lots of questions

[rwg]

Hello all,

I have a few questions about carpet pythons.

First, size. I understand jungles are about the smallest (4.5-7 feet), and coastals are biggest (7-10+). That seem about right? Is there much of a difference between males and females in carpets, and does this depend on the particular subspecies? Also I've seen the size range of "spilota" listed as up to 25 feet on at least one web site, but I've never seen any mention of a subspecies that gets any bigger than 14. Ever heard of a really big spilota?

Taxonomy: The taxonomy sites dont mention Irian Jaya at all. Variegata is listed as "Nothwestern Carpet Python". Is IJ a particular locality of variegata? If so, how can you tell it from other variegata?

Care: while I've found lots of info on jcp and IJ, I haven't found much else. Do all spilota need an arboreal setup? I've seen their space requirements listed as 40g or larger. Does this apply to all subspecies?

Misc: Is jaguar a color morph? What other morphs are there?

rg

[Zoe]

Jungles aren't the smallest, Irian Jayas are. The males usually stay around the 4.5-5' mark, and females around 5-5.5' mark. I've heard of 7' WC females, but you'd be hardpressed to find a pure one in captivity. You have the size correct for jungles, though most hover nearer to the 5-6' mark (as opposed to 4.5'). Coastals CAN get 10ft+, but you probably won't find anything bigger than 9'.
There is a difference between males and females, mostly in girth. Females are usually a bit longer (half a foot, say) and heavier. Nothing crazy.
I've never heard of a 25 foot spilota. Are you certain it wasn't just Morelia?

Variegata is the latin name for a whole bunch of carpets like northwesterns, darwins, irian jayas, new guineas. But I haven't seen that much in Canada (as opposed to austrialia). All you'll find here, I should think, are Irian Jayas.

As they get older, carpets will spend more time on the ground, but they should always have access to branches and shelves because they do roam around. The size of the cage depends on the size of the animal. I keep my IJs in 4 x 2 x 2.5H cages, but you could definitely go a foot smaller on the length. Jungles is pretty much the same. For coastals you'd need something bigger, I'd suggest 5 x 2 x 3.

Jaguar is a coastal morph, yep. It has proved to be very whacky and you can all sorts of different colours and patterns. There are also striped coastals, an albino IJ in australia, hypo melanistic IJs... and I'm sure there are more being worked on.

Zoe

[Andy_G]

http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com/carpet_python_care.htm#Carpet%20Pythons%20are%20ar boreal.

Anthony's care sheet is, in my opinion,the best out there. All the info you have asked is on his site somewhere.

[rwg]

Thanks for the answers guys...Anthony's site is awesome by the way.

rg

[rwg]

Oh, about spilota size...I got 25' from

http://www.nafcon.dircon.co.uk/pythons_morelia.htm

They list the size of M. spilota as 7'-25'. In the subspecies breakdown they dont have any listed bigger than 14', but they have a few that that they dont have lengths listed for. I figured the 25' was BS, but I thought I'd ask.

Hmmm...I just re-read the page, and they have M. amethystina listed as 7'-14'. I think they just got the two length ranges swapped since they actually mention a 25 foot scrub in the text.

rg

[JKUROSKI]

They probably mean the genus Morelia which includes the kinghorni (Australian Scrub) which can reach that length.

[Jeff_Favelle]

They probably mean the genus Morelia which includes the kinghorni (Australian Scrub) which can reach that length.

No. He had kinghorni listed on there as a seperate species, so he didn't mean that.

I emailed him and told him about the 25" thing. I also told him that his Amethystine Python was listed at 9' or something like that. He seemed real nice. He's from Britain. He told me he got the info from an old book, but is updating it with new, better info from more accurate sources. I believe he's changed the spilota and amethystine lengths.


Is jaguar a color morph? What other morphs are there? Color and pattern morph. Genetics unknown with some dominance at play. There are a LOT of other morphs out there, including the ones that Zoe has said. Others? Well I'm not at liberty to say, but let's just assume that its going to be wide open for carpets in the next few years!! wink wink! :D