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Carpet and Centralian Python Care (Morelia Spilota and Morelia Bredli) by Stephen Richardson

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Carpet and Centralian Python Care (Morelia spilota and Morelia bredli) By Stephen Richardson Introduction: Carpet Pythons are without a doubt the most rewarding and interesting pythons to keep and breed. They come in a variety of sizes, colors, patterns, and they seem to be intelligent and curious snakes. There are many color and pattern morphs that are interesting; however, it is my opinion the most impressive looking specimens are those that have been selectively bred but retain their normal wild variety pattern. My favorites are still a great looking high contrast yellow and black Jungle Carpet Python or a nice clean Coastal Carpet Python with a lot of blushing in the darker portions of the pattern. Carpet Pythons are easily managed and you will not need a spotter to handle them. All of the Carpets in my collection, with one exception, are easy to handle and do not bite. I do have one Irian Jaya Carpet Python that has some attitude; she can be handled carefully but I do not drop my guard around her. Carpet Pythons are from Australia and live in a variety of habitat. They are a terrestrial to semi arboreal snake with a slender body in comparison to larger pythons like the Burmese or African Rock pythons. They are part of the genius Morelia with the species name spilota. There are many subspecies of the carpet pythons. I work with Morelia spilota cheynei (Jungle), Morelia spilota mcdowelli (Coastal), Morelia spilota variegata (Irian Jaya), and the prized Morelia spilota spilota (Diamond). There are more recognized subspecies of Carpet Pythons not listed. Additionally, I keep and breed the Centralian Python, Morelia bredli that is not officially a Carpet Python but they are remarkably similar. The shortest of the Carpet Pythons are the Irian Jaya pythons (about 5 to 7 feet) with the longest being the Coastal Carpet Python ( about 7 to 10 feet). While some Carpet Pythons are long they are easy to manage because of their relatively slender body. Housing: I keep my larger Carpet Pythons in 3×2×2 (feet) seamless glass front display cages. Some of my smaller males and Irian Jaya pythons are kept in Vision racks with CB-70 containers. In my display cages I use ceramic heating elements hooked up to Herpstat controllers set to keep a basking spot at about 89ºF with an ambient temperature in the low eighties. In my racks I use heat cord that is controlled by a Herpstat. Any enclosure for a snake should have a warm and cool end. I do not worry too much about humidity since I use large water dishes in my cages and racks. Roughly speaking there should be an ambient humidity of about 50%. Hide places should be provided on both the cool and warm ends of the enclosure. I like to provide a heavy duty climbing branch to allow my pythons to get close up to the heat source which promotes basking out in the open for viewing. Everyday I look at my snakes to make sure everything is in order. On a smaller scale young Carpet Pythons can be kept in cages made for snakes with a heat pad under one side of the cage and a water dish on the cool end. Provide hiding places on both sides of the cage. I use aspen bedding for all of my baby snakes that do not require high humidity. Bark or Cyprus mulch can be used for substrate and they can be misted to keep humidity levels up. Do not let a substrate become sopping wet and do not mist aspen. In my experience aspen works great for Carpet Pythons as long as a large water dish is placed in the cage. I do recommend seamless molded glass front cages for adult Carpet Pythons. Carpet Pythons are escape artists. Use a cage that is specifically made for snakes. I have locks on all of my python cages; on one occasion I watched a Coastal Carpet Python use her nose to slide open a glass front cage after I removed the lock. They are intelligent snakes so provide quality escape proof cages for them. Feeding: Carpet Pythons have a strong feeding response. If they smell rodents then they will strike at anything that moves. Additionally, they have heat receptors that allow them to superimpose a thermal image over their visual image. Thus, from a Carpet Python’s perspective, heat and movement, or smell and movement equal dinner. Be careful feeding Carpet Pythons! I feed all of my carpets frozen thawed rats with long surgical hemostats or, if possible, I carefully place the rat on a feeding dish in the cage while a python is not attentive to me. Again be careful! If you are careful, then you should have no accidental bites. I have been working with Carpet Pythons for many years; however, I have only been bitten three times. One bite was my fault since I was rushing the feeding process and put my hand in the cage too close the python. The second bite occurred when I was removing the eggs from a female python that was wrapped around the eggs. Carpet Python mothers take great care of their eggs by wrapping around them and twitching their body to generate heat. The third case involved a Jaguar Coastal Carpet Python that bit me during an educational presentation; he was stressed out by the large group of spectators. I feed all of my pythons about once a week. All of my Carpet Pythons eat frozen thawed rats. I offer my adult Irian Jayas one small rat a week, and I offer one medium rat a week for Jungles, Coastals, and the Centralian pythons. Young Carpet Pythons should be offered food appropriate for their size. I feed young pythons a rat that has a bit more girth than the thickest portion of their body. Your python should have to work a little to get the food down. Do not over feed your python. I have seen many Carpet Pythons with bodies that are too thick with fat heads. I keep all of my carpets lean and strong; Carpet Pythons are long slender snakes. If you are careful with you feeding routine then you should have no major issues. Carpet Pythons are strong feeders and rarely go off of feed. Handling: I have four rules for handling large snakes. The rules are designed to keep you or anybody handling your snake free from injury. The rules are listed below: 1) Keep your python away from your face. Your face exhibits a lot of infrared radiation. 2) Never place your python around your neck or on your shoulders. 3) If possible, keep your python out off stressful situations. 4) Use a professional escape proof enclosure for your python. Spare no expense when it comes to choosing an enclosure. Additionally, be cautious when reaching for your python. I always use a small snake hook to tap them mid-body to warm them I am going to pick them up. Never use a snake hook to lift up your python. Snake hooks can be painful to a thick bodied snake. Conclusion: Carpet Pythons are awesome snakes. They are beautiful, intelligent, and they are just right when it comes to size. They are big enough to be impressive but small enough for one person to manage. They are fun to keep and are absolutely my favorite pythons to work with. Follow the care guidelines and safety protocol in this sheet and you will have many years of enjoyable python encounters. If you take good care of your python, then it may live in excess of twenty or thirty years. .
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