Carpet python
Morelia spilota · Diamond python
Carpet pythons come in many forms, from the jungle carpet at 1.5–2 meters to the coastal carpet python at up to 3 meters. They climb a lot, need a tall enclosure with strong branches and are often fed too much. In the EU they are a protected species, and in Germany you have to register them.
Contents 11 sections
Quick tips
- Know the form: Carpet pythons range from 1.5 to 3 m. The form decides enclosure size and food amount, so ask when you buy.
- Don't overfeed: Adults eat whatever they are given. Feed less often and watch body condition.
- Secure heat sources: Lamps behind a guard, heaters on a thermostat. Pythons burn themselves easily.
- Young ones often bite. Most calm down over time. A strong feeding response is not aggression.
- Keep new animals apart for six months because of IBD and other viruses.
Profile
- Length
- usually 2–3 m depending on the form; jungle carpet 1.5–2.1 m, coastal carpet python up to 2.7–3.0 m
- Weight
- only known for the south-western carpet python: males up to 1.1 kg, females up to 4.5 kg. Females usually grow longer and heavier.
- Life span
- 20–30 years
- Activity
- active at dusk and at night, in winter also by day; climbs a lot
Climate and light
- Day
- 25–30 °C (77–86 °F)
- Night
- 20–24 °C (68–75 °F)
- Basking spot
- 32–35 °C (90–95 °F)
- Humidity
- 40–60%
- Light
- About 12 hours of light in summer and 10 in winter. UVB is recommended: the lamp goes next to the basking spot and is replaced at least every six months. Austria requires 12–14 hours, 2–4 hours less in winter.
In their first year, hatchlings need a heat source around the clock and a flatter gradient of about 25–34 °C (77–93 °F). At night, the warm end should not stay below 20 °C (68 °F) for long. Austria requires 26–32 °C (79–90 °F) during the day, up to 35 °C (95 °F) under the heat lamp, 20–24 °C (68–75 °F) at night and 60–90% humidity. Condensation on the glass points to an enclosure that is too damp or poorly ventilated.
Enclosure
For an adult of 1–2 m, RSPCA Australia recommends 200 × 100 × 200 cm (L × W × H). Up to 2 m in length, this also meets the rules in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; larger animals need more floor space. Rack systems are too small and unsuitable for carpet pythons.
- Substrate
- Veterinary care sheets from Australia advise newspaper, paper towels or paper litter, because sand and bark encourage germs. Austria, on the other hand, requires peat, a peat and sand mix or soil, with half of the floor kept damp.
- Setup
- Strong, branching climbing branches, at least one hide the snake fits into completely when coiled, and a large, shallow, stable water bowl. The German report names a bathing basin of a quarter of the floor area. Lamps go behind a guard and heaters on a thermostat: pythons burn themselves easily when they coil around a heat source. A thermometer and a hygrometer.
Minimum sizes
GermanyGuideline
Under 2 m total length: length 0.75 × total length, width 0.5 ×, height 1 ×. Over 2 m: 0.5 × 0.5 × 0.75. For up to two animals of similar size, about 20% more volume for each additional animal, at most 2 m high. A guideline that may be undercut by about 10% in individual cases.
Source [6]
AustriaLaw
1–2 animals up to 100 cm: 0.5 m² floor area, 0.6 m high · adults: 1.5 m², 1.5 m. Add 0.2 m² (adults 0.5 m²) for each additional animal.
Source [7]
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. A heat source and hides are required.
Source [9]
Feeding
Juvenileup to 12 monthsevery 7–10 days
Pinky mouse, Fuzzy mouse, Hopper mouse · about as wide as the thickest part of the body
Subadult1–3 yearsevery 10–14 days
Hopper mouse, Adult mouse, Rat pup · at most 1.5 times as wide as the thickest part of the body
Adultfrom about 3 yearsevery 14–28 days
Adult mouse, Rat · at most 1.5 times as wide as the thickest part of the body
- Prey size
- 10% of body weight
About 10% of body weight per meal in total, a single feeder at most 1.5 times as wide as the snake's thickest point. This applies to animals that are not overweight.
