Carpet Pythons Facts and Characteristics

Carpet pythons are a subspecies of the large Morelia spilota snake. They are long, slender snakes with compressed bodies. Carpet pythons vary in size and color. They're also growing in popularity because they don't require much care.

Here's more information about these snakes.

Origin of Carpet Pythons

Carpet pythons are native to Australia and New Guinea. Most subspecies are found in the Australia mainland. They live in a various habitats including rain forests. Most of these snakes in the United States are considered wild type. They can also live in temperate grasslands.

Types of Carpet Pythons

There are six recognized subspecies and types of carpet pythons including Jungle Carpets, Coastal or Queensland Carpets and Irian Jaya Carpets.

Characteristics

Jungle carpets can grow to be 5 to 7 feet in length. The female coastal or Queensland carpets grow to 10 or 11 feet in length and the male coastal or Queensland carpets grow to 7 to 9 feet. Irian Jaya Carpets are small at 5.5 to 6 feet for the females and 4.5 to 5 feet for the males.

These snakes can be nippy when they're young hatchlings. Most of them will grow up to be docile adults. Carpet Python live 15 to 20 years.

Breeding Carpet Pythons

The mating season for carpet pythons in captivity is late August through February. The mating ritual begins with the male spurring the female's back if he's interested in breeding. The female will give off pheromones if she's also interested. The pheromones let the male know she's ready to mate. Mating typically will happen within 24 hours after this point. The male snakes won't breed unless the female is ready. The female will produce eggs which will start to hatch 55 to 60 days.

Caring for a Carpet Python

Carpet pythons are an easy species of snakes to own when it comes to care. They like to remain in ambient temperatures that are between 76 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. One may choose to keep thew tank humid at around 70 to 80 percent. Younger carpet pythons can start off eating rat pinkies. This will help them grow quickly. The owner of these snakes usually feed them live or frozen rats.

Carpet Pythons hunt and capture their prey for food, which includes mice, rats, possums and birds. They trap the prey until it suffocates.