New addition: Calcifer, Morelia bredli

[Gio]

Haha, that's a lot of rat snake.

I do hope that between the sizes of most of the Bredli I know, and because he's a male he'll be in the 5-6' range, but there's always that genetic wild card. I'm the same way about my Dumeril's Boas - hoping that they will stay well within the 'average' size for their species. I am not in a position to want to deal with larger snakes!

Excellent choice and a good looking animal.

There is a misconception in general about the carpet group and the Bredli regarding size.

In the wild, males of the combative species, which includes the Bredli, tend to be larger. In captivity, a lot of keepers restrict their male snakes diets to "maintenance" feeding and feed the females more to get them ready to breed.

In reality, males and females can really wind up the same size.

Prey size will have an impact on growth. Oftentimes more-so than feeding frequency.

If you own a carpet python, THIS is a must!


The "average" 5'-8' is pretty accurate for both sexes. A male raised as strictly a pet and not a breeder may end up a bit larger than a male used for breeding.

My male is around 6' and he's a 2017. One thing I have noted from previous experience with my female mix (RIP) is a late life growth spurt. The female I used to have, was a terrible eater and would skip 2 months and then eat. She tended to like larger prey.

She hit 8+ feet. She did that with an almost Royal python like feeding schedule. She didn't eat frequently and I would give her, and all my adults the winter off.

It's hard to say what they'll end up at as adults over 7-8 years old.

I will say, the 2 snakes I've had here that ate the least, other than the Royal grew the largest.

All of that said, you will probably end up with something in the 5'-8' range.

The species is arguably one of the easiest to keep. They usually eat without issue and can handle fairly dramatic temp changes. If for some reason you get an 8 footer, I don't think you'll be too challenged.

This is one of the largest Bredli I've seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWvuttq4MVU

There was a video of a male that was bigger than this, but the channel apparently no longer exists.


I look forward to watching this one progress of your new animal.