Help - Coastal Carpet Python

[Jesse13]

Hi all I live in Cairns and today inherited a female around 9ft and approx 5 years old. Her current owners are moving away and unable to take her with them. As they couldn't find a suitable home they were faced with some horrible options. I am going to speak with them tomorrow and find out as much as I can but would appreciate any advice as this is our first snake (other than the local intruders we get from time to time living in the tropics) So if anyone can suggest books, websites or just offer some experienced advice.
She is currently in a large glass fronted cage with ventilation (chicken wire ) on the sides in the top quarter. There is straw on the bottom and a ledge to sleep under, a small water dish and a large branch on an angle into the top corner. She seems very placid this is a pic of my partner straight after she had been moved prior to being put back in the cage. She was also passed to another male whilst getting her cage into place and seemed really content.

 

[Cougar2007]

Nice snake for your first Jessie.

If you are after a good book.mget hold of keeping and breeding australian pythons by mike swan. That's loaded with info.

Also southern cross reptiles has some great articles on their website. The doc roc series.

That should get you going. Coastals are easy to look after. I'm sure she will do well for you.

 

[Tsubakai]

Can you provide any more information please? For example, size of enclosure, number of hides and any other info you can think of.

I'll start with the basics of how to survive the next few days.

1. Make sure the enclosure is escape proof. You might be surprised how easily they can escape sometimes.

2. Being a glass enclosure, never let it be in direct sunlight. It can easily overheat and kill your snake.

3. I would suggest a vet check. Nothing in your post suggests that the snake is not well but signs of illness are hard to detect in reptiles and it would be good to know that you are starting out with a healthy snake. A 'placid' snake could well be a sick snake, they get lethargic and less responsive when they are unwell. I'm not saying that is the case here, but a cranky fiery snake would cause me much less concern.

4. Minimise handling until you have educated yourself, provided all the requirements for your new pet and made sure he is thriving (eating well etc).

These are just a few basic points but hopefully starts you in the right direction. Good luck.

 

[Jesse13]

We have the cage it has been living in, it would be approx 4ft x 3ft x 8ft high. It only seems to have one spot to hide which it stayed in all afternoon however she has been fairly active this evening and up on the branches. The cage seems really sparse to me, do they like any greenery, there is just straw on the bottom with the one ledge which is about half the size of the bottom of the cage that she can get under. The cage is totally out of the sunlight. The owner said to feed it every few weeks which is a little vague to me and I am going to contact them tomorrow to find out when the last feed was and what it was. Thanks for the fast response, it is really appreciated.

 

[Tsubakai]

Can you put up a photo of the cage and maybe a few more of the snake? It looks to have good condition in that photo above but its a bit blurry to tell much from.

Don't stress too much about the feeding at this point - it will probably go off food soon for winter but it would be good to know what its body condition is like. Some of mine won't eat now until September.

Does the cage have additional heating? Many people in NQ don't use extra heat and just rely on environmental heat so its not a major issue at the moment. (I'm not advocating no heating but it won't harm your snake in the short term)

There is a mountain of things you will need to know but the biggest thing is - DON'T PANIC - it very easy to look after an adult and you will do no real harm in the short term. In the long term, I'm sure you will have done your reading and have all the info you need and that python will be in great hands.

If you are really worried, send me a private message, I'll send some details for contacting me and I can have a chat to you during the day tomorrow. I'm off work injured for a week so will likely just be sitting around bored and waiting to heal anyway.

 

[Jesse13]

Hi thanks for all your help, I know the previous owner has never used any heating and the enclosure has always been outside. These are some pics I have taken this morning, not sure how to pm you, when I work it out I will send you our email address and phone number.View attachment 288980View attachment 288981View attachment 288982View attachment 288983View attachment 288984View attachment 288985

 

[Adamd]

Hi Jesse
To private message someone you click on the name at the top of the post and a dropbox will have a private message icon. Hope this helps.