Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What Colors Do Jungle Carpet Pythons Come In?

What Is Their Color at:

1.) Birth
2.) Age 1-2
3.) Age 2-4
4.) Age 4-6
5.) Age 6-10
6.) Age 10

Also, what are their sizes during these years?

Thanks so much,
Dan
My Site

They come in really nice butter yellow and dark black, black and white and black and brown and everything in between. They start to get their nicest colors around a year or two. They then will start to brown out. The size (and color for that matter) all depend on how much they eat, how well their heat and security needs are met, etc. There is no rule. I have 6 month olds and one is around 3 feet, while the smallest is at around 1 foot. They are in identical cages next to each other. Some just eat and grow better than others.

The best way to get a good JCP is to find someone with nice breeders. If you like the adults, then you have a good chance of liking the way the hatchling comes out. There are plenty of people with "high yellow screamers", but the best indicator is if you like the adults that produced the hatchlings you are going to buy.

Good luck,
Justin
Australian Addiction Reptiles

Thanks for the tips!

Are yours nippy and do they bite? Does it hurt? How do you avoid it?

Do you have pics of older "brown" ones?

Thanks!
Dan

Mine are not nippy as adults, but most carpet species are very nippy as babies. That's alright, because they can't bite hard enough to break the skin usually. Most of my adults are handleable, but the females are a little hissy. I am sure they would settle down with regular handling. I have one female that has browned out quite a bit, but she has had some outstanding babies and her sister is one of the nicest jungles I have seen. There is one pic of her on my jungle page. Her name is Aster. She is sisters to Lily, who is also pictured on my site. They both had a beautiful mother and father, but one turned out a bit uglier and the other turned out nicer than the parents. Even an ugly jungle from a nice line can produce nice babies, as can a nice jungle from an ugly line, but your best bet is finding a breeder who has really nice breeders and get a hatchling from those breeders.
Justin J
Australian Addiction Reptiles

Great pics!

I would probably get a male. How old before the stop snapping? Do they snap outside of the cage?

How long do they keep that yellowish-orange color? Do they all turn brown or can they stay yellowish-orange forever? How long before they turn brown? Have any pics of brown ones?

Thanks,
Dan
"Piano Man Fan.com" - Billy Joel Fan-Site

Snappyness will vary from individual to individual and will stop generally when they get a little size and are less afraid of their keeper. Some will never be snappy, others will be bad tempered for their lives. They may also keep their colors for many years or may brown out after a couple years. GO to google images and type in jungle carpet python and you should get a spectrum of different colored JCPs.
Justin J
AAR

Thanks for the tips...

I went on to see those images and I find many to be yellowish or golden, but not really many brown ones. After how many years do they get brown? Do they ALL get brownish? (Do orange cornsnakes get browned?)

I guess any snake can be snappy, but are the Jungle Carpet Pythons more snappy than an Okeetee Cornsnake or a Ball Python?

My concern is, I like the Jungle Carpet Pythons, but they may lose their vibrant coloring and they may try to bite me too much.

IMPORTANT QUESTION: Do they bite when handling outside the cage?

Thank you,
Dan

The golden yellow or brownish yellow is the browning I was talking about. If you get a nice one then they will generally look nice for a very long time. About biting, if that is going to stop you, then I wouldn't get a jungle. There is always a chance they could be downright mean, but generally they are calm as adults.
Justin J

Thank you Justin. About how long, in years, are they nice yellow/golden and then how many are they that old brown color?

Do Jungle Carpet Pythons only bite if you put your hand in their cages or do they also bite while handling? Do you take them out of their cages with your hand or do you use Snake Tongs?

Thanks!!!
Dan

It's quite a leap to go from corns and balls to jungles. Corns and balls are great first pet snakes. Jungles require more patience and experience. I use leather gloves to remove mine from it's cage, and then once she settles down I slip the gloves off. She usually bites me at least once everytime I hold her. It's not really painful and you get used to it. I usually have a snakestick with me to help me control her, and use that to manipulate her to tire her out some and get her used to being held before I take the gloves off. I've only had her a year, and she's 2 years old, so she's peaked out in color, her parents stayed pretty bright yellow late in life, so I'm expecting her to keep looking good too. And directly to your question, yes, she bites whether she's in or out of the cage. If you jerk back the little puncture holes become scratches so you have to get used to it, the only thing I worry about is taking one to the face, I've heard they are bad about going for the eyes.

Whoa! Is that all true? I was in the store tonight, holding a year-old, 1.5 foot Carpet, it was calm.

They are that bad???

Well, I've had two ball pythons for about 10 yrs, neither has ever tried to bite, ok, once, but it was a feeding response, she thought she was being fed, now I pull her a little with my cage hook and she knows she's not getting fed, but going to be held and becomes docile right away. And I've kept corns for years, and have only seen hatchlings strike,(it didn't hurt a bit and was actually kinda cute) but the are vulnerable to predators at that age and think they are about to be eaten and are just trying to survive. After a couple of weeks they out grow that. On the other hand, my jungle, and maybe it's just the individual that I have, bites nearly every time I hold her. I'm still hoping she will outgrow that, because everything I read says they are nippy when young, but mellow out eventually. They are beautiful snakes, and the good news is they aren't giant pythons, they are considered medium sized, so they will never get big enough to be a real threat. As far as I'm concerned, I'm willing to take a few bites in hope of someday having a beautiful, tame, impressively sized, but manageable snake. I just want to be honest with you, so you know what you might be getting into. I happen to think that jungles are one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, and are a perfect size. There are lots of different kind of snakes to choose from so take your time and choose wisely. Good luck.

I know that the JCPs nip when they are young, but how long does it take before they are not "young" anymore? Like, if I went to a pet store and got a 6 month-old JCP and he wasn't nippy anymore, does that mean he has outgrown it? Is it 3 months until it grows out of that nippiness?

At what point can I go to the store and know that the snake I am getting is a calm, nice JCP?

Thanks,
Dan