Jungle carpet python Other common names Black-and-gold carpet python, Atherton Tableland carpet python, Atherton Plateau carpet python, rainforest carpet python. Size This is a slender elongate python. The head is very distinct from the neck, the tail is long and strongly prehensile. Adult specimens in most U.S. collections average about 5½-7 feet in total length. The maximum size of this form approaches 8½ feet in total length. As is typical of carpet pythons in general, females are larger than males. This is the best-known example of a black-and-gold jungle carpet python. This is the male that was featured on the cover of the first volume of Pythons of the World. At the time of this photo, the snake was five years old. Distribution Jungle carpet pythons are found in Queensland, Australia from the vicinity of Townsville north to the region of the Pascoe and Jardin Rivers on the east coast near the tip of the Cape York Peninsula. Availability Only captive-bred animals are available. This taxon has been bred in U.S. collections for at least five generations. We would estimate that annually there are hundreds of jungle carpets hatched in captivity. Hatchlings are readily available through price list and classified advertisements. Jungle carpet pythons have proven themselves to be very good snakes in captive circumstances, they are thriving in captivity. Pattern variation The jungle carpet can generally be described to have a ringed pattern, with the dark rings wider than the pale rings. In most specimens the pale rings on the neck and anterior body are broken to form pale dorsal blotches and lateral blotches, with the lateral blotches elongated lengthwise. In some cases the lateral blotches may be coalesced to form a pale lateral stripe. A small percentage of specimens also have a thin pale vertebral stripe. [A "vertebral stripe" is stripe running lengthwise down the down the middle of the back.] In some specimens the vertebral stripe is a straight line down the center of the back, while in other animals it slightly zigzags. Some animals are perfectly striped from the neck to the tail, but the majority of "striped" specimens have some breaks and irregularities in the stripe. This jungle carpet python was collected just inland from Cairns, on the Atherton Tableland near Kuranda, Queensland. The head is beautifully patterned with well-defined dark marking at all ages. There are dark bars on the posterior margins of the pale lip scales, dark lines in front of the eyes, a dark postocular stripe, and dark eyes. The pattern on the top of the head is variable and many individuals have remarkable and unique head patterns. There are no reported pattern mutations in this taxon such as for loss of pattern, or other pattern conditions inherited as single recessive mutations. There is considerable variation in the width of the pale vertebral stripe and some specimens have exaggerated wide pale markings, and reduced dark marking; while this seems to be a generally inheritable condition, it apparently is not the result of a single recessive mutation. There are several known specimens of jungle carpet pythons with extraordinary stripes on the neck and anterior of the body, there being six pale stripes and five dark stripes from the anterior neck to midbody. We would guess that this is an inheritable condition due to a single mutation, but, to our knowledge, animals with this appearance have not been bred in captivity. Color variation Hatchlings are gray and black. The contrast between pale and dark pattern elements increases with age until 2-3 years of age and there is gradual color change until 3-5 years of age. At about a year of age, jungle pass through what might be described as an "ugly duckling" stage of coloration, as the yellow and gold pigments first appear as a muddy brown. Some subadults and young adults are spectacularly beautiful snakes, patterned in the blackest black and the goldest gold. Other young animals may be colored in dark brown and yellow or yellow-tan. The dark pattern elements of jungle carpets are dark brown to black. On the sides, the scales in the dark pattern typically have a pale center, yellow or gold ranging to brown. The pale rings and other pale areas of pattern vary among individuals from gold to yellow to ivory. There is no reported albinism, or other inheritable forms of hypomelanism in jungle carpet pythons. However, in the region of Julatten, Queensland north through Cape Tribulation National Park, there are beautiful black and ivory specimens of jungle carpet pythons that appear to us to be axanthic jungle carpet pythons. All jungle carpet pythons have the condition that, as they become fully mature, there is an increasing amount of melanin that forms in the areas of pale pattern. This becomes noticeable at about three years of age. Females typically exhibit a more drastic darkening than do males. The degree to which individuals darken with age varies—some individuals (such as the beautiful male on the cover of Pythons of the World, Volume 1, Australia) may gain very little melanin as they age while other jungles may become very dark. In the extreme case, some specimens nearly become black. One of the common goals of the selective breeding of this taxon is to establish a lineage of jungle carpet pythons with a minimum amount of melanin in the pale pattern. We add that we find the very dark specimens also to be very attractive.