A wanna be owner with some Q's in regards to Jungle Pythons (long)

[ishy]

G'day all,

I have contemplated adopting a snake for a long long time now and have been researching such etc.

Even though they are known to be a little snappy (according to most research I have done) I think Ive decided to adopt a Black and Gold Jungle (considering GTP's are sooo expensive!!) absolutely love the colors, the patterns. It looks like a great snake. Everyone keeps saying " dont listen to beginner snake advise, find one you like the look of and get that"

In my research, as much as I have done im still a little confused about a few things...this is where I thought you wonderful snake smart people might come to the rescue!

My first is about the variety of Jungles. There seems to be quite a few that come from different areas etc...what are the real differences between these? (Black and golds anyway) Its something I would assume I need to consider when looking for one but it confuses me lol.

That leads me to buying the right one..

I wrote to one well known reptile breeder/supplier here in SA that said on thier site they ahve hatchlings but upon further investigation (after they gave me a list of thier products I needed to buy before adopting, most of which I bought) they dont have any at all and doubt they will have until the end of the year...
So I rang and looked around..
It lead me to another breeder who also worked in a petshop selling snakes. They said they had one so I went in to see...it was great but the colors were not the best (although I know they get better with age). So I asked about colorings where they pointed out two adults they had (not parents). The adults, although stunning, didnt not look like the black and gold jungles ive seen photos of (alot here) They were more like Black and brown Jungles.

How does one increase the chances of getting a hatchling that is likely to show brilliant colors??

And then theres sex...are they basically the same (with females larger) in personality??

Why get a hatchling you ask?? I could increase my chances of getting good colors by getting an older snake already showing good colors......theres many reasons why I have decided on a hatchling. As long as its feeding well already etc, I really do think a hatchling will be best for my needs etc. Too long to go into now.

That leads me to ask, when does a hatchling become a yearling? At around a year??
And are hatchlings avail only at certain times of year or because they are captive bred, they can breed all year round, so to speak (have not researched breeding)

Lastly, I wanna be sure Im all ready to go for when I do find the right snake. I got the licence sorted as of today!!!! So exciting!!
Ive been looking around for click clacks that one breeder suggested..they dont have clear walls (apparently increases security) and have metal clips that hold clear lid in place..I cannot remember the name now.
Think I can find them anywhere?? Where do people get thier click clacks from and what sort are they?? I tried Big W but again only all clear plastic ones with little blue clips.
Someone also mentioned " dont get the ones with clips that clip down, make sure they clip up".....this only complicated things further for me! lol

Ive also found it really hard finding details on how to set up a click clack exactly for a hatchling. Ive bought a range of heat mats (some stick on bottom, some dont but are covered in rubber/plastic stuff) and some heat cords as well as hides and water dishes etc.
The heat mats say you must use substrate but is paper enough?? Would glass get too hot?
I also have everything needed for the yearling enclosure when it grows and needs a bigger space. I will buid an adult enclosure.

Anyway, I will leave it there for now...thanks in advance for any help and advise you can offer!!

Eden

[ishy]

Wow sorry, that turned out alot longer than I thought or hoped.

Please dont put let that put you off offering your advise etc!!!

[FNQ_Snake]

Try an auto-shop like repco or supercheap for the click-clacks. Failing that go to Bunnings.

As for the heat mat, just use a thermostat to monitor the heat. Most are quite easy to use and most are pretty much the same.

[pete12]

dont listen to FNQ_Snake go to kmart or big W and go to Tupperware section they have ones called sistema for about 3-12 bucks also they come in all diffrent sizes

[Pythonking]

hey Ishy very long thing to read there Jungles are funny ones when it comes to buying, There are many different locals which show different colourations, often the not most ads I see stating black and gold jungles are closer to the yellow/blownish phase which always annoys me. Some good colourations I've seen over the years have generally come from Palmerston, tully areas, When I am looking for a good animal I look generally in two different places www.herpshop.com.au and www.reptilesdownunder.com.au . The colouration of hatchlings can vary a fair bit compared to adults but the perants do give you a general idea of potentional colouration seeing the hatchlings take rougly 12 months to colour up. I personally don't use heat mats with my click clacks I usually have the click clacks in normal cage with a probe thermostat inserted into the click clack, but useing heat mats is a good way to go but just make sure you have a probe thermostat on the heat mat because the heat mat can get to hot and melt the plastic depending on the watts, I would also only put the heat mat warming one side of the click clack to be on the afe side aswell then the animal can choose its warmth and you can buy any sort of container for them mine are generally kept in slightly larger containers to the conventional take away containers, I buy all of these from The Warehouse or crazy clarks.

