This is my first post to Herp Center, or to any other reptile forum, so please be patient. I recently got my first snake and she is a beaut! She is a 6'3" long jungle carpet python. I have done quite a bit of research on her and have tried to apply everything I have learned to the best of my ability. My biggest worries are handling and feeding. I handle her approximately 2-3 hours a day and some people have been telling me that it's too much. I get immeasurable joy out of holding her, but I don't want to do her any harm. Also, she won't eat rats. I have tried everything from putting rats in with mice to not feeding her for a month to sneaking a small rat in, in the middle of her feeding. I feed her every 2 weeks and she eats 10 mice at a time. As she will only eat live, I am at my wits end and hope some of you can help.

Welcome to HC! Glad you joined. It would help you get more answers if you can give us a run down on how you keep her, enclosure size, temps, substrate, humidity, etc. How long have you had her? Is she in a high traffic area of your home where she constantly has people moving infront of her cage?

When you first got her, did you give her about a week or so to settle in (no handling or feeding)?

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Professional Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
http://niksscalesandtails.com/



yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear

Nice to meet you. I am not familiar with Jungle Carpet Python's, but some snakes can be very stubborn in their eating habits. Hopefully someone that has gone through what you are going through now will be able to lend some advice. When I switched my boa over to rabbits, I had to start her with a rat and when she was swallowing the tail, I placed the head of the rabbit in (when her mouth was open) and she just continued swallowing. It worked well.

I too would say the handling is a little extensive. Typically, a 30-45 minute session is adequate. In some cases, even that is too long. It really does depend on the snake and how much they are willing to tolerate. I can't handle my boa for more than 30 minutes. She lets me know she has had enough with some hissing. lol

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standard aquarium(about 60 gallons) temps stay between 75 & 85 degrees. she is in a more or less high traffic area (Living room) I have had her about 2.5 months. i got her from a friend who got into birds and decided that the two shouldn't mix. dont know how to tell the humidity level in her tank. She never hisses @ me or even offers to strikeme. anyone else who tries to take her out of her tank does so at his/her own risk. (bit my mom once(feeding her) and my roommate twice(trying to take her out of her tank). also, where can I place pics of her? i am very proud of my snake.

Do you have a heat gradient for her (a warm side and a cool side)? I just ask because you say the temps stay between 75 and 85. If thats for the whole tank, you need to break it up into a warm and cool side so she can regulate her temps. If they are too cold, they will not eat because they cannot digest properly. If you don't have one already, I'd get a digital thermometer, they are the most accurate in getting the temps in the tank on both sides. The ones that stick on the tank are pretty much just reading the temps of the glass, not the enclosure.

You may want to put her in a less active area of your home. Many times, alot of activity can stress out a snake, especially if there's high traffic when she was trying to settle in to a new home. It might be the cause of her not wanting to eat because she doesn't feel secure. It's something to try. Move her into a more quiet room for a few months and see if it makes any changes. She may be biting people because she feels threatened from all the activity of people coming in and out of the room all the time.

If you don't know the humidity in the tank, that might be what is throwing her off a bit. The best way to tell the humidity in the tank is to get a hydrometer (I think thats the right word). Temps and humidity are not something to guess at because for certain snakes, the right temps and humidity are very important. It will also affect her temperment to a degree.

You can start a new thread and post pics of her, or put them in the Herp Photos forum, or just upload them into your gallery.

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Professional Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
http://niksscalesandtails.com/



yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear

Carpet pythons of all kinds have a hard time going over to rats. Most keepers I know and my self just feed 4-5 mice. I've tried switching mine over but is seems once their started on mice it's all they'll eat.

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I must just be very lucky my Coastal has no problem with Rats, I would advise not switching the carpet to rats untill it's already eating P/k or f/t. If you can get her eating f/t you can do exactly what rich advised to switch her over.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

My jungle carpet/diamond cross eats frozen/thawed, and eats mice, rats and rabbits. He goes in spurts though as to which type of food he wants to eat. He was about 3-4 months old when we switched him to f/t he quickly went from mice to rats as long as we fed him 3 of whatever food it was. This winter was his first rabbit and he really liked it, we tried it because he went on a feeding strike, and wouldn't eat at all. He still eats his rats, but enjoys the occasional rabbit. As for handling, he will stay out with me for hours, he has always liked spending time outside of the cage. My boa was fed live for 3 years before I got him, he was fussy about going to f/t, but adjusted when he found he didn't get fed. He has been eating f/t ever since. My boa has been my baby for a long time and loves to be handled also. He goes to fairs and schools and is handled by many people for long periods of time and does not get upset. It depends on the personality of both the person and the reptile I think. Just my experiences.

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Kat

I have to agree with kat about it depending on the snake. Both of my snakes have pretty great temperaments (though my carpets feeding response makes me want to treat him like a cobra sometimes)
The boa is content to explore a bit, then just hang out, i'll let her watch TV with me, while the Carpet, would rather search my room over 45 times, lol.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

well, she's shedding now, but as soon as she gets finished, i'll make sure to put some pics of her up here. (doesn't look her best right now) hopefully i'll have them up soon. havent figured out yet whether ill post them here or start a new thread.