First time Carpet owner, just have a few questions!

So on Saturday i went to Repticon and i left with a beautiful Jungle Jaguar Carpet Python.
I have a Bearded, and a Jungle Runner, and recently got great Spider Ball Python.
The guy i got him from said that he is only 8 weeks old (should be 9 weeks today).
He has not eaten in 14 days tomorrow and i cant seem to get him to eat anything, the seller said that he hadn't missed a meal since birth and he does seem full bodied (not to thin) but i have tried a live pinky mouse and a f/t pinky rat and he doesn't seem to want to eat.

My other question is, i have a 2.5 gallon Critter Keeper, and a 5 Gallon Critter Keeper. should i keep him in one of those with like some sort of perch until he is a bit bigger?

I also built him a 75 gallon tank (I'm assuming he will be able to use through adult hood) that is bio-active, the spring-tails and isopods are finally cultivated! Is he still too small for this tank? i had to clean his smaller critter keeper and put him in the huge tank, he seems to love it. he has been thermoregulating pretty well in there and climbing on top of everything, but I'm afraid he will get stressed from the huge size, especially since i still haven't been able to get him to feed.

Any helpful tips would be great. i don't want to have to force feed him but i cant let the little beauty get sick on me. He does seem to strike at the f/t and the live pinky mouse but he wont latch, the one time he got caught on the f/t he freaked out.

He does have a bit of neuro which i know is pretty common in the morph, he has the shake pretty bad and goes upside down all the time, i knew that purchasing him, but after seeing the way other people were talking about him and the breeders talking about euthanizing him if they couldn't find a buyer i couldn't help but rescue him.

Good for you man. First off, quarantine him for 3 months.

As for caging, a large cage is fine assuming you can make him feel secure with perches, hides, lots of silk vines and plants and most of all, if you can keep the temps and humidity good.

As for feeding, how big is he? If the prey is too small, he might not register it. I know my JCP I got, I was told she only eats at night on live mice. I got her switched to F/T mice during the day in 1 try. The trick I did was I would hold the mouse with tongs by the tail. Then I would show it to her so she saw it. Then if she didn't grab it, I would just rub it on her body. That usually made her go crazy and she would grab it. Another thing that worked was same thing but instead of rubbing it on her, I would drag it along a perch in front of her and she would follow it and grab it.

Your little guy might need more time to adjust. Make sure all the temps and husbandry are good. Like I said, the gal with my JCP said she was a pain to get to eat but once I got her set up, she ate like a horse. She eats 2 adult mice every 5-7 days like clockwork.

What I have noticed with mine is she doesn't use hides and LOVES her perches. I can give you a few shots of her in her temporary cage until I get her Animal Plastics in spring.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...35388d_z_d.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...324221_z_d.jpg

The cage is 40 gallon breeder. Don't mind the knocked over thermometer/humidity gauge lol. She always knocks that thing over at night when she plays around. I stand it up in the day and she knocks it back down at night.

Here is some pictures, he is wittle. I think i measured him at 18 inches, he is a little thicker than a pencil.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...m%2F1ypmkz.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...m%2Fs32e0w.jpg

He is inside that rock hide atm.

I really like how your enclosure is set up. i might run by the HW store tomorrow and make him a jungle gym. although i still think he is really tiny haha.

- - - Updated - - -

lol i didnt even notice, she is beautiful though.

Thanks. Yeah those pvc gyms are so easy to make and the snakes freakin love them. Plus they are really easy to clean if the snake wipes a deuce on it. I don't pvc cement them together as I like to be able to take it apart to change it up or makes it easy to throw all the pieces in a bucket with F10 and water to clean it. I use 1" thick pvc. Since your guy is so small, maybe use a thinner pvc.

You're little guy is tiny lol. Allison was about 2.5' when I got her. I would probably try like a hopper mouse for your little guy. What did the breeder say he was eating?

