Carpet pythons

[dboeren]

I'm in the market for a new snake and looking at several options, one of which is Carpet Pythons. I've had corns and boas before many years ago, as well as Bearded Dragons, tarantulas, and a red Ackie.

The last of our dragons died of old age recently, and now I'm down to only the Ackie and looking for new tenants.

What I'd like is something that gets to a "good" size but not too big. Big enough to be cool, but not big enough to be an issue. I'd like something that is a bit more active or has a personality and nice colors or patterns.

I think I've ruled out Balls as too much of a pet rock, and I'm mostly looking at smaller boas (Hogg Island, Dumeril's, Brazilian Rainbow), Blood or Borneo Python, or some sort of Carpet/Bredli's Python.

Carpets strike me as a strong contender as even though they can get somewhat long, they are slender, have nice colors, and are both active and not shy. It's also important to me that they be docile for handling, which my impression fits most Carpets once they grow out of the nippy baby phase - does that sound correct?

From what I've read, Carpets like to climb and I have I think a great home for that sort of species:
https://www.customcages.com/hr13-rep...-l-x-24-d.html

Note that this is a long-term plan, my snake would be housed in something much smaller and more secure-feeling until it was large enough to put in there. Also, that's where the Ackie lives now anyway. Other homes I have along the way to the big one include a 4x2x1 Boaphile, 75 gallon aquarium, 40 breeder aquarium (this I can turn over to make it side-opening instead of top-opening), and any size tubs required.

Tomorrow I will be attending Repticon in Atlanta with the goal of seeing all the species I'm interested in in person and getting to know their personalities better to narrow down what I want. Not planning to purchase yet, just get educated. If I go with Carpets I will pick up a copy of the Complete Carpet Python book by Nick Mutton. I've also downloaded some episodes of MoreliaPythonRadio with beginner Carpet segments to listen to.


What I'd like from you guys is your thoughts and impressions on my plan and also about Carpets in general and what specific species you think best meet what I'm looking for.

Also, some specific questions:

1. How would you rate the handing and personality of a Carpet vs. a Boa?

2. Is it OK to house more than one Carpet together eventually? Can you mix species? I can feed them separately to avoid accidents. This is more of a down-the-line question in case I eventually want a second snake. Otherwise I can easily swap them periodically between the tall cage and the Boaphile so it's not a big deal.

3. How bad is the Jaguar neurological thing? Right now it sounds scary to me and makes me want to avoid Jaguars entirely. Is it a danger only if the animal actually exhibits the Jaguar gene or is there a risk even if it just has some Jaguar in its ancestry?

4. If the goal is to get a friendly animal, would it be better to get a baby (more chance to handle it as it grows up) or a yearling (more chance to see how its personality has developed)?

5. What time of year do Carpets hatch out? i.e. - when the breeders will have loads of selection to choose from.

6. What are some good breeders to look at? I know inlandreptile is one.

Thanks!

[rock]

All great questions. Sounds like you will narrow it all down to a great choice.

I picked up my Bredli from Nick Mutton last month. He is awesome! Was a big help and was willing to spend the time talking over the phone with me. He is a wealth of information and talked about all Carpets with me.

Mine is from Sept. 2015. Still looks like a baby to me. About 30 inches and skinny. 145 grams or so. I am 2 feedings in. I like being past whatever nippy phase they might go through due to having interested kids.

[Aste88]

I'll try to answer from the little experience I have, I own 3 carpets: 2 jungle and one coastal. All of them are yearling.

1 - A calm carpet will be similar to a boa. They hold on a lot and try to climb everywhere. Not all are that calm tho, 2 out of my 3 are squeamish to being touched and one will often bite. They should calm down with age. More active than a boa in the enclosure, they're always wandering around.

2 - No. All snake should be housed separately for many good reasons (safety, illness transmission, progress tracking etc). Also you would need a really big cage for two adult carpets.

3 - I guess just like the spider gene it really depends from the snake. My Jaguar shows no neuro symptoms at all. She's actually the sweetest and best eater.

4 - Babies are often nippy but it allows you to work with them and tame them more.

