Coastal Jaguar Carpet python Question

http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/...psa28c2bfc.jpg

So that is stella my newly acquired as of yesterday Coastal Jaguar Carpet Python she is about 4-5 feet long however I dont believe her last owners have tried in anyway to tame her... My questions are as follows
1) Is it likely that once I start a handling routine with her she will stop being so snappy she is 2 years old and i have read that its unlikely but hoping that the internet is wrong on other sites?
2) What size mice should I be starting her at because to me she seems rather skinny however only pythons ive ever had prior were balls?
3) Ive read that she shouldnt grow much more as it seems to be rare they get more then 5-6 feet?
4) Her previous owner says she has only shed once which given her size seems extremely wierd to me is this normal or should I be worried for her health?

Any help would be appreciated and I would be greatly thankful she is a beautiful snake imo and I would hate to have to get rid of her but being tagged 10 times just putting her water in her enclosure and not being able to handle my pet without gloves is a tad annoying..

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Originally Posted by bradpohl

http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/...psa28c2bfc.jpg

So that is stella my newly acquired as of yesterday Coastal Jaguar Carpet Python she is about 4-5 feet long however I dont believe her last owners have tried in anyway to tame her... My questions are as follows
1) Is it likely that once I start a handling routine with her she will stop being so snappy she is 2 years old and i have read that its unlikely but hoping that the internet is wrong on other sites?
2) What size mice should I be starting her at because to me she seems rather skinny however only pythons ive ever had prior were balls?
3) Ive read that she shouldnt grow much more as it seems to be rare they get more then 5-6 feet?
4) Her previous owner says she has only shed once which given her size seems extremely wierd to me is this normal or should I be worried for her health?

Any help would be appreciated and I would be greatly thankful she is a beautiful snake imo and I would hate to have to get rid of her but being tagged 10 times just putting her water in her enclosure and not being able to handle my pet without gloves is a tad annoying..

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1. She may always be nippy or she may mellow out with regular handling, it really depends on the snake. She also may be snappy because she's in a new place and is stressed out about her new place. Give her a week or two to adjust with no handling at all, only go in to change water and spot clean if needed. My female has a hide she occasionally uses so I would suggest adding one if you don't have one already, can't tell from the pics.

2. I would start with small-medium rats, mice are a bit small for a 4-5ft carpet.

3. Size varies but she will grow for the rest of her life, growth will slow as she gets older. My female is about 13 years old and she is roughly 7.5 feet.

4. A snake thats 4-5ft has shed more than once, maybe they meant she has only shed once since they had her?

As for handling goes I would wait a while then try getting her out after she has eaten a few times and settled down.
I assume you've done your husbandry research, but if you are unsure of things I'd look for some caresheets :) or ask more questions here, if you can't find what you are looking for.

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Originally Posted by katiekat

1. She may always be nippy or she may mellow out with regular handling, it really depends on the snake. She also may be snappy because she's in a new place and is stressed out about her new place. Give her a week or two to adjust with no handling at all, only go in to change water and spot clean if needed. My female has a hide she occasionally uses so I would suggest adding one if you don't have one already, can't tell from the pics.

2. I would start with small-medium rats, mice are a bit small for a 4-5ft carpet.

3. Size varies but she will grow for the rest of her life, growth will slow as she gets older. My female is about 13 years old and she is roughly 7.5 feet.

4. A snake thats 4-5ft has shed more than once, maybe they meant she has only shed once since they had her?

As for handling goes I would wait a while then try getting her out after she has eaten a few times and settled down.
I assume you've done your husbandry research, but if you are unsure of things I'd look for some caresheets :) or ask more questions here, if you can't find what you are looking for.

