My new irian jaya carpet python

[Artemisace]

Beautiful IJ Art. Carpets are my newest fascination too. Great snakes to keep.

Thank you, he's definitely sparked a new obsession for me. I think an axanthic jag (spelling?) Would be a good match for him to really bring out the silvers and the greys in him.

snake room

[DennisM]

I'm not sure what you have here is a pure IJ, the pattern is very unusual. I suspect a coastal cross. There's a lot of them out there as a result of projects to create IJ jags. Of course carpets are highly variable and one never really knows.

[Artemisace]

I'm not sure what you have here is a pure IJ, the pattern is very unusual. I suspect a coastal cross. There's a lot of them out there as a result of projects to create IJ jags. Of course carpets are highly variable and one never really knows.

Thanks for the input, I'm just going off what I was told by the breeder weather he's pure or not I love him to death and my plan is to cross him into other stuff anyway lol.

snake room

[DennisM]

Thanks for the input, I'm just going off what I was told by the breeder weather he's pure or not I love him to death and my plan is to cross him into other stuff anyway lol.

snake room

of course, crosses deserve love too. I have 10 in my collection.

[Artemisace]

of course, crosses deserve love too. I have 10 in my collection.

Indeed they do, I'll probably end up with a bunch of them in no time as well lol

snake room

[Gio]

Unless you have locality data, you can never be sure whether or not you have a cross. With a few exceptions carpet pythons are the same snake when it gets right down to it. The husbandry and habits are all very similar with some variations. ALL are semi arboreal and keep well. Pure diamonds have some requirements that need attention, but when they are crossed that seems to change.

My coastal is a cross/mix/mutt but even in the wild, there are natural intergrade zones. The TRUE intergrades are viewed by the Aussie folks as very special snakes. Often the natural intergrade is a coastal/diamond and they really are beautiful.

I mentioned the book because it sheds a lot of light on the localities and also implies there is still plenty of research and study left to do with this group.

Nick Mutton and some others do have pure specimens if that is important to you, but if you just enjoy your snake for what it is, you will not think twice about it.

I do recommend NOT breeding or selling anything other than "shoulder pet" companions if you don't have data on the parents.

All that said, I still feel any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet.

[Artemisace]

Unless you have locality data, you can never be sure whether or not you have a cross. With a few exceptions carpet pythons are the same snake when it gets right down to it. The husbandry and habits are all very similar with some variations. ALL are semi arboreal and keep well. Pure diamonds have some requirements that need attention, but when they are crossed that seems to change.

My coastal is a cross/mix/mutt but even in the wild, there are natural intergrade zones. The TRUE intergrades are viewed by the Aussie folks as very special snakes. Often the natural intergrade is a coastal/diamond and they really are beautiful.

I mentioned the book because it sheds a lot of light on the localities and also implies there is still plenty of research and study left to do with this group.

Nick Mutton and some others do have pure specimens if that is important to you, but if you just enjoy your snake for what it is, you will not think twice about it.

I do recommend NOT breeding or selling anything other than "shoulder pet" companions if you don't have data on the parents.

All that said, I still feel any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet.

If I breed him it'll be to other locales so I'll make sure to describe them as such, I wouldn't dream of misrepresenting animals so from now on I'll just call him my irian jaya and if anyone asks I'll just say I don't know if he's pure. The book is something I am going to get, any information I can get about the animals I keep is super important to me. Any babies I produce will be crosses anyway, so they will be marketed as the crosses. Thank you for the info it all helps me to learn more about this awesome little snake I've gotten.

[DennisM]

Unless you have locality data, you can never be sure whether or not you have a cross. With a few exceptions carpet pythons are the same snake when it gets right down to it. The husbandry and habits are all very similar with some variations. ALL are semi arboreal and keep well. Pure diamonds have some requirements that need attention, but when they are crossed that seems to change.

My coastal is a cross/mix/mutt but even in the wild, there are natural intergrade zones. The TRUE intergrades are viewed by the Aussie folks as very special snakes. Often the natural intergrade is a coastal/diamond and they really are beautiful.

I mentioned the book because it sheds a lot of light on the localities and also implies there is still plenty of research and study left to do with this group.

