Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I have been searching the web for woma python care sheets and have not found one that is good enough. If anyone can point me towards a good site or provide enough info on womas eg. Heat gradient, humidity, cage size, light cycles, and size. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

There aren't a lot of great care sheets out there right now, which is somewhat surprising - but I will give you the run down on how I keep mine.

They are a pretty hardy snake, and will tolerate some husbandry mistakes - but if you get your care dialed in to something close to what I will post below, you will be fine.

Caging - tubs work well, and all but the biggest adults can be housed in a rack. 6qt for babies, juvies into 15 qt, then up to 32 qt for small adults and finally into cb70's for adults. I have some of my larger animals in AP 4' cages, and if you prefered, you could fit all but the biggest womas in a 3x2 cage.

Substrate is easy. Paper towels, newspaper or craft paper work well. Aspen works fine, and cypress mulch is ok. Many people keep them on peebles as well with good success.

Temps - you need a good gradient, but they will tolerate some extremes from time to time. I set my racks between 88 and 90, depending on how big the tub is, and if I am using belly or back heat. With the cb70s I will take the temp up a few more degrees, as the size of the tub will allow for a nice temp gradient.

The 4' cages are set at 92, which gives me a gradient from 80 - 92, and they use the entire space.

Humidity is not an issue for these guys at all, and the only time it would come up is that you don't want to let their cages get steamy and damp. They do fine in a dry cage.

One odd thing I have noticed about my womas and bhps, they rarely drink water that is not fresh - so it is important to dump their water and provide fresh weekly - and you should have fresh water available around the time of week you feed.

As for food, Aspidites are esp prone to issues from mammal fat, so you will not want to force feed or feed to aggressive. A nice diet of small-moderate size meals in relation to the size of the snake is good. Their metabolism is pretty high for a python, and you can feed weekly as long as you are using smaller prey items.

Light cycles is easy - I follow the normal light cycle outside. If the sun is up, they get light... works fine and the seasons dictate exactly how much light is available.

Size is a bit variable, I have adults from 4' to almost 7', but most seem to be in the 4'-5' range. They are a fairly slender snake, if in cages will appreciate a hide. I like to use hides that aren't very tall and have a top entrance for them. They are pretty active snakes though and will cruise their cages a lot.

They are also a very curious snake. When I walk into the snake room, it is not uncommon at all for me to see a bunch of little orange heads pop up and watch me as I go about my chores.

I agree with what you've said. Pretty much a bullet proof snake as far as care goes. I have one female that seems to have a recurring problem with eye caps not coming off and that requires a bit of soaking the next time she sheds. They can be very aggressive when food is offered, then tame as a kitten when being held.

yeah... I can't believe I forgot that part...

HUGE feeding response!

Thanks a lot for the info...I really appreciate it. I dont know why there aren't any good sites on womas. I went to borders this weekend and a couple of pet shops but no woma books. I found some python books with womas in them but no details on care. Thanks again!

there is a good book out there, but I would be surprised if you found it on the shelf (except for maybe a reptile show).

It is called "Keeping and Breeding Australian Pythons" By Mike Swain.

You can get it several places... just google it.

That's the best book currently on the market. Written by Australians for Australian pythons. I know it will be available at Daytona this weekend. The Barker's book is also good, but the newer book has a lot of newer info.

I found these books helpful:
(1) Reptiles Magazine July 2004 issue.** Excellent issue on Womas.
(2) Pythons of Australia by Brian A. Kend
(3) The Reproductive HUsbandry of Pythons and BOas book has only 4 short paragraphs on breeding Womas. It should be read but I would not recommend buying this book.
Anthony Wrenn
-----
-Anthony Wrenn-