Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm picking up a pair of JCPs this weekend and i'm wondering; My enclosure dimensions are 2.5' X 2' X 5'. I kinda want to save on space in my place and use it as an arboreal instead of a long enclosure. That being said, which is best for JCPs? Thanks for your help guys, it's my first time keeping JCPs.

I have a male JCP close to 8 foot. When he was smaller he would hang out on his branches a lot. Now that he's bigger he spends more of his time on the ground.

Guess i'll start it out arboreal and just flip it on it's side when they get older. I've read several care sheets, but none of them really specify what sort of enclosure is better (so i'll go with both). Appreciate the help. Oh, and i'll try to have pics up as soon as I get them home.

Picture of the new enclosure. Just need to finish decorating it before I pick my JCPs up tomorrow.
new JCP enclosure

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Corn Snakes
1.0 Blood Red CB
0.2 Normal CB
0.1 Aztec CB
1.0 Anerythristic CB

Carpet Pythons
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei CB

Homo Sapiens Sapiens
0.2 Normals CB

Here's my boy. Deleted all the rest of the pics and realized I forgot to post here.

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Corn Snakes
1.0 Blood Red CB
0.2 Normal CB
0.1 Aztec CB
1.0 Anerythristic CB

Carpet Pythons
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei CB

Homo Sapiens Sapiens
0.2 Normals CB

Many breeders keep healthy carpets in terrestrial tanks their whole lives. That being said, many species of snakes (red tail boas, jcps, fer-de-lance, etc etc) are more arboreal when they are young. If you provide adequate cover and climbing structure I'm sure they will use it.

In your picture you have the light inside the tank. Are your snakes going to be able to reach it? Be careful, even a 25-50 watt bulb can get awfully warm to the touch after a few hours and have the potential to injure your snakes.

Good luck
Zach

It's not that these snakes necessarily lose arboreal tendencies as they age. Rather I don't think keepers give them cage furniture condusive to a large snake perching. We give them twigs and when they stop using them say it's because older snakes don't perch.

Most snakes when given the right sized perches will continue to perch well into old age. I have found that the older larger snakes actually prefer a y type branch to perch on rather than a single dowel/branch.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with keeping them "terrestrial"...

I was wondering the same thing. Then I saw at a small zoo a tall cage with 3 large adult carpet pythons in there (1 looked like a JCP). They were all perched about 5ft up on a large Y-shaped branch. Heater was up high, so I get it, but the snakes looked so comfortable up there. (Funny you mentioned the Y...) Awesome IMO.
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Mark

Cool, am I glad you said that! It makes for a better display when laid out height-wise I think. And it's semi modular so I can throw another enclosure on the side as they get bigger.
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Corn Snakes
1.0 Blood Red CB
0.2 Normal CB
0.1 Aztec CB
1.0 Anerythristic CB

Carpet Pythons
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei CB

Homo Sapiens Sapiens
0.2 Normals CB

I've got a cage around the lamp in the photo so the light doesn't burn them. I'm looking into alternate heat methods, but i'm not sure which one(s) best (ie. Heat cable up the tree: seems natural, heat pad on side of enclosure: not usually effective, heat bulb with screen like i've got: functional but not exactly aesthetically appealing, heat entire room with space heater: not very economical though very effective). Certainly open to suggestions and opinions. I want these two to be as at home as possible. The enclosure seems to be doing them well, it retains humidity well, and I don't need a super powered light because it insulates well also. They've been eating well, are still a bit timid but coming around to handling. The male is more resistant than the female, which surprised me, usually (at least in my experience) the females of the snake species (Python Regius, BCI, Elaphe Gutatta Gutatta, Lampropeltis Getula Californiae) are more agressive than the males. At any rate, I appreciate all the input.
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Corn Snakes
1.0 Blood Red CB
0.2 Normal CB
0.1 Aztec CB
1.0 Anerythristic CB

Carpet Pythons
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheynei CB

Homo Sapiens Sapiens
0.2 Normals CB

A small RHP mounted to the roof would be an excellent choice for your set up. Even if they come in contact with it, they won't be burned.
Heat Panel

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"Oh there won't be any money but when you die, on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness, so I got that goin for me which is nice"

I have a M/F pair of Bredli Pythons, about 7' each. They both climb a lot. Almost every night, after their lights go off, they are up on some bamboo I have across their cages. I have 3 pieces of about 2 - 2.5 inch bamboo in each, creating sort of a shelf, although there is a little space between them. In addition, I keep the door between the cages open, and they constantly are climbing between the upper and lower halves (it's about 80" high x 48" x 24", split in half). At any given time either one can be in either.

Jeff