Irian Jaya Jag Carpet Python - Beginner Info

[HoldenC]

Hey guys, great forum here. I'm a new owner of a 2 year old Irian Jaya Jag sibling, my first ever snake. He's a sweet boy with a great temperament and I'm really glad we skipped over Royals and went for a Carpet. No offense to Ball Pythons, but I'm a fan of the Carpet's inquisitive nature and activity in and out of the cage (more interesting than someone who sleeps all day and night).

He seems quite healthy, ate for us for the first time 2.5 weeks ago and crapped accordingly. His hot side is 92-95 degrees with a cold side of 78-80 degrees. RH is 40 to 70%.

Now for my question. Kingsley started the shedding process last week and has been laying in his water bowl day and night for four straight days. I keep the humidity as close to 70% as possible, but there's only so much spraying and cage covering I can do (I live in Idaho with cold wx and low humidity). I've tried not to bother him while "in-blue" but did manage to replace the water in his bowl yesterday. Has anyone experienced a python literally laying in water for a week straight? Is scale rot a worry? Is there anything I can do other than stand over his cage and spray every hour?

Also, since he refused to leave the water, I switched lamps so that the hot side is now over the water bowl. Hope that's okay.

Thank you!

[Lankyrob]

We keep our Carpet at 50% which is "Normal" for thsi area, havent ever sprayed his viv, i would say 70% is too high.

Some carpets do spend more time than others in water, as long as you are sure that he doesnt have mites i wouldnt worry

[pdomensis]

Hey, glad to see another Idahoan here. Welcome and congrats on your snake. I know just what you mean about maintaining humidity, but like Rob said 70% is pretty dang high. I would continue to shoot for 50ish and let the snake decide if he wants to hang out in the water or not. I've never had an animal with scale rot before, but it seems unlikely that it would set in so quickly. The only problem with leaving the water under the hot side is algae growth, and again, not a huge concern in the amount of time it will take him to finish shedding.

[Terranaut]

I keep my carpets all at 50% and I mist once when in blue. Thats it. Some carpets love the water bowl so like said above , no mites =no worries.

[Terranaut]

Ok. Sorry but today I re read your post and I think I see what is going on.
Your heating with red lamps? If so this is not a good way to keep your snake. Those lamps dry out the air and cause moisture to rise. I also assume you have screen top aquarium? Thats a double whammy as now this airborn moisture has a way to leave the tank. What you need is one of 3 things. You need an under tank heater (uth) on the bottom. Not recomending this for a carpet but its better than a lamp. Or you could switch to a non light emmitting ceramic heat bulb . It looks like a lightbulb on one end and a stove element on the other. The third is a radient heat panel. To me these are the best for carpets. Regardless of what you use please use a thermostat to control it.
The reason the snake is in the water all day is because the bottom couple inchs of the tank will be dryer than 6" above it from the light.
I also hope that this snake gets the light off at night. They need a dark cycle too.

[franks]

Adding to what Terranaut said, constant misting does not work because it causes sever spikes and falls in humidity which is not great. Also, I am convinced that some snakes do not like the infrared heat bulbs. Remember they can "see" heat in a way. I keep cornsnakes, royals, carpets, and a rosy boa, and the rosy boa is the only snake that does not literally shy away and hide from the heat lamp. I have even toyed around with this idea, waiting for my BP to come out, then flicking on the infrared 65 watt light. He literally recoils and flinches, then goes and hides. Once I switched to ceramic heat emitters and UTH all of my snakes became more active. Just a suggestion that may be worth playing around with. Regardless, in the interm, I would definately suggest covering the screen of your enclosure.

[HoldenC]

Thank you all for the input! We really appreciate it. I have a 150w red heat lamp to keep the hot side of the 40 breeder at 92, and a dimmable white incandescent on the cold side during the day. I have heard that the red heat lamps make for poor husbandry. As I have literally never seen him in his hide - always perching on vines or on top of the hide - I didn't think the red light bugged him much. But we will look into saving up for a radiant heat panel with thermostat.

I normally keep the RH at 40 to 60%. I wanted to bump it up to 70% during shed so he didn't have to live in his water bowl all week, but I think he actually prefers it. I've seen worried Python owners posting about their snakes laying in water but not for a week straight, so I wanted to check. He definitely does not have mites. :)

Thanks again.

