I'm joining the carpet club...

I've just put a female JCP on hold with a local breeder here in Winnipeg. I haven't selected the actual snake yet, just had my name down first in the queue. These are brand new hatchlings, they have eaten 2 or 3 times already and I'll be able to pick her up in about two weeks.

I'm stoked :)

Anyhow, I had originally planned to get a BP, but when I found JCPs available from a reputable breeder mere blocks from my home, I did more research and got hooked.

I have an enclosure that my JCP will no doubt outgrow in 2 years or so (a 30" x 12" x 18" 29g aquarium) but I'll build her a nice permanent residence when she's bigger. The basement she is gonig in is cooler (67f ambient or so) so I'll run 2 8" x 8" UTHs on thermostats and a 100w IR bulb on a rheostat for warmth.

I do have a few questions I was hoping to get answers to.

Do you need two hides for carpets or just one? Warm side or cool side? Do you put your hides on the ground or raised up?

Any general advice for picking a healthy specimen?

How long should I go before handling her? I want to handle her daily so she can become comfortable with me quickly.

And any other advice you can offer would be appreciated. This is my first herp so I'm looking to get as much info from experienced keepers as possible.

Thanks!

two hides on the ground at least and something to climb on is pretty important. dont handle fo a week she may be nippy =]

Nippy doesn't bother me, I've got a parrot :)

I was more concerned about her safety, comfort and well-being.

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Originally Posted by TheKingInYellow

Do you need two hides for carpets or just one? Warm side or cool side? Do you put your hides on the ground or raised up?

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i have 2, but i have alot of ground cover as well... if you have seen the pics of my male, and his cage... one hide is a small exo-terra and another is this ceramic jar my grandma got me while she was in singapor(sp) or something...

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Any general advice for picking a healthy specimen?

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you get to actually pic, lucky =]
i had to look at pics lol, um personally, the one that is nice and active, and healthy looking, if its draging around, not a good choice, i would also go with a semi chill one, but babies are always feisty...

and as far as not handling for a few weeks... dont do it, handle her after she has been with you for a few days, atleast look at her, and get her used to seeing you in those few days, but baby carpets are always nippy =]

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How long should I go before handling her? I want to handle her daily so she can become comfortable with me quickly.

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give her a couple days to adjust, maybe feed her, give her a few days after that, but i held mine a few days after letting him adjust. and i handle him daily now that school is out =]

congrats, they're addicting, so be careful with that....
as far as hides go, i admittedly don't have hides in all my carpet cages and some that do have hides never use them... they just like to curl up wherever they may. for a hatchling though i'd say a couple hides would be best, one warm, one cool... the adults actually move their hides around from warm to cool if they don't want to come out. most of them really only use their hides extensively if they are opaque. if it's a neonate then some aspen or other loose bedding will suffice because they'll most likely just burrow under that or perch somewhere in the enclosure.
if it's a quality breeder you're getting it from, you shouldn't have to worry about a healthy specimen - they should all have had a few meals on their own and obviously have no defects or whatever. with jungles, it can be a toss up as far as determining which ones will turn out the best looking as adults, but if you choose a highly contrasted specimen then you probably won't be disappointed.
as a first herp, you may have your hands full, but if you provide warmth, water, food, and shelter you should do just fine... purchasing a neonate will definitely be a very rewarding experience, so good choice there! when you get it, it will most likely be very 'mean' but most do calm down, regardless of how much they're handled. ironically, my only jungle carpet is all piss and vinegar and is probably my meanest snake... not to discourage you. :)
the only other 'advice' i can think of is that you may want to feed it rats ASAP because jungle carpets in particular can be finicky and you really don't want your 6' long, 10 lb adult eating mice... that would suck.
well, sorry for the long post, but i guess i get excited when people get into morelia.

Okay, I'll go and grab a couple of hides today. I'm not sure how big a hatchling Carpet is, so should I be looking at the small, medium or large hides? I think Exo-Terra is the brand I'm most likely to find out here. I also need to know the same thing for the water dish.

I know I can go cheap rubbermaid for the hides and water dish, but I greatly, greatly prefer a natural looking enclosure.

I have some Exoterra 'jungle vine' and a couple of medium silk plants already. I'll get a piece of reptile safe wood or something else sturdy for climbing today as well, and then used some twisted vine to provide another climbing option.

Once this is done, I can set up my heaters and thermostats and give it a week or so to get my temps settled. After that, I'll go get my JCP :D

i use those cheap plastic garden pots for hides and the plastic garden saucers for water dishes... cheap cheap cheap and they do the job. the pots double as a perch as well since they have a little height to them. plus they're natural colors so they don't look too bad.

I still think I'll get hides. I know they aren't any better, but this is my first snake and I wasnt a display piece as well as a pet. The cost is not a huge issue to me.

p.s. kzoo - GO LIONS!

Well, I have all my gear. I'm going to set up the terrarium today, and get the heaters running to see how my temps are. I'll post pictures of the enclosure if anyone is interested.

I finished setting up the enclosure this morning, and I'm letting it settle in so I can monitor the temps.

