bringing in a new Jungle Carpet Python

[Essjaya]

hi guys this is my first time here and im not sure im doing this right, the post that is...

im in Newcastle, NSW. My son has a reptile license and we have a one year old jungle carpet python, (gender unknown as yet). Wiz is almost 60 cm long and eating pinkie rats. We have been offered another JCP two years old, by the same person we purchased Wiz from. Id like to take him on, i'm not sure if his gender is determined but i will ascertain. I want to know the advisability of housing them together in Wiz's Large Vivarium.. if it is not advisable i certainly wont do it as we don't want either python put at any risk.. i have another vivarium i can put the new guy in.. just curious about the possibility of their eventual co-habitation .. id like some advice on whether or not to let them interact at all. id at least like to place them where they can see each other..

my son held Wiz up to a mirror this week and the little fella was very curious about his reflection.. he seemed to behave as though he saw another python.. Wiz is very accustomed to being held even though one reptile store owner in QLD told me "snakes don't like being held at all", he will sleep in my son's hair quite peacefully and rarely ever show signs of agitation..

will my son need to upgrade his license to bring home another python?

Any tips we can get will be much appreciated.regards
S.J

 

[Samthesnake]

I wouldn't recommend housing them together as snakes are solitary animals and will only ever come together during breeding season. If you put two snakes together you are risking your snakes lives as some snakes will kill the other snake or eat. It can also introduce diseases such as Sunshine Virus which kills snakes. You will not need to upgrade your license you will just have to record the purchase of the snake and update the license. You can still buy the snake i would just not recommend keeping them together unless for breeding.

 

[Iguana]

I agree with Samthesnake, co-housing snakes together is never a good idea, and I would recommend you don't. If they are both males they could fight and injure one another, if male and female they could eventually breed and you'd find yourself with a bunch of baby snakes. Also, due to the size difference between the two snakes, there could be an even bigger chance of fighting. I don't let my snakes interact because they are both suspected male, and one is much larger than the other.

Reptiles can also share diseases, when introducing a new reptile to your collection it's important to allow for a quarantine period, where the new reptile has no interaction with the other healthy reptiles. This also includes not handling at the same time, not sharing tools/cage decorations and sanitizing hands between handling the two. This can only be achieved if they are housed separately.

My Jungle python is just as tame as Wiz, but I wouldn't trust other snakes around him, just because they can be unpredictable.
Hope this helps!

 

[pinefamily]

Welcome to the forum.
On a slightly different note, how is your python's behaviour? Pinkie rats are probably not enough food for a one year old python, without seeing your little one. There are virtually no nutrients in pinkies either. Personally, I'd recommend at least fuzzy rats.

 

[Scutellatus]

If you are in Queensland you won't need to upgrade your license.
All you need to do is sign the movement advice provided by the seller, send the copy to the department and put the new addition in your logbook.

 

[Neil j]

First of all solitary animals here a pic of the jungle I’m getting soon.

 

[Essjaya]

.
[doublepost=1519114547,1519109231][/doublepost]when we purchased wiz on third june 17 he
was approx 20 cm long at a guess.. he was
reported to be four months old and had
been fed, two pinkie mice that morning..
from then onward we tried everything to get wiz to eat but wouldnt accept feeds.. reportedly his brother was eating but we had no luck.. we kept trying every week until november.
I researched and found opinions that a live feed might kickstart him. opinion from the rspca was that there was no actual law against live feeding, it was just a safety recommendation.. knowing a newborn pinkie couldnt injure him i purchased some mice (which ive bred on and off for years) one was already pregnant.
As soon as they were born we offered one to wiz and he was a bit wtf, just kept circling the feed bin.. using the tongs i gently flicked the pinkie at him.. when it tapped against his flank he snapped it up. I offered him another a few days later and he took it from the tongs. i waited a week and then tried him with a frozen/thawed/heated pinkie. he ate it straight away.. since then he has been accepting weekly feeds this way. since november we have worked him up to what i call juvenile mice.. then we switched over to pinkie rats five weeks ago. the first
one he refused and that day he shed. we
offered him a rat pinkie again the next
week and just left it with him in the feed
box. it quickly disappeared. he has now
grown exponentially to approx 60cm in
length and should be 1 yr old next month.
i will try him with a rat fuzzy next feed
and see how he goes. he has shed again
since he switched to rat pinkies hopefully you can see below the pic of my son with wiz entwined around his hands. my son has large hands as he is almost 2 metres tall..


[doublepost=1519198222][/doublepost]

First of all solitary animals here a pic of the jungle I’m getting soon.

View attachment 323328

how old is this guy? we bought a new viv today for the new python we are picking up on saturday.

 

[Neil j]

Good stuff mine is a yearling

 

[Fall guys]

You should try weigh him, I’m fairly certain it can go larger than fuzzy rats, they can take up to 40% (and larger) of their body weight and fuzzy rats only weigh 10-20 grams, and can cut down on food costs.. my yearling darwin is on fortnightly-monthly Weaner rats at 40g average, and she weighs 200g or so (haven’t weighed her in a while)