Centralian Carpet Python | Bredli python Care Sheet
The Bredli Python or Centralian Carpet Python, is a thick and robust species of python. Their average size is around 1.8 to 2.2 meters some individuals in captivity have even surpassed three meters long. The colours and patterns on Bredli Pythons are usually all the same. An ochre to deep red colour in bars, surrounded with a thin black border (or no black at all if the individual is hypomelanistic, which is becoming increasingly common in Bredli pythons) in between the red bars is a cream background colour.
All snakes bite, and snake temperaments cannot be determined by their species. Many people say Bredli Pythons are calm and docile snakes, while many others say they are vicious and aggressive. The general rule when buying your first snake is to assume it’s going to be a real devil. Assume it will bite you every chance it gets, because if you don’t and you get a snake like my first one, that bit me up to fifty times every handling session, you will be pushed away from keeping pet snakes for a long time.
Snakes require specific housing, it’s not like keeping a dog. So if you are going to get your first snake, whether it’s a Centralian Carpet Python or something else, be sure to research their specific housing requirements beforehand, get everything perfect before you bring such a fragile animal into your home. And also keep in mind that if you don’t get their enclosure perfect, you may not just be harming the snake, because a snake in an enclosure with bad temperatures will bite a lot more than a snake in perfect conditions.
A hatchling Centralian Carpet Python can live in a small storage tub or ‘click-clack’. You may think this wouldn’t be big enough, but to put a hatchling snake in an adult snake sized enclosure would stress the snake to no end. To set up your click-clack all you really need is a small plastic storage tub, a heat cord, a water bowl, a hide and a substrate. The best way to make a hide is to get an empty light-globe box or something of similar size and cut a hole in one side a bit bigger than the snake’s body. You can use newspaper for the substrate and a small dish for the water bowl. So all you really need to buy is a plastic tub (under $10) and a heat cord (around $35).
To put it together is fairly simple, the main thing is to make sure the lid of the click-clack is secure. Other than that just lay the newspaper on the floor of the tub, put the water bowl with about an inch of water and the hide on the floor and run two-three lines of the heat cord underneath one side of the tub to create a temperature gradient, one hot end and one cold end. You must check the temperature now with a thermometer, if it’s too hot take away one line of cord, if it’s too cold add another line. It’s not rocket science.
The enclosure size for an adult Centralian Carpet Python should be 4ftx2ftx2ft. They are arboreal snakes so it’s better to have a high and narrow enclosure than a short and wide one. Provide the snake with the essentials previously discussed, a water bowl, a hide, a substrate (once again, it’s best to use newspaper) and heating (lights, heat mats, heat cords etc.) However in adult sized enclosures you must provide a thermostat to control temperature. It’s also best to provide a perch or some kind of branch for the Bredli Python to climb on. When the snake is shedding they’ll need something rough to help them get the old skin off, so provide them with a rough branch or rock.
The best temperature range for Centralian Carpet Pythons is around 28C at the cold end and 32C at the hot end. With the night temperatures dropping to around 23C. Heating in an adult enclosure is best achieved with a heat light attached to a thermostat. You don’t have to pay over $100 and get a top-of-the-line thermostat, the $30 IMIT thermostats are perfectly fine. Make sure the heat light is inside of a light cage, I have seen many cases of pythons having their skin burnt right off because they’ve coiled around or hung on the heat light.
When you buy your Bredli Python make sure to ask the previous owner what sized rodent it is feeding on. Generally hatchling Centralian Carpet Pythons eat pinkie mice and adults eat adult rats, but it’s best to make sure. If you don’t know what it’s currently feeding on you should check the width of the python at it’s widest part, get a rodent slightly bigger than that, so it leaves a noticeable bump in the snake once swallowed.
It’s best to feed Centralian Carpet Pythons once per week as hatchlings, and around once every two weeks as adults. If your snake’s not hungry or you forget to feed for one week don’t worry! Some snakes have been known to go a whole year without eating, missing a week here and there wont hurt it. Just try not to miss a feed too often. Also remember that in the winter snakes will eat less, or go right off their food all together. A good percentage of snakes in captivity only eat during the warm months of the year. But it’s always good to check to see if your Bredli Python is hungry, don’t just assume that it’s not.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:40 am
Hey. After a couple of months researching different pythons, trying to work out which will make the best pet for my 14 yo son, i finally decided on a bredli. A friend of mine recently bought a pair if hatchlings and is proud as punch, always telling anyone that would listen about his new babies.
Yesterday i contacted the breeder my friend had used and was told he had 1 bredli left for sale. So i bought it. A male, and full of attitude.
It was your paragraph here about the dramas you had with your first snake that made me laff. Cos my son and i are finding out that all snakes have their own personalities and we are having the same dramas with our little fellow. even though others from the same clutch are nice and quiet.
I put this down to a couple of reasons.
