OVERVIEW
A Bredl’s Python (Morelia bredli) is the prettier, calmer and hardier cousin to the Carpet Pythons (Morelia spilota ssp). At least in my very biased opinion. This species is known for its orange to brick red base-color, moderate size of 5 to 8 feet and placid nature. Many members of this species have a color gradient that runs from a red head to a jet-black tail, in some individuals this becomes very pronounced at maturity with the first third of the body being red with the back two thirds being deep black. They also have thin cream-colored stripes that run across the entire body.
Bredl’s Pythons are also well known for being extremely calm adults. As with most snake species hatchlings can be very defensive for the first few months of their lives but almost all calm down with age. I have had children and inexperienced snake handlers handle my adult Bredl’s and they have always commented on how gentle these snakes are. Care does need to be taken when feeding though because they have an extremely high feed response.
Bredl’s Pythons come from the Western MacDonnell Mountains in the Northern Territory of Australia, near the town of Alice Springs. This arid region might be the harshest habitat of any python species. Alice Springs routinely experiences daytime highs in the summer time over 100F while night time lows in the winter can be several degrees below freezing.
It is not uncommon for day and night temperatures to have a 30+ degree temperature difference year-round. Rain is very seasonal in this part of the world with the winter being much drier than the summer. A brutally hot and dry desert surrounds the Western MacDonnell Mountains which makes it virtually impassable to pythons. This makes this habitat essentially an island in the middle of a sea of sand, with many animals only existing in the mountain ranges.
Housing
Bredl’s Pythons can be maintained in a typical python room (constant 78-82F ambient) with no issues. Personally, I do not believe that this is the best way to maintain this species given their natural history. I keep my animals in a room that has an ambient between 66-74F.
I provide my animals with over-head heat (except for hatchlings that get belly heat) using either a radiant heat panel connected to a thermostat or a 65-watt spotlight depending on the cage. This gives me a good daytime temperature gradient of 78-85F in the cage with the small area directly under the heat at 88-95F. In the summer my day timers are on for 13 hours and in the winter my timers are on for 8 hours. During the night, no supplemental heat is provided, and the temperatures drop to the ambient temperature of the room.
I believe it is beneficial to bredli behavior to provide this species with day-time lighting. My animals are very inactive when the lights are on preferring to bask and hide. While at night they become very active and prefer to climb and hunt. There is anecdotal evidence of the coloration of wild Bredl’s Pythons becoming duller when brought into captivity, one theory for this is less exposure to UV lighting. I have given a few of my Bredl’s Pythons artificial UV light but personally did not notice a difference in color.
A Bredl’s python would provide an excellent display snake in a large desert vivarium if their needs are met. I know many people that keep them in naturalistic enclosures and the snakes thrive in them.
I keep my hatchling Bredl’s pythons in a rack system in 12 1/4″ L x 7 1/4″ W x 4″ H tubs with belly heat on the back set to 88F. These tubs have small perches added into them to allow the hatchlings to climb and a small piece of PVC pipe to allow them to hide.
When the snakes are about five months-old I move them into 24” L x 18” W x 16” H PVC cages with an over head radiant heat panel and an LED bulb for light. I have ledges and perches in these enclosures as well as two hides made from plastic pots.I keep my adult males in 36” L x 24” W x 18” H cages with ledges, a perch and also heated with an over head radiant heat panel.
I have noticed my males, which I keep smaller, seem to enjoy climbing and perching much more than my females.I keep my adult females in 48” L x 24” W x 24” H cages. I provide a basking spot using a 65-watt spotlight in these enclosures. Females have a large nest box that doubles as a shelf in these set ups. I have not noticed much climbing behavior in my females as they seem to prefer moving on the ground, possibly due to them being a larger size, so I don’t give them as many ledges.
Feeding
I feed my Bredl’s pythons a primarily rodent-based diet with the occasional chicken. I plan on eventually doing some experiments with alternative prey items but so far this has worked well for me.When babies first hatch out I start them on hopper mice. Once they are eating consistently I feed them every 5 days for the first 2-3 months of their life. I then switch them over to eating every week to two weeks. I would like for my Bredl’s pythons to be eating large adult mice when they are about a year old and then I switch them over to weanling rats a month or so later.
I’ve never had an issue switching this species between prey items, typically they will take rats or chicks the first time they are offered.I try to have my adult males at 800 grams by the time they are about 2.5 years old. I consider them adults at this size and switch them over to a cycle of one small rat or adult mouse a month. Extremely large males are often fat and don’t want to move or breed, so I think keeping them small and lean is best for keeping and breeding.
I’ll keep my females on a diet of one medium to large rat every two to six weeks. I allow them to get larger and a little fatter than my males. I consider them adults at 3.5 years old. I’ve considered switching my larger adult females over to a diet of one small rabbit every month but have not done this yet.
SIDE NOTES: I collected data on a clutch for five months by weighing them before every meal and then after they have digested the meal. My results gave me a good estimation about the growth rate of hatchlings in this species and showed me that they turn about 39% percent of mouse weight into snake weight. This means on average if a hatchling Bredl’s Python eats a 10-gram mouse the snake will be a little less than 4 grams heavier after the meal. I’ve only done a few data collections on subadult Bredl’s pythons eating rats, but the results were still similar.
Breeding Bredli
Breeding this species is pretty simple but a bit different from a typical python. Age is an important factor with males normally wanting to breed in their third year and females sometimes not wanting to breed until they are four or five years old.
Occasionally a Bredl’s Python will want to breed younger than that, but this is not common. To get consistent results they require night temperatures to drop into at least the low 60’s for at least two weeks. Daytime temperatures should be kept the same as they are for all other parts of the year, so the snakes can have a few hours to warm back up.
I live in northern Georgia, so it can be hard to get my snake room to these temperatures. What I do to breed mine is take the pairs I would like to breed out of their enclosures at night and put them into locked plastic bins. I place these bins up against a cracked window, which allows the snakes to be in the mid to upper 50’s at night.
In the mornings I move them out of the bins and place them back into their normal cages to let them bask and warm back up during the day. I do this from the first of November into mid-December and then set the day timer back to 13 hours over the course of January.
Normally, I give them an adult mouse to restart their digestive systems in January ( I stop feeding in late September to early October) and then begin feeding the females larger meals again. Breeding activity will take place over the spring and eggs will be laid in the summer. I incubate the eggs between 86-89F and they hatch out in about 55 days.
Conclusion
This was the species that really got the fire for snake keeping started. I saw a picture of one online and read about how calm they were, and I knew I wanted some. The thing that gets me excited now is the potential this species has. Their cousins the Carpet Pythons have been selectively bred for intense yellows and perfect dorsal stripes that far surpass any of their wild ancestors.
If Jungle Carpet Pythons can be taken from light tan and black snakes and turned into neon yellow and jet-black snakes in a few generations, imagine how bright red or orange a Bredl’s Python could be with the same careful breeding over a few generations. I like to imagine one day having a six-foot Bredl’s Python the color of a tangerine. It will take another generation or two but I think the future of these amazing pythons in US keepers hands is very bright!