Feed freshly killed or thawed prey. No source gives fixed age limits: a carpet python counts as a hatchling in its first year and becomes sexually mature at about 2–3 years. For adults, the intervals range from 10–14 days (a US veterinary clinic) to 2–4 weeks (veterinarians and the RSPCA in Australia); the middle stage follows the shorter one. Many animals eat whatever they are given and become overweight, so go by body condition. Fasts of several months are normal in adults, especially in winter. Don't feed if the snake can't stay warm afterwards, or the food will spoil in the stomach. Don't handle for 2–3 days after feeding.
Shedding
The skin comes off in one piece. Watch for remnants over the eyes and on the tail tip. Don't handle the snake from the time its eyes turn cloudy until after the shed. Raise humidity to about 70% during this time.
Brumation
No true brumation. Cooler nights for 6–8 weeks in winter improve breeding in both sexes, with about 10 hours of light. Don't cool hatchlings in their first year, they need warmth throughout. Austria requires 2–4 hours less light in winter. The Australian sources mean June to August by winter; for keeping in Europe, our winter applies.
Breeding
- Sexual maturity
- females at about 3 years, males at about 2, depending on size
- Clutch
- usually 15–25 eggs, rarely up to 52
- Incubation
- 52–75 days at 30 °C (86 °F)
The female coils around the eggs and keeps them at about 30 °C (86 °F) by shivering. Incubation depends on form and temperature: about 50 days in the jungle carpet, 63–71 days in the south-western carpet python. Mating takes place in winter, eggs are laid in late spring. Males fight in the breeding season, never keep them together.
Protection status and registration
As of October 31, 2026
EU
CITES Appendix II and Annex B of the EU Wildlife Trade Regulation. Anyone selling animals must be able to prove they were acquired legally.
Germany
Specially protected and subject to registration: report keeping, and every addition and departure, to the responsible authority in writing without delay. Marking is not required. You must be able to show proof of origin (receipt or captive-breeding certificate) on request.
Austria
Report keeping reptiles to the authority within two weeks. Since July 1, 2026, you need a training course (at least 4 × 60 minutes) before your first reptile. A thermometer and a hygrometer are required.
Switzerland
No permit needed, the Animal Protection Ordinance counts the carpet python among the small and medium-sized pythons. You must be able to document origin and legal acquisition.
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.
Respiratory infection
Signs wheezing, bubbles at the nostrils, open-mouth breathing
What to do Check temperature and ventilation and see a vet.
Inclusion body disease (IBD) and sunshinevirus
Signs head held at an angle, unsteady movements, seizures, often only months after infection
What to do See a vet right away and keep the snake apart. IBD can't be cured. Keep new animals apart for at least six months and discuss virus tests.
Regurgitation
Signs food comes back up hours to days after eating
What to do Check the heat, don't handle for 2–3 days after feeding, see a vet if it happens again.
Burns
Signs wounds or blisters on the belly after contact with a lamp or heater
What to do Shield heat sources and control them with a thermostat, have the wound treated by a vet.
Shedding problems
Signs skin remnants over the eyes or on the tail tip
What to do Raise humidity during the shed, have remnants over the eyes removed by a vet.
Sources
- Caring For Carpet Pythons
- Jungle Python
- How should I care for my carpet python?
- Fauna profiles – Carpet Python Morelia spilotaofficial
- YVCipedia Reptile – Carpet Python Care Sheet
- Gutachten über Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilienofficial
- 2. Tierhaltungsverordnung, § 5, § 8 und Anlage 3 (Mindestanforderungen an die Haltung von Reptilien)official
- Python Care – Morelia species
- Tierschutzverordnung (TSchV, SR 455.1), Art. 89 und Anhang 2 (Vorbemerkungen, Tabelle 5 Reptilien)official
- Pest Risk Assessment: Carpet Python (Morelia spilota)official
- Nutrition in Snakes
- 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
- Bundesgesetz über den Verkehr mit Tieren und Pflanzen geschützter Arten (BGCITES, SR 453), Art. 10official
- Inclusion Body Disease in Boas and Pythons
- Inclusion body disease in two captive Australian pythons (Morelia spilota variegata and Morelia spilota spilota)
- Experimental infection of carpet pythons (Morelia spilota) with sunshinevirus
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 31, 2026.
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