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I acquired a beautiful new 4 year old JCP male and introduced him into the enclosure with my 8 year old JCP female. He attempted to copulate, extremely vigorously, and the wrestling match that ensued was so violent it nearly broke the cage plexiglass. They were writhing together as if on fire (she was mostly trying to get away). At one point I thought she hissed and looked as if she might bite, so I removed the male. She acted extremely nervous for about 30 minutes, then calmed down. Since my housing options were limited that night, an hour later I tried putting in a younger (2 year old) female JCP/diamond cross, and the JCP female went over to her and began smothering her, pushing against her with her body, to the extent that the younger female tried to get away (I took her out of course). The next day when I put the new male JCP back in, he did not attempt to copulate, rather, the female sought him ought and again began pushing her body midsection against him in a smothering way that made him quickly try and get away. I have attached a photo of her on day #2 seeking out the male.
Has anyone seen anything like this? (I am pretty sure she is female as she was probed by G. Sipperly, I have witnessed her copulate with a male on a prior occasion, and later I believe she was gravid as she showed mid-body swelling and began "sunning" her ventrum under the heat lamp in an inverted posture...she never did lay eggs)

I'd put money on it that your female is a male. And what you saw was combat....between two males. I have seen it countless times and I feel very certain that you have two males based on what you have described.

-Yasser
Spitfire

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I appeciate your feedback and certainly have entertained that thought, but I am stuck on the counter "evidence"...I visually witnessed her copulating with a male diamond/JCP cross two years ago. He pushed on top of her and used his spurs to stimulate. Over a period of days they copulated several times (each coitus lasting at least 20 - 40 minutes). About a month later, she had a body mid-body swelling and began basking under the heat lamp with her coils inverted (as has been described for gravid carpet pythons). I have never seen her do this at any other time for the 8 years I have owned her. She never did lay eggs, and I assumed they underwent resorbtion. Given this data...any further thoughts? (Just for fun, here is a picure of 'her' at age 2)

From what I can gather by reading thru your posts, I would have to agree with what everyone else has said. It sounds like your "female" may actually be a male. And "if" the one you believe to be female (male?) has any Diamond in her (him?), it may help explain some of the mixed behaviors. Male Diamonds don't combat, while male JCP's & Coastals do. And I've heard male Diamonds have been known to breed other males in captive situations.

Hope I've helped!
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Will Leary
Reptilicus Reptiles
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I agree. I'd take your snake to a vet and have "her" sexed again.

I guess I will get "her" sexed again (she was sexed by two experienced herpetoculturists, one of them Gary Sipperly). If she is really a he, then I am still left with trying to explain the other mystery in this...in her interaction with my male diamond/jungle cross he exhibited tactile chase, spurring, tactile alignment, and coitus with "her". If she is a he, was this homosexual submission? (has been reported in other reptiles). And later when she showed classic inversion response, where she had enlarged midsection and exposed her abdominal scutes for long periods under the ceramic heat bulb. I have never see her show this behavior at any other time in the 8 years I have had her. Was this pseudocyesis (in humans a "false" pregnancy)? I thank everyone for their opinion on this and it sure would be a simple solution to this mystery if "she" is a "he", but them I am left explaining the other observations, which are at least as interesting to me. I will let everyone know the results of having her sexed again (I am not proficient at sexing snakes, so I'll have to find a qualified person)...to be continued.

i have no advise or thoughts on the matter since my snakes are just pets. just wanted to say those are 2 beautiful JCP's!! is that the female on the top shelf? also what kind of enclosure do you have there? i like those shelves and the snakes seem to like them.
i house my 6 foot male in an 80 gallon tank but i think he would like more climbing room. the tank is like 4 foot long by 2 foot wide and high. thanks.

thanks for the compliments on my JCPs, I enjoy it when a fellow reptile lover appreciates their beauty. In the enclosure photo my new male is pictured on the top ledge, the female(?)coming out of the cave. I purchased the set-up from CagesByDesign, it is 5'long x 3'high x 2'deep. It cost a lot, but I always wanted to make a showcase exhibit in my home so I splurged. It has been pretty functional. I made the cave out of a fake rock from a gardening center, it is plastic and washable. The rock ledges and tree branches came from CagesByDesign. They look great but are not that functional, as the snakes seem to slip on them often and occasionally fall. The picture of my female taken when she was 2 yrs. shows how amazingly yellow she was...I have never seen a more deeply yellow JCP. She is now more golden and has developed "tipping" on her yellow scales, so is not as spectacular. I don't have a lot of pythons(2 JCP and 2 JCP/Diamond crosses), so I give them each a lot of space. I am hoping to breed them (have not yet been successfull with that). Here is a closer picture of my new male JCP...he is fabulous, 4 years old and no tipping on his yellow scales. Also, I will follow with a post of my set-up. Thanks again!

Hey where did you get those stones cuz im building a new cage for my 2 jcps and i was going to do something like that
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1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.0 Albino Burmese Python

5'long x 3'high x 2'deep.

wow. that is a cool enclosure. i would love to have something like that for my JCP only to expensive. it looks neat though. here is my male jcp i call 'safari':

Cages by Design has some really cool setups. But like you said they are expensive. I get a catalog about twice a year and it seems like the cheapest thing in there is around $500 and goes up to clost to $10,000 or more.

Nice though.

Matt

hey nice set up how much did it cost you cuz i want to compare the cage me my bor and my uncle are building right now ( my uncle is really good at making cages out of glass and wood because he puts in windows and doors for a living and we get glass through him really cheap)
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1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Pythons
1.0 Albino Burmese Python