Species Library

Stimson’s Python

Antaresia stimsoni

Stimson’s Python Care Sheet

Stimson’s Python on a rock
Source: Deposit Photos

Welcome to the ReptiFiles Stimson’s Python Care Sheet! This care sheet was written by a professional reptile husbandry researcher, compiled based on reputable sources such as scientific research papers, natural history data, and the experiences of longtime keepers and breeders of this species. You can find a list of these sources at the bottom of this page.

What is a Stimson's python?

Stimson’s pythons are small (28-42″ / 70-107cm), terrestrial, nocturnal snakes native to Australia. They have a wide range, and can generally be found throughout the center of the continent to the west coast, as well as some western islands. Such a wide distribution encompasses many different habitats, including grassland, dry forest, riparian woodland, shrubland, scrub, sand plains, and rocky canyons/gorges. However, they generally favor and stay close to rock outcrops or caves, preferably with access to a nearby source of water.

Stimson’s pythons have a narrow head, labial heat pits, vertical pupils, moderately robust body, relatively short tail, and spurs on either side of the cloaca. They feature an attractive pattern of brownish blotches on a light-colored background, with wide variation in hue and level of contrast. These blotches are generally large, rounded, and smooth-edged, with one set along the spine and another, smaller, set along the sides, separated by a pale lateral stripe. There is no significant difference in size or appearance between males and females.

Considering their small size, relatively slow movement, hardiness, and largely docile dispositions, Stimson’s pythons make excellent pet snakes even for beginners. Some even consider them to be the “easiest python to keep in captivity” (Julander et al., p.127). With attention to providing excellent Stimson’s python care, this pet can live up to 30 years (Fyfe & Green, p.1).

Supplies You Need for a Pet Stimson's Python

These are products I personally recommend for setting up a functional, high-welfare Stimson’s python enclosure. The recommendations below apply to established juveniles and most adults 36″ / 90cm long and shorter. Some of the links in this care sheet are paid links — if you’d like to know why ReptiFiles uses paid links, visit this page.

It is best practice to house a terrestrial snake in an enclosure that is no shorter than the snake itself, allowing it adequate space to stretch out to its full length as needed/desired. The enclosure should be wide/deep enough for it to be able to turn around easily and accommodate appropriate furniture and decor. It must also be tall enough for the safe use of heat lamps and UVA+UVB lighting.

Adult Stimson’s pythons are generally around 3’/91cm long, so the enclosure should be no smaller than 36″L x 18″W x 18″H / 90x45x45cm or equivalent. 

ReptiFiles recommends the following enclosures for Stimson’s pythons:

Of course, using a larger enclosure than the minimum is strongly recommended. Bigger is always better, as long as the space is set up well! All of the abovementioned brands also offer larger sizes.

Warning: Whichever enclosure you choose, make sure it’s EXTREMELY well-proofed against escape! Young spotted pythons are very small, and readily escape from their enclosure (and can be very difficult to find). Front-opening enclosures with very tight seams and swinging doors tend to be the most secure.

Can multiple Stimson’s pythons be housed together?

Stimson’s pythons are not known to be significantly social animals, so it’s best to house only one per enclosure.

Lighting & UVB for Stimson's Pythons

Stimson’s pythons are nocturnal, which means that they are most active around nighttime. They are capable of surviving without UVB light, but it’s important to remember that they can’t thrive without it. UVB helps regulate their day/night cycle and associated hormonal rhythms, as well as provides all of the vitamin D3 they can possibly need, supporting all associated physiological processes.

Lighting should be on for 12 hours/day. Alternatively, you can use a smart timer like Kasa to sync the lamps with your local sunrise/sunset times

UVB Lighting

UVB lighting can be tricky, because in order to get the right strength of UVB (UV Index, or UVI), distance and potential mesh obstruction must be considered. To provide appropriate UVB, you will need a high-quality, low-intensity UVB bulb, long enough to fully cover the snake’s body when basking. This lamp must be placed on the warm side of the setup, overlapping with the heat lamp(s) for maximum effectiveness.

Here is a general reference for effective basking distance, measured from the UVB bulb to the snake’s back on its basking surface:

Use an Arcadia, Vivarium Electronics, or equivalent fixture to optimize output and make the most of your lamp. The Zoo Med hood is not recommended, as it is not very efficient.

Although high-quality, the above UVB bulbs must be replaced every 12 months to maintain consistent output, even if they are still producing visible light!

(These recommendations are approximations based on available data, assuming a 35% mesh block. For best results, use a Solarmeter 6.5 to determine the best placement to achieve a UVI of 2.0-3.0 in the basking area.)

Heating Requirements for Stimson's Pythons

Humans are warm-blooded, which means that our body temperature is automatically regulated. Stimson’s pythons, however, are cold-blooded (poikilothermic), which means that they have to move between areas of different temperatures in order to regulate their body temperature. In captivity, incandescent heat bulbs are the best way to replicate the type of warmth provided by sunlight.

