# Jungle Carpet Python behaviour



## begnik (Mar 14, 2016)

Hi there all,

I'm somewhat of a newbie, only having owned our Jungle for about a year, and I didn't know about this forum until recently, so I thought I'd join and post a curiosity.

We have a 2yo Jungle, around 1.2m long and very chilled out. She (no idea of sex, although we've called her 'Khaleesi') struck me once when we first got her, but hasn't struck at anyone (except our dog who got a little close once) since. She's increasingly comfortable on my sons and I when we handle her, and doesn't seem to crave reprieve at all now, unlike when she was smaller and younger.

Anyway, when I'm handling her (which often means having her just slide all over my shoulders, neck and head while I'm working on my computer), she will often find two points of purchase, around 20cm apart (eg: my neck and my arm or my neck and my armpit), and she will sort of flex and release her muscles between those two points before moving her body along about 2cm and then do it again. She will spend a long time, and a lot of physical effort doing this all along her body...it's almost as though she's excercising. The effort is such that her outbreath after flexing is often audible, as though she's releasing after her 'squeezing' exercises. Sometimes the pressure is really quite strong! I'm very careful to not handle food before handling her, so I'm sure she's not in constriction mode.

Just thought I'd see if this behaviour is normal or exceptional - I can't find ANYTHING online about it.

Thanks so much for your input!

Cheers!

Nick.







PS: She escaped July, we think into our roof cavity, and basically thought she was gone for good (and really couldn't do anything about it)...until she turned up again (in the bathroom) 5 months later in November. This was somewhat of a shock, and we're pretty sure she'd not eaten in that time. She was SUPER hungry. We've since upped our security measures.


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## Herpo (Mar 14, 2016)

I'm not too sure what she could be doing really. Sounds relatively normal, my python does it sometimes, but not to the same extent as yours. And don't worry about the breathing. Carpets often breathe audibly and it won't necessarily be bad.


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## pinefamily (Mar 14, 2016)

That behaviour is absolutely normal. All of our snakes do a similar movement when out on us. The breathing is fine too. Imagine being confined to an area, and not moving a great deal; then when you do you have the chance to move around, you might breath a but harder in exertion.


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## SKYWLKR (Mar 14, 2016)

Dont forget that she's had free reign of your roof cavity for 5 months! And now she's limited in movement so it could have something to do with stretching or aligning ribs, organs, muscles, who knows! Dont forget that your body temperature is similar to what they like to be at so she's probably having a Swedish massage when on your shoulders! 

And Id change her name from Khaleesi to Boomerang if I were you. At least she came back. Very lucky!


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## kenny1 (Mar 20, 2016)

These areas are where the blood arteries are closer to the skin, therefore warmer.
She could be doing one of two things.
Trying to display dominance over you by squeezing places she feels your pulse (that's how a python knows that its prey is dead, by the stopped pulse as a result of constriction).
Or... its just simply warmer and she is thermo regulating from your body temperature.
What temperature have you got her enclosure set at? Maybe its too low, and she is taking advantage of your temp?

I used to have a red bellied black snake that used to flatten herself out on me when handled, especially when I walked into sunlight! It was a bit intimidating at first, but once I worked out what she was doing it was quite amusing to walk in and out of the sunlight to watch her change postures so rapidly.


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## PythonLegs (Mar 20, 2016)

Dominance!! Thats a new one! Great! Wow.


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## Wally (Mar 20, 2016)

It's what snakes do. They don't have arms to hang on. Testing muscles to see what has some grip would be my interpretation.


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## Wallo (Mar 21, 2016)

My stimmie used to do this and has always done this since he was a hatchie only when he is ****** off - I have found this to be a form of retaliation usually after I woke him up and get him out of his enclosure - I now only get him out when he is awake and active and dosent do it at all - this is what I have observed and maybe just coincedental to some form of attchment


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