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I have a hide though she seems to be more content curled up beside the heating bad there she hasnt left the spot since she moved from the coiled position around the poles you see there... I havnt handled her at all yet was waiting atleast a week and she has lots of water so I will let her mellow out...As for it being a new place well her previous owners named her scizo because of how sketchy she is and decided to warn me after they left that she will bite without remorse. I will feed her a small rat to start. She just seems so skinny to me that I am concerned she wouldnt eat it...They were feeding her pinkie mice which might have a bit to do with her size... I knew enough about her to know however that pinkies arent enough for something her size. I thought she would of had to shed more then once as it wouldnt make sense she went from a baby to boom 5 feet with shedding once! I have been looking and reading up on her care and have learned alot.. I appreciate your answer and cannot wait to grow and learn with her. Just hope she calms down enough she can turn some of my non snake lover friends into believers instead of well proving them right.

In my experience, carpets can be a bit snappy but calm down easily with handling. Mine was mean as he11 at first. She even earned her name(meanie) but is now as easy to handle as any snake ive owned. She is still sketchy in the cage but i take her out with a hook or pull her perch when shes on it and she crawls on to my hand and is good. Give it time to settle. Take it out with a hook, wear gloves at first, after it calms down in your hands take the gloves off. Im pretty sure you can tame it down in a relatively short amount of time.

I got my carpet as a 6.5 foot rescue that was tied in a pillow case and left in a closet for months. She was so mean in the beginning she would launch out of her tub at me and earned the name big ass bi well cant finish it but after couple months slowly working with her and getting her eatting good she's now calmed down and I'm able to hold her with no problems anymore, she does make a hissing sound all time but ive been told that's a carpet thing it's not hissing just like sighing lol

If I was able to get my girl Jimma to calm down then I think there is hope for any Carpet.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps6d6d2275.jpg

When I first got this girl she was by far the most aggressive snake I had ever worked with. I was told she was a year old when I got her. She use to come straight for my face, mouth wide open, whenever I would open her tub. Once I would have her out she would squeeze the life out of my hand and any new touch or movement and she would strike pretty wildly. Now after about a year and a half of working with her she only gets jumpy every once and a while and hasn't struck in at least 4 or 5 months.

One thing I would recommend is not using gloves. I tried using gloves for the first couple months and it didn't really seem to help with getting her to calm down. She would be ok at first but as soon as my bare had would touch her she would get all defensive again. It seemed like she was learning to trust the gloves more than to trust me. I would just hook her out and gently lift her off the hook with your bare hands and sit still while you let her explore your hands and arms. Starting off with only 5-10 minute handling sessions at a time.

If she will take rats then small-medium rats will work fine. My girl will only take mice so she gets 2 jumbo mice every 7-10 days.

She is a pretty girl and I think you will really enjoy her. Carpets are amazing snakes and a joy to work with. Good luck with her.

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Originally Posted by wes

if i was able to get my girl jimma to calm down then i think there is hope for any carpet.
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps6d6d2275.jpg

when i first got this girl she was by far the most aggressive snake i had ever worked with. I was told she was a year old when i got her. She use to come straight for my face, mouth wide open, whenever i would open her tub. Once i would have her out she would squeeze the life out of my hand and any new touch or movement and she would strike pretty wildly. Now after about a year and a half of working with her she only gets jumpy every once and a while and hasn't struck in at least 4 or 5 months.

One thing i would recommend is not using gloves. I tried using gloves for the first couple months and it didn't really seem to help with getting her to calm down. She would be ok at first but as soon as my bare had would touch her she would get all defensive again. It seemed like she was learning to trust the gloves more than to trust me. I would just hook her out and gently lift her off the hook with your bare hands and sit still while you let her explore your hands and arms. Starting off with only 5-10 minute handling sessions at a time.

If she will take rats then small-medium rats will work fine. My girl will only take mice so she gets 2 jumbo mice every 7-10 days.

She is a pretty girl and i think you will really enjoy her. Carpets are amazing snakes and a joy to work with. Good luck with her.

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seems like they are all different. Mine was crazy and i gloved up, let her crawl around till she would chill, took the gloves off one hand and let her crawl to it, ungloved the other and let her crawl back and she got used to the touch. She would want to go to the ungloved hand over the gloved one. Probably for the warmth or whatever. I couldnt calm her down till i tried gloves. It may be because the gloves made me less nervous about getting bitten so when she struck i wouldnt instictively jump or pull away. Just held my ground with confidence, which in my opinion made her less scared/skiddish/jumpy and calmed her demeanor faster.

