Species Profile & Temperament

Notable Morphs & Locales

While the classic wild-type is beautiful (featuring a tan or reddish-brown background with darker brown blotches that fade slightly as they age), several morphs exist:

• T+ Albino: A form of albinism where the snake still produces tyrosinase, resulting in stunning purples, lavenders, and caramels instead of bright yellow and white.
• Marble: A highly sought-after morph that scrambles the pattern into a chaotic, marble-like mix of light and dark patches.
• Granite: The blotches are heavily fragmented into tiny specks, giving a "salt and pepper" granite look.
• Hypo (Hypomelanistic): Reduced black/brown pigment, creating a brighter, cleaner-looking snake.

Housing & Enclosure

Enclosure Size

• Size: Plan for the adult snake, with height for climbing as well as floor space. Ask our staff to help you pick the enclosure.
• Style: Glass terrarium with front-opening doors and a highly secure locking lid. Antaresia pythons are slender and famously good escape artists.

Enclosure Setup

• Substrate: They do well on a variety of substrates. Aspen bedding is a common choice. Avoid pine, cedar and sand.
• Decor (Climbing): Essential. Unlike Ball Pythons, Children's Pythons love to climb. Provide sturdy ghost wood, cork bark tubes, and thick vines that span the height of the terrarium.
• Hides: Provide at least two tight-fitting hides (one on the warm end, one on the cool end). A rock lair or a hide with a very small opening makes them feel most secure.

Humidity & Water

• Humidity: Normal household humidity is usually fine. If a shed comes off in pieces, the air is too dry, so re-dampen the humid hide.
• Water Source: Provide a sturdy water bowl large enough for the snake to soak in. Keep it clean and fresh.

Temperature & Lighting

• Warm Side / Basking Spot: Follow the label on your heat lamp, thermostat and thermometer. Use a halogen basking bulb or a deep heat projector, always regulated by a thermostat.
• Cool Side: Keep one end cooler so the snake can move between warm and cool.
• Lighting: Provide a regular day and night cycle, with lights off at night. Low-output UVB is optional. It is a benefit, not a requirement.

Diet & Nutrition

Primary Diet

• Food Type: Frozen/Thawed mice. Never feed live rodents.
• Prey Size: The mouse should be no wider than the girth of your snake. If you're between sizes, go smaller. Because these are small snakes, adults will typically eat adult mice, but will never graduate to rats.
• Feeding Frequency:
• Juveniles: More often than adults (Pinky/Fuzzy mice). Ask our staff for the schedule we use.
• Adults: Less often than juveniles (Adult mice).

Feeding Behavior

Children's Pythons have a fantastic feeding response and rarely refuse meals. However, they can be "strikey" at feeding time. Always use long feeding tongs to offer the mouse so they don't mistake your warm hand for food.

Socialization & Behavior

Handling

• Taming: Babies are notoriously defensive and may strike or rattle their tails, but they grow out of this very quickly with consistent handling.
• Approach: Always scoop them up from underneath, supporting their midsection. Avoid grabbing them from above, which triggers a predator response.
• Post-Feeding: Do not handle for 48 hours after feeding to prevent regurgitation.

Health & Husbandry

Common Health Issues

1. Respiratory Infection (RI) — Symptoms: Wheezing, clicking noises when breathing, bubbles or mucus blowing from the nose, holding the head straight up. / Cause: Temperatures are too cold or humidity is too high/stagnant. / See a vet who sees reptiles.
2. Stuck Shed (Dysecdysis) — Symptoms: Patches of old skin remain after a shed, especially on the eye caps or tail tip. / Cause: Humidity is too low. / Treatment: Provide a humid hide (box with damp moss). Shed still stuck on the eyes, tail tip or body after the shed is over needs a vet visit.
3. Mites — Symptoms: Tiny black dots crawling on the snake, snake constantly soaking in its water bowl. / Cause: Parasites often brought in from outside sources. / Treatment: See an exotic-animal vet.

What We Stock & Use in Our Stores

These are products we actively carry and recommend for Children's Python setups. Ask any associate for help finding them in-store.

Last updated: 2026-08-04

How We Keep Them at Critter Cabana & Gresham Pet Supply

• Beating Dry Oregon Furnace Air (and Summer Heat Spikes): Across the Willamette Valley and Portland Metro, running the house furnace all winter drops indoor humidity to 25–35%, which quickly causes stuck sheds and dehydration in screen-top tanks. For Children's Python, normal room humidity usually works. Our crew keeps a humid hide with damp sphagnum moss and watches every shed. A shed that comes off in pieces means the air is too dry.
• Thermostat & Linear UVB Standard: Every heating element in our Newberg and Gresham reptile rooms runs on a thermostat probe set for a warm end and a cooler end, paired with a regular day and night light cycle on a timer. In summer, if an upstairs room climbs above 82°F, a dimming thermostat automatically backs down the basking lamp so the cool side never overheats.
• Shopping at Newberg & Gresham: For enclosures, thermostats, UVB lighting, bioactive supplies, springtails, isopods and feeders at Critter Cabana (Newberg) and Gresham Pet Supply, ask us what we have in store today.

Common Questions (FAQ)

What size tank does an adult Children's Python actually need?

Plan for the adult snake, with height for climbing as well as floor space and room for a warm end and a cool end. Ask our staff to help you pick the enclosure.

How do I keep Children's Python humidity right during dry Oregon winters?

Normal room humidity usually works. Watch the sheds: a shed that comes off in pieces means the air is too dry, so re-dampen the sphagnum moss in the humid hide.

What is the best bioactive clean-up crew for a Children's Python?

Children's pythons do fine at normal room humidity on dry aspen, so a moist soil bed isn't needed. If you want a bioactive setup, keep it on the dry side (one isopod kind that handles a drier tank) and ask our reptile staff first. We'll help you pick an isopod kind that suits your tank's climate. Our 1-Page or Tri-Fold Bioactive Substrate Recipe Guide covers the rest.

Where can I get Children's Python setup supplies, live feeders, and thermostats in Oregon?

Ask us what we have in store today at Critter Cabana in Newberg (514 E First St, 503-537-2887) and Gresham Pet Supply (2185 NW Burnside Rd, 503-665-7606).