Here's the enclosure:

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/2/0/...nclosure-0.jpg

A close up of the left side and smaller hide:

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/2/0/...leftside-0.jpg

And here's the right:

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/2/0/...ightside-0.jpg

There is an 8" x 8" UTH under each hide running on independent thermostats and a 100w IR bulb on top which is dialed down with a rheostat. The back and sides of the aquarium have been painted with black Krylon Fusion so that the snake will not be exposed on all sides. There is combination of silk plants, flexible vine and fake branches for climbing, but I think I will replace the vine and branch with real wood, as I don't think this will support her weight. I'll move the flexible stuff into my Crested Gecko cage which is herp project #2.

I haven't decided which side to make the 'hot' side. One hide is slightly larger than the other, but I don't know if that matters when it comes to heating...

I have a very similar set up for my carpet cage, though mine's not as high as yours. I dont use a heating lamp at all, and the ambient temps are just fine. I'd also use something to cover up all that mesh up top, to keep your humidity up.

Looks great, your new snakes gonna love it.

Thanks for the kind words :) I do need the lamp since my ambients are so low in the basement, and I'l use it for night time lighting too (IR is supposed to be fine for 24hr lighting).

I picked up a sheet of 8mm acrylic that I am going to attempt to cut to shape tonight (go go Dremel rotary saw) to help with the humidity levels. I've also picked up some driftwood to replace the flexible vines.

Looks like I have some more work to do tongiht :D

that'll be great.. i think IR bulbs are the way to go. i do use only flexwatt on some cages since my room is 80 degrees, but the most efficient way for herps to utilize heat is by basking under a lamp.

Well I got the acrylic cut, and the edges are a bit rough (boo Dremel rotoary tool) but it's not too bad.

I left about a 1/2" gap around the outside and around the lamp for ventilation, but it's far more 'covered' than it was before.

I picked up some driftwood, but upon getting it home, I'm not thrilled. I'm going to try and find something more 'branchlike' and preferably plastic for ease of cleaning.

I'll check the surface temps a little later.

Hi,

It depends on your conditions but most people don't leave the gap round the edge. But thats a by the by.

What I really wanted to ask is if you have a spare peice of the lacrylic left you could practice smoothing the edges on with fine sandpapaer then liquid metal polish?

It might not work which is why the spare peice first but I have used something similar in the past to take scratches out of the top of my record player cover (that's like old, huge,black cd's that crackle and hiss for you youngsters out there).


dr del

There are lots of polishing compounds out there, and I was even considering a sanding/grinding wheel on the Dremel. I'll try it, but a bit of a rough edge doesn't really doesn't bother me too much.

Checked the temps on the paper towel tonight. 82 on the cool side, 85 on the hot. Not too bad. I've got multiple paper towels though, so I know that's another layer of insulation that is blocking heat. I should be able to get my 90 degree hotspot by tomorrow I hope. I'm pulling everything out of the tank to lessen the depth of the substrate right now.

nice setup, one little suggestion , you might want a more sturdy and secure perch, they like to have 3 points of contact on their bodies when up on a perch, like the intersection of 2 branches etc, if you can make a perch, kind of like the crotch of a tree or tripod, they relax more

Yeah, I'm struggling with the branches. I'll find something though.

Temps were great this morning, a little too high acutally, and humidity stayed at 41% overnight. So I've dialed the thermostats back just a little bit, and I'll check when I get home. Looks like I might be picking up my JCP tomorrow night!

Got some nice branches. Will take some new pics tonight.

Here's a question. Is there an issue with handling your snake in a cooler room? Do you need to keep them out for limited amounts of time, or is your body heat (90 degrees or more on your skin) enough to keep them warm while being handled?

I've never worried about my snakes being out in the house while being handled. I'd refrain from taking them outside when it's cold out (under 60F) but for the most part they will absorb heat from you.

We do Outreaches all the time with our snakes and temps can fluctuate between a low of 65F to a high of around 80F. We've never had any issues with it.

Good to know, thanks Deb.

Here's a new pic with the new branches. I have my wife to thank for coming up with this idea. These branches are valled 'Wacky Wood' and we use them as perches in our parrot cage. They are actually available in some really wild shapes, but these particular ones just have elongated rolling curves that make for some good stability. I've lashed two together with some of the Jungle Vines and they are very stable now.

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/2/0/...closure2-0.jpg

And here it is under the IR light. I like how it turned out, kinda 'snakey' if you get my meaning...

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/image/2/0/...osurered-0.jpg

Huh, I think I just officially joined the snake club.

I was at a LPS and they had a one year old IJ that I asked to see. It tagged me twice :)

our i.j. carpet HATES HIDES.
so we gave him alot of fake trees/bushes.
two big branches that stretch across his cage to climb... and a fat water dish with a little basking/hide thing in back.

he seems to love it.

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Originally Posted by Colin Vestrand

the adults actually move their hides around from warm to cool if they don't want to come out. most of them really only use their hides extensively if they are opaque.

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My adults do the same...inside the hide. I occasionally hear a hide/water bowl being banged around and it's either them or the short tail pythons moving things around. Each adult IJCP has one perch in its cage, and my female tends to use it a lot. My male, not as much. My female will acutallly hang out and do a GTP impression.