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I am thinking of getting a JCP need help

dman1101 Oct 12, 2005 01:53 AM

I am thinking about getting a jcp but have heard they can be kinda aggresive, any truth to this? I am trying to decide between a brazilian rainbow and a jcp. I am going to be building a cage for it does 4'wide 5'high 2'deep sound good for an adult? I have a wc red tail who is kinda aggresive and a cb ball who is sweet as can be nothin new there, i want a larger snake that is more like a ball temperment wise so i can let other people handle it without worring, something around 6-8 feet. anything else i need to think about or any other snakes you suggest would be greatly appreciated.

thanks for reading this i know its kinda long
Derek

Replies (4)

SnakeBiteJunkies Oct 12, 2005 02:05 PM

especially as neonates. With ample handling, TLC, and proper care, both can become puppy dog tame. Individuals of both species, however, can vary. Some can be more aggressive than others.

In my experience, Dumeril's boas are is very good natured snake (similar to Ball Pythons) in your general size range. I have dwarf Dumeril's which remain somewhat smaller. Others tame boids to consider include Children's Pythons, Spotted Pythons, Stimson's Pythons, Rosy Boas, Sand Boas (all of these max out at around 3-4 feet) and would require much less space than you are proposing for your cage. These species are generally less arboreal than the JCP and BRB, therefore requiring less vertical space.

The cage you are describing sounds plenty big, perhaps too big for these animals (especially as neonates). You may want to keep them in smaller, more managable sized enclosures until they get larger. Full grown JCPs or BRBs would do fine in the larger cage, if you could maintain the heat and humidity properly.

Just my $.02. Good luck.

SSSammy

janome Oct 12, 2005 05:40 PM

well, i suppose any snake can be grouchy. i have a little soloman island ground boa that took a bite of my finger the other day. good thing he is small so didn't do much.
i have a 7 foot JCP that happens to be real good with handling. only time he tried to bite me was when i was feeding him in another tank then reached in to move him to his own tank and he went for my hand. ever since then i just feed him in his own tank.
i can tell you about my JCP. i got him as a yearling and he was real tame then. he still is. i housed him in a 20 long at first. then a 40 breeder size. now he is in a 80 gallon tank. so i think the enclosure size your talking about will be ok for an ADULT, but to big for a baby. my JCP is very active at times and i wish i had a taller enclosure for him. he loves his branches. so if your looking for a display snake JCP's are good.
one thing i've read about JCP's is they can be hard to switch to rats sometimes. 'safari' switched from mice to rats with no problems but i've read some folks feeding their 7-8 foot snake 20 mice at once.
i just have an UTH on his tank with a basking light. then a red light for night time heating. couple of hides, branches and big water bowl. i don't worry about humidity to much unless he is in shedding mode. then i will mist his tank everyday till he sheds. he is a great pet. www.acreptiles.com is a great site with info different pythons.

Purplemonkey Oct 12, 2005 10:47 PM

I have a baby Irian Jaya carpet python...who is very tame. I've been nipped at once, but that was the first day I got her from a reptile show. She was also ridden with parasites and had an RI at the time..so I don't blame her. But since then, I've never had a problem with aggressiveness. She is not cage aggressive. I have a 50 gallon tall aboreal cage handy for her...but since she is only about 18 inches long, I keep her in a 10gallon tank for now. I highly recomment Irian Jaya's. The females get a bit larger than the males, maxing out at around 6 feet..some reach 7.
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0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
0.1 Ball python
0.3 Crested Geckos
2.2.7 Leopard Geckos (male-jungle, hypo tangerine carrot tail. female-normal, albino. babies-leucistic, blizzard, normal)
0.1 Western Hognose snake
1.0 Eastern Milksnake (currently free roaming in my home =/)
1.0 Albino Lavender California Kingsnake
1.1 Bearded Dragons
0.2 Water turtles
1.0 Umbrella Cockatoo (belongs to my mom and I)

nekomi Nov 20, 2005 02:32 PM

I have a 1 year old BRB who has been very tame since the day I got her. She has never struck at me, only a little hissing now and then, but I think she's bluffing. Honestly, most of the BRB's I've met have been very tame... I've only been tagged by one once, and that was by a grouchy adult at a reptile show.

Also, BRB's are not as arboreal as you might think. On the contrary, mine almost exclusively prefers the floor of her cage, even though there are many climbing areas present. On top of that, she LOVES to burrow through the coir fiber substrate. It's really neat to wake up in the morning, peer into her cage, and see the little network of burrows and holes that she dug throughout the cage during the night.

Anyway, if you want a display snake, I'd say to go for the JCP. In my experience, BRBs are much more secretive. Hope that helps!
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::i believe in joy > http://www.winds.org/nekomi/hope.html

::my homepage > http://www.winds.org/nekomi

My Growing Zoo:

1.0 Husband (Byron) ^_^
0.1 black cat (Shade)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Zia)
1.0 Leucistic Ratsnake (Houdini)
1.2 Cockatoo cichlids (A. cacatuoides yellow-gold)
1.2 Panduro cichlids (A. panduro)

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