They grow so fast.

Chomper "evacuated" the remains of his last meal and weighed in at a fit and ready 675g empty. He came to me at 85g on Sep. 2, 2015. I love this guy.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psbrfyfzva.jpg
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...pssc7pz7vr.jpg

85 gr to 675 gr ?

wow, thats fast :O

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Originally Posted by wibihihi

85 gr to 675 gr ?

wow, thats fast :O

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I think he's catching up a bit. He was hatched 6/24/14 and was a little undersized at 85g when I got him as a yearling. He usually eats about 10-15% of his body weight every 7days.

He looks fantastic Ziggy!! Great job! :)

He does look great and shows me what I have to look forward to. I will offer shag his first meal here on Sunday and I can't wait. I hope he slams the f/t offering.

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Originally Posted by Terminal

He does look great and shows me what I have to look forward to. I will offer shag his first meal here on Sunday and I can't wait. I hope he slams the f/t offering.

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@ Terminal- Good luck with feeding Shag. If you thaw and heat the prey item to about 100F he should take it. What are you going to feed him for starters? My guy was a bit undersized when I got him so I was feeding him every 5-6 days for the first 3 months. I've moved that to every 6-7 days now. And why did Strawberry get a meal on day one but Shag has to wait? ;)

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

@ Terminal- Good luck with feeding Shag. If you thaw and heat the prey item to about 100F he should take it. What are you going to feed him for starters? My guy was a bit undersized when I got him so I was feeding him every 5-6 days for the first 3 months. I've moved that to every 6-7 days now. And why did Strawberry get a meal on day one but Shag has to wait? ;)

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I'm going to feed him 15g mice (small adult?). I guess one a week is good for now as he is 94g. What do you think? I only fed strawberry so soon because I was going to feed corny so I couldn't resist even though I thought it might be best to wait a few days but it worked out fine.

I haven't fed shag yet because nick said he fed him a rat pup on the 12th to see if he would take a rat and I can still see a slight bulge. I'm anxious though.

When feeding do you present it to the snake with tongs and wait for him to take it or do you just lay it in the enclosure? The reason I ask is that the one BP i have seems to be intimidated with the offering and the one and only time he has eaten for me out of the four tries I had to leave it laying in the enclosure after he refused the offering. Note that he seems to be a scaredy cat in general anyway. The other BP has taken every offering. Also, when feeding strawberry last night he was really interested in the pinky but wouldn't take it until I let go of it with the forceps and let it lay right in front of him.

Another question, if at feeding time they are hidden away in a hide do you try to get them to come out on their own or do you just uncover them? I think the uncovering really upsets the one BP so the next feed I am just going to leave the mouse lay on the floor and see how that works and forgo the attempt at uncovering and offering.

I try to keep things as close to nature as possible, considering that it is pretty far from it.


I blow on the rat into the cage for scenting. This gets their attention fast, if they are in the hide, the head pops out and they start looking and exploring.

I present with tongs and wiggle slightly (zombie dance).

After the strike, I will gently tug on the tail or foot a few times every 5 secs or so to emulate live prey for about 25-30 secs. I believe that this helps with conversions too.

I check on them frequently to be sure that there are no problems with debris.


Lizzy, Coastal Carpet
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...69e53e13dc.jpg

T- The adult mice you have will be fine to start him on. I started my coastal on 15-20g rat fuzzys. I would advise getting him on rats sooner than later. I think my snakes all grew faster once they were on rats. Some carpets can be finicky when making the switch but you shouldn't have that problem with your coastal. I feed all of my snakes from tongs and have only had to drop feed my kings a few times during the winter when they were eating sporadically. The carpets all take their foods from tongs. I make sure the feeders are completely thawed and serve them at about 100F. As far as feeding them when they're in their hides I've had no problems lifting hides and feeding my snakes. My coastal was kinda shy for about a month and I always had to lift his hide to feed him. Now he hangs out at the front of his enclosure and is really active when he's ready to eat. Each snake is different and you'll learn to read them as they grow. Carpets can take pretty pretty large meals so you'll feed them a bit differently than your corns. I usually feed my colubrids 10-15% of their body weight per feeding. My carpets eat closer to 15-20% (sometimes a little more) of their body weight per feeding. If Nick fed your guy a rat pup those are typically 20-35g each so a 15g adult mouse will be a smaller meal for him. My coastal ate a 33g jumbo mouse two weeks after being with me and he wasn't even 100g yet. I actually called Nick to see what I should be feeding and he told me to try the jumbo mouse. I didn't think there was any way he could handle that but figured Nick knows a LOT more than I do about these guys so I gave it a shot and he smashed it with ease. Since he had a pretty large meal that time he didn't eat again for 8 days. I got daring last night too. My new 60g Bredl was eating (2) 5g mice fuzzys for his first 2 feedings. I found a small 11g rat fuzzy and offered it. He ate it butt first! I don't push the envelope too far but I've learned not to underestimate these guys :).

