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Arboreal snake

Carpet python

Morelia spilota

Kept the same way as the Amazon tree boa, emerald tree boa and green tree python, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build a carpet python setup See the gear
Photograph of a Carpet python
Photograph by Amos T Fairchild, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Basking surface
32 to 36°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air
24 to 32°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air
21 to 25°C
UV index at the basking spot
0.6 to 7.4 Zones 1 to 2. Crepuscular or shade dweller, thermal conformer
Humidity
40 to 60%
Daylight hours
14 h in summer, 10 h in winter
Winter
Cooling A cooler period: activity and feeding drop, but the animal stays awake.
Where it lives
Leaf litter, Forest floor, Rocks, crevices, or burrows, Foliage or shrubs, Grassland or savanna, Semi-arboreal, Arboreal
Adult length
150 to 250 cm
When it is active
Nocturnal
How it lives
Arboreal
Typical captive life
20 years
Longest recorded life
20 years A record from the literature, not what to expect. Most animals live well short of it.

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue

Gear that suits a carpet python

Chosen for arboreal snake. The setup builder puts the whole kit together, sized to the animal, with the reason for each piece.

Build the whole kit

Same care group

Kept the same way

Where it comes from

New Guinea, Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria except South, N and S Western Australia; not in the arid centre of Australia) cheynei: NE Queensland harrisoni: southern coast of Papua New Guinea to the Indonesian part of West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), in West Papua up to Merauke. mcdowelli: from N Cape York through Queensland to N New South Wales metcalfei: from S Queensland, New South Wales, and N Victoria to South Australia. macburniei: Australia (South Australia: St. Francis Island);

Breeding: Lays about 20 eggs a clutch, with a recorded range of 7 to 54; eggs hatch in about 40 to 63 days.

Where the figures come from