Big Ben - Centralian Carpet Python

Meet Ben, or sometimes referred to as Big Ben, and in the past Big Bad Ben. He is the biggest snake that I currently own ne is a Centralian Carpet Python, Scientific name Morelia bredli. I have had Ben since April 2007 and he was purchased as a juvenile when he was about 5-6 months old. When I purchased him he was about the thickness of my little finger and about 50-60cm long. He is now nearly 1.2 – 1.3 meters long and nearly as thick as my wrist in the thickest part of his body. He is generally a very placid snake although he went through a stage when he was about 2 years old where he was a bit of a handful. Every time I would open his enclosure he would have a go at me. He was particularly jumpy if he would touch the hairs on my arm with his the underside of his mouth. This was not much fun for me as I would never know if he was going to just pull back away from my arm or have a go at me. Ben has only actually only bitten me twice. Most of his antics are just bravado and trying to make sure that I know that he can still have a go at me whenever he wants.

I got my eye on you

Centralian’s are known for their rich read and orange colours. Ben is no exemption to this. He was sold to me as a Hypo, which means little or no black pigment in the skin. Most of his body has a rich red pattern to it but the closer to his tail you go the more black appears. I still think that he is a beautiful snake.

He is currently housed in a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft enclosure and has been there for the last 2 years. He could probably stay in that cage for the rest of his life, but I may end up building a larger enclosure for him one day. He has a large upturned flower pot with a hole cut in the side to use as a hide and several levels in the enclosure so he can move around to find the temperature zone that he is looking for.

Coiled up Nice and warm

He has escaped from his enclosure three times when I have left the door open just a a tiny little bit but he has never gone fare. I normally find him either on top of the hot water service or between the enclosure and the wall behind it. It is certainly enough to make your heart stop when you check on the cages and find one missing. But so far he has always been found within a couple of minutes and was normally quite happy to be put back in his nice warm enclosure.

So that is Ben the Centralian Carpet Python.