One of the smaller, more beautiful pythons of Australia is the renowned jungle carpet python. This article will attempt to cover subspecies-specific requirements of these intriguing snakes (for a full and interesting explanation of the taxonomy of the carpet pythons refer to "Pythons of the World, Volume 1" page 133).

Although they are best known for their yellow on black colouring the python as a subspecies is highly varied in colour, and in-fact in the wild their colours are highly varied, with a duller animal being more typical than what we aspire to.

Due to both selective collection, and breeding, the high yellow on black specimens are more common than they are otherwise in the wild. However for those of you that have tried to find "high yellow specimens" you will be very well aware - unless you are a very lucky individual - that even in captivity the more colourful snakes are still hard to come by, and a greyer animal is the norm.
It is one of the smaller of its Genus, not reaching the eight or nine feet the diamond and coastal carpets reach, instead stretching to only six or seven. But again this is only an average, and varies from bloodline to bloodline, and individual to individual, and the author has had in his collection females reaching over eight foot in length (and recently viewed one that was a match for a big female of any subspecies).
Slenderness is also a trait (however once again a large female will show the girth more typical of the common carpets (variegata)).
A word of caution when purchasing jungles, the line between jungle and common is very thin, there are a lot of hybrids out there, and some of them are nicely coloured. To blur the subject still further collection data is near non-existent, and in the wild, on the boarders of their range, there may be cross breeding to the extent where, for the purpose of keepers, a jungle carpet is to some small degree a subjective thing. All you can do is research thoroughly and view a number of specimens to find the one that appeals to you.
If you are looking for pure cheynei the safest bet is to purchase animals whose parents you have seen.

Youngsters display polymorphism, meaning they are all born black and a dull grey, changing colour in the first two years. The resultant adult can be nearly impossible to predict. Furthermore common carpet young can be born more "jungle like" than jungles, but these will change from black and cream to their duller colours as they grow, where as jungles will go the other way. Even experts can misidentify young - the call is that close. Viewing the parents or buying older animals will give you the best chance of a yellow and black animal and, by a year, an animal will be giving a good indication of its potential.
They are highly nocturnal and arboreal - tree dwelling - younger snakes may almost never be seen on the cage floor.

Range and habitat:

cheynei is from a relatively small range on the north eastern coastal area of Australia - you may of heard of the Atherton table lands. It is a tabletop plateau of semi-rainforest-like flora, the eucalyptus forest and their blue haze having died out some hundreds of feet below.
The undergrowth is moderate in its density, perhaps not as thick as the average rain forest, neither is it as humid or warm. On visiting the Tablelands the author found it not as warm as the UK on a summer's day, and wore a jumper throughout the day. Not being as dense and humid as a rain forest, there are adequate places for basking and, although the author was cool, the basking snakes he found were themselves much warmer - proving that you can not guess at an animal's temperature requirements purely from the ambient climatology of its range.

Smaller snake = smaller cage? Not the case. They are active by night, being highly nocturnal, far more so than its specie's mates. They require a spacious cage thick with branches and a temperature gradient that will allow them to bask both in the branches and on the ground if they so choose. For adults I use a 5.5/2/2 ft cage, and wouldn't go any smaller. For snakes like these, that prefer the branches but will bask on the cage floor, the author prefers a ceramic heater of the bulb type with a metal reflector. This heats the entire cage nicely, with a basking spot on the ground and, with the hot air rising, a warm area in the branches.

