hello from ohio

[rockstarbass1]

Hey everyone. Thought id introduce myself. My names chris I'm 21 yrs old and a new jcp owner. I'm not new to snakes or reptiles as iv had when I was younger a corn snake, ball python, and red tail boas. Along with bearded dragons and leopard geckos. But I have been out of it for atleast 3 years. As I haven't had much time to care for a pet. I recently decided I wanted something. Iv always like jungle carpet pythons but from what I remembered they were always around the 300$ range. I went to a reptile show for the first time in 3 or 4 years and to my supprise the price has dropped a lot! That's and not many breeders have them (everyone wants some fancy BP morph) I picked her up for 80 bucks. Was told its about 9 weeks old. I think its an amazing snake and looks very pretty but wow is it mean or snappy compared to any snake iv ever owned. (Never been bit by a snake before I owned this one) guess this will be a learning experience for me. Looking forward to see what I can learn from this forum. Thanks chris

[infernalis]

[Ch^4]

Welcome! Glad to hear you're keeping snakes again..we'd love to see pics!

You chose the right one; Morelia's are very addicting snakes...I'm sure this thread will be flooded with comments from other Morelia keepers!

You are absolutely correct, baby JCPs are very snappy, but wouldn't you be snappy if you were small, bright yellow, and surrounded by predators?! Your new snake is likely stressed from the move, so I'd let the little gal or guy settle in for about a week before you start "training" it...when I say settling in, I mean isolation; no handling unless absolutely necessary, and cage visits only to check temps and humidity, fill water, and clean messes. If you can provide this very difficult (for you) week of isolation, you should have a much happier, less stressed, JCP to begin training.

As Rob mentioned, let the little bugger bite you and don't show any signs of fear (i.e., flinching or jumping). After the isolation period is complete, use confident, but gentle movements to remove him/her from the viv. If you don't want to get bit, use gloves, but a bite from a 9 week old JCP won't hurt a bit! Try to avoid "dallying" around when removing her/him from the viv; this can cause unnecessary stress and lead to a more defensive snake (i.e., more biting).

With a bit of patience and self-control, you should have a wonderful pet JCP on your hands! I've been "training" my JCP for about 2 months now, and it has been at least 4 weeks since I've been tagged (she tagged my girlfriend last night though! She's a daddy's girl ).

Good luck and post some pics after the week of isolation!

[marvelfreak]

Hello and welcome! Once your snake settles in you can start working on training. One thing you can try is hook training. You can buy them on line or at Pet Smart. My friend Shawn was having problems with a couple of his snake being aggressive and striking, so he started using a hook to get them out. Now he uses the hook all the time to pick them up and then set them in his hand. Once they're in his hand their fine no striking, hissing, or biting.
I also found giving them a lite mist with a water bottled help clam them down.

[Lankyrob]

Hehehe, the joys of baby jcp's!!! Expect to be bitten a lot for the first year or so but with perseverance you should end up with a snake that is happy to be handled.

The general feeling is that they bite to be put down, so dont. Once they realise that A) you aren't going to eat it and B) biting doesnt get them put down they should stop. Our still strikes when you go to pick him up but only rarely once he is out of his enclosure.

Good luck, and we love pictures!!!

[rockstarbass1]

Thanks for the input so far! Its a little over 2 weeks that iv had her. And when I first got her I did do this isolation thing for a week. At then end of the week I held her once then the next day I fed her.she ate with no problem. Let 3 days go by.. she went to the bathroom (was all white) so I took her out handeled her and cleaned. She tagged me about 4 times. When I go to take her out I come over her with my whole hand so it can't strike. After a few min she calms down so I hold her for another 10 min or so. And then put her back. But as soon as she goes in the tank she goes nut for atleast an hr. Its in my bed room and she just strkes like crazy at the glass. You don't need to even be close I can be sitting on my bed 10 feet away and she just stares and strikes. Now I haven't held her since and its been about another 4 days and she has went to the bathroom again (brown) but anytime I look in there she's up on the brand right under the heat lamp. Looks like she hasn't moved very much (yes she's alive when I go by the tank she moves around and looks) I think she might also be going into shed soon as she is starting to get that haze color. Ill post pics soon!

[Lankyrob]

Sounds like you have it all under control! Just stick at it and it will be fine. The most important thing now is PICTURES!!!

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome

as said you've picked the fiestier of the young carpets jungles are notourious as biters when young

i would get him eating regular before i started to work on calming him down

its more important that they eat than stop biting you

after he's ate 4 or 5 times then i would start the handling proccess

start with 5 minutes handling

don't dilly dally about in front of his tank or hesitate when you go in to pick him up

they pick up on your nervousness and it makes them bite more

after he calms down and is happy enough with 5 minutes per day handling then up it to 10 minutes per day

again once ok witth this up it to 15 minutes per day

once they're happy to be taken out and handled for 15 minutes they are generally ok from there on

do NOT handle for 3 days after your snake eats

this gives them time to digest their food

handling snakes with a meal in them can lead to a regurge

imo you picked a great snake to get back into reptiles with

its only carpets i work with so i'm a tad biased

cheers shaun

[rockstarbass1]

Kinda sucks you said that about feeding... I tried feeding her again Friday and she won't eat... she went for the thing 2 times and it got out of her bite/slow job at coiling. Then it drownd in the water bowl. I left it in there for the night (took it out the water) she didn't go for it tho

[percey39]

Hello and welcome to the forum.