And oh I got a better picture of Allison lol. Was mostly just showing the set up. Here's Allie.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f7165f_z_d.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...1952b8_z_d.jpg

Also i'm assuming you have a warm and cool hide if your snake actually uses them? You want to make sure he can get warm if needed without sacrificing security. Same with getting cool.

i made the hot hide with the branches and the cork flat, i have an extra hide i can rearrange it. im assuming he was feeding him pinky mice since that was what he was feeding them when he gave it to me.

Well if he isn't eating, it means something is not right. Looking at the picture of the cage, first thing I see is you got heat lamps where a snake can get to them and burn himself. Next is what are your temps on the cool side, hot side and you really should offer the same kind of hides for warm and cold. Problem is some snakes like a certain hide and will use it at the cost of overheating or being too cold. Your cage has a nice natural look to it but until you get that little of a snake eating regularly, i'm going to have to say, you need to put him in a smaller more controlled cage. The gal I got Allie from had problems getting her to eat reliably and I didn't say anything but I figured it was from the lack of a "good" setup. Once I got her home and put her in the set up I showed you, she started eating like a horse and growing and is starting to mellow out. Most snakes are fine in large enclosures and I don't buy the "its too large of a cage" thing except if you cant control the set up enough. Like I said, I would check the temps first and foremost because wrong temps and/or insecurity are imo the 2 biggest problems to getting a snake to eat.

Also you said Saturday you got him. So it's been 3 days? Or has it been 14 days for you? If 3 days then that's nothing. If it's 14 days on that small of a baby, I would worry a little. If you got the breeders name and number, I would email him and ask how he was feeding him. If not, you can try a F/T hopper mouse. I don't think I would want to try a live hopper mouse in that set up as it can get away and hurt your snake later. A pinky mouse seems small. I would imagine the snake wouldn't even register the pinky as food as they don't move much. Like I said, I would wait until night, then quietly try and dangle a F/T mouse in front of whatever hide he is in. Then maybe drag it on the ground in front of the hide to perk his interest. If he grabs it, just lightly tug on it to mimic it trying to get away but don't pull on it so hard as to scare the snake. If that fails, just leave it on the floor in front of the snake overnight and pray he eats it when its dark. Some snakes are just shy.

Heck the gal I got Allie from got a couple coastal carpet babies and she cant get them to eat either lol. She's been asking me how I got Allie to eat so well and I told her the same thing, you need to get the cage set up right with temps and security. A cold snake or scared snake is not going to be thinking about food. Sometimes the simplest set ups are the best. I like the naturalistic cages and stuff like Gio does and yours but for me, I found keeping it simple and easy to clean has worked best for me. All my snakes eat like horses and are puppy dog tame except Allie but she is on her way :)

I did mention, i put him in there while i was cleaning his critter keeper, but i think i might transfer him to my empty 10 gallon, i cant regulate heat well in a 8 inch containter. The temps in there as of now, are Daytime: 82-85 hot side, 72-75 cold side. Night time 72-75 hot side 68-70 cold side.

I left him in there after i cleaned because he was exploring around.

So i have had him since 10am on Saturday, and the breeder said that was his feeding day, i admit i was so focused on him that i missed a few questions. i was assuming 5-7 days feeding time. so i guess it would be a bit closer to 10 days that he hasnt eaten.

Today was the first day that he was set up in a an enclosure with a heat gradient that he can actually use. which was when i put him in the large enclosure. my Ball feeds on Thursday so i might just pick up a fuzzy for him and see how it goes then, since he would have been in a properly temp enclosure for 3 days at that point.

Yeah my buddy and i built the enclosures and he built them while i was at the show. I didnt know he was going to mount the heat lamps in the inside. i think im going to use some aluminum screen and staple it to the top and make the holes bigger to put the lamps on top.

Also like i said, i can get him to strike the food but he immediately recoils from the food when he gets it.
Im starting to think that he just might have been stressed.
I over worry about my little guys haha.