Temperature requirements are fairly standard, and I favour a gradient from 77F up to 88F in the warmest area of the branches, and allow the basking spot directly beneath the ceramic to reach a very localised 95F, which is warm by any keepers standards, but I have witnessed them using it on occasion (when digesting a meal and, strangely, when in the midst of a shed). I take the view that they know a lot more than the most experienced herpetologist, and if the described temperatures weren't there they'd not have the opportunity to use them.
Two words of caution: shield all elements and other areas that could cause contact burns, and make sure your snake is choosing where it sits because of the temperature, and not because it is the only area where it feels secure. A stressed snake will almost always put security above thermal preference, this can be detrimental to health, and behaviour should be closely observed and action taken if this is suspected. An attractive and effective method of helping the snake feel secure is with the use of silk and real plants, drooped down for the snake to hide in.
Plants, when sprayed, also aid in maintaining humidity without wetting the floor, which can be unhygienic and cold. Jungles don't require high humidity as such, but they are from a range more humid than other carpets, and should not be kept really dry. The use of a large water bowl should be sufficient, with the occasional misting especially around a shed.
Interesting to note is "swollen head" around a shed, it seems in my experience to be quite pronounced in jungles, and is caused by water retention that aids the snake in holding back enough liquid for it to produce the milky fluid that separates the old and new skin. It's something you will get accustomed to, and has a different look to it than mouth rot (that can also cause head swelling).
So far there is no evidence to suggest that snakes require the same UV light as lizards, however a low intensity, full spectrum UV light in a cage displays animals nicely, and is a pleasant "just in case" option, I use a small 25w compact light of recent design.

There is a large range of attractive substrates out there, but I'm a firm believer in newspaper. It's clean, neat and very easy to work with, furthermore there is little risk of ingestion and it is less prone to moulds and fungi, and I like the fact that it smells sterile. Faeces and urine stand out stark against it, and it encourages the owner to clean his/her animals out. Cleanliness is a must, there is nothing that bothers me more than a dirty cage, and there is virtually never a reasonable excuse for mess to remain in the cage longer than it takes for it to be spotted by the keeper - which should be a matter of hours if you are giving the snake the time it deserves and requires. If my animal's mess overnight I make a point to have it cleaned out the following morning, and I have been known to get up in the night and do it.
For me, as it should be for you, there is nothing more rewarding than a beautiful happy snake in a large well thought out environment.
Water bowls should be located where they can aid with humidity but not become warm, and the water changed at least every other day, with the bowl sprayed with an antibacterial spray twice a week. I use a Detol antibacterial surface spray that is bleach free (a weak bleach mixture has often been advised for use in cage and bowl cleaning, however it does tend to leave a residue if not rinsed, so I prefer not to use it). Always rinse thoroughly.

Rarely have I come across a poor feeder, but I have come across snakes whose tastes have not been understood and catered for.
Generally starting off with mice and moving onto rats as the snake grows is without any drawbacks, and these two items seem to be a firm favourite. From experience other snake keepers often accept a refused feed as nothing to worry about. If your snake has never missed a meal, and is usually ravenous, give it a little thought. Tastes change, and I believe that in the wild jungles would have evolved so that their tastes did indeed change, drawing them into hunting prey items appropriate to their size. Approximately half of my jungles have all of a sudden refused the food item that only last feed they were striking for, scenting with another prey item tends to do the trick, and indeed a month, a year, or two years later their taste can change back. Chicks are a good scenting item, as are mice if you are feeding them rats (and vice versa). I prefer not to offer my snakes whole chicks due to the risks of salmonella and the fact that they tend to produce offensively smelling faeces - stick to mice and rats.
Use of a vitamin supplement is optional; I don't bother unless an animal is sick.

Jungles! 99% of animals 99.99% of the time - watch your fingers!

Most problems are a progeny of an environment that is not fulfilling the snakes needs, and that should always be your first port of call. The majority of jungles will live out there lives in good health, but it is vital to have an understanding of common problems.
Here are some problems I think are specifically useful to have knowledge of if you are a Jungle keeper:

Shedding - you should have a good idea when your snake is going to shed, a stuck-on shed is a result of too low humidity and/or an illness that is sapping the snakes energy to the point where it can't shed. A suck-on shed will feel papery, may give the eyes a crinkled appearance and the skin "accordion" crinkles in body bends. Catch this early! Place the snake in a tub at about 86F with a lot of drenched paper towel and a few millimetres of water. It may take up to 48hrs for the skin to loosen. The snake may shed the skin itself but, if it doesn't, gently peel it back from the top and bottom lip and do it yourself.

