Cat safety and child dafety

[John9k]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum, so il give yall a quick intro. My name is John and I have been keeping herps for the past 10 years. Iguanas, chameleons (my favorite species) and frilled dragons has thrived under my care. Lately, time has been a factor for me so I sold all my animals cause I was no longer enjoying taking care of them due to time.

After 2 months, I needed something cold blooded in my life and turned to snakes! Due to thr fact they are not very time consuming compared to insect eaters has i dont have to clean or gutload the food. This brings me to my question..

I was going for a Ball python at first, but once at the reptile store, I made a last second decision and chose a carpet simply due to the fact they are more active snakes and display themselves a little more. I was informed that they are good starter snake.
Now i see these videos on youtube, they seem to get very large! Like up to 7 feet, there is a video of one eating a possum...

If for some reason or another if conditions where right (like i locked myself out the house and it escaped or what ever) could this snake (fully grown) kill one of my GFs cats? Or in anyway harm a small child? I see conflicting answers when I google this.

I know I would never let this happen, im very carefull with my animals. But the what if factor is bugging me. he (or she) tiny baby right now and I like the animal, he does not bite and ate 2 pinkys 3 hours into its new home

Also, if someone could direct me to a carpet only website or book i would be very happy.

Thanks for reading!

John

[infernalis]

sSnakeSs.com - Rules

[Terranaut]

I doubt even a large carpet would pose a threat to a child but a small cat might be a different story. Personally I think it would be ik but given that a large carpet can cram back large prey, I guess it maybe could happen. Our dog is 30lbs and our 7' female jungle pays no attention to her at all.

[Kiljosh]

I dunno how carpets are, but with my ball it was hard enough getting him to switch from mice to rats. He just didn't seem to know it was food. I would think just from this that most snakes have a smell they know is food, and if your cat didn't give off that smell he may just ignore it. Then again, who knows, maybe to him cats smell and taste like chicken.

[Lankyrob]

Could a snake injure or kill a child or cat - yes quite possibly. you dont say what type of Carpet Python it is, they do vary in size quite drastically.

The fact is if you ensure that your snakes "cage" is totally secure and LOCKED, you only let the snake out when the cats arent around and the same with the child then there should never be an issue.

I have a child, cats, guinea pigs, dog, 7 snakes and 2 lizards - i ensure that the animals dont have the opportunity to interact. The cats love sleeping on top of the vivariums tho, nice and toasty up there!!

[Kiljosh]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

The cats love sleeping on top of the vivariums tho, nice and toasty up there!!

Haha do your snakes stare at them like dinner?

[red ink]

Originally Posted by John9k

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum, so il give yall a quick intro. My name is John and I have been keeping herps for the past 10 years. Iguanas, chameleons (my favorite species) and frilled dragons has thrived under my care. Lately, time has been a factor for me so I sold all my animals cause I was no longer enjoying taking care of them due to time.

Welcome

After 2 months, I needed something cold blooded in my life and turned to snakes! Due to thr fact they are not very time consuming compared to insect eaters has i dont have to clean or gutload the food. This brings me to my question..

Same I longer purchase any four legged reptiles for the excat same reason... too much work. I now only breed what i got lol.

I was going for a Ball python at first, but once at the reptile store, I made a last second decision and chose a carpet simply due to the fact they are more active snakes and display themselves a little more. I was informed that they are good starter snake.
Now i see these videos on youtube, they seem to get very large! Like up to 7 feet, there is a video of one eating a possum...

Great choice

If for some reason or another if conditions where right (like i locked myself out the house and it escaped or what ever) could this snake (fully grown) kill one of my GFs cats? Or in anyway harm a small child? I see conflicting answers when I google this.

The cat definitely if it hassles the snake would not fair very well against a carpet... a child unless the child is harassing and grabbing the snake then it's safe. Most likely the snake will hide if it got out.
Glass locks are a good investment as well as nice secure enclosures.

I know I would never let this happen, im very carefull with my animals. But the what if factor is bugging me. he (or she) tiny baby right now and I like the animal, he does not bite and ate 2 pinkys 3 hours into its new home

Also, if someone could direct me to a carpet only website or book i would be very happy.

The Complete carpet python is a must for carpet lovers as well as Keeping and Breeding Australian Pythons...

Thanks for reading!

John

Hopefully that helps..

[red ink]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

The cats love sleeping on top of the vivariums tho, nice and toasty up there!!

My cat does excatly the same thing Rob... course I have sliding glass locks on all my enclosures .

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by Kiljosh

Haha do your snakes stare at them like dinner?

Nope - all vivs are wooden so the snakes cant see the cats anyway and even when the cats sit in front of the vivs the snakes seem to ignore them totally.

all my vivs have sliding glass doors with locks like jewellers use on their cabinets.

[John9k]

Wow!

Thank you all for answering my questions special thanks to red ink for the details, after searching the place a little, this really looks like a great forum!

I seem to have been lucky with my little guy has it does not bite! It makes a ring on my arm and just sits there after some exploration. I'm in for a surprise since I dont remember what the breed is, its a cross from two morphs... I dont know much about the species so I cannot recall the names :/ and the girl is on vacation for 2 weeks, I hope she will remember what she sold me.

Anyhow, thanks again, I will post some pictures on the week end

John

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome

pm'd you a few sites and books that will be of interest mate

cheers shaun

[stephanbakir]

Welcome to the forum! Carpets are awesome, we've got a few here and I dare say I like them almost as much as my retics
Keep in mind that snakes can kill prey much larger then themselves, once your carpet hits 6 feet, you should never handle him alone, and never around your neck once he puts on some size.

I had a large retic that never showed me any aggression or defensive behaviour, she reacted to a bird landing on the window and transitioned into feed response. You can never control every variable.

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by stephanbakir

Welcome to the forum! Carpets are awesome, we've got a few here and I dare say I like them almost as much as my retics
Keep in mind that snakes can kill prey much larger then themselves, once your carpet hits 6 feet, you should never handle him alone, and never around your neck once he puts on some size.

I had a large retic that never showed me any aggression or defensive behaviour, she reacted to a bird landing on the window and transitioned into feed response. You can never control every variable.

^^^^^
great advice

[John9k]

Thanks again for all the advice! This is truly a quality forum.

I have spoken to the breeder and its a "diamond x queensland" cross. Anyone know what i should expect from this snake?

Thanks!

[shaunyboy]

average size for a diamond is 2.5 to 3 metres mate

if a queensland is a coastal carpet,then they are the largest of all the carpets.anything up to 12 feet,the average is around 2.5 metres

carpets stay quite slender,roughly the girth of a coke can.

all my carpets bar one are placid snakes that don't bite unless startlled or in feeding mode

if your carpet does not bite as a youngster,then it should turn into a nice calm adult

if you've been petting the cat,ALWAYS wash your hands before you go into the carpets tank,or it may mistake your hand for food

cheers shaun