[sweetangel]

Ultimate reptile supplies is in SA. they show the picture of the animal that you are to buy. this is good as u can see all the different colours. http://www.ultimatereptiles.com.au/index.html i have bought from them a few times and are good to deal with.

there is also southern x reptiles http://www.southernxreptiles.com/

and snake ranch http://www.srsrk.com.au/index.cfm?vscreen=1&action=home

as for finding the best colours.... all you can do is view the animal and its parents and if ur satisfied then buy. most reputable people will show u images of older snakes, brothers and sister and parents.

as for hatchy setup... i use a 15 watt heat mat from ultimate reptiles supplies. it is on the outside of my plastic tub it only covers 1/3 of the tub to create a heat gradient. i have a probe thermostat to regulate the temp and i think it is definitly essential so u dont get a cooked snake as heat mats get HOT! i use newspaper as its super easy to clean up. there is also a water bowl down the cool end. and i have 2 hides one at cool end and one at hold end. and as jungle like to climb maybe include a small stick or some thing

that sounds about it. temps should be around 32 at hot end and room temp at the other end.

easy if u have any other questions feel free to pm me

[ishy]

Thankfully I already have the thermostat sorted..its a micro climate model B1. I cant find the box but from memory I think it dims instead of just switching off/on etc. It has a long white probe attached.

So with the setup, I have that exact same heat mat,a green one. Do you just sit that on say, a table, and then sit the tub with the hatcling on top of that (only covering 1/3 of bottom)??
I got confused as on the packaging it talks about having it in the enclosure as well as under etc.....
On top of that, I have another heat mat you stick, with the self adhesive backing, to the enclosure.....

Between the two, i got confused as to how they are actually meant to work and where they are meant to go.

Thanks for the above advise on where to find the click clacks...are these the colored sort with the clear lid and metal clicks? This is my preferred one to find.
I looked in Big W and Bunnings but they didnt have those, just others which I guess will suffice if I cant find what I want....I will check a repco or supercheap & Kmart etc..

So most places mentioned above to find a snake dont have hatchlings atm..one has yearlings with pics ( Even though the site says otherwise - obviously not updated very often) but lots dont have pics or the pics of parents are not yellow/gold at all but instead brown.
When it comes to parents, is it important for one (male or female) or both to show good colors for a hatching to follow suit?
I will ensure to make sure I can view pics of parents (hopefully they are offered anyway) and I will keep a lookout for "palmerston" pythons.
When does a hatchling become a yearling?? I would think the answer was sorta obvious (at a year) but you never know lol. One breeder said they had a hatcling which was 4 months. One breeder said it had 6 month old yearlings.

Again thanks for all your help everyone!

Dont spose there is a good book on Black and Gold Jungles specifically? I have a few - "Keeping Australian reptiles in Captivity", "Whats wrong with my snake" etc but the jungle sections are always so small (as they are with other species etc)

[ishy]

Oh sorry, and are they more available at a certain time of year?? If so, whens that likely to be?? (towards the end or year?) Or because they are captive bred they can breed during any season with the right captive conditions ?
Sorry I just havent really researched breeding them.

[Stitched]

hi ishy, i dont want to go badmouthing any places on here but i'd appreciate it greatly if you could pm me the name of the place you had bad dealings with as i am looking at getting some gtps myself
thanks

[gozz]

jungle freak on this site has some nice hatchies that will coluor up nice, try him ,nice bloke to

[daniel1234]

How about these:
http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/ahc...p?saleID=19764
The guy lives down at myponga, but has good full viv setups for 1 to 2 hundrred dollars

He might be away at the moment, but when I spoke to him at begining of week he said that people had verbal commitments to buy his jungles yet implied that money speaks louder if I wanted one (yeh I want one -of everything)

[BlindSnake]

My advice is to look on Southern cross Reptiles' website if you live in SA. They have some awesome lines of Black and yellow Jungles. You can order a pair, and be guarenteed a pair of lovely animals.. They also sell their excess jungles as singles, price varying depending on the quality.

Dont bother with Ultimate Reptiles, they dont sell high quality B+Gs (or black and yellow)
They do have jungles, but not what youre after.

If you get one from a shop or someone, without seeing parents and siblings, DO NOT fall for the old, they will color up at 12mnths, they will get better every shed, line.
Iff they look dull and brown, they will more than likely stay that way.

You should also know that as they reach fulll maturity, they can loose some of their quality of color.

[BlindSnake]

and gozz, the animal in your avatar is beautieful..

[FNQ_Snake]

Originally Posted by pete12

dont listen to FNQ_Snake go to kmart or big W and go to Tupperware section they have ones called sistema for about 3-12 bucks also they come in all diffrent sizes

And why not?

You can pick them up for the same price from the places I suggested. I picked up an 18lt click-clack from Bunnings (very good quality aswell) for $7. I'd like to see how big the Sisteema click-clack is for $3. I did a lot of looking when I went out and purchased mine and for value Bunnings was certainly the best for quality and price. The $3 from Sisteema is only a 1,750ml one that I could see barely big enough to use as an incubator let alone a snake.

Can you explain what size you think would be best to suit his snake? I don't think that small would suit...

[FNQ_Snake]

Oh, secondly, welcome to the site ishy. Also in regards to another query you had, you needn't bother looking for click-clack with metal hinges as plastic will suffice. Whilst the little fella is small enough (ang the plastic clcik-clack has plastic clips) he won't get out and they won't undo.

If you are concerned about him getting out, then just put a book or something on top. I have a very basic setup and will post some pics for you shortly.