Mites - a common problem. Always assume your new snake has mites and you'll be safe. I use Front Line sprayed onto a cloth and allow the snake to crawl through it. It doesn't stick to the snake's skin as well as it does to dogs and cats so don't allow the snake to drink from its own body, and perhaps reduce the size of the water bowl for a short time. It may take up to a week for the last mite to bite the dust but I have found Front Line to be very effective. If the snake sheds while it still has mites whip it out of the cage, clean it thoroughly (boiling the furniture) and the snake should be mite-free. I often FrontLline as a precaution at this point for any mites in the cage or eggs on my hands I have missed.
For a really severe case of mites, where anaemia (a lack of blood) is suspected - often signified by lethargy - soak the snake in water. It may take up to 48hrs for enough mites to die, as they don't require a lot of oxygen.

Mouth rot - only a swab will identify the type, there are many out there - bacterial and suspected fungal. Consult a specialist reptile vet and insist on an aggressive treatment, probably an intramuscularl broad-spectrum antibiotic injection and a contact antibacterial liquid or powder dipped onto the gums and teeth. If caught early the injections can be enough.
It is easy to spot, refusal to feed, excessive mucus, a pout and gummy appearance developing into an inability to close the mouth (sometimes accompanied by a cheesy deposit) are all indications. Sometimes animals will open and close their mouths a lot.
I have found mouth rot more common in jungles than any other snake, and if you read studies and books where it's covered the example specimen is almost always a jungle.
All the cases I've had have been very scary but were easily treated and the snake recovered quickly.

RI - respiratory infection (best known = pneumonia). Symptoms similar to mouth rot in the early stages. Look for mucus, in the mouth and spread like a dried slime on the glass of your vivarium. Additionally, listen for what I can only describe as a popping noise as the snake breaths out and the mucus bubbles in the nasal passage and bronchioles burst.
Low temperatures, depressing the immune system, are often responsible. Bacteria, normally carried without harm, can take hold and be held responsible. Raise the temperature in the cage to a cool spot of about 82 and hot spot of 92 and treat with a course of antibiotics. For a good treatment regime see Greg Maxwell's "The complete chondro" appendix A page 238.

Inactivity related illness - when I visited Australia what surprised me the most was the number of large full-grown snakes I came across. With a slower growth rate in the wild these animals must have been quite an age. And I thought back to the adult animals in captivity, three things struck me. One was how overweigh we keep our snakes, two was how lack-lustre captive snakes tend to be compared to wild and, thirdly, was how what I was seeing suggested that perhaps they don't live so long in captivity. Assuming we have their dietary and environmental needs correct my conclusion was that captive induced inactivity was majorly reducing their life spans. Things like faecal compaction, kidney and liver problems and dystocia (egg binding) are common killers. In many cases inactivity has furthered or even been the cause of the problem.
In my mind it is the biggest problem in captive herpeteculture today.
The defence? = Common sense and inventiveness. Fulfil the animal's environmental needs, give it a big enclosure with a lot of branches, don't overfeed, and move the cage enrichment objects around from time to time - also handling can help with muscle tone.

For all illnesses remove cage mates and keep the vivarium warm and clean, and water fresh. Something else that can be said for all illnesses/problems is that they will always show up in your snake's behaviour first. With diligent observation of snakes which are encouraged to be active, even the subtlest changes in behaviour should trigger the "something's not right" reflex in the keeper.

A word of caution on vets: very few vets have a clue about snakes, if you can, always use a proven exotics expert. Even then keep your guard up, make certain your animal gets a thorough evaluation, be suspect if he doesn't ask a lot of questions and open up the animals mouth when rot or RI is suspected.
If you can't get to a proven expert, and you must go to a general small animal vet, go with what you want to achieve in mind. Don't let him fob you off, telling you he thinks nothing is wrong - often symptoms will have temporarily cleared up with the activity involved in going to the vet; for example, in the early stages of RI or mouth rot, the flicking of the tongue can clear any saliva build up. Perhaps take a book with a recommended treatment in it and the number of an expert he could call to consult with.
Because you want everything to be ok it's easy to let him/her convince you there is nothing wrong, but always carry with you the knowledge that you were concerned enough to visit the vet in the first place. You know your animal best, and finally, when it comes to snakes, things rarely get better by themselves.