Need to bump those temps a good deal. I keep my JCP with a 90F hot spot and 79-80F cool side 24/7. My guess is that is a big part to why your little guy isn't eating, hes just too cold. I would definitely put him in the 10 gallon and get the temps up for him. If he likes to sit in hides, just use a UTH with a T-stat. Mine only goes to the floor to poop or pee and sometimes to explore but she LOVES her perches and lives on them lol so I just use a CHE on a Herpstat to give her a hot spot on part of her perch.

10 days isn't dangerous but I generally try to keep babies fed every 5-7 days. Allie eats 2 adult F/T mice every 7 days.

And yeah I would cut the holes in the top of the cage to fit the heat lamps and then metal screen mesh stapled down on the outside and then put the lights on top of that outside the cage.

He's probably striking and releasing as a defensive bite, not a food bite. He's probably scared of the mice since the temps are too cold so he's not thinking of eating. Get him some nice small hides. What I found worked well for my BP when she was a baby was plastic flower pot saucers flipped over with a little half moon cut in the side. Also I used little plastic bowls from Walmart like for toddlers. Flip them over and cut a half moon in the side and then just sandpaper it smooth. They are small enough to keep a baby feeling secure and cheap enough that you can just replace them as the snake grows. Even little cardboard boxes flipped over will work but they are done if the snake pisses next to it lol. You just need something low profile and tight fitting so the snake feels safe.

Oh and after you get all that set up with the temps and hides, leave him alone for a week so he can settle down. Then off him the mouse. You don't want to offer him food too much as that can stress him out a lot and put him off food altogether.

okay, that sounds good. I was trying to do a bioactive enclosure for him, but if he is going to be more arboreal then i will strip the cage down too and just put a 2-3in layer of substrate and then make him some sort of jungle gym. but for now i will transfer him to the 10 gallon with some heat lamps. i can get the temps higher in his larger enclosure. I just read some guides on ACreptiles that JCP's like it in that range. I really appreciate all the help. i will keep you updated on how he does.

Tomorrow i will go get all the stuff he needs.

Is there a specific UTH you would recommend or do you think the ZooMed one is fine.

I personally use Fluker UTHs. Also Ultratherm. I don't like the Zoo Med one as they cover them in that thick puffy plastic and put that sticky pad on them. The ones I mentioned are like flexwatt so you can reuse them. Just need to buy a roll of aluminum foil tape at any hardware store. Then just tape it to the bottom of the tank. Don't need to tape the whole thing, just the sides.

Be sure you use a t-stat with any UTH also. A lot of people put the t-stat probe between the UTh and the tank bottom on the outside. I prefer to just tape the t-stat probe to the bottom on the UTH on the outside. Just make sure you don't tape the actually probe end, just the wire. And try and get the probe as close to touching the UTH as you can. Then use a IR gun aka temp gun on the inside of the tank on the take floor to dial in the t-stat. Don't take the reading from the top of the substrate as the snake will push substrate aside to get to the heat. Also you only want about 1/4-1/2" deep substrate over the UTH, otherwise it will be pretty useless. Then just put a hide over the top of it and it will create a nice warm little house the snake can curl up in to warm up. Give him the same hide on the cool side also so he can cool off. Make sure they are the same kind of hide.

okay, yeah i was going to buy like a 4 pack of those gerber toddler bowls to make sure i have the same one one both sides, and make him a mini jungle gym out of pvc pipes like a 1/4" or 1/2" pipe. the tank is a 10gal tall.

Any substrate you recommend? i have cypress mulch, cypress bedding, peat moss/play sand mix.

I would use the cypress mulch personally as that will help with humidity.

FWIW, of my Morelia (a JCP and a Bredli) preferred their food to be presented from below at first (which only works when they're perched on something, of course). Definitely get him something to perch on, mine don't get down to the floor often (when I upgraded enclosures I didn't bother with UTH, just RHPs).

