How to Identify the Southwestern Carpet Python (Identification Guide)

Key identifying features

The Southwestern Carpet Python (Morelia spilota imbricata) is a non-venomous constrictor endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. It is recognized by a darker, more subdued pattern than other carpet python forms, a broad heat-pitted head, and a comparatively smaller adult size relative to its northern relatives.

Coloration & pattern

Background color is typically olive-brown to blackish, overlaid with dark, often poorly contrasting blotches or irregular bands that can appear almost uniform in older or darker individuals. Some specimens show a faint golden or cream edging to the blotches, but overall the pattern is muted compared to the bold markings of inland or northern carpet pythons. The belly is pale cream to grey with light mottling.

Head, eyes & scales

The head is broad, triangular, and clearly distinct from the neck, bearing small irregular scales and visible heat-sensing pits along the lip margins. Eyes have vertical, cat-like pupils typical of pythons. Scales are smooth and glossy, though the overall dark coloration can make the pattern harder to discern at a distance or in low light.

Size & body shape

Adults generally reach 1.5–2.2 m (5–7 ft), making this one of the smaller carpet python subspecies. The body is solidly built but proportionally less massive than northern or inland forms, with a moderately thick midsection tapering to a shorter tail.

Range & habitat where you'll see it

This subspecies is restricted to the southwest of Western Australia, including jarrah and karri forests, coastal heathland, and rocky granite outcrops. It shelters in hollow logs, granite crevices, and dense vegetation, and is more cold-tolerant than tropical carpet python forms, remaining active into cooler months.

How to tell it apart from look-alikes

Compared to other carpet python subspecies, the Southwestern form is notably darker and smaller with a less contrasting pattern, an adaptation likely linked to its cooler, temperate range. It can be told apart from venomous Western Australian elapids such as the dugite or tiger snake by its blotched pattern, heat pits, vertical pupils, and heavier-bodied build, since local elapids are more uniformly colored, lack heat pits, and have round pupils.