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Blood/Short Tail Pythons:

Adult males may average 3 to 6 feet, depending upon the species. Adult females may average 4 to 7 feet, depending upon the species. Blood pythons should live in excess of 20 years.

Young blood pythons may be somewhat secretive, jumpy and very shy, but once bloods are "well established" and have grown with you in terms of building a relationship with them they can be one of the most easy going and gentle of the pythons.

Caging:

Caging requirements are similar to that of the burmese python without of course the sheer need to expand. Juvenile bloods require a feeling of security. We advise one to use a hide box with damp sphagnum moss inside it. Change the moss weekly. The young bloods will make great use of this and will become bolder and more self assured with time and will spend more and more time outside of it.

Blood pythons like to soak often and should have a tub or bowl large enough to fully submerge themselves in. Like the retics and burms they require a very high level of humidity. For bloods this should be 70% to 80% at all times. Temps should be considerably lower than retics and burms. 80-82 ambient with a 90 degree basking spot and a 75-78 degree cool side.

Blood pythons tend to be a bit messier than other boids and they keep us dedicated keepers super-busy cleaning their cages, sometimes daily. Before you get one make sure you wont mind occasionally scrubbing their cage and bowls clean on a potentially daily basis.

Adult bloods may need only a 2 by 4 foot cage. However, if your blood reaches the size that they can sometimes achieve, of 7 or 8 feet or more (Malaysian) then a 6 by 3 foot cage should be considered.

Feeding:

Juvenile blood pythons may be maintained on mice and/or small rats, approximately double the girth of the snake, once every week. As your blood python grows it is necessary to continually increase the size of its meal items to adequate proportions. Use feeding tongs! Bloods have one of the most underrated, unexpected and amazingly powerful feeding strikes in the python kingdom (in our humble opinion). They dont always appear to move when offered food but they tighten, build incredible energy and suddenly explode and uncoil like a compressed steel spring with lightening speed and they hit hard and wrap TIGHT. Bloods will also often strike blindly, fast and hard just when their cage door is opened. They often lay at total readiness to take prey at the first detected movement. Knowing this you can avoid very painful bites that are otherwise sure to occur. When bloods are large, there is great weight and strength behind their feeding strike. A 6 foot bloods bite can hurt much more than a 12 foot burms bite when they miss the food and get you or when they surprise you when their door is opened, so watch out for these things and dont get bitten by them.

Handling:

Juvenile bloods can actually stress adversely when over-handled. We advise that one wait until the young blood has calmed to a point where they are accepting of you in their presence before any lengthy handling is undertaken. Until this time, brief spans of a minute or two may be most beneficial. You will know when he calms as he will no longer lay in your hand overly ridged and tense. He will loosen, noticeably, and begin to explore.