5 - Beginning of the summer.

6 - Find a local one, I can't help with that

[ShaneSilva]

Love all of your options but I'd probably go with carpets as well.

1. Every snake is different but my carpet is far more active in her enclosure than my boas(my boas are not over fed). They all handle very well but the boas tend to just chill out. Occasionally stretching out to check something out but their tails stay wrapped around my arm or something. While the carpet is still very easy to handle she's usually more interested in her surroundings and will generally chill out with her head on the top of mine. She likes to get as high as she can get. But they are both very docile, easy to handle and have no problems getting in or out the enclosure. Also both GREAT eaters (heard carpets can have trouble getting started on rats sometimes but luckily didn't have that issue)

2. I've seen it done but I wouldn't try it personally nor recommend it.
This dude does it though if you want to watch some videos
https://youtu.be/B7CsA_Rl2f0

3. It's kinda like rolling the dice with a Jaguar. My sister has one that I frequently care for when she travels and it has yet to show any Neuro issues. From what I know chemicals, stress and over heating can trigger them in jags that are showing no signs. I've seen a few that did have the neurological issues but as long as they are able to feed unassisted i don't mind it.

4. I prefer to get a younger snake and go from there. If they are nippy their bites don't hurt at all it's the peeing on you that's more annoying. But if you want to skip all that get one that's a little older that you can handle in person or from a reputable breeder.

5/6 I don't care for breeding so I don't know. My snakes are all just pets so I'm not looking for all the big name breeders with the cool crazy morphs I just fine one locally that I like.

Oh and that 4x4x2 enclosure is horrible for a carpet just send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you

[EL-Ziggy]

I agree with the other posters. Carpets are awesome snakes to keep. I have (5) of them and they're definitely my favorite species to work with. Bredli and Coastals are the largest ssp. I wouldn't co-habitate them but I guess some other people do. Jags are beautiful but I don't keep them because of the potential neuro issues. I don't have any breeding plans and all of my snakes are just pets but I always buy from reputable breeders. Three of my five carpets came from Nick Mutton at Inland Reptile. He produces some really nice animals with very detailed lineage records. Bill Stegall, Bryan Hummel, Derek Roddy, Hesham Ellisay, are all quality breeders too but there are others as well. You really can't lose with a carpet IMO.

[Prognathodon]

I have 3 Morelia - a jungle carpet, a Bredli, and an Irian Jaya. I think they're all gorgeous!

Personality depends on the snake - my Bredli is crazy head-shy, my JCP is probably "average", and the IJ is super-mellow, despite being a baby.

The Bredli came from a reputable Reptile shop (may have been bred there), Reptile Basics, the other two from breeders - the JCP at Tinley from GFX Morelia, and the IJ from a local breeder, Boa Cabana, at a local show. I'd buy from all of them again. I also drool at Justin Julander/Australian Addiction's animals (co-author of Complete Carpet Python).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dboeren]

Thanks for all the info so far. I'm really looking forward to seeing some Carpets in person at Repticon tomorrow and will write back after the show.

As a point of reference, about how many pounds does a typical 7-8 foot Carpet weigh? I'm trying to decide where the "too big" point is and whether something like a Coastal or Bredli will be too big or if I should stick to the slightly smaller types like Jungles, Irian Jaya, etc...

[Reinz]

Sounds like you have done your research well!

I have 3 Coastals and one Jungle.

While I love the looks of Jags, I am against having them for myself. I don't judge anyone that has them, but I don't want to personally encourage the market by buying one. I just don't believe that it is right to propagate brain issues. Yeah, yeah, they do fine as some say. How do they know that the snakes are not in pain? I had a brain injury many years ago from a skiing crash. I "looked" fine and functioned ok, but was in excruciating pain with severe dizziness for over 20 years. Anyone that has had long term dizziness can tell you that it is hell.

Back on track; Carpets are great display animals with a bit more skills needed for handling and understanding. You won't be disappointed.



Good to see that you are planning on a big display cage. I just moved my Jungle girl into a 4x2x4 and don't regret it at all. Best move I could have done. Yeah, it takes up the space of 2 or 3 cages, but the enjoyment factor is way up!!


