Jaguar Coastal Carpet Python

[gusgus]

Hey all,
I've recently become entranced with carpet pythons and was just wanting to find out more info on coastals and coastal morphs. I read that males get larger than females and then in the same thread someone said that it depends on the locality. Which localities would be bigger or does it really matter? The jaguar morph of the coastal has got to be my favorite so far. Do they get lighter with age or do their colors start to brown out with age? Is there a reliable way to pick out a hatchling or is the best bet to look at the parents? Is the jag a co-dom or dominant trait? The tiger morph kinda has me confused, I've read many people say that it gets better with line breading. So does that mean that it's a dominant trait or what is up with that? Any breeders that you would personally recommend? And what's your favorite morph concerning the coastals.
Thanks for all responses and taking the time to read this.

[reptileexperts]

Here we go:

Males get larger than females due to their combatting over territories and females in the wild. This has a selection pressure for larger males than females. There may be cases though where females will get larger. I have male and female coastals, and at current, my females are larger than the male for what it's worth.

Jaguar is a Co-dom morph, with the super form being a lucy that is not viable outside of the egg. So breeding 2 Jaguar together can produce a super all white blue eyed snake, but in all cases, it dies during development, or just before it comes out of the egg.

Most of the jaguars are hatched as either red or brown in coloration. It's VERY hard to judge how bright the adult will be, but you can guess by the cleanliness of the pattern. The less dark markings it has as a young snake, the less it will have as an adult and the brighter it will typically be. So go for super clean, ask to see parents when plausable. They don't brown out, coastal morphs just get better with age.

Tiger is a polygenic trait. The gene itself is dominate and passed on with simple inheritance. Right now, we are unsure if there are 1,2, or even 3 genes that control the Tiger trait, but we do believe it to be a polygenic trait that will becomes more reduced as more genes get involved. Each parent is still believed to only transfer 1 possible copy of the gene max, and even tigers can produce normal looking coastals. It's a weird trait, but just consider it again to be Polygenic. - Line breeding simply allows more copies of the gene to be brought into the offspring producing more appealing offspring with a greater amount of reduction in dark pigments and patterns.

Breeders I can rec right now are Justin Julander and Nick Mutton. Justins at www.australianaddictions.com and nick www.inlandreptile.com

If you are getting it just to have as a sweet pet, get a Caramel Jag. The caramel gene is not attractive in young snakes, but fires up with age!

Cheers

[OhhWatALoser]

if your not set on getting a pure coastal, look into some of the jag crosses. here is my girl. Shes an IJ/Coastal



I dont have a picture of her as a baby, but here is a baby she produced.



so thats why it's hard to judge how they're going to look, pretty drastic difference. I expect that little girl to be bright yellow.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Another thing with the tiger morph being the way it is, is that it expresses itself even in tiger siblings that are not actual tigers.. For instance, my costal jaguar is a tiger sibling but not an actual tiger. One of his parents was a tiger, and there were tigers in the clutch. His pattern was greatly influenced by the tiger gene however. Creating the reverse stripe look over most of his back.. It's an interesting gene that you don't actually have to pay for in order to get the look

[gusgus]

Thanks all for the helpful replies. really helped clear things up.

[buddha1200]

Pretty interesting,was interested in coastals myself but didnt know where to start.
Great Info guys.

[reptileexperts]

Oh and in regards to locales - you really will not be able to buy into locales in the US, that's more in Germany and Australia right now. And until someone starts bringing the locales into the US from Paul Harris over in the UK, we are kind of stuck with what we have gene wise. We do not have the giant southern Coastals, MOST blood lines in the US are going to be under 9' in length, and even those are rare monsters. They will generaly stick to 6-7' with a few reaching 8'.

[gusgus]

OK. I know on inland reptiles he has some rockhampton locales for sell but that must be one of those exceptions
I've been looking up as much info as I can but one thing I'm not finding is a consistancy in feeding. I've read that they can take really large meals relative to their size and if left with proper heat and left alone for a couple days will do just fine. But I'm not really finding a routine on how often to feed. I know its probably on a snake to snake basis but how would you judge when you are feeding to much or not enough?
Thanks,
Kale

[reptileexperts]

Cool thing about Carpets is that it really depends on their cage temperatures and sizes. Larger size enclosures will produce very trim and lean snakes that can eat more often. Carpets kept in tubs, generally get obese with weekly feedings. . .

likewise, snakes kept in lower temperatures will digest food at a much slower rate, these snakes grow slower and digest slower and will become overweight if you feed them on a weekly basis (it's unhealthy all around in these conditions though).

I have 2 Jungle Carpets in some CB-70, and they do GREAT on weekly feedings simply because they get pulled out often, and have very strict temperature controls, plus I strongly monitor their weight, and skip feedings if they still have a lump or failed to produce feces. You really do HAVE to gauge it.

All the rest of my carpets, especially my larger coastals, are kept in PVC Display cages, 3x2x2, with perching, and RHP heating. They get fed much larger meals than the Tub snakes, and they keep their weight very well trimmed and I never seem to worry about them becoming obese.

As far as food size goes . . . it is amazing how large of a meal they take. I have a 4 foot female that is already pounding medium rats, and she's pretty slender! but she never has issues taking it. I have a 3' Caramel Male that took a small rat this week to give him a new challenge, and he handled it great.