How to Identify the Northwestern Carpet Python (Identification Guide)

Key identifying features

The Northwestern Carpet Python (Morelia spilota variegata, sometimes treated regionally) is a large, non-venomous constrictor found across northwestern Australia. It is identified by a highly variable pattern that can range from irregular blotches to broken longitudinal stripes, a broad triangular head with heat-sensing lip pits, and a glossy, iridescent sheen to its scales in sunlight.

Coloration & pattern

Background color ranges from olive-brown to reddish or golden-tan, marked with dark brown to blackish blotches, crossbands, or elongated streaks that vary considerably between individuals and localities. Some specimens show a more linear, striped appearance along the back, while others retain classic blotching. The belly is pale cream to yellow, often with light speckling. In bright light the scales show a distinct iridescent sheen, a hallmark of the carpet python group.

Head, eyes & scales

The head is broad and spade-shaped, clearly set off from a narrower neck, and covered in small, irregular scales. Deep heat-sensing pits are visible along the edges of the upper and lower jaws. Eyes are moderate in size with vertical, cat-like pupils. Body scales are smooth and glossy, contributing to the snake's sheen.

Size & body shape

Adults typically reach 2–3 m (6.5–10 ft), making this one of the larger carpet python forms. The body is muscular and moderately thick, tapering toward a relatively short, prehensile-capable tail used for climbing and anchoring while striking from an elevated ambush position.

Range & habitat where you'll see it

This python is found throughout the Kimberley, Pilbara, and parts of the Northern Territory, inhabiting rocky escarpments, monsoon woodland, riverine vegetation, and even suburban areas where it may shelter in roof spaces or sheds. It is largely nocturnal and often found coiled in tree hollows, rock crevices, or dense foliage during the day.

How to tell it apart from look-alikes

It can resemble other carpet python subspecies, such as the Darwin or Irian Jaya forms, but the Northwestern form generally shows a more variable, sometimes striped pattern and a broader geographic range of color morphs. Distinguishing it from venomous northern elapids such as king brown (mulga) snakes relies on the python's heat pits, elliptical pupils, blotched or striped pattern, and much bulkier build, since elapids are uniformly colored or faintly patterned, lack heat pits, and have round pupils.