back in the snake world and looking for info

[nick654377]

well back in high school i had a ball python. long story short i sold it when my nephew was born. well for my birthday last week i picked up a dumerils boa. i fell in love with how she looked. orignially went for a red tail and came out with her.

i have always liked the carpets and once i get the boa down and settled in i was thinking about picking up a carpet.

what size tanks are you guys using for starter tanks?
how fast do they grow?

just my two main questions.

[Aaron_S]

What size of snake do you plan to buy? That kind of answers your starter enclosure question.

Fast? I am not really sure. Average I guess? Talk to Terrenaut, he's got a bunch of carpets and I know he bred some so he's seen them from all ages.

[nick654377]

id like to get a juvi. we will see what i come across when its time to buy.

[marvelfreak]

With Carpets the more room the better. The are active and love to climb.

[nick654377]

so if i wait and when rocky is ready to get her cage upgraded from her 20l i should be fine to put a juv in her old tank?

[marvelfreak]

so if i wait and when rocky is ready to get her cage upgraded from her 20l i should be fine to put a juv in her old tank?
How big is this tank?

[reptileexperts]

Carpet pythons are not very large as small juvenilies. My carpets are kept in 8qt tubs for the first 3-4 months of their life. This gets them started the best I can get them going. After this, they move into a 32 qt tub. Once they reach about 3 ft which can take the better part of a year, I move them into their final enclosures. My Irian Jayas are kept in the same size setup as my Chondro, which is a 2x2x2' PVC tank, my larger species (Coastals) are kept in 3x2x2 cages, as these snakes have the potential to gain a lot more size in the run of things.

But to answer your question, yes you can use a 20l tank to keep a juvenile in, and it will stay just fine in there for the first year of its life more than likely. After that plan on moving it into it's adult cage, though it does take the better part of 2-3 years for them to become maxed out so to speak in length, and start adding on the pounds. Keep in mind that Carpet Pythons come in a few different sub species and are very different in size and in some cases availability and husbandry. The smallest would be Irian Jaya (Papau New Guinie) which retain the adult size to that of a well sized ball python of the same sex. Next would be Jungles, which typically reach 6-7ft as adults. Coastals push the limit to 6-8 ft on average (some reports of 12' coastals are out there but RARE and only from certain locales). Then you have Diamonds which get the largest 8-9' consistently, but require a little bit cooler cage temps, and a higher humidity as they are a more tropic sub-species. . . Then you can get away from Spilota and look at Bredli (morelia bredll) which is a different species. These are going to be the heaviest bodied of the carpets and are a very attractive Red snake with HUGE heads. But again, all can be started in a 20l tank, and all of these can be kept in a 3x2x2 with the exception of Diamond which I'd reccommend keeping in a 4x2x2 or 4x2x1.5'.

[nick654377]

the 20l tank is 29x12x12. its going to be a while till i get the carpet tho. rocky is being a bitch about eatting. everything is set right in her tank just gotta give her time i guess.

[Lankyrob]

Personally i would put a juvi into an adult size viv straight off, lots of climbing space and lots of places to hide and it should be fine ;)

[marvelfreak]

Carpet pythons are not very large as small juvenilies. My carpets are kept in 8qt tubs for the first 3-4 months of their life. This gets them started the best I can get them going. After this, they move into a 32 qt tub. Once they reach about 3 ft which can take the better part of a year, I move them into their final enclosures. My Irian Jayas are kept in the same size setup as my Chondro, which is a 2x2x2' PVC tank, my larger species (Coastals) are kept in 3x2x2 cages, as these snakes have the potential to gain a lot more size in the run of things.

But to answer your question, yes you can use a 20l tank to keep a juvenile in, and it will stay just fine in there for the first year of its life more than likely. After that plan on moving it into it's adult cage, though it does take the better part of 2-3 years for them to become maxed out so to speak in length, and start adding on the pounds. Keep in mind that Carpet Pythons come in a few different sub species and are very different in size and in some cases availability and husbandry. The smallest would be Irian Jaya (Papau New Guinie) which retain the adult size to that of a well sized ball python of the same sex. Next would be Jungles, which typically reach 6-7ft as adults. Coastals push the limit to 6-8 ft on average (some reports of 12' coastals are out there but RARE and only from certain locales). Then you have Diamonds which get the largest 8-9' consistently, but require a little bit cooler cage temps, and a higher humidity as they are a more tropic sub-species. . . Then you can get away from Spilota and look at Bredli (morelia bredll) which is a different species. These are going to be the heaviest bodied of the carpets and are a very attractive Red snake with HUGE heads. But again, all can be started in a 20l tank, and all of these can be kept in a 3x2x2 with the exception of Diamond which I'd reccommend keeping in a 4x2x2 or 4x2x1.5'.
Plus to all of this you have to remember that there are exceptions to have rule. I have a 11 year old Jungle that's 8.5 and weighs over 15 lbs.

[nick654377]

im not worried about size. i like the bigger snakes over the smaller ones.

[reptileexperts]

Personally i would put a juvi into an adult size viv straight off, lots of climbing space and lots of places to hide and it should be fine ;)

Not so . . . if you put them in too large of a cage, even with enough hiding space I have seen them go off of food. Size appropriate caging has numerous benefits!

[Lankyrob]

Not so . . . if you put them in too large of a cage, even with enough hiding space I have seen them go off of food. Size appropriate caging has numerous benefits!

Not saying you are wrong but i have done this with six of the seven snakes i own and had no issues - and yes i realise this isnt a large survey group, just relaying my experience that it can be done :)

[nick654377]

ive put my ball in a 20l when i got him and he ate just fine as a juvi. my dums on the other hand is in a 20l shes about 22 inches and at 130 grams. was fed frozen and the day i got her she was fed a live! now im trying to get her back on frozen. but she loves her tank

[reptileexperts]

Carpets are a different ball game ;) especially young ones. They can be extremely moody and picky on feeding and stress extremely easily. While adults and even juveniles for that matter are pretty hardy, you need to be careful with a hatchling though. Again just my two cents.

[nick654377]

where i got my dums, they had about 8 in a tank. id say maybe as big around as my pinkey if not smaller. maybe 12 inches or so. like i said when time comes ill see what is around. i for sure do not want a yearling or older. im looking more for around 3 months.

[Kari]

I have my 4 mo. old coastal carpet in a 20 gal. She's done great in it. One benefit of a slightly larger tank is that you have the room to put in extra hides. I have three: a hot end hide, a cool end hide, and one in the middle. Although she's used all three, she typically chooses the middle one.

On the other hand, a larger tank requires more branches and foliage for cover. Don't go for a larger initial set-up if you think you might skimp in this department. As others have mentioned, juvies can get stressed out if they are too exposed.