New to Morelia, Many Questions

[55fingers]

Thanks everyone! It all really helps. Today I went to my local reptile hobbyist store and they had a few carpets there so I decided to go ahead and get one. At the moment they are still holding her there for me for about a week so I have time to set up the enclosure and get temps stabilized etc. I talked to the store owner as well who is very knowledgeable and has tons of experience and he was able to give me some good advice and tips as well. I've been looking into getting one for a year or two now so I figured now was as good a time as any, plus I didn't want to pass this individual snake up.

I am absolutely in love with her. I was told she is a jungle jaguar (I was going to try and avoid jag if I could because I try to avoid spider bps as well just because of the neuro issues, but I talked with the store owner and any type of wobble she might have is almost completely unnoticeable) and is just under 7 months old I believe, eating F/T mice.




Her coloration is beautiful, and photos don't quite pick up the extent of her yellow sometimes. My sister also noted to me the "heart" pattern on her head which I didn't notice before haha. I am so happy with her and I can't wait to bring her home once I have things sorted for her.

The store owner let me hold her and assured me that though she is nippy, she can easily be tamed down with enough handling. I will be of course quarantining her in a different room and giving her space for a few weeks before I try handling her.

The store owner also has a T8 he might be willing to sell to me, so I might eventually move her to that which would suit her for a couple years I would imagine. I will be quarantining her in a tub for a few months until I can get her a PVC enclosure, so I was wondering, what size tub should I use? She is in a 10 gallon in the store currently, but it's mostly for display and is temporary of course. I would like to give her some arboreal space as well if I can. Would something like an 18gal Sterilite be too big?

Also, how has everyone else's experience been with switching a carpet from mice to rats? And at what point should I start trying to do that? Also, you guys are saying that carpets can take prey up to 2x the size of their girth, unlike BPs, right? I'm going to be getting a digital scale so I can properly monitor and gauge that. Thanks for the help! I wouldn't be able to do this without the years of knowledge I have received from this form