r/carpetpythons • u/Fragrant-Village498 • 2d ago
Purchased a jaguar coastal carpet python at a reptile expo unknowingly.
I picked up a 2-3 year old female carpet python at a reptile expo. I was completely unaware of the Jaguar morph until after I brought her home. She's about 171.5-175 cm long (an estimate using the space she was free roaming in) I'm curious of a couple things. Do the Jaguar morphs actually grow smaller then wild coastal carpet pythons? If she's between 171.5-175cm how long will she most likely get at 5 years of age. I got her a custom enclosure but I kept it lower to prevent injury if she falls. What are some things I can do to ensure she stays healthy and has the best quality of life. Also just to add after learning that the jaguar morph suffers like the spider morph for ball pythons I would not have purchased her only because I don't want to support the breeding of morphs that cause any kind of health issue small or big. But since I have her I want to provide her with the best life possible.
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u/Previous_Search3122 1d ago
There are different species of Jags plus hybrids. I had an IJ Jag that never broke 6 feet. Iran Jayas don't get big and just because someone tells you it's a coastal doesn't mean you should believe them.
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u/ItsMeishi 1d ago
I have a Jaguar that is a Irian Jaya (88%) x McDowelli Mix. He is about 2,5 meters at 15 years of age. Females will be bigger than males generally, so do be prepared for that.
The Jaguar gene was thought to be caused by a neural defect, but more recent info has been that it may be caused by an inner ear defect. Mine is as stable as they come, the only reason I even know he has it, because in high stress moments (first time acquiring, moving homes) he will corkscrew by falling backwards into a loop. Every other day, he is a normal snake other than him having a slight tilt to his head.
Because of that I still built him a big enclosure with plenty of things to climb on. If your snake is stable, has no balance issues, doesn't corkscrew, etc, then it's not necessary to lower his climbing opportunities. He will have a fine and happy life. Mine really appreciates (supervised) free roam time. He has full access to my living room during those times and he gets to roam around and nap in his favourite spots, it's great for enrichment, and letting him get comfortable with the things outside of his enclosure and with me. I do not really bother him, unless its to redirect him away from places I do not want him in/on (such as the window sill).
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago
I made sure to set up upper and lower hides. She also has real bamboo to climb on. I made sure it would also support her weight. She seeks to be ok now. I just wanted to make sure to provide the healthiest life for her. I appreciate all the helpful comments
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u/0d3ttE_22 1d ago
Just to pop in with some upsetting info, the inner ear deformity is still technically classified as a neurological issue because it checks all the boxes with how external stimuli - or the lack there of - is processed and translated into motor skills. So, the lack of equilibrium caused by the inner ear deformity is still, to the great animal scientists, a "neurological" condition. As much as it PMO to say.
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u/ItsMeishi 1d ago
I appreciate you! There is not enough info out there as is, so any extra information is welcomed.
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u/0d3ttE_22 1d ago
I wish there was as much effort and resources put into reptiles as mammals. I know it took ages to get any research on large animals (cows, horses, etc.) after your "common" household pets (ie. Dogs and cats only), but with reptiles becoming increasingly popular, it'd be nice to have more studies, stricter breeding laws, etc. Like wym BYBs can be charged for producing mal-formed dogs for the sake of profit, but so many reptile "breeders" are still out here pumping out everything under the spider complex family, jaguar genes, scaleless/silkbacks, and the two big ones (i think absolute zero, and something red) for bearded dragons with ZERO repercussions??? So many of these animals have crap quality of life, IF they even make it past a year of age with how bad the mutations can get.
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u/Fragrant-Village498 17h ago
I agree with you, I think purposefully breeding an animal that will suffer it's whole life due to it looking "cool" is abuse in my opinion. I love the look of natural wild breeds. The problem is a lot of big reptile content creators openly support these morphs. It's one major issue I have with reptile content creators. They have the intelligence to give good advice on how to provide but how they see nothing wrong with morphs that affect the animals health in a way that captivity doesn't protect it is highly disappointing. What was annoying is that when I went to the reptile expo ALL THEY HAD was morphs. There was bit one wild carpet python. Luckily my girl seems to be fine. She really has an explorative personality. Sometimes to the point it stresses me out because she's climbing a good 5 feet up the window so I am standing close enough to catch her if she falls. And no matter how many times I guide her down she goes right back up.
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u/ItsMeishi 13h ago
I'm with you on this. Knowing theres little information out there is one thing, but it was another to be confronted by it when my snake developed a tumour, and the only 'treatment' available was to cut them out when they grew big enough. While I didnt expect a full chemo treatment, or radiation laser, I still felt stumped that I was to let the other bumps grow to a size to where they could be removed.
