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Jungle Carpet Python

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Morelia spilota cheynei

Description

jungle carpet python

The Jungle Carpet Python (Morelia spilota cheynei) is a sub- species of carpet python. These beautifully coloured pythons grow to an average size of 1.5 - 2.1m, although some females have been known to grow to a length of 2.6m (females are typically larger than males). Jungle Pythons are spread over a very small range in North Queensland from the Atherton Tablelands to the South-East corner of Cape York Peninsula.

These snakes are semi-arboreal (live in the tree canopy) and typically inhabit tropical to sub-tropical forests that border waterways like creeks and rivers.

Adaptations

  • Their striking colour and pattern breaks up their body shape and is excellent camouflage
  • Heat-sensitive pits on their bottom jaw let them sense and track the body warmth of other animals
  • Non-venomous
  • Ambushes prey and then wraps around it to constrict the animal until it suffocates

Feeding relationships

  • What I  eat: small mammals, birds, frogs and lizards
  • What eats me: birds of prey such as owls and eagles, large lizards like monitors

Interesting facts

Habitat destruction has led to a dramatic decrease in the numbers of Jungle Carpet Pythons in the wild.
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Last reviewed 30 April 2020
Last updated 30 April 2020