Salazar the Coastal Carpet -- my first snake!

[Empyrean]

Hey guys! I brought home my first snake today from a local breeder. He's a male coastal that's about 4 years old. I'll post my imgur album as soon as I'm allowed.

The housing setup is temporary. I'm hoping to pick up a used 4x2x2 PVC cage at the MN Reptile show next weekend. If that doesn't work out I'll be ordering a T-10. The cardboard hides are also only there for a day or two until the rest of his hides and such arrive :).

[Empyrean]

Filler post...

[Empyrean]

Ok, I give up. How many prior posts are required to share images or links? After five I'm still unable to post images or link to my imgur album :-(.

[Mikoh4792]

Try posting one more time. Once you do, try copy/pasting the url inbetween this code(without all the spaces)

[ i m g ] url goes here [ / i m g ]

[Empyrean]

Thanks, but I understand how to embed images and URLs and the issue is that all of the posts are denied. I get this error:

"Post denied. New posts are limited by number of URLs it may contain and checked if it doesn't contain forbidden words."

Anyway, there is an imgur album id '7nGAw' where you can find pictures of my new carpet. Just put that in after 'imgur .com /a/ '

[Empyrean]

Ok, looks like you need 6 (!) posts under your belt before you can post images. Here's the album, folks. Sorry for the issues before.

http://i.imgur.com/sORmO36.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gmUfRFG.jpg
This was my first time picking up a snake. I don't think I was too bad at it.

http://i.imgur.com/2xwf3ua.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ur2HqvT.jpg
He came in a 4x1x2 aquarium. We'll be moving up to a 4x2x2 PVC cage as soon as possible.

http://i.imgur.com/kmuNBF6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kTNn2Bu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aBFPchC.jpg
Orange cat is unsure of the new resident.

http://i.imgur.com/BW2juld.jpg
Torti cat is also unsure.

[Mikoh4792]

Wow! What a beauty.

This was your first snake/handling ever? You are brave!

What is the lineage of this snake? When it comes to carpet pythons, one can't know the subspecies for sure without background information, but I would say it looks to be more jungle than coastal, or at least have a lot of jungle influence.

[MDT]

That's a beefy looking carpet dude...I love the head structure on older carpets. They just look stout. Very nice :)
Make you sure you have a very secure top on that cage....your cats are looking a bit nervous
;)

[Empyrean]

Thanks guys! I don't know much about the lineage of him. The breeder told me he's a coastal, but I agree that he definitely looks like he has some jungle in him. I'll ask the breeder and see how much he knows. I don't think he's raised him since birth, so it may be a mystery.


This was your first snake/handling ever? You are brave!

Thanks, my girlfriend was standing by to help in the event of me losing an arm. It was pretty scary, but I loved it.

I've had a few people tell me he looks thick -- do you think he should be cut back on food? I was told he's been on medium sized rats every 7-10 days or so. I think the schedule was mostly based on the snake's BM schedule. What would you recommend?

Also, right now he has a Zoo Med UTH on the left side of the tank. It's plugged into a thermostat that's set to 88. I realized this morning that I put too much substrate in and it was only getting in the low 80's in a few spots. I fixed things this morning, but now the heating isn't very even. There are a few spots that hit 90/91 and others that are more like 84. The hottest spots are sort of right in the middle of his hide. Should I put the probe right in the middle? I figured that would disturb him, but I also don't think the thermostat is doing its job unless it's measuring the hottest spots. Any tips? First time reptile owner here :-).

That's a beefy looking carpet dude...I love the head structure on older carpets. They just look stout. Very nice
Make you sure you have a very secure top on that cage....your cats are looking a bit nervous

The cats are not happy. They spent most of the night hiding in my room. I hope they get used to the snake soon, I feel bad for scaring them so much. I have two clips along each long wall and one on each end. The top feels pretty sturdy and there isn't any give when I touch it. How many do you usually put on? The dimensions are 4x1.

Thanks guys! I'm researching as much as I can because I genuinely want Sal to be as comfortable and happy as possible.

[MDT]

Empyrean, not sure how many clips to tell you (other than n+1...always!)...I don't use aquariums. I keep my carpets in racks and manufactured enclosures. They are def much easier to heat and regulate humidity. Try to get some perches in there for him...he's gonna need vertical gradients as well as horizontal gradients. There are a ton of really great carpet guys on this board. Hopefully they'll be along in short order to lend some advice. My advice? Listen to those guys!

[Empyrean]

Thanks MDT! I'm really hoping to get a used PVC cage for him this weekend at the MN reptile show. Otherwise I'll order him one next week. I also ordered him some nice hides and perches and they'll arrive today or tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I love this forum.

[sharthun]

Awesome Carpet!

[IW17]

Six clips is PLENTY lol. But one thing I will warn you. They will roam the cage pushing while exploring the boundaries. If there is any tear, hole or weak spot in the screen top they could very easily push there way through, especially a snake that size. A good remedy for this is plexiglass. Go to home Depot or Lowe's. They sell 24"x12" peices of plexiglass that fit perfectly. You'll need two. Just drill holes for ventilation, a little at a time till you determine how many you need. Then set the screen back on top, so you can still use your clips to hold everything down. This will keep him securely in his enclosure, and will help maintain heat and humidity better.