Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have my ~yearling male JCP ina 20 long right now, and i was wondering what the best size would be for him as an adult. im having a heck of a time keeping proper humidity and i just found out glass aquarium cages are hard to maintain humidity in. so im thinking about getting one from herpcages.com or showcasecages.com, but if i do, id like it to be one he can fit in as an adult. so whats a good size for an adult make jcp? thanks

I only make custom enclosures for all my animals none of which are JCP's but I almost got some from Will Leary this year. He uses Boaphile for all his JCP's here is a link to his site just in case you have never came across it.

Reptilicus Reptiles

This is neither a what is best just another idea sort of post. I love Will's facility despite never acutally visiting him.

Good Luck

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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child -coming soon-

>>I only make custom enclosures for all my animals none of which are JCP's but I almost got some from Will Leary this year. He uses Boaphile for all his JCP's here is a link to his site just in case you have never came across it.

I was going to say at first that I didn't think that Boaphiles were a very good cage, until I took a look at that link. At least he's got branches and some of the larger Boaphile cages. Still, I think JCPs are a snake where a lot of people miss out on natural behaviors because of sticking with the old 'low and long' cage style.

Anyway, for making a new cage for a single animal or even a couple, I'd say try something a little different. Case in point:

This cage was set up to house a Coastal Carpet Python I had for a while.

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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

isnt it pretty much impossible to keep the humidity in something like that?

>>isnt it pretty much impossible to keep the humidity in something like that?

That's a common misconception. Snakes like JCPs and other similar species come from humid climates but not necessarily rain forest climates. So, knowing that it's a matter of designing your interior so that you can create microclimates. I used to have three of those cages but I only use two now. I run a misting system on each cage with two nozzels [one high and one low - about half way down in the cage], along with a large water dish in the bottom, and moss-lined hides at different levels in the cage. If you live in a bone-dry environment then yeah, a screen cage is probably not a good idea because even all the misting is not going to work. However, I posted the pic merely to show that a larger cage with a different layout besides the low-and-long design could be used with these snakes. I found it worked pretty well. The CCP I had would choose elevated perches with far more regularity than simply staying at ground level. Also, the snake would often constrict it's prey while hanging from a branch in similar fashion to a GTP.
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Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

BTW, you can keep humidity in glass cages, but it requires insulating the back and sides of the glass. 1/2" styrene foam works. A pain, yes, but it helps alot. Also, cover some of the screen top.

I suggest you contact Doug Barr of www.herpcages.com. They make a nice 24" cube cage. You could get 2 of those (or any size you want) and have Doug cut an access hole in the bottom of one and the top of the other, and drill holes for connecting bolts. He could ship the cages separately, then you bolt them together to make a 2-level cage.

I did just that with 2 of his smaller cages, only I cut the holes and connected the cages myself. Make the hole in the lower cage larger than the hole in the upper cage - makes it easier to prevent moisture from getting between the cages. Just an idea for you to chew on.

4x2x2 is what i'd go for.
I kept IJ's for awhile and that size worked well. If I was to get another IJ I'd probobly go a bit wider and taller just cause I have room.

Here are a couple pics of my JCP enclosure. You could get by with less room, but I think they enjoy it. This one is 4'L x 4'H x 2'W and because of the shelves and levels it has almost 20 square feet of surface area. I have a water mister that goes off twice a day for humidity.

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python (both gorgeous)
1.1 Ball Python (normals, he said proudly)
3.3 hatchling ball pythons (normals)
1.1 Ball Python (het for albino)(gonna make my own albino)
1.1 Corn Snake (Okeetee, Sunglow x Snow)
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake (Blairs)
1.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Pueblan Milksnake (normal)(Apricot)
1.1 Andean Milksnake (Inca phase) (het)
1.0 Bullsnake (normal)(my garbage disposal snake)
1.1 Bullsnake (red bulls)
1.1 Black Pine Snake
1.1 Southern Snow Pine (snow)(red phase snow)
1.1 Mexican Pine snake
1.2 Checkered garter snakes (albino pair & het female)
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback (Hondo)
0.1 Spouse (WC)(hates the herps,and not real crazy about the dog)

Looks great what did you use for paint on the front frames? Are those Leary JCP's?
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child -coming soon-

I painted it flat black first then textured it with Fleckstones Manhattan Mist...supposed to look like stone. I don't think it's even available anymore, but there are several similar products out there. The JCP's are from Dave Barker's line.
Thanks,
Kirk
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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python (both gorgeous)
1.1 Ball Python (normals, he said proudly)
3.3 hatchling ball pythons (normals)
1.1 Ball Python (het for albino)(gonna make my own albino)
1.1 Corn Snake (Okeetee, Sunglow x Snow)
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake (Blairs)
1.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Pueblan Milksnake (normal)(Apricot)
1.1 Andean Milksnake (Inca phase) (het)
1.0 Bullsnake (normal)(my garbage disposal snake)
1.1 Bullsnake (red bulls)
1.1 Black Pine Snake
1.1 Southern Snow Pine (snow)(red phase snow)
1.1 Mexican Pine snake
1.2 Checkered garter snakes (albino pair & het female)
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback (Hondo)
0.1 Spouse (WC)(hates the herps,and not real crazy about the dog)