Admittedly, I am a carpet python addict. And when an opportunity comes along to have a locality carpet python, you jump on it. I acquired a pair of Julatten locality carpets from Europe in 2014. I raised them and was able to produce a clutch in 2018. That year I was able to travel to Australia and find them in the wild and what a rush it was to see them in their environment, doing what wild pythons do. Then to come back home and see them pipping out of an egg in my incubator, well, let’s say it was mind blowing.
Julatten is a town in the Shire of Mareeba, QLD, on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tableland. They are usually the locality people associate with black and white jungle carpets, but they also have this greenish hue in the saddles. The other cool thing about this breeding project is not only could you breed for the black and white, but you could also breed for striping.
My 2018 clutch had a lot of the typical patterns you see for striping in carpet pythons. Look at some of the carpet python breeders in Australia, and you will see the potential of this locality. Breeding was pretty straight forward. Start to cool them down in November to about 70 degrees. Introduce them, and you will usually see eggs around May and babies hatching out around July.
I found two Julatten jungles on the same road, on the same night not that far from one another. The sun had just set, and it was dark out, the temperature was around 74 degrees, with the humidity around 75%. They were both found along the side of the road cruising through the grass, possibly looking for a meal. They were about 3 feet long, and if I had to guess, I would say maybe 1-2 years old.
It was a fantastic experience to be able to be in the environment and feel the temperature, humidity, and see what these snakes do in the wild. It made me take a look at how I could better keep these beautiful snakes in captivity. If you want to get into carpet pythons and you’re looking for something different than the norm, I would suggest taking a look at Julatten Jungle Carpet Pythons!