Nick Mutton and some others do have pure specimens if that is important to you, but if you just enjoy your snake for what it is, you will not think twice about it.

I do recommend NOT breeding or selling anything other than "shoulder pet" companions if you don't have data on the parents.

All that said, I still feel any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet.

since Artemisace is planning crosses, locality/purity is obviously not an issue with this snake. But you are correct that if locality/purity is a concern, Nick is the man, he takes this stuff quite seriously. it's nice to know that you are getting documented lines, if that's what you want to do. I think most carpet keepers who develop a sizable collection will have a mix of pure/crosses/who knows in their collection. I like and keep all of the above.

I would have to disagree that they are all the same. True that the husbandry is the same and that they naturally intergrade. But I think there is an clear difference between what our hobby considers to be “pure” jungles, IJs, coastals etc. The caveat is that there has been so much crossing in the hobby you can never be sure. will there really be a difference between a “pure” jungle and a jungle that has just one coastal in the family tree 8 generations ago? I doubt it.

One thing is for sure, as Gio says, “any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet”. I’ve kept dozens of them for over the past 20+ years and they are certainly that.

[Artemisace]

since Artemisace is planning crosses, locality/purity is obviously not an issue with this snake. But you are correct that if locality/purity is a concern, Nick is the man, he takes this stuff quite seriously. it's nice to know that you are getting documented lines, if that's what you want to do. I think most carpet keepers who develop a sizable collection will have a mix of pure/crosses/who knows in their collection. I like and keep all of the above.

I would have to disagree that they are all the same. True that the husbandry is the same and that they naturally intergrade. But I think there is an clear difference between what our hobby considers to be “pure” jungles, IJs, coastals etc. The caveat is that there has been so much crossing in the hobby you can never be sure. will there really be a difference between a “pure” jungle and a jungle that has just one coastal in the family tree 8 generations ago? I doubt it.

One thing is for sure, as Gio says, “any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet”. I’ve kept dozens of them for over the past 20+ years and they are certainly that.

I've actually been drooling over some of Nicks carpets on his site and since it seems he's the authority on them, he'll be the first on my list for where I get my future stock. My little guy is really winning me over, I went in to check on him today and he came right out and acted like he was going to bite me at first then got bored and let me pet him before he retreated into his hide. “any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet” I've said that same thing about retics when talking to people who have asked me about them. I love my giants, but it's time to get some smaller stuff for me.

[Gio]

since Artemisace is planning crosses, locality/purity is obviously not an issue with this snake. But you are correct that if locality/purity is a concern, Nick is the man, he takes this stuff quite seriously. it's nice to know that you are getting documented lines, if that's what you want to do. I think most carpet keepers who develop a sizable collection will have a mix of pure/crosses/who knows in their collection. I like and keep all of the above.

I would have to disagree that they are all the same. True that the husbandry is the same and that they naturally intergrade. But I think there is an clear difference between what our hobby considers to be “pure” jungles, IJs, coastals etc. The caveat is that there has been so much crossing in the hobby you can never be sure. will there really be a difference between a “pure” jungle and a jungle that has just one coastal in the family tree 8 generations ago? I doubt it.

One thing is for sure, as Gio says, “any carpet python is a very enjoyable, rewarding pet”. I’ve kept dozens of them for over the past 20+ years and they are certainly that.

When I say they are the same, I'm not making the implication that there is no difference between localities, though research points to jungles and coastals sharing identical DNA which could make one come to the conclusion that a jungle is actually a smaller locale of coastal. Once again the study and research is ongoing here.

I should have maybe specified that in captivity, without locality data carpets are pretty much the same snake. When people add IJ to coastal and cross diamond into the mix and originally had a cross of some unknown combo you wind up with a carpet python, and when that happens, a carpet is a carpet. Not even Nick Mutton was able to tell me what my coastal was crossed with when I asked and sent him several pictures. It's a carpet python, was the only conclusion we could come to. There was some speculation as to what was possibly mixed in but certainly nothing was conclusive. Based on that, there is nothing different at all about the care or habits of mine verses any other type carpet python sans a pure diamond.

Maybe that helps with the point I was making about being the same in general.