Water python care?

Hey all,
I've been planning for my first snake for a while (and by a while I mean about 4 years, all sorts of things got in the way of actually getting my baby) and I'll be ready to get it in the next few months. Up until very recently I've been set on a Murray Darling, but in the last couple of months I've been seriously looking at the Water Python. I've always loved Olives but thought that was a prospect best left until I'm far more experienced, but Waters seem to be even more beautiful and at a much more manageable size.
Problem is, finding info on keeping Water Pythons is next to impossible! I've read a breed rundown on the Snake Ranch website and one American article which has been reproduced left right and centre, but that's all I can find. I'm not going to get a snake until I'm sure of how to care for it, of course, so I thought I'd ask in here to see if you guys have any info for me. I've searched the forums but I've not found a link to a care sheet or similar info in a post, sorry if it's there and I've missed it!
Can anyone help me out? Personal recommendations, links to care sheets, titles of handy books etc? How do you guys keep your Waters? Thanks in advance!
- Nat

Clean it. Feed it. Give it warmth.

Really is that simple. Except mine doesn't seem to be getting any longer... It's getting fatter but not longer. I posted photos a while back asking if she looked fat but no one replied.

But anyway, it's pretty basic. Feed as though its any other python. They don't need water but some do enjoy swimming so a bigger water bowl.

They're apparently spose to be angry snakes. Mine rarely bites and hasn't done so in over a year. It does get semi-cage defensive sometimes.

Dont let the name " Water " Python Get you thinking that you need to take differant care about it

Like midol said Give it heat hides water bowl and food should be happy

Yep i have a water and as others have said you look after it as you would any other python. Give it appropriate heat feed it once a week. The only difference is i give mine a larger water bowl as sometimes mine likes to soak in it. Dead easy to keep and great attractive snakes

My favourite snakes to keep. I keep my adults in 4x2x2 enclosures, a hide up each end, about 33 degrees at the basking spot, ambient temperature at the other end. I give them a fairly large water bowl but they dont venture into it very often. Mine are also extremely placid to the point where I can trust them with anyone.

Overall they are pretty much like any other python to look after and a machine come feeding time

They're brilliant snakes, I agree they look better than Olives and yes, they're a nicer size. Be careful though. A good Water Python is the best Australian snake you could hope to have as a pet, but a really bad one is a snake you would be better off not taking for free. If they were all as good as the best ones, they would be highly sought after and one of the most popular Australian pythons, but their reputation as being snappy is partially deserved. The good news is that the bad ones give the good ones a bad name, and for some very strange reason they all go for around the same price. That means if you shop around you can pick up an absolutely brilliant snake for a small amount of money. All of mine are very friendly snakes, other than during feeding only one of mine has ever bitten, and that was when she was under about four months old.

As for husbandry, you can keep them perfectly happy with the same setup you would use for a Carpet Python. If you give them a water bowl large enough to soak in (which you really should do with Carpets too) they will use it a bit more than most other pythons, mainly just after they have had a feed. I haven't found them to be any more fond of water than other pythons except during the warmest months of the year, and even then other than just after a feed they usually ignore the water except when they want a drink.

Water Pythons do over heat at a lower temp than other pythons, thus they are often found around water in Northern Australia. They also have really bad sloughs in low humidity (like winter).I have one that is super cage defensive, but you just need to hook it out and once in your hands turns into a 100% non biter, like the flick of a switch... I like it exactly how it is as it's a good snake to demonstrate how snakes can be to newbies..

water pythons are fairly fat^ mine has settled down so much and enjoys a bath every now and then unlik my coastal who goes crazy if put in water water python swims around haha more calmly great snake thought i love mine took a while to get him sane (about 4 months) but now he is fine

At the wild expo this year they had a sweet water python setup i dont know if anyone took pictures but it was awesome, bascially it was a vertical tank with water about 5 inches in the bottom with plenty of vegitation and vines!

Like has already been said a good water python is in my opinion the best Australian snake to keep in captivity with regards to temprament. I could only second what others have said with regards to fact the name has little to their husbandry. I keep a kitty litter tray filled with water in my enclosure and he does like to soak at times. Mine is kept in a 6 x 2 x 2 and has a temp range of 33 to 26. Of course I am biased, but I know mine is easily my calmest python. Has never bitten, is not cage defensive at all, yet has a good feeding response. If I were to be critical it would be he has only had one perfect shed.

Cheers

I hope no one is still on dial up! I couldn't stand it any more, this thread needed pictures!

Sdaji said:

Be careful though. A good Water Python is the best Australian snake you could hope to have as a pet, but a really bad one is a snake you would be better off not taking for free.

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You got that right Sarge! I traded my large female water python in for a pair of tiger snakes, She was that nuts I eventually gave up on her! The tigers were a much better (and calmer) deal :lol:

My male water python on the other hand is gorgeous!

Oh my goodness Sdaji they're beautiful! Are those hatchies bred by you?
Thanks for all the info guys! So really they just need the same set up as a carpet? I've read about them liking a high humidity level and higher temps, any thoughts on this? What do you feel is the optimum humidity range?

Yes, they're all my snakes and I bred the babies. The mother of those babies is currently gravid. If I remember correctly those babies came from eggs laid in 2004.

It's true that they are more prone to sloughing difficulty than most pythons if kept too dry, similar to Children's Pythons. You can solve this issue by giving them a large enough water bowl (humidity low enough to give them sloughing problems would be lower than ideal for most pythons). I'm not talking about great big tubs, just something which isn't tiny. For most of the year I use water bowls about 20cm across (ceramic dog water/food bowls you buy for about $3 from discount stores) in 120cm enclosures. If I wanted to raise the humidity I would just put the water at the warm end, although I never have to.

I give mine ceramic bowls about 25cm wide right up the cool end of the enclosures and they all shed perfectly everytime.

I am also desperatly looking for another male if anyone has any available??

Can I also add some pictures just because they are such an incredible python
I wish I could catch the colours like you have Sdaji

Such awesome photos Sdaji and Matt,if i didnt have a pair already on order Sdaji i wouldve got a pair from...I love the rainbow effect on their bodies....MARK

After seeing those pics, I'm glad I have kept mine. The thought was there for a little while to sell them. Picked them up as a pair from the Castle Hill show for $300.

Mine are VERY cage defensive but switch over very quickly to peace mode when out, and also love crawling inside my shirt to hide.

I've actually got a male woma that's more dangerous than my waters now. It's nothing more than a voracious feeding machine that knows no remorse and takes no prisoners. No meal is too big, even a 75kg keeper.

I bet everyone with a water wishes they could catch the colours like sdaji has!