I was told by my JCP's breeder to keep him on rats, because switching could cause problems. News to the snake, he and the Bredli are my garbage disposals. [emoji3]. Once you get things to his liking he'll probably be a good feeder, most carpets seem to be.


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Congrats on the beautiful new carpet. They're probably my favorite species of snakes to keep. I agree with Sauzo. I'd bump those temps up a bit. I keep my carpets with a hot spot of about 90F and an ambient temp of about 80F. I'd let your guy settle in a bit more and offer him a mouse hopper. After a few successful feeds you can try a rat pink or fuzzy. As far as UTHs I prefer the Ultratherm brands. They don't get as hot as most of the others even without a thermostat (which you'll definitely need). Keep us posted on your progress and keep the pics coming!! :)

Thanks guys, i got his enclosure on the hot side up to 89-91 Degrees, and a gradient to 82 degrees, he came out of the hide and started roaming around.
Today thought i got his 10 Gallon set up and its heating up right now and bought some PVC to make him a perch for the large enclosure and small one.
I am thinking of tearing down the bio-active enclosure and doing something a bit more simple with more perches.
I will post some more pics soon, and give you an update when i get him to feed.

Well him being out and checking stuff out is a plus. Let him get used to the cage and stuff and in 5-7 days, offer him some food. Like El-Ziggy said, I would try a hopper mouse. Worry about getting him to eat consistently first, then worry about switching him over. Plus like I have preached many times, I feel anything under a weaned rat is a milkbag with undeveloped muscles, bones and organs and filled with milk so really don't offer that much compared to a fully formed mouse.

And you can even make a little pvc gym for him in a 10 gallon. He's pretty small so you can use smaller pvc. And like I said, don't cement the pieces together so when he does graduate to the larger cage, you can just tear the gym down to pieces again and build a new with the old pieces plus new pieces.

I'm going to ask the obvious question, have you contacted the guy you bought him from? He can answer questions like what temps he's at, what kinda caging he's used to etc.
carpets are great snakes, easily my favorite species. They don't really have the overwhelming issues you see in other snakes, once they are established in your house. That's the key establishing them first, at first set them up as close to the same as the breeder had them as you can. Leave them be for a week or 2, feed what the breeder was feeding, should work like a charm!


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Well, considering the breeder told two other customers that he had bred his "special" green iguanas to not get bigger than a beardie i dont know that taking any advice from him is a good idea. but he was feeding them pinky mice. and had them setup in shoeboxs with no perch and a single hide.
i dont really want to set him up like that.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...832_01_408.jpg

He did shed for the first time last night. (first time since ive had him)

I have not attempted to feed him since i put him in the 10 gallon. its been 3 days now. the first 2 days he did not move from the middle all coiled up. yesterday he started moving toward the hot side. and then i guess overnight he went to the cold side and shed. havent looked in there yet to see where he is.

Likely it wasn't feeding due to shed. Mice pinks are too small. I start carpets on rat pinks. I would try that a few more times before offering mice. However, it's not uncommon for young carpets to refuse rats. So, if rats are refused a couple more times, try mice hoppers.

sounds like the snake has a good case of the wobbles which will make feeding possibly more challenging. I have several jags, but only one with more than minimum wobble. When he was young it would often take numerous attempts before the snake would successfully feed. He would have trouble hitting the prey and even when he did, he was frequently unable to find it after uncoiling. He's gotten better at it with age even though the wobble has worsened (not saying that will be the case with your snake)

I would also advise not doing business with folks who breed special dwarf iguanas and talk of euthanizing snakes they can't sell.

So i have had Dingo, my jungle carpet Python, for 11 days now and it was his feeding day the day that i got him, i tried to feed him yesterday when i went to feed my ball python and he will still not eat. I did try to feed him a fuzzy mouse this time as well, and left it overnight to see if he would take it, he has not come out of his cold side hide.

