Nova Guinea Carpet Pythons are one of the most mysterious morelia we have in the hobby today. Not much is known about their history. They have been in the hobby in Europe for over 25 years. Then in 2008, Nick Mutton imported a group of 4.2 animals from Paul Harris. Nick kept a group of 2.1 and Eric Koller (Midgard Serpents) also ended up with a group of 2.1. Eric Koller has had the most success with the Nova Guineas in recent years. Odds are if you have any or have seen one, it most likely came from Eric. The mystery behind where these snakes come from is a frustrating one.
The people that have the information are no longer reachable to get the information on where exactly these snakes came from. All we know is that they came from somewhere in New Guinea. When they were exported, the box containing them was labeled as “Nova Guinea” which is Latin for New Guinea, that is where the name Nova Guinea originated from. The paperwork that accompanied them stated that they were collected from New Guinea but never specified exactly where in New Guinea they were collected. That is where the mystery lies.
So besides us not having definite information on where Nova Guineas were collected, what makes these different from the Papuan Carpet Pythons we see in the hobby every day and are supposed to be the only carpet python native to NG? A couple of noticeable differences have been noted between Papuan Carpets and Nova Guineas. One of the most noted differences is coloration as hatchlings. Papuan Carpets are red with black eyes. Nova Guineas are a tannish/brown with silver eyes. Nova Guineas always have a different head structure, more narrow snout, and have upturned rostral scales when compared to Papuan Carpets which have none of those characteristics.
Nova Guineas also seem to throw three distinct patterns within a clutch. They can be striped, reduced or jag like, or have an ocelot type appearance. It has also been noted that Nova Guineas lay more and smaller eggs than Papuan Carpets usually do. With all of these distinct differences, one cannot help but wonder what exactly is going on with Nova Guineas. But for now, they remain one of the rarest carpets seen in collections. They could also very well be one of the rarest carpets on the planet and we just don’t know it yet.
