Morelia bredli
The Bredl’s python is a species of Morelia sometimes referred to as the “Centralian” carpet python. It is named after the crocodile conservationist, Josef Bredl. They can reach a rather impressive size of 8 feet in length and typically have better temperaments than their coastal ‘carpet’ cousins. Coming from the centre of Australia, these snakes are exposed to some of the harshest conditions on earth with summer highs above 40°C and winter night time temperatures dropping below freezing. This makes them reasonably hardy, although the keeper must be able to provide gradients within the enclosure to achieve the highest husbandry standards.
Choosing a large vivarium, situated in a cool room with a powerful spot bulb (and perhaps a ceramic heat emitter) to create a basking spot of 35°C should formulate an appropriate temperature gradient. Ferguson Zone 2 lighting should be installed and there is even anecdotal evidence that suggests young snakes that are exposed to UV retain their colouration better. Many keepers will use a 4 x 2 x 2 vivarium for their Bredl’s pythons, but a 4 x 2 x 4 is far more suitable, especially for active males that like to climb. Even larger enclosures can be used, with naturalistic-looking ledges, robust plants, thick layers of Bio Life Desert and more to create a very striking display viv. This will also give the keeper opportunities to create humid zones and an even greater temperature gradient which is highly beneficial to the species.
Bredl’s pythons broadly have a good feeding response. This makes enrichment feeding methods easier and multiple prey items can be used and swapped around at random, adding important variety to the animals’ diet.