He is in a 10gallon enclosure now and I have been keeping his temps at 88-90 degrees on the hot side and 77-80 on the cold side (the lower temps are at night here as it get pretty cold)

Not sure what to do, at this point would it be wiser just to do an assisted feeding or should i just take him to my local vet? (i am hesitant to take him to the vet as i dont want to stress him out more)

I definitely wouldn't assist feed nor do I think a vet visit is necessary just yet. Sometimes they just take a while to settle in. I'd give him another 5-7 days and try him again. If he refuses that meal I'd try a live mouse hopper.

really a hopper? the fuzzy mouse seemed excessively large, he is still a neonate. hes only about 10 weeks old if that.
The Fuzzy was about 1.5-1.75x as thick as him.

Do you got a picture of him with something to use a reference? Is he about as thick as a pencil or pen at the fattest part? Don't look at their face or neck as that will be deceptive. You want to look at their midsection. If he's as thick as a pencil or pen, he should be able to handle a small hopper mouse. Just ask the place where you buy food at if they can grab you a small hopper or if you go back with them as I usually do, just pick out the sizes you want. And i'm assuming its F/T? F/T look bigger as they usually are flattened or kind of misshaped lol. Once they thaw out, they get more round and look a little smaller. For example, my dumerils boa was eating hopper mice when she was 2 months old and about 18" with no problem.

Oh one other thing, some places name their stuff different for sizing and actually have different sizes of the same thing. A hopper is a mouse that is just weaned and starting to eat on their own FYI. I've ran into small rats that looked like medium rats and small rats that looked like weaned rats. Both were labeled "small" but they had a huge size difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DingoJungleJag

really a hopper? the fuzzy mouse seemed excessively large, he is still a neonate. hes only about 10 weeks old if that.
The Fuzzy was about 1.5-1.75x as thick as him.

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Sounds to me like the stores hopper mice are actually small adults. A hopper mouse should about 1/2" or slightly thicker and about 2" long. They look like a mini version of a mouse lol.

You'd be surprised by the size of prey carpets can take down. I know I was and I'm pretty cautious about these things. My JCP was 31g at 8 weeks and he would eat a 9g rat fuzzy. I bought a bunch of mice fuzzys at first but those were like tic-tacs to him. After 2-3 feedings of multiple mice fuzzys I offered him a rat fuzzy and he smashed it with no issues. My coastal was barely 100g when I got him as a yearling in Sept. 2015. I started out feeding him rat fuzzys for his first two feedings. The breeder told he he could undoubtedly handle a jumbo mouse. I thought NO WAY but I tried it and he took it down with ease. I would never suggest overfeeding any animal. I'm just saying don't underestimate these guys.

Okay, well i will try again next tuesday with a live hopper, i really hope he takes it. Im starting to get worried about the little guy

The mice fuzzys aren't really that big. According to the Big Cheese website they're 7-12g. Here's a good reference for prey sizes.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...zespicture.jpg

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

The mice fuzzys aren't really that big. According to the Big Cheese website they're 7-12g. Here's a good reference for prey sizes.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...zespicture.jpg

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Nice idea ... Pity a couple of them look to be out of order as the black colouration makes them 'appear' smaller than they are though ...

http://i68.tinypic.com/5zfbsh.jpg

That is him next to a "fuzzy" mouse. which is about 2 inches long and about half and inch to an inch in girth.

Today is feeding week number 3, third attempt. He seems to be quite a bit more active this week than any previous, and also seems more interested in the live prey than the frozen. but it has almost been 10 minutes and he has not taken the mouse. once it hits about 10 minutes ill take the mouse out and i will have to try again next week. after next weeks feeding it will be over a month since he has eaten. Im getting a bit more worried at this point. When should i look into assisted feeding or going to my local herp vet?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DingoJungleJag

http://i68.tinypic.com/5zfbsh.jpg

That is him next to a "fuzzy" mouse. which is about 2 inches long and about half and inch to an inch in girth.

