So, I somehow ended up with this lovely girl

New forum for me -- usually I stick with the ball pythons and boa constrictors :) I don't normally get snakes on the fly (because, well, duh), but through a chain of connections on Facebook I was told about a 20-year-old diamond/carpet python hybrid -- not sure if she's jungle or coastal -- in need of a home, so now we are the proud keepers of Beatrice, hatched in November of 1995:

http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...sgooyyqoi.jpeg

She's a gorgeous girl, 5-6 feet long, and eats f/t rats like a champ. We're still working to get some stuck shed off her, which is proving to be a bit challenging as the whole soaking process rather annoys her and she gets hissy right when the shed is getting soft. Otherwise she appears to be in fantastic shape especially considering her age, according to my herp vet.

Very nice carpet Amanda. It's great to see such a mature snake. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Very nice carpet Amanda. It's great to see such a mature snake. :)

---

Thanks! And yes, I see many younger snakes -- shoot, my oldest after Beatrice is a whopping 3 years old -- but not so many that have been around decades.

I figured since her initial person couldn't keep her any longer, she should live the rest of her life with someone who would appreciate her (and, apparently, also appreciate her desire to be more of a display animal, which I'm happy to do).

i was looking over your list and had to look up what a 'chiweenie' was haha. congrats on the new/old snake :D

Quote:

---

It's great to see such a mature snake. :)

---

really is

Congrats on great cool snake! She is gorgeous indeed. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AllThatInThemGenes

i was looking over your list and had to look up what a 'chiweenie' was haha. congrats on the new/old snake :D

---

Thanks! And yeah, dog-wise we've got this weird chihuahua mix thing going on. It wasn't planned by any means. Apparently chiweenies (and chugs, and chorkies) just sort of, erm, "happen".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reinz

Congrats on great cool snake! She is gorgeous indeed. :)

---

Thank you :D

It will be hard to tell what she is crossed with, but it doesn't matter. What a great pet to have. A nice, long lived carpet. I would not call her a "hybrid" at least in the sense most folks think about the term.

Carpets are crossed so often you'll never know exactly what you have unless you have data from the breeder.

Whatever Morelia Spilota mix you have there is a very healthy, well cared for animal!

I have some type of coastal cross and can only hope I have her as long as your new girl has been alive.

Congrats.

We have a Chi-something. Quite likely a chiweenie (the vet thought so, too). Sweet and smart. Also, demanding and domineering. The two big dogs don't dare cross her. As the weather is getting cooler we purchased a fleece dog sweater for her. (she never seemed to like the knit ones we've tried - I think maybe they are itchy on her.) It is red and black plaid. Now, she is our wee little Scottish lass.

Beautiful carpet.

Can't wait to see some updates on this one. :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by distaff

We have a Chi-something. Quite likely a chiweenie (the vet thought so, too). Sweet and smart. Also, demanding and domineering. The two big dogs don't dare cross her. As the weather is getting cooler we purchased a fleece dog sweater for her. (she never seemed to like the knit ones we've tried - I think maybe they are itchy on her.) It is red and black plaid. Now, she is our wee little Scottish lass.

---

Lily fits that description to a T as well :) She's lovely, and is the canine version of a fainting goat when petted because she instantly rolls over for belly rubs. But she IS the queen of our castle. From the time she was a puppy she looked at our two boys, neither of whom is at all an alpha, and decreed herself the Ruler of All.

They haven't dared to argue.

Quote:

---

Beautiful carpet.

---

Thanks -- I'm really quite thrilled to have her in our house. She lives in our dining room. You know, as one does... (my husband is a saint).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John1982

Can't wait to see some updates on this one. :gj:

---

I'll be sure to keep y'all posted :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

... I would not call her a "hybrid" at least in the sense most folks think about the term.

Carpets are crossed so often you'll never know exactly what you have unless you have data from the breeder.

---

it's not a hybrid (crossing two distinct species), it's an intergrade (crossing sub-species of the same species, in this case Morelia Spilota). As noted, m.s. intergrades are quite common. Hard to tell what they are sometimes, like in this case. However at 5-6 feet I would suspect there is some jungle in there, my expectation for a diamond/coastal intergrade would be a larger snake. but, who knows.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DennisM

.................However at 5-6 feet I would suspect there is some jungle in there, my expectation for a diamond/coastal intergrade would be a larger snake. but, who knows.

---

Those were my thoughts as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DennisM

it's not a hybrid (crossing two distinct species), it's an intergrade (crossing sub-species of the same species, in this case Morelia Spilota). As noted, m.s. intergrades are quite common. Hard to tell what they are sometimes, like in this case. However at 5-6 feet I would suspect there is some jungle in there, my expectation for a diamond/coastal intergrade would be a larger snake. but, who knows.

