Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi folks. I have a problem: my eyes are far too big for my wallet.

I have been fascinated with White Lipped Pythons [Leiopython albertisii], which I have also heard called "D'Albert's Pythons," for at least the past fifteen years or so. Admittedly I was a kid at the time, and I was warned off of them because they are supposedly just not pleasant snakes to keep. But they look SO COOL.

Well, I am older now, and the internet keeps feeding this reptilian addiction of mine... I saw on VPI's website that these guys are supposedly nippy as youngsters, but the captive bred individuals usually calm down as adults. If anyone on this forum might have any words of advice about keeping these guys, I would love to hear it!

Thanks,
~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]

The first thing I can say about these guys is if you are scared to be bit either you dont need them, or you will soon get over your fear. I have had many whitelips from small babies to very large adults. I love em but they can be nippy. My best advice would be to get a cbb individual or pair, let them get settled in and then start the handeling period. I know you already know this but dont work with these animals at feeding times and at night due to these guys being nocturnal.
When I kept them I set them up subtropical with mild humidity, at about 87-90 degrees during the day and low to mid 70's at night. Also keep in mind they do get moderatley sized at 7-8 feet and some mostly blacks can get a little bigger, and If you breed these guys be ready for little 16inch fireballs.
With a little TLC for your future endeavor you will be fine, I hope this helps.
Chad Gray

Chad, thanks for your reply.

Would you say these guys are like a lot of the more arboreal species? Did you keep yours in racks, or did you give some of them the opportunity to climb? I've heard of a lot of the arboreal species being very nippy. Also, you mention the black phase being bigger, did you keep either the gold or brown phase as well? I'm most interested in the last two.

I was looking around a lot online, but there doesn't seem to be too much info available about their habitat of choice beyond temps and humidity.

Also, I had found reference to their size, but I know from experience that if it's a particularly fast mover, size is a little bit of a different story... so aside from being nippy then, are these guys pretty flighty? They sound like a handful.

Thanks again,
~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]

The only experience I've had with a white lip was checking one out at a good reptile store around here a couple years ago. I think the shop owner summed it up best... when he was about to open the cage, he told me to, "Get ready!" As soon as he opened the cage, the thing flew out and wound itself into a display rack of light bulbs, before the lid was even half open. Definately the fastest python I've ever encountered. We were able to get him off the display though and I handled him for a while. He was very fast and flighty, but did not offer to bite me. This was a cb juvenile animal.
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1.0 Spotted Python
1.0 IJ Carpet Python and 0.1 Jungle Carpet
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Macklot's Python
1.0 Variable Kingsnake

I find that White Lips are mostly terrestrial, preferring a really moist low hide box. They are inquisitive and roam the enclosure often, but never do they perch in the sense of an arboreal species. The can be flighty as juvies but settle down as adults. I've never seen a white lip that wasn't cage aggressive, not saying they aren't out there. Cage aggression doesn't make an aggressive snake. My pair are both very cage aggressive and will strike at the glass. That itself can be very intimidating, but once out of the enclosure my male becomes a puppy dog. The female is a tad more aggressive, I wouldn't put my hands in front of her face when she's out, but she is handleable, just don't startle her. i wouldn't call them flighty at all, as juvies sure, but as soon as they reached maturity, they'd rather just find a nice corner and coil up. As far as conditions, I keep mine at 80F, unless I'm attempting to breed them. I keep them on newspaper with an styro hide box, in the box I keep wet mulch. This species likes it wet, the higher the humidity the better. I've had white lips end up in a "dry shed" when the humidity is at 70%.

I have kept all 3 different colorations of the white lip python, and only kept small ones in a rack system. I try and keep every thing over 48" out of a rack and in a vision cage.
I kept all my adult white lips in large visions. They did have one large branch in each of their enclosures, but hardly ever used it, they did climb over it, and some times used it for shedding purposes. As far as being related to arboreals the only thing in comparison is temps and the humidity (which does vary a little from chondros and emeralds). They can be quite silly as babies but usually are okay as adults outside their enclosure with proper handeling methods, as long as you stick with cbb individuals, if you get wc well your in for a treat, and it aint nothing like candy.
Chad Gray

Hey guys, thanks so much! You gave some really good advice.

I think I'll put this species back on the 'back burner' for a while again. I'm not ruling them out... but my husband and I are getting ready to have a baby, so I think that's a good enough excuse to not get one for now.

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]