[Terranaut]

No need to bump his humidity up that high. Even during shed. 50-60% is fine.

[HoldenC]

Hey, glad to see another Idahoan here. Welcome and congrats on your snake.
Hey, small world! Thanks pd. My girlfriend and I absolutely adore this little guy. It might be turning into a bit of an obsession.

[HoldenC]

No need to bump his humidity up that high. Even during shed. 50-60% is fine.
Perfect. Much obliged.

[shaunyboy]

Thank you all for the input! We really appreciate it. I have a 150w red heat lamp to keep the hot side of the 40 breeder at 92, and a dimmable white incandescent on the cold side during the day. I have heard that the red heat lamps make for poor husbandry. As I have literally never seen him in his hide - always perching on vines or on top of the hide - I didn't think the red light bugged him much. But we will look into saving up for a radiant heat panel with thermostat.

I normally keep the RH at 40 to 60%. I wanted to bump it up to 70% during shed so he didn't have to live in his water bowl all week, but I think he actually prefers it. I've seen worried Python owners posting about their snakes laying in water but not for a week straight, so I wanted to check. He definitely does not have mites. :)

Thanks again.

whats your cool end temperature ?

if you heat the hot end correctly,the cool end usually takes care of itself mate

as Rob said,make sure there are no mites present

that said,it could be due to the shedding proccess

re water bowl
if you want to change the water and the snakes permenantly in the water bowl,just put another bowl in next to its original bowl

cheers shaun

[HoldenC]

Kingsley just shed for the first time in his new home, and he pulled it off it one piece! Thanks again for the help. :)

It took him 7 days to shed after going blue. He finally came out of the water bowl when his eyes cleared up a few days ago. His skin looked very dry from that point until he shed last night. But everything looks right to me. From the nostrils and eye caps all the way to the tip of the tail... The skin is 48". <3

[rmfsnakes32]

Very nice. I have 2 boas and a ball python that live in their water,and we have no mites. How big is your little guy now?

[Terranaut]

Kingsley just shed for the first time in his new home, and he pulled it off it one piece! Thanks again for the help. :)

It took him 7 days to shed after going blue. He finally came out of the water bowl when his eyes cleared up a few days ago. His skin looked very dry from that point until he shed last night. But everything looks right to me. From the nostrils and eye caps all the way to the tip of the tail... The skin is 48". <3

Yeah. Glad your snake shed for you and even though it was one piece that setup with those lights is not ideal. You need to cover the screen with foil as a start alone. It looks nice but is a mini convection oven. Covering the top will make a huge difference in humidity.

[HoldenC]

Yeah. Glad your snake shed for you and even though it was one piece that setup with those lights is not ideal. You need to cover the screen with foil as a start alone. It looks nice but is a mini convection oven. Covering the top will make a huge difference in humidity.
I normally have a wet cloth that fits between the lights to keep the humidity up, but I took it off for the picture. You're absolutely right though. I'm going to replace the red bulb with a ceramic heater tonight and also get a piece of plexiglass as a permanent roof.

@rmf Kingsley is two years old and just under 48 inches. I think he's on the small side.

[HoldenC]

I picked up a 150w ceramic heat emitter today. It's about 7 degrees cooler than the 150w red heat lamp. The hot side of the 40 breeder is just under 85 degrees, instead of 92. I'm hoping the temp will pick up once I get the plexiglass top. :)

[HoldenC]

I'm thinking about it wrong. All I need to do is provide a higher perch under the heat emitter to reach 92-95. Also, my RH is noticeably more stable.

Thanks again!

[Terranaut]

Great steps in the right dirrection. Do you have a thermostat yet? Sorry if you already answered that ;)

[HoldenC]

I don't have a thermostat, yet. This is just a temporary enclosure until I remodel my 4x4 closet into a viv this summer (so excited!). We have the CHE on a Fluker's dimmable lamp for the time being...

The humidity in my tank hasn't dropped below 40% since last night. I'm very happy with the ceramic heat emitter. Now, I just need to create a hot spot of 92 and he'll be a happy guy. Until this tireless mission starts all over again in my closet. ;)

[franks]

I'm thinking about it wrong. All I need to do is provide a higher perch under the heat emitter to reach 92-95. Also, my RH is noticeably more stable.