---

My point exactly on the hybrid tag. Not a hybrid!

Actually, the Aussie folks would not even call it an intergrade, as they have zones where true intergrades naturally occur, which is why we normally call them crosses or mixes.

A naturally occurring intergrade, or an example of one would be in the areas of overlap in habitat. Diamond and coastal carpets often share the same terrain in those areas and NATURALLY intergrade/mate.

In most US collections, we are crossing various forms of carpet python to each other.

The Aussie carpet folks seem to view "intergrade" differently. When I refer to my snake on their forums, I call her a mix or a mutt which is fine by me.

In any case the snake here is really special!

I salute anybody with long lived well cared for animals!

Diamond/ jungle sounds right then; Beatrice's original owner couldn't remember which one, but he said he thought maybe jungle... perhaps his brain was pulling something out from 20 years past.

Intergrade. So many terms -- thank you all. I have to admit that the Australian snakes just weren't much on my radar until this point; I figured I was good with our existing 6, along with maybe adding a hognose and cornsnake eventually. There's definitely still a learning curve, even 3 years in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

I salute anybody with long lived well cared for animals!

---

We cross-posted -- thank you for the more detailed explanation!

And yes, Beatrice's former owner did a stellar job with her. I'm tickled to take over her care.

Beatrice continues to do well. Here's her picture from this morning:
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...s2e7yl630.jpeg

She continues to feed and has proven she also can eliminate (I have never been so excited to see feces and urates in my life). We managed to remove all her stuck shed except a small patch on her neck which is a wee bit close to her still very impressive teeth for my comfort :) I checked with our herp vet and she said it should be okay to keep our eyes on it and watch for it to come off with her next shed.

That brings me to a question: how often do mature snakes shed? Our other snakes only cover a 2-3 year agespan, and shed as often as monthly (the Dumeril's, when he's on a grow) to every 4-ish months (the sand sausag... erm, boas). I'm sure it varies from snake to snake, and my knowledge of morelia just doesn't extend that far.

Beatrice looks great!

Lizzy, my oldest Coastal is 5 years old. Her last shed was 67 days old. She had been in the blue for the past week, her eyes just cleared up today, so she should shed any day now. Her current skin is 90 days old.

I know that she is not an old lady like Beatrice, but I believe the MAJORITY of her growing is done.


http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...8b38dfa9e6.jpg

Thanks!

And okay, cool :) According to her former keeper she shed just a couple of weeks before we got her, so that was within the first couple of weeks of October -- maybe she'll shed toward the beginning of January or February or thereabouts? I'm just curious because I'd love to have all her stuck shed gone, plus I'm eager to see how she'll shed now that we've got her. It's the last "check" on my "signs I'm keeping this snake properly" list. With an old lady like Beatrice (any snake really, but especially due to her age), I want to be sure her husbandry is on point and her needs are being properly attended to.

Slow getting this up, but better late than never I suppose :)

At any rate, on February 18th Beatrice finally shed for me. Hooray! Now not only is the stuck shed from her last shed with her prior owner gone (just a little patch on the neck), but she's also hit the trifecta of eat/eliminate/shed that I need to see to verify her conditions are good.

It was a perfect shed -- one long piece. And goodness the mess she made! But here she is, simply gorgeous:

http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...psxd9c7gjc.jpg

I just discovered this post... Oh what a pleasure to see a long lived, beautiful, healthy animal. So glad the trifecta has been reached!!!

Awesome 👍

Beatrice is beautiful and inspiring to me because I just received my first cp yesterday. A 100g coastal male. We have a long way to go to catch up with Beatrice and I'm looking forward to the ride. Congratulations on the successful shed. I haven't even experienced one shed yet with the young bunch I've compiled since February 20th.

Thanks for the update Amanda. She looks great!

Knowig that she is well and healthy, have you been having fun with handling and exercising her! :)

Wow! The matriarch morelia. I feel like she should be on the cover of Reptiles magazine and deserves a bow. Kudos to you you and your better half taking on the responsibility. Congrats and thanks for sharing. :bow: :bow:

Great moniker Albert! :)

Matriarch Moreia, I love it

The Matriarch Morellia moniker is awesome :)

Reinz, I'd love to handle her more but she's just not a fan. She is tolerant to a point, and we are able to keep her nice and clean and happy (well, what passes for it -- "well cared for" is likely a more appropriate term), but fun handling doesn't seem to be in the cards. I figure at her respectable age it's best to let her be as she'd like without disturbing her for my own enjoyment.

She's kept in our dining room, though, so I do get to spend quite a bit of time with her at least :) Such a lovely girl.