Blood pythons average 5-6' long as adults, but they are much heavier than other snakes that are that long.  At 6' long a blood python could weigh as much as 30 pounds!  (DGB, 1996[1, 2])  This is about the weight of an 11-12' long burmese python.

The maximum length is about 7' for males and 9' for females.

Bloods need big cages to roam around in.  I keep my juveniles (first year or so) in plastic, Sterilite sweater boxes that I pick up from Target.  These boxes are 22" x 15" x 6" high (330 sq. inches).  I punch two rows of holes all around near the top of the box using a hot soldering iron.  The boxes are placed in shelves that have a 4" wide strip of heat tape in a groove that runs near the back of the shelf.  This lets the back of the box get warmer than the front so the snake can choose which temperature they are comfortable with.

When they outgrow the plastic box, I put them in Vision cages that are 36" x 28" x 18" high (~1,000 sq. inches).  These have a shroud of plastic that holds a heat lamp near one side of the cage.  When they out grow these (at around 5' in length) I will put them in cages that are 72" long.

They enjoy soaking in a container of water if you can provide one big enough for them.

I keep mine at temperatures of about 80-84 degrees during the year when they are not breeding.  By setting the middle of the Vision cages to 80-84, the hot spot is usually around 90 and the cool end of the cage is about 75.  I also mist the cages every day so that the humidity rises to 100% for a short while but most of the time it stays at around 60%.  Misting them seems to help a great deal when they are shedding.

I didn't have mine when they were newborns but I believe that they are big enough to eat pinky or fuzzy rats at that age.  Mine were almost yearlings and they were eating thawed, weaned rats.  They have an aggressive strike so make sure to buy hemostats or spaghetti tongs to hold their food with before they take part of your arm off when you reach in with a thawed rat!

As adults, they will eat one or two jumbo rats every two weeks.  I have heard that very large adults will usually accept small rabbits.  I guess I'll find out when I get there.

I made my first attempt at breeding blood pythons during the winter of 2002-03 and it was successful.  Here are the steps that I took:

• Fed until Dec 1 and kept at normal temps (80-84) while this last meal digested.
• Around Dec 15, put the female in the male's cage and started dropping the temps every few days until the end of the month with the average temperature at about 76 degrees.  The pair stayed together until the end of March.
• Kept the average cage temp at 75 from Jan 1 - March 1.  Sprayed the cage periodically to encourage "activity".
• March 1, brought the temps back up to normal and kept the pair together.
• A week or so into March started feeding again.  Kept together for the rest of March.
• 6-30 days after the last copulation the female should ovulate (mid-body swelling that lasts for 24 hours).
• 20 days after ovulation she should shed and shouldn't be fed after shedding.
• 24-38 days after shedding she should lay about 12-18 eggs.
• The eggs should be incubated at 88-90 degrees for 58-68 days.

It all worked for me except for the incubation part.  I'll build a new incubator and try again.

David G. and Tracy M. Barker, "Introducing Big Red: The Care and Maintenance of Blood Pythons", Reptiles, vol. 4 no. 1, Jan. 1996, pg. 56-69.

David G. and Tracy M. Barker, "The Reproductive Husbandry of Blood Pythons", Reptiles, vol. 4 no. 2, Feb. 1996, pg. 24-34.

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