Irian Jaya Jag Carpet Python - Beginner Info

HoldenC · 03-13-13, 06:42 PM

Hey guys, great forum here. I'm a new owner of a 2 year old Irian Jaya Jag sibling, my first ever snake. He's a sweet boy with a great temperament and I'm really glad we skipped over Royals and went for a Carpet. No offense to Ball Pythons, but I'm a fan of the Carpet's inquisitive nature and activity in and out of the cage (more interesting than someone who sleeps all day and night).

He seems quite healthy, ate for us for the first time 2.5 weeks ago and crapped accordingly. His hot side is 92-95 degrees with a cold side of 78-80 degrees. RH is 40 to 70%.

Now for my question. Kingsley started the shedding process last week and has been laying in his water bowl day and night for four straight days. I keep the humidity as close to 70% as possible, but there's only so much spraying and cage covering I can do (I live in Idaho with cold wx and low humidity). I've tried not to bother him while "in-blue" but did manage to replace the water in his bowl yesterday. Has anyone experienced a python literally laying in water for a week straight? Is scale rot a worry? Is there anything I can do other than stand over his cage and spray every hour?

Also, since he refused to leave the water, I switched lamps so that the hot side is now over the water bowl. Hope that's okay.

Thank you!

Lankyrob · 03-14-13, 04:59 AM

We keep our Carpet at 50% which is "Normal" for thsi area, havent ever sprayed his viv, i would say 70% is too high.

Some carpets do spend more time than others in water, as long as you are sure that he doesnt have mites i wouldnt worry

pdomensis · 03-14-13, 07:31 AM

Hey, glad to see another Idahoan here. Welcome and congrats on your snake. I know just what you mean about maintaining humidity, but like Rob said 70% is pretty dang high. I would continue to shoot for 50ish and let the snake decide if he wants to hang out in the water or not. I've never had an animal with scale rot before, but it seems unlikely that it would set in so quickly. The only problem with leaving the water under the hot side is algae growth, and again, not a huge concern in the amount of time it will take him to finish shedding.

Terranaut · 03-14-13, 07:34 AM

I keep my carpets all at 50% and I mist once when in blue. Thats it. Some carpets love the water bowl so like said above , no mites =no worries.

Terranaut · 03-14-13, 09:05 AM

Ok. Sorry but today I re read your post and I think I see what is going on.
Your heating with red lamps? If so this is not a good way to keep your snake. Those lamps dry out the air and cause moisture to rise. I also assume you have screen top aquarium? Thats a double whammy as now this airborn moisture has a way to leave the tank. What you need is one of 3 things. You need an under tank heater (uth) on the bottom. Not recomending this for a carpet but its better than a lamp. Or you could switch to a non light emmitting ceramic heat bulb . It looks like a lightbulb on one end and a stove element on the other. The third is a radient heat panel. To me these are the best for carpets. Regardless of what you use please use a thermostat to control it.
The reason the snake is in the water all day is because the bottom couple inchs of the tank will be dryer than 6" above it from the light.
I also hope that this snake gets the light off at night. They need a dark cycle too.

franks · 03-14-13, 10:05 AM

Adding to what Terranaut said, constant misting does not work because it causes sever spikes and falls in humidity which is not great. Also, I am convinced that some snakes do not like the infrared heat bulbs. Remember they can "see" heat in a way. I keep cornsnakes, royals, carpets, and a rosy boa, and the rosy boa is the only snake that does not literally shy away and hide from the heat lamp. I have even toyed around with this idea, waiting for my BP to come out, then flicking on the infrared 65 watt light. He literally recoils and flinches, then goes and hides. Once I switched to ceramic heat emitters and UTH all of my snakes became more active. Just a suggestion that may be worth playing around with. Regardless, in the interm, I would definately suggest covering the screen of your enclosure.