I agree, it so amazing how much they can stretch. :rolleye2:

Chomper was 85g on 9/2/15 and 842g on 4/19/16. I'm sure he's somewhere between 900-1000g now. This is him after a week and him today.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psvye1ldsg.jpg

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...pslvxg1sdc.jpg

Trinity has hit the 250g mark.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psu1ig2i2z.jpg

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psnpz8d9km.jpg

Chomper and trinity are looking good ziggy.


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Fantastic looking animals

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Chomper was 85g on 9/2/15 and 842g on 4/19/16. I'm sure he's somewhere between 900-1000g now. This is him after a week and him today.

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Dang! What do you feed him to grow that fast lol

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Originally Posted by piedpipper

Dang! What do you feed him to grow that fast lol

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He eats a medium rat every 7-10 days. He sometimes gets a chick for a snack. He was a bit undersized when I got him as an 85g yearling. I started off feeding him every 5 days but I've scaled it back as he's grown. I feed him roughly 10-15% of his body weight per feeding. For his last few meals he ate a 98g medium rat on 4/23, a 124g medium rat on 5/8, and a 39g chick on 5/12. He'll get another medium rat in a few days. I'm curious to see how others feed their carpets.

When I got my little carpet she was eating rat pinkies. I am still feeding her the remainder of pinkies and then plan to move up to fuzzies. Is there any issue with feeding them rats when they are young? I have a cardboard mat that I put in front of her hide and she knows "it's dinner time". The first two times I fed her she didn't take it off of the tongs but ate it off of the mat. The next time she gently grabbed it from the tongs and the last time she was out and ready - much more aggressive. She is such a fun snake, I think I want more carpets but they are not that easy to find in this part of Canada.

I usually feed something larger than the thickest part of the body but since I only have small mice at the moment I feed two of those every seven days. (Mine's around 160 grams). So I guess that would be around 10-15%. I've never really been worried about feeding something too big though because from what I've seen and heard from breeders carpets are one snake that can take really big meals with no negative consequences (my breeder said he started mine off with large fuzzy or hopper mice right off the bat).

Wow, I can't believe how big Chomper is!

Both are mighty fine looking critters for sure. :)

I was pretty close with my guestimate. Chomper weighed 936g empty today.

@ BWB- I can't think of any issues with feeding your carpets rats when they're young but I kept on mice fuzzys and hoppers until they were big enough for rat fuzzys or pups. I think they benefit more from prey with fur and a more developed bone structure. I try to get my snakes off of pinkys ASAP.

Fantastic looking carpets EL! Great job you are doing with them. Can't wait to see you start pairing them up to make little chompers. Haha. :D

Shredder dropped a deuce and weighed in at 578g tonight. The container weighs 106g. He's 10 months so he's a little ahead of the 500g I thought he'd be at a year.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psblfs2rf5.jpg

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psf8l7b6tg.jpg

Looking very nice there ziggy.


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What a cutie! [emoji4]


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Awesome yellows coming in! If he looks like that at a year old he'll be stunning in another year! Thanks for sharing

It's not a good picture but my Coastal Chomper is right at 5ft and a little over 1100g now.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psitrsngnm.jpg

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

It's not a good picture but my Coastal Chomper is right at 5ft and a little over 1100g now.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psitrsngnm.jpg

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Very nice ziggy, chomper is looking good.


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Chomper is growing very nicely, and is beautiful as well!

Thanks for for the update Zig. :)

He looks great. You have done well with him.

Shredder's growing like a weed. He weighed in at 1425g today. I've dialed his feedings back to every 10-14 days.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...ps84tjyyxp.jpg

Wow, Shredder looks so big, and gorgeous too!

I bet he enjoys that exercise as well. :)

S'ven has been a bit of a pita lately by refusing his rats and insisting on mice but he'd better get over it soon. He was 52g when he arrived on 3/1/16. He was 530 on 12/9/16.

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...psyszfqgd1.jpg

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7yw8fn70.jpg

Well Zig, seeing how Sven is doing along with the rest of your Carpets is proof that not only do know how to pick 'em, but you take good care of them too!

They all look great Ziggy, they are lucky to have you! You have an awesome collection going. Are you planning on adding any more carpets?


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Originally Posted by BigLou3

They all look great Ziggy, they are lucky to have you! You have an awesome collection going. Are you planning on adding any more carpets?


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Thanks Lou. You and Lady Eavlynn have a VERY impressive collection of critters yourselves ;). I've got a coastal, Bredli and 2 jungles. I'm thinking about adding an albino, super caramel jag, or axanthic jag. I've got a few other ideas cooking too. :)
On another note, S'ven ate a weaned rat tonight. His first in 6 weeks. He won't see another mouse anytime soon I can tell you that!

Thank you, I appreciate that. Any of those would be an awesome addition. I love the axanthic jags. Sometimes I wish I had gotten one, but I love my axanthic coastal. The super caramel jags and albinos are stunning also. So many choices it's definitely difficult. I really like the inlands also...


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