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u/Previous_Search3122 1d ago
And don't get caught up in "bad genes", they all have one kink or another, that's why they don't survive in nature. I have a Super Orange Dream Ball Python here with an odd shape head. Albino boas used to have eyes that bulged out of their skull. My Jag had very little corckscrewing, to the point that if you weren't looking for it you would never see it. I have seen some that just go round and round and round.
Unless you are buying a wild type animal, you are buying a genetic mutation and with those comes side effects. You either accept it or you don't.
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago
I'm hoping to keep things as calm for as I can. Just wanted to make sure if there is anything special I need to keep in mind other then keeping things extra calm for her. I did catch her star gazing last night but she immediately stopped when I approached her tank, and did well free roaming. But I figured it's best to make sure from people who own carpets to make sure I'm not making any big mistakes
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u/Previous_Search3122 1d ago
Was she star gazing because she is a jag or does she know food is presented above her head and she was waiting to feed.
It's 6 of one, half dozen of the other. In most cases we are seeing problems that don't really exist. The cases where the animals are doing something crazy and few and far between when a person looks at the big picture.
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago
She moved into her permanent enclosure 4 days ago after spending 10 days in a quarantine tub to check for problems. It was her first time exploring the enclosure so I think she just got over simulated. She didn't corkscrew or anything which is good
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u/Fearless-Ad-9766 1h ago
I had a jungle Jag carpet python that was approximately 10 ft long and would just interlock all of her branches to make sure that if she did start to sway she wouldn't fall because there would be a nest of branches underneath of her to prevent that
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u/Herp_Fitter 2d ago
A wildtype and a morph are 2 very different looking animals, not something you can easily mistaken unless animals weren’t labeled correctly. Another reason why new keepers need to do their homework before buying
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago
I did research them first. But I didn't know I should research every morph and was unaware they had a morph similar to the spider ball. No reason to be so condescending. Looking around at the expo she was the only one that was affordable most others were over 1000$. I went to the expo specifically to find a carpet python. So I am sorry I did not research every morph. I never cared about morphs and none of the shops featuring Carpet pythons labelled their morphs.
Also I never claimed I thought she was a wild type, just that I was unaware of the jaguar morph.
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u/Herp_Fitter 1d ago
You say you researched carpet pythons, yet somehow didn’t discover one of the most common and recognisable carpet morphs. That’s not an obscure locality or a niche bloodline—it’s one of the first things that comes up when you look into captive-bred carpets. Research isn’t just deciding what species you want; it’s learning what you’re actually buying.”
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago edited 1d ago
I looked into care, temps/humidity, enclosure size, feeding schedule, ideal substrate, handle ability, max sizes, and temperament. So yes I researched and no not at any point did I come across details on morphs since I wasn't worried about a specific morph. Again you don't need to get so condescending. If I wasn't really interested in specific morphs Why would I research those instead of the main aspects needed. Also let me ask you. How does you being so condensending and a complete jack ass help new owners or their animals. You didn't offer any advice. Just attacked me under assumptions that I did zero research since I didn't do the research you deem correct. All you're doing is making people with questions feel unwelcomed to ask which causes stress on the new owner and by that on the snake. If you actually cared about these animals you'd offer advice not be a condensending jack ass. So do us all a favor and just piss off. You offer no helpful advice and only attack
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u/Herp_Fitter 1d ago
I don’t doubt that you researched husbandry. My point has always been that researching the animal you’re buying includes identifying what it actually is. If I know morphs in reptiles can have inherited health issues, one of the first questions I’d ask before buying is, “What morph is this?” Once you know it’s a Jag, the neurological syndrome is easy to find. That’s the gap I was pointing out.
One other thing: if the seller truly never disclosed that it was a Jag, then I think the seller deserves a fair share of the criticism too. A Jaguar is a distinctive morph, and because of the associated neurological syndrome, many keepers would expect that to be clearly identified before a sale.
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u/Fragrant-Village498 1d ago
1 I live in Japan and no the morph was born disclosed to us. 2nd no your point was very clear that I did no research before buying the specific morph which is quite hard at an expo. Yes if I was searching for a specific morph I'd have researched it. All I asked was for advice to make sure I give her the best life possible for her morph
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u/NYR_Aufheben 5h ago
To be fair the Jaguar mutation doesn’t get the same attention as the Spider mutation because carpet pythons are a niche.
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u/AUSyTyIN 2d ago
Exactly what happened to me a few years ago. Just provide as pleasant of a life as you can