1. being entered into a new environment.
2. new smells and movements around him, and
3. the smell of our other pest. Cat and birds.
Please let me know if i am correct in my assumptions.
November 9th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Yeah, the best thing to do when you get a new snake is to put it in it’s enclosure and leave it alone for 1-2 weeks, maybe even cover the enclosure over. That way it will become more relaxed. Straight after that period you should feed it, then leave it alone for another 3-4 days to digest the prey item as they feel vulnerable after eating. Then after that handle it for around 5-10 minutes every few days until it slowly gets used to you.
November 21st, 2010 at 8:14 am
Nice post. Handling your pet snake is the most rewarding part of being a snake owner. Be sure to take good care so it can be healthy
January 11th, 2011 at 7:22 am
I am getting a bredli soon and i was amazed to the info about leaving alone the snake for 1-2 weeks but it is for the good of the snake i guess. where do you get a light cage?
January 28th, 2011 at 1:41 am
hey guys this will be my frist snake but iam realy keen on the bredlis do use think thay r a good frist ime snake coz the one iam thinking about getting she a a lillte attitude lol
April 9th, 2011 at 2:16 am
my hatchlings brendli pythons have been with me for almost a week and they still have not eaten im worried tthat i may loose them
April 9th, 2011 at 9:10 am
g’day
i was just wondering how long should you keep a hatchling in a tub for???
May 12th, 2011 at 5:30 am
Depends on the size of the tub. You can keep it in a 50L storage tub for six months or more, if it’s a carpet python I’d recommended getting it into a real enclosure in six months.
May 12th, 2011 at 5:31 am
Don’t worry about it, they can go months without eating, they’re not going to die from starvation after a week. You’re not supposed to try to feed them in the first week anyway, they come to a new home and get stressed. You should give them two weeks after you get them where you don’t bother them, then try feeding. I think I covered this in some of my articles.
May 12th, 2011 at 5:34 am
They can be a bit nippy depending on the individual, and they get pretty big. They’re a good first snake, I’d still recommend Antaresia first though.
May 12th, 2011 at 5:34 am
Any pet shop will have them.
June 1st, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Hi
we have a bredli python and he is the most affectionate, docile, patient snake! Our 5yr old daughter has always loved snakes since taking her to a reptile park in NT and she is remarkable with our boy. She handles him beautifully and is so gentle. He recently shed his skin and it was a nice and healthy, so he’s back to his happy self. He got rather ‘moody’ around the week he was due which im assuming is normal?! He’s a bit of a tool when eating his rat but gets the gist eventually. He has struck at me once but it was my fault, he didnt get me just hit his head on the roof of his enclosure. To anyone wanting a Bredli i say do it! They are gorgeous snakes! So thats my pointless ramble for the day, thanks and bye!
June 25th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Hi Guys,
I also have a Bredli Python, Shes 2 & a half years old now, ive had her since she was 6mths old. She has never snapped at me, my neice and nephew love to come over and play with her, They are one docile snake and i recommend them to anyone.. I aslo have a Jungle carpet python which is only 6mths old, I have been told that they are a little aggresive but i have never had any troubles with him either, I think i got lucky with both of them…
They are my babies..
Good luck with anyone buying a Bredli you will enjoy every day having one as a pet.
Thanks
Shay
July 5th, 2011 at 4:56 am
OMG! i’m sooo excited, i get my first snakey this friday…… A Bredli
…. a very long awaited birthday present – i’ve asked for one every year for about the past 25 years! I can’t wait! I never go onto forums/blogs but just found this one when i googled ‘Bredli’ so thank you to all the great comments and feedback! Now…. what to call him….. Dexter or Bradley the Bredli 
July 10th, 2011 at 1:27 am
hi . we have a female centralian python i am going to buy a male can they be keep in the same cage .
July 10th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Technically they can, but sometimes that ends badly, one could kill the other, I don’t recommend it.
August 6th, 2011 at 11:19 am
hey we just brought a 5mths old bredli and a 5mth old jungle the bredli is a darling the jungle on the oher hand is a snappy little bitch they are both females weve had them for about a month now and they have only fed once on pinky rats .. ive tried feeding them a few times they just dont want anything to do with them they just shed a few days ago .. should i try live babies not that i want to i have an 8yr old childrens as well got him when he was 3 weeks old and hes the most adorable loving snake hes never striked nor biten id recommend a childrens as well
August 6th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
If you’re in Australia, live food is illegal. Even if it’s not illegal in your country I highly advise not to. It’s not nice for the mice and it’s very dangerous for the snake. I’ve seen horrible photos of snakes that have been attacked by their prey, or even just gnawed at while sleeping. Try feeding pre-killed food, but braining it, I’ve gone over it in one of the articles, you use a knife to pierce the skull of the already dead mouse/rat and smear the brain matter on the face of the mouse/rat. It’s gruesome, but it works.