Irian Jaya Carpet Python and Ball Python comparison

[franks]

Originally Posted by gonesnakee

On that I have had multiple pure IJs both males & females & pretty much every one has hit at least 6ft & has a girth of that of close to a pop can or equal to it & have observed multiple others over the years as well from different bloodlines too.
Cheers Mark

How many have you had push past the 6' mark to hit around 8? What you are saying about "puppy mill" style breeding resonates with me. When in the market for carpets, I commonly find full grown coastals in giant rubbermaid tubs. Pretty sad. It is cool that you take your time and invest in your animals and do not see them like a product. I have had many breeders tell me "breeding age" is more about the actual age of the snake than the size. Could you elaborate on that. (perhaps on another thread if this is deemed hijacking).

[gonesnakee]

I think in order for a good healthy breeder both age (maturity) & size are factors.
If the snake is a tiny little specimen that never was a good feeder its size may not be sufficient despite being of age & on the other hand it could be a 1.5 YO that had been powerfed as well.
Slow & steady, give those girls a good four years to grow & mature & give the males at least 2 or more as well, many folks will start breeding morph males as yearlings never giving them a chance to fully mature either.
I personally have had at least 4 female IJs hit into the 8ft range & have had JCPs, CCPs & Bredli all in the 8ft range as well.
You get lots of folks telling you JCPs don't get very big either.
A snake kept in a tiny tub being fed a maintenance diet & getting bred ASAP is never going to reach its full potential be it a BP or a Carpet, thus why you see continually lowered standards in both as folks wnat to get the product out as fast as possible in many cases unfortunately, Mark

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by gonesnakee

Keep in mind that some folks will breed the crap right out of them young & small thus never giving them a remote chance of reaching their full potential, thus why they fit in their racks so nicely as well.
Some of these "breeders" do not hesitate to breed females that are only maybe 2 YO & 1500g & yearling males thus never having a remote chance to fully mature.
On that I personally would not breed any female Python at less than 3 YO & preferably 4 YO & definitely not at 1500g closer to triple that.
Mind you I am not a morph breeder with a facility so pumping them out as fast as possible thus stunting all the stock over time is not something that happens here either but it most definitely happens elsewhere & is promoted as well unfortunately.
On that I have had multiple pure IJs both males & females & pretty much every one has hit at least 6ft & has a girth of that of close to a pop can or equal to it & have observed multiple others over the years as well from different bloodlines too.
They all however were given the chance to properly mature before being entered into breeding programs though.
Keep in mind that with the continual lowering of breeding standards due to morph animals folks like to push their own agendas when presenting "facts" & what can be done & what should be done are NOT one in the same.
What has been happening with BPs & the ever plummeting standards is also happening with Carpets thus distorting their true size potentials to make folks think its OK to breed the crap out of them young & small because they are fully mature... NOT!
Cheers Mark

Mark you really hit the nail on the head with those post. It's rampant throughout the entire industry though.

You see a lot of people pushing their agenda because they make everything seem easy so they can capitalize on the "next big thing".

You've been around a long time too and I'm sure you remember on this very forum when people posted pictures of giant snakes that were giant. 14 foot burm males...16 foot burm females.

I also find a lot of people downplay species that simply aren't as easy as "beginner" species. Such as blood pythons. To these people they push them as "just slightly more humid ball pythons with a fatter girth" and it simply isn't true.

P.S. I am going to pull the hipster card and say I was into ball pythons before the trendy wankers!