Amazing Inland Carpet Pythons
Also called the Murray Darling Carpet Python, this is one of six subspecies of Morelia spilota found across Australia. Inland Carpet Pythons are semi-arboreal, living in tree hollows and rock crevices. They are often associated with River Red Gum forests and Black Box forests. But with expanding human development they are now often found around human dwellings, such as in roofs or sheds, where they feed on rats and mice.
Inland Carpet Pythons have a beautiful mottled skin with a pattern of dark grey and black patches. The underside of their bodies are pale grey or cream. They are most active at dusk, dawn and night but may also bask in winter sun.
Females lay 10–50 eggs every 3–4 years and guard their clutch, ‘shivering’ to generate heat to warm the eggs. Females do not eat while incubating and build up large fat stores to sustain them for the duration. Upon hatching, the young pythons are completely independent and do not remain with their mother.
Like all pythons, Inland Carpet Pythons are not venomous, but kill their prey by constriction. They ambush their prey and wrap themselves around the animal, squeezing until it dies from suffocation. Despite this, Inland Carpet Pythons are popular as pets since they are generally not aggressive towards humans.