd like the heat lamp back. She's had me worried before, because she likes it so hot. On the other end is my Dumeril's boas who are like ice most of the time.

I fed her pinkies at first, and moved to larger prey as soon as she could take it. She can do very small rats now. And will. I let her eat when she wants it, since her metabolism is a bit higher than my ball pythons and she's growing. She's one of our "garbage disposal" snakes. If no one else wants it, she will probably take it *lol*

Anyway...I'm rambling. I like your snake, is my point! Ha!

Carpets can eat prey twice the size of their biggest part, here is a great care sheet link http://www.acreptiles.com/main/index...=81&Itemid=140

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Originally Posted by Missy King

Hey! I have a jungle coastal mix as well. She is a BRAT though. Bites alllll the time. Used to poop on me all the time too, because she was so scared. I think when I got her she was 26 inches long. They told me she was 8 months. She's grown a lot, and finally put on a little weight to where she looks healthy, now. She chills all the time on the hot end of the tank, peeking at me. Glares like crazy when she thinks i'm going to pick her up though. I finally got her used to being picked up, so we can take her out of her viv and feed her. She will still bite after she eats though, if i'm not careful. She hates being exposed and will NOT hang out on your arm. Best case scenario is she will sit on your belly under your shirt *lol* Looks just like yours, except with a meaner expression *lmao*

We named her Silver, for her brilliantly silver eyes. She was my first real baby snake. I don't count our initial ball python, Saphie (Sapphire), because she is just about the most easy going animal in the world, even for a ball, so Silver is on the other end of the spectrum.

Do you notice if he likes to stay warm? I have briefly talked to other carpet or at least jungle carpet or mix owners, and theirs love to be hot hot hot all the time, just like my girl. She prefers to be at least 90 degrees ALL the time. In fact the weather turned cold and she got a little RI and I had to put a heat lamp, as well as UTH in there for her and she LOVED it. She's fine now, but I know she'd like the heat lamp back. She's had me worried before, because she likes it so hot. On the other end is my Dumeril's boas who are like ice most of the time.

I fed her pinkies at first, and moved to larger prey as soon as she could take it. She can do very small rats now. And will. I let her eat when she wants it, since her metabolism is a bit higher than my ball pythons and she's growing. She's one of our "garbage disposal" snakes. If no one else wants it, she will probably take it *lol*

Anyway...I'm rambling. I like your snake, is my point! Ha!

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Yes my little guy likes it hot. He sits up on his perch most of the time under his radiant heat panel

I would start feeding rat pinkies from now on, I start all my hatchling carpets right out of the egg on rat pinkies. And as for size they will eventually be feeding on large/jumbo rats and rabbits once they reach 10ft+. My largest coastal feeds on large rats every week and she's only 7ft.

Don't buy in to the hype about switching from mice to rats, it happens but it's easy to get past. Carpets have such a strong feeding response that waiting out until they'll eat a rat, turtle, human leg, etc works just fine. I personally haven't had an issue switching any of mine, but i hear it happens. Eventually the carpet will get hungry and eat anything offered. Once they eat 1 rat you're golden. Congrats on the new carpet btw, once you're past the feisty stage you'll fall in love with their personalities.

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Originally Posted by dart

Don't buy in to the hype about switching from mice to rats, it happens but it's easy to get past. Carpets have such a strong feeding response that waiting out until they'll eat a rat, turtle, human leg, etc works just fine. I personally haven't had an issue switching any of mine, but i hear it happens. Eventually the carpet will get hungry and eat anything offered. Once they eat 1 rat you're golden. Congrats on the new carpet btw, once you're past the feisty stage you'll fall in love with their personalities.

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It seem like you've had really good luck with the mice to rats switch with your carpets which is awesome.

I've heard carpet breeders claim that IJs and jungles could be tough to switch over, and some carpets are so stubborn that they seemingly won't. I know of a breeder that has had to brain rats and do all sorts of tricks to get certain carpets to accept rats.

There is no benefit in feeding a carpet mice so why risk this issue

I had a hard time switching one of my IJ's to rats, the other one was easy as pie to switch. Depends on the individual snake.
Nice looking snake! I like them a lot and yours is great.

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+1 for SkYyame, Your absolutely right, IJ's and Jungles are horrible with mice. And another good point why risk even feeding them mice? I start em off on rat pinkies and adjust size as needed.

SkY and Austin both make good points, even though I've personally never had an issue if the problem exists why even chance it? It'll probably be better just to go buy .85 cent rat pinks instead of having to try and switch.

very true I just ordered my next 6 months worth of feeders from Rodent pro. I'm going to switch all of my snakes to rats so I just ordered enough of everything from pinkies to mediums.

Thanks all for your input.

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once you're past the feisty stage you'll fall in love with their personalities.

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So far my little guy hasn't been feisty at all, he tried to get me once but stopped halfway and that was the first time I held him. I do really enjoy handling him much more than my Ball Pythons already... I can't wait until he is bigger.