Blood python
Python brongersmai · Malaysian blood python
Blood pythons from Southeast Asia are short, very heavy-bodied and live on the floor of humid forests and plantations. They need warmth and humidity, eat a lot and quickly become overweight. Sumatran and Borneo short-tailed pythons (P. curtus, P. breitensteini) are kept in much the same way but usually stay a little smaller.
Contents 11 sections
Quick tips
- Handle calmly and firmly: Young blood pythons are often jumpy and bite. With short, regular handling, most become easy to manage.
- Warmth without heat buildup: An evenly warm, humid enclosure is better than a hot basking spot.
- Feed sparingly: An adult blood python needs much less food than it would eat.
- Log the weight: In heavy-bodied snakes, obesity shows late. The weight curve shows it sooner.
- In Germany, don't forget to register your snakes, including offspring and sales.
Profile
- Length
- males usually 90–150 cm, females 120–180 cm, very heavy-bodied
- Weight
- adults several kilograms, females much heavier than males
- Life span
- 20 years or more
- Activity
- active at dusk and at night, lives on the ground, rarely climbs
- Also applies to
- Python curtus, Python breitensteini
Climate and light
- Day
- 28–31 °C (82–88 °F)
- Night
- 24–27 °C (75–81 °F)
- Basking spot
- 31–33 °C (88–91 °F)
- Humidity
- 65–80%
- Light
- 12 hours of light, 3–4 hours less in winter. Heat from above with a heat lamp behind a guard, or a heat mat on a thermostat.
Blood pythons don't tolerate heat well. Even warmth is better than a hot basking spot. Part of the floor stays damp at all times. Austria requires 30–32 °C (86–90 °F) during the day, 25–28 °C (77–82 °F) at night and 75–90% humidity.
Enclosure
For an adult female of about 160 cm, around 200 × 100 × 120 cm. Austria requires this size for adults, while Germany and Switzerland accept 160 × 80 × 120 cm. Plenty of floor space matters more than height. Young snakes may live in a smaller enclosure at first.
- Substrate
- Deep, loose and moisture-retaining, such as soil or humus with leaf litter.
- Setup
- Several hides, a large water bowl for soaking, a thick layer of leaf litter for young snakes, a thermometer and a hygrometer. These are very strong animals, so build the decor to stay put.
Source [1]
Minimum sizes
GermanyGuideline
Length 1 × total length, width 0.5 ×, height 0.75 ×, for up to two animals of about the same size. About 20% more volume for each additional animal.
Source [2]
AustriaLaw
1–2 animals up to 50 cm: 0.5 m² floor area, 0.6 m high · 50–100 cm: 1.0 m², 0.8 m · adults: 2.0 m², 1.2 m. Add 0.2 / 0.4 / 0.6 m² for each additional animal. (The ordinance lists the species as Python curtus.)
Source [1]
SwitzerlandLaw
For up to two animals: floor area 1 × 0.5 body lengths, height 0.75 body lengths (total length of the largest animal). Add 0.5 × 0.2 body lengths for each additional animal.
Source [3]
Feeding
Juvenileup to 1 yearevery 7–10 days
Adult mouse, Rat pup · no thicker than the thickest part of the body
Subadult1–3 yearsevery 10–14 days
Rat · no thicker than the thickest part of the body
Adultfrom about 3 yearsevery 14–28 days
Rat · better too small than too large
Blood pythons tend to become overweight. Feed adults sparingly and keep an eye on their weight. Offer freshly killed or thawed feeders.
Source [1]
Shedding
About every 6–10 weeks, more often in young snakes. When the snake is in shed (cloudy eyes), raise the humidity and don't feed.
Brumation
No brumation. For breeding, lower the night temperature slightly for a few weeks in winter and shorten the light by 3–4 hours.
Source [1]
Breeding
- Sexual maturity
- females usually from 3–4 years and several kilograms, males earlier
- Clutch
- 12–16 eggs in the wild, often 10–20 in captivity
- Incubation
- 60–70 days at 31–32 °C (88–90 °F)
Wild females only breed about every other year, so give your animals breaks too. The hatch estimate in HerpLabs assumes 53–62 days for all pythons. Blood python clutches often take a little longer.
Source [4]
Protection status and registration
As of October 20, 2026
EU
CITES Appendix II and Annex B of the EU Wildlife Trade Regulation (like all pythons except the Indian python). If you sell animals, you must be able to prove you acquired them legally.
Germany
Specially protected and subject to registration. Report your animals, and every addition and departure, in writing to the responsible authority without delay (usually the lower nature conservation authority, the Untere Naturschutzbehörde). Keep proof of origin and show it on request.
Austria
Report to the authorities within two weeks that you keep reptiles. Since July 1, 2026, you need to take a training course (at least 4 × 60 minutes) before your first reptile. A thermometer and a hygrometer are required.
Switzerland
No permit needed. The minimum sizes in the Animal Protection Ordinance are binding (it lists the species as Python curtus).
Source [3]
This is not legal advice. Rules change, so check with the responsible authority if in doubt.
Health
No substitute for a vet. If your animal seems sick, refuses food for an unusually long time or loses weight, see a vet with experience in reptiles.
Obesity
Signs fat rolls along the sides, skin visible between the scales, sluggish
What to do Feed less often and smaller prey, and check the weight regularly.
Respiratory infection
Signs wheezing or bubbling when breathing, mucus in the mouth, open-mouth breathing
What to do Check the temperature and see a vet soon.
Regurgitation
Signs the feeder comes back up hours to days after eating
What to do Check whether it is too cool, the prey too large or the snake stressed. Wait 1–2 weeks, then feed a small meal. If it happens again, see a vet.
Stuck shed
Signs skin comes off in pieces, remnants on the eyes or tail tip
What to do Raise the humidity and offer a humid hide.
Mites
Signs tiny black dots, often around the eyes and chin, the snake soaks for unusually long
What to do See a vet. Clean the enclosure thoroughly and replace the decor.
Sources
- 2. Tierhaltungsverordnung, § 5, § 8 und Anlage 3 (Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilien)official
- Gutachten über Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilienofficial
- Tierschutzverordnung (TSchV, SR 455.1), Art. 89 und Anhang 2 (Vorbemerkungen, Tabelle 5 Reptilien)official
- Ecological attributes of two commercially-harvested python species in northern Sumatra (Journal of Herpetology 33)
- Verordnung (EU) 2026/1383 zur Änderung der Anhänge der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 338/97 (CITES-Vertragsstaatenkonferenz 2025)official
- Verordnung (EG) Nr. 338/97 über den Schutz von Exemplaren wildlebender Tier- und Pflanzenarten durch Überwachung des Handelsofficial
- Bundesartenschutzverordnung (BArtSchV), § 7, §§ 12–13 und Anlagen 5 und 6official
- Bundesnaturschutzgesetz (BNatSchG), § 46 Nachweispflichtofficial
- Tierschutzgesetz (TSchG), § 13 und § 25official
Values without a source are common experience from keeping and breeding. Every animal is different, so watch yours and adjust its care. As of October 20, 2026.
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