Today is feeding week number 3, third attempt. He seems to be quite a bit more active this week than any previous, and also seems more interested in the live prey than the frozen. but it has almost been 10 minutes and he has not taken the mouse. once it hits about 10 minutes ill take the mouse out and i will have to try again next week. after next weeks feeding it will be over a month since he has eaten. Im getting a bit more worried at this point. When should i look into assisted feeding or going to my local herp vet?

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Hi .. First thoughts are to feed on some card or a plate if you get it drop-feeding ... rather than straight off the substrates when there's a very real chance of impaction .

Secondly offer the mouse WARM using tongs , if it doesn't take it then you warm it up again using a hairdryer then offer it again instantly , repeat this procedure as many times as it takes .

Also just wondering about the size of mouse you've offered . As the one in the photo looks a tad wide compared to the width of the snake !??


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So the mouse is live, should i still take a hair dryer to it?

Also, this is the mouse i was recommended to feed to him. it is a little less then double the width of Dingo.

I have not tried feeding him outside of his enclosure yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DingoJungleJag

So the mouse is live, should i still take a hair dryer to it?

Also, this is the mouse i was recommended to feed to him. it is a little less then double the width of Dingo.

I have not tried feeding him outside of his enclosure yet.

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Fair enough , I know they CAN eat bigger items than we think .. and no there's no need to warm up LIVE offerings just the defrosted ones ..

I wouldn't even consider feeding in a separate enclosure !!!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DingoJungleJag

http://i68.tinypic.com/5zfbsh.jpg

That is him next to a "fuzzy" mouse. which is about 2 inches long and about half and inch to an inch in girth.

Today is feeding week number 3, third attempt. He seems to be quite a bit more active this week than any previous, and also seems more interested in the live prey than the frozen. but it has almost been 10 minutes and he has not taken the mouse. once it hits about 10 minutes ill take the mouse out and i will have to try again next week. after next weeks feeding it will be over a month since he has eaten. Im getting a bit more worried at this point. When should i look into assisted feeding or going to my local herp vet?

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It's not old enough to harm your snake so no need to supervise. Turn the lights out, shut the door, leave them alone until morning.

I wouldn't be surprised if the shed last week was his first and this boy hasn't even eaten yet. I've noticed that my hatchling carpets are triggered strongest by movement. This is why hopper mice are often a successful prey item to get them started - they're one of the more active alternatives. I also have better luck getting them feeding in smaller spaces. The downside of the 10 gallon is that you can drop a prey item in there and if the snake isn't actively hunting, they might never cross paths in the allotted time. Hopefully he eats the fuzzy over night but if not, I'd be happy to offer some suggestions that have worked for me.

I'd also leave it in overnight - some snakes, especially youngsters, are more shy about eating than others.


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So after about 6 weeks since I got dingo here......

HE ATE!!!!!

He ate a f/t rat pinkie (thank God he went for the rat first)

Zincubus method worked. I put him in a little critter keeper, and warmed up the pinkie with the hair dryer. First attempt he didn't want it, so I warmed it up again and he immediately took to it and is now putting it down.

I am so excited you have no idea (well I'm sure some of you do). Now to get him eating consistently.

I will post a picture as soon as I get to my computer :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DingoJungleJag

So after about 6 weeks since I got dingo here......

HE ATE!!!!!

He ate a f/t rat pinkie (thank God he went for the rat first)

Zincubus method worked. I put him in a little critter keeper, and warmed up the pinkie with the hair dryer. First attempt he didn't want it, so I warmed it up again and he immediately took to it and is now putting it down.

I am so excited you have no idea (well I'm sure some of you do). Now to get him eating consistently.

I will post a picture as soon as I get to my computer :D

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That's great news !!

Now you 'know' the hairdryer method works you'll be confident next time rather than apprehensive . ..

Congrats !