Thanks again!

150watt ceramic heat emitter is focused and strong. I have had branches get to about 140 degrees F with this. Use a temp gun and be careful. My solution was to put the branches to the side of it and I get 91-93 degrees now. Also make sure it is controlled by a rhetosthat so you can monitor the temp accordingly. Awesome looking snake btw.

[HoldenC]

Thanks, Franks. After getting the plexiglass top on and letting the cage settle for a day, I'm seeing a 92 hot side and 80 cold side. But your 140 degree branch scares the bejesus out of me. I'll steal a temp gun from work and check everything more closely.

I fuggered the top using with the glass cutter, so I had to use reflective duct tape to hold the plexiglass together. It turned out ugly, but it works.

[Freebody]

How to make your own Rheostat for less than $7! Detailed instructions. - CornSnakes.com Forums (http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168) nice easy and cheep rheostat to make and they work great.

[HoldenC]

10-4, Freebody. Thanks for the link!

I hope I'm not asking too many annoying noob questions, but I have one more. :D Will ambient light from a bedroom ceiling fixture affect the snake's nighttime schedule? I have his cage in my office, which I am working in constantly, and it's not feasible for me to work in the dark. Not to mention it's pitch black in his cage without the red bulb and I'd like to still see him occasionally. Thanks again for your help.

[Lankyrob]

The snake will have hides in its viv, if it wants darkness it will fnd it :)

[franks]

And you can always put some foliage cover up. The more cover for a little snake the more he will be likely to travel around

[Terranaut]

My carpets use their fake plants to hide in and seldom use their hides.

[shaunyboy]

imo you would be ok with just 1 of those lights in your hot end mate

i only provide roughly a third of the tank as a hot end,all mine do great in their tanks

thats a good looking IJ you have there

cheers shaun

[HoldenC]

Muchas gracias guardianes de las serpientes! Muy bueno.

Shaun, my house stays pretty cold during the winter, and his hot side thermometer never reached 90 degrees without the 50w day incandescent next to the CHE. And he's been acting different ever since I got the CHE. He's always balled up in the hide during the day, and never strays from the hot side vine at night. Whereas before, he was all over the place day and night. I might be misreading his behavior, but it sure seems like he's cold..

[Terranaut]

Got a temp gun? Use it on the snakes head and see what his temp is.

[HoldenC]

Thought I'd post an update. I ended up purchasing a Vivarium Electronics proportional thermostat. I instantly noticed a difference in Kingsley's behavior. He rarely ever basks now, literally never hides, and seems perfectly content just lying around on his vines all day and night. This thermostat has been working flawlessly.

Kingsley has been in perpetual shed since we got him (once per month). He eats one small rat a week and doesn't seem to want more. I assume this is okay for a 45" carpet..

Thanks again for all your help!


Video for to have fun/promote Carpets:

Kingsley - The Irian Jaya Carpet Python - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyfDx4D9QA)

++

[Mikoh4792]

What wattage would be the equivalent of 40,60,100 watt incandescent bulbs? I may switch over to ceramic.

Is it possible to use a radiant heat panel on a screen top?( Placing on the screen just like you would a lamp, or just screwing it on top from under the screen like you would a plastic enclosure)

[HoldenC]

What wattage would be the equivalent of 40,60,100 watt incandescent bulbs? I may switch over to ceramic.
ReptiCare® Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter

Product Options

60W Gal Size: 10-20 Gal
100W Gal Size: 30-40 Gal
150W Gal Size: 50-100 Gal
250W Gal Size: Breeder

[Terranaut]

What wattage would be the equivalent of 40,60,100 watt incandescent bulbs? I may switch over to ceramic.

Is it possible to use a radiant heat panel on a screen top?( Placing on the screen just like you would a lamp, or just screwing it on top from under the screen like you would a plastic enclosure)

Yes. My adult carpets have this but I have a cover on the other side of the screen.

[Mikoh4792]

Yes. My adult carpets have this but I have a cover on the other side of the screen.

You have it on the outside or inside of the enclosure?