  • Basking surface: ~90°F (32°C)
  • Warm hide: 90°F (32°C)
  • Cool zone (ambient): 78-84°F (26-29°C)

Heating should be turned off at night. Temperatures can safely fall to 68°F/20°C. However, if the room gets cooler than this, use a low-wattage heat projector or radiant heat panel (connected to a dimming thermostat) to provide supplementary warmth at night.

To measure the temperatures in your enclosure, use an infrared thermometer (a.k.a. temperature gun). To passively track the temperatures in your enclosure, use a digital probe thermometer or two. The Etekcity 774 is a good infrared thermometer, and most reptile-brand digital probe thermometers function well.

How to create the basking spot:

Although Stimson’s pythons are nocturnal, it’s still important to give them the option of basking under an incandescent heat lamp. Incandescent heat lamps produce sun-like Near-Infrared wavelengths (IR-A & IR-B) for efficient thermoregulation in reptiles.

The best reptile heat lamp on the market is the Reptile Systems Gold Infrared Unit, as this lamp produces the most IR-A with a generous and even spread for your snake to benefit from. 50-100w should hit the right temperatures for a Stimson’s python, depending on basking distance. (Here’s some helpful charts to help you choose.)

Generally speaking, 50-75w incandescent basking spot bulbs (I prefer the Exo Terra Intense Basking Spot and ReptiZoo Intense Basking Spot) should be plenty to achieve your target basking surface temperature. Place a flat, light-colored stone on top of a black plastic hide box, which will act as your warm hide. If you notice that the stone is getting too hot, use a lower wattage bulb. If too cool, you need higher wattage instead.

It’s best practice to use multiple heat bulbs to create a large enough basking area to evenly heat your snake’s coiled body. Two bulbs should be enough for an average adult Stimson’s python.

How to create the warm hide:

As nocturnal ambush hunters, wild Stimson’s pythons get most of their heat energy from the ambient warmth (IR-C) of the burrows and rock crevices that they like to sleep in. A warm hide is designed to replicate this environment so your snake isn’t forced to choose warmth over security.

Place a heat mat between the basking stone and the black box hide, and connect that heat mat to a pulse (on/off) thermostat like Inkbird, set to 90°F / 32°C. The thermostat probe should go inside the warm hide to regulate its temperature. Make sure to check your warm hide temps regularly with your temp gun.

Winter Cooling/Brumation:

It is best practice to brumate Stimson’s pythons through the winter, as this is something they do naturally in the wild. This helps regulate their hormonal rhythm, which is essential for successful breeding (in other words, good health).

There are different methods of brumating a Stimson’s python, but one of the simplest approaches is to gradually reduce the basking window. This should be done with a lamp dimmer(s) to gradually reduce the heat in late fall and then gradually bring it back up again in early spring.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BRUMATE A SICK OR UNDERWEIGHT REPTILE. If your snake seems to be losing a significant amount of weight or otherwise unhealthy during brumation, see a vet immediately.

Humidity Requirements for Stimson's Pythons

Stimson’s pythons are not very picky when it comes to humidity, and they have been kept successfully at ambient humidities between 20% and 80%. One study by McDonald et al. (2011) observed that A. stimsoni went inactive at humidity levels <20% and become much more active after rainfall, but that’s likely due to a surge in prey availability rather than preference for high-humidity conditions.

In other words, make sure your Stimson’s python has consistent access to a humid hide and ambient humidity levels are generally between 20-80%.

To measure humidity levels, use a digital probe hygrometer with the probe on the substrate in the middle of the enclosure. Humidity levels that are consistently higher than this range may make your pet unwell, although it is normal for humidity to be higher on the cool end and lower on the warm end, as well as higher at night.

To create a humid hide, place a hide box on the cool half of the enclosure with lightly moistened substrate or sphagnum moss inside. It’s also beneficial to occasionally mist the enclosure with a water sprayer, especially in the early morning to simulate dew.

Substrate Options for Stimson's Pythons

Stimson’s pythons are going to be healthiest and happiest when they are housed on a substrate (a.k.a. “bedding”) that imitates the conditions of their natural habitat and facilitates appropriate humidity levels. Given that they’re not very picky about humidity and live in a variety of habitats, there are many different substrates that can work for this species. However, loose substrates are going to be best, as these snakes do like to hide under their bedding when they can.

Here are some good picks for Stimson’s python substrate:

2-3″ / 5-8cm of substrate should be plenty, depending on the size of the snake. In a 36x18x18 enclosure, this takes approximately 0.75-1.1 cubic feet of material, or 23-34 quarts.

Solid substrates such as paper towel or terrarium mats should be avoided unless the snake is in quarantine.

Decorating the Enclosure (Environmental Enrichment)

Decorations