Esmarelda, Jungle Carpet



My 7.5-8 ft Coastal only weighs 14.5 pounds.



Lizzy, Coastal Carpet


Lizzy on the bottom





Etta, 6.5 ft Coastal

[dkatz4]

I'm in the market for a new snake and looking at several options, ...

Thanks!

Loving your posts. I just went through this a couple months ago, couldn't live without a new snake but couldn't decide what to get. I already have a boa that i adore, but wanted to explore options - i ended up with another boa, a female jungle that i fell in love with, also a size and style upgrade to my normal Central American male. But asking advice in this group was such a rewarding and educational process. Good luck, and i cant wait to see what you get.

[dboeren]

Yesterday we went to Repticon here in Atlanta. Our six year old wasn't having a great day so I didn't get to browse nearly as much as I would have liked but I tried to make the most out of the short time I had. It wasn't a total loss with Isaac though, he was willing to touch about four different snakes from little Balls up to a pretty big Boa someone had out as well as a Bearded Dragon.

But, not a lot of Carpets in attendance. There were truckloads of Ball Pythons, a goodly amount of boas, Leopard & Crested Geckos, and smaller amounts of various other species scattered around the hall but very few carpets.

Just two booths had Carpet babies. One had a single adult Carpet but they didn't know anything about it and I was told they bought it from a pet store recently.

Of the two booths, one was Bryan Hummel's. He had a nice deal going on giving away a free temp gun with his snakes too. I think about 6 Carpets total. There was a very yellow jungle jag (22% diamond) that was very attractive with targets on her side and nice to handle too but I think I just want to avoid the whole jag neurological thing - it would break my heart for that to happen to my baby. He was a great guy and very helpful answering questions or me.

The other booth had a similar number, didn't get their name, but it was a variety of types - Coastal, Darwin, Jungle with some mixed het traits here and there. The guy running the booth didn't know a ton about them, I believe he said they belonged to a guy "running the show" and hence busy elsewhere but he was happy to let me take them out and look. The Darwin (het albino) was a friendly little guy and must have been older than the others as he was bigger, but kind of plain looking. A feisty little Coastal tagged me but she was so small it was just cute and I could hardly feel it happen.


Frankly, I ran out of time due to kid issues and didn't get to interact with any Bloods as I had planned. There were some at the show, but none of the booths seemed to know much about them and told me they might be aggressive. One of these was the same booth that had the adult Carpet from a pet store, apparently they bought their Bloods off "some guy" recently too. Sorry guys. I only want a quality breeder that knows their animals and their heredity.


So that brings me to The Plan. I'm going to get a Carpet. I found the Breeder Direct Morelia group on Facebook which seems to be where a lot of the quality breeders hang out, so I'm watching the ads on there looking for the one I want.

Still uncertain about the exact type but I think A Jungle (non-jag) is most likely. I've seen a few Coastals I liked too and the Bredli's are also nice but there doesn't seem to be as much variation in them. If I go Coastal I'll probably get a male (slightly smaller).

Question about the Coastals (Caramel or normal)... Do they typically keep their baby colors in adulthood? I've seen some pics of young with a nice bone-whitish background but not as many adults like that and when I view family tree pics the parents are usually more yellowish in their background so I wonder if they just change as they age. For example:

https://www.facebook.com/MidAtlantic...type=3&theater

Yeah, that one also happens to be a Jag but it was a good example of the bone color.

And finally, I realized I have an 18" display cube cage with undertank heat tape that should be well suited for a young Carpet so I'm working on getting that cleaned up and once I'm done I'll plug it into my thermostat to test out the heating. It's this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Gla.../dp/B000OQYGQ4

So do you guys think that should do well for a 2016 (or 2015) youngster as long as there are sufficient hides, or would I be better off with a tub for a more secure feeling? I get the impression that Carpets aren't as shy as some species so maybe the tub isn't necessary. I would probably partially cover it for the first few days until he settles in.

I had also hoped to find a copy of the Complete Carpet Python for sale at the show but there were very few books in general so I guess I need to order that and wait for it to come in.