When I was calming down my girl I always wore a baggy hoody she bite the arms on it a couple times and the chest by my nipple another but none went threw the hoodie so it was just a little shocker haha with time shell be your favorite snake to hold :) http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/30/5yba5eha.jpg she doesn't like staying still for pics haha

Is your carpet laying on a radiant heat panel in the first picture? :/

yes its built right into the tank :S I just bought her the other day...is there something wrong with that? she absolutly loves it. and wow you guys both have very beautiful snakes lol makes little Stella look tiny she is no where near the thickness of them though I truly think the previous owners under fed her a bit as they were feeding her pinkies every week in the summer 2 in the winter. To which you guys are suggesting more so tommorow I shall go pick up some small rats and some Jumbos and see what she thinks she likes better. In the end its her choice lol if Im not the one eating the rat...

I didn't even notice that. The cage came assembled like that? I've normally seen them on the sides or the top, do you have a thermostat on it so it isn't getting super hot? I know snakes can get bad burns on bellys if things like that are too hot

great no this is how it came it even has the stoppers on that side.... I will rotate it around though is it worth stressing her out by disturbing her introductory period in the house?

Is it upside down? Like can you flip whole thing over and still open the door and give her enough space to move?

I got this from Cornels World on their rhp FAQ


Do I need to use a thermostat or rheostat?

Radiant Heat Panels (RHP's) are designed to be used with a thermostat. Unlike some other heat sources, such as Flexwatt, it is possible to operate the Reptile Basics Inc. RHP without a thermostat BUT unsafe tank temperatures can occur! Remember, just because the panel can run at full power continuously does not mean it should. The panel itself uses an element made of a durable fiberglass cloth that is temperature resistant to over 1000 degrees so the panel burning out is an unlikely situation. When the RHP is operated at full power you do run the very real risk of overheating your vivarium and harming your animals due to the enclosed area. Please, use a thermostat to properly maintain ideal temperatures for your animals at all times!

Also:

RHP's are similar to Ceramic Heat Emitters (CHE) - they both project IR heat into the cage. Unlike CHE's that get very, very hot on their surface, these RHP's maintain temperatures safe to use inside the cage. This Infrared Heat tends to heat objects more than the air, much like the natural sunlight outdoors. This type of heat mimics real sunlight both in the direction it comes from and its penetration into the muscle tissue. IR heat has been shown to have a therapeutic effect on sick and injured animals as well. Your reptiles will spend less time basking and receive a much greater benefit from it. The RHP has been the heat of choice for the bird community for years due to these benefits. We at Reptile Basics Inc want to see the RHP gain this popularity in the reptile field!
Unlike CHE's, the surface temperature of the Reptile Basics RHP is not hot enough to instantly burn you! At full power our RHP will reach approximately 190 degrees on the lens surface. While this temperature sounds very, very high- you can hold your hand on it for 10 seconds or more without getting burned. I have done it myself and so have several of my human guinea pigs. When installed properly it would be nearly impossible for your reptile to stay on the heat for even that long. At worst the animal may bump into the panel while exploring the cage. If your RHP is properly set up on a thermostat you will not generally see even these temperatures. Our tests of three other RHP manufacturers products show very similar, sometime greater, surface temps. A higher surface temperature will project the heat farther BUT it is a trade off on burn safety. We carefully tweaked our wattage density of the custom manufactured element to get a safe compromise between surface temps and effective range.

It has a thermostat on it and I never turn it up all the way.. I go three quarters during the day and down to about half to just under during the night... during the day she curls right up beside it never ontop... During the night she will stretch right over it... I think shes alittle more intelligent then we are giving her credit... Also noticed during the day if she does touch it the head is the only part that does so. she likes this pose alot which by far is my favourite so far lol... http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/...ps617aa0c4.jpg

Honestly id move it to the top. Not sure how itd really work on the bottom