HoldenC · 03-14-13, 05:45 PM

Thank you all for the input! We really appreciate it. I have a 150w red heat lamp to keep the hot side of the 40 breeder at 92, and a dimmable white incandescent on the cold side during the day. I have heard that the red heat lamps make for poor husbandry. As I have literally never seen him in his hide - always perching on vines or on top of the hide - I didn't think the red light bugged him much. But we will look into saving up for a radiant heat panel with thermostat.

I normally keep the RH at 40 to 60%. I wanted to bump it up to 70% during shed so he didn't have to live in his water bowl all week, but I think he actually prefers it. I've seen worried Python owners posting about their snakes laying in water but not for a week straight, so I wanted to check. He definitely does not have mites.

Thanks again.

Terranaut · 03-14-13, 05:50 PM

No need to bump his humidity up that high. Even during shed. 50-60% is fine.

HoldenC · 03-14-13, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdomensis

Hey, glad to see another Idahoan here. Welcome and congrats on your snake.

Hey, small world! Thanks pd. My girlfriend and I absolutely adore this little guy. It might be turning into a bit of an obsession.

HoldenC · 03-14-13, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terranaut

No need to bump his humidity up that high. Even during shed. 50-60% is fine.

Perfect. Much obliged.

shaunyboy · 03-16-13, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HoldenC

Thank you all for the input! We really appreciate it. I have a 150w red heat lamp to keep the hot side of the 40 breeder at 92, and a dimmable white incandescent on the cold side during the day. I have heard that the red heat lamps make for poor husbandry. As I have literally never seen him in his hide - always perching on vines or on top of the hide - I didn't think the red light bugged him much. But we will look into saving up for a radiant heat panel with thermostat.

I normally keep the RH at 40 to 60%. I wanted to bump it up to 70% during shed so he didn't have to live in his water bowl all week, but I think he actually prefers it. I've seen worried Python owners posting about their snakes laying in water but not for a week straight, so I wanted to check. He definitely does not have mites.

Thanks again.

whats your cool end temperature ?

if you heat the hot end correctly,the cool end usually takes care of itself mate

as Rob said,make sure there are no mites present

that said,it could be due to the shedding proccess

re water bowl
if you want to change the water and the snakes permenantly in the water bowl,just put another bowl in next to its original bowl

cheers shaun

HoldenC · 03-17-13, 02:54 PM

Kingsley just shed for the first time in his new home, and he pulled it off it one piece! Thanks again for the help.

It took him 7 days to shed after going blue. He finally came out of the water bowl when his eyes cleared up a few days ago. His skin looked very dry from that point until he shed last night. But everything looks right to me. From the nostrils and eye caps all the way to the tip of the tail... The skin is 48". <3

rmfsnakes32 · 03-17-13, 08:45 PM

Very nice. I have 2 boas and a ball python that live in their water,and we have no mites. How big is your little guy now?

Terranaut · 03-18-13, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HoldenC

Kingsley just shed for the first time in his new home, and he pulled it off it one piece! Thanks again for the help.

It took him 7 days to shed after going blue. He finally came out of the water bowl when his eyes cleared up a few days ago. His skin looked very dry from that point until he shed last night. But everything looks right to me. From the nostrils and eye caps all the way to the tip of the tail... The skin is 48". <3

Yeah. Glad your snake shed for you and even though it was one piece that setup with those lights is not ideal. You need to cover the screen with foil as a start alone. It looks nice but is a mini convection oven. Covering the top will make a huge difference in humidity.

HoldenC · 03-18-13, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Yeah. Glad your snake shed for you and even though it was one piece that setup with those lights is not ideal. You need to cover the screen with foil as a start alone. It looks nice but is a mini convection oven. Covering the top will make a huge difference in humidity.

I normally have a wet cloth that fits between the lights to keep the humidity up, but I took it off for the picture. You're absolutely right though. I'm going to replace the red bulb with a ceramic heater tonight and also get a piece of plexiglass as a permanent roof.

@rmf Kingsley is two years old and just under 48 inches. I think he's on the small side.