New JCP owner with questions - Page 2

gonesnakee · 09-14-10, 05:20 PM

Didn;t read all the posts just scanned a few quickly

Ditch the mice ASAP feed this snake rats from now on if possible.
Snake should have never been offered pinky mice, far too small, it should have been started on pinky rats or fuzzy mice preferably rats from day 1.
You do not wnat an 8ft Carpet Python that needs to eat 20 mice at a time instead of 2 rats & you want to switch it ASAP before mice is all it wants.
judging by the pics that snake will have no problems taking pinky rats a couple at a time or even a small fuzzy rat.
Carpets tend to be bitey as babies & will grow out of it over time with gentle handling etc. it is in its nature to be defensive & to "defend" itself.
You will also find it will feed far better if only offered every 7-14 days instead of once weekly or less.
Before offering it a rat pinky I would wiat a good 2 weeks prior the last feeding to ensure it is hungry & more willing to eat, Mark

jamesb · 09-14-10, 07:22 PM

Thanks Mark. I am going to check out fuzzy rats next. My plan was to try and feed him every 6-7 days, no less. If I can't find a local place with fuzzy rats i'm just going to order the 100 and try and sell half of them to somebody else locally.

gonesnakee · 09-14-10, 07:40 PM

If they are available a live P rat could help make the switch as quite often if its live the snake will just gobble it up despite not being famililar with it, mind you live scares some of them too

LOL Mark

yellowsnakelove · 09-14-10, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesb

Found this site:

Frozen Rats for Sale | All Sizes of Feeder Rats
Anybody familiar with them/use them before? They are one of the only places I found so far where I could buy less than 50 fuzzy rats.

Hi, that's laynelabs.com. We've used Layne Labs for a few years. Well, if pinky mice to medium rats is a few years

Their mice and rats are really clean, and someone always call us the day the order ships and again on the day it's delivers. Can't beat that for customer service. I'd recommend them, especially if you need smaller bag counts because your little guy is growing.

What a beauty, BTW. Nice setup also.

shaunyboy · 09-15-10, 06:46 AM

gonesnakee has covered everything imo

the only thing i would add is i do not mist any of my carpets

mines all shed 100% complete and perfect everytime.

thats a nice looking wee carpet you got there

cheers shaun

jamesb · 09-15-10, 08:06 AM

I mist twice a day. Once around 8am before work and once more around 8pm. He does NOT like getting wet. I've been just misting around him if he is in his tree so I don't disturb him. I have a small water dish so if I don't mist, the humidity would be around 30% all the time.

Meg · 09-15-10, 09:10 PM

Selling half is a good idea. I dont know what the herp community is like where you are but boy all the snake people in my town would jump at that

Will0W783 · 09-16-10, 12:07 PM

You should not need to mist a carpet twice a day. That's like the humidity required for a GTP. I also do not mist my carpets, and none of them ever have a problem shedding. I would stop with the misting right away, because you could run into the bedding molding or the animal developing a fungal infection or scale rot. Wait until it sheds and note how the shed goes. If it sheds in one nice piece, you're good to go. If it has trouble shedding, then you need to correct your cage husbandry, but a carpet should not need misting if it's being kept correctly.

Will0W783 · 09-16-10, 12:09 PM

Also, you MUST have a water dish that is large enough for the snake to soak in should it choose to. This is a requirement for any and all snakes. I use Tupperware sandwich containers for my smaller snakes, and dog dishes for my larger ones. You need to correct that ASAP.

gonesnakee · 09-16-10, 12:47 PM

I never mist any of my Carpets either & they all shed fine despite Alberta's low humidity.
They all have water dishes large enough to soak in as well. Mark

marvelfreak · 09-16-10, 12:56 PM

The only time i mist my carpets is once a day when in shed.

jamesb · 09-16-10, 03:41 PM

Thanks for all the info. I'll relax on the misting. The dish should be OK, but it wouldn't hurt to go up one size so I just did that now.

Meg · 09-18-10, 12:29 PM

I think it must depend on humidity of the area, substrate used and the individual snake. My jungles need more humidity then once a day misting or else they have a poor shed. But I dont mist, I use a substrate that keeps the humidity up around 50%

James...the best way to know if you need more humidity is to pay attention to sheds. If your jungle is misted once a day and sheds fine, then you dont need to worry about it

If it has problems with shedding then you need to raise the humidity.

jamesb · 10-06-10, 10:38 AM

So i've fed her two more fuzzy mice (one every 7 days) since this post and she has ate them fine. I just ordered 25 fuzzy rats from Layne Labs, but they won't be shipped till next week. Hope she eats them without issue.

I can't wait to see her shed for the first time. She has gotten better when holding her. Bit me once a couple days ago. Not even tried to bite my girlfriend yet. I had her out the other day and she perched on my hand, wrapped around it, and didn't move for literally 4-5 minutes. Like she was hanging out in a tree. I guess she felt pretty safe. LOL!

marvelfreak · 10-06-10, 01:08 PM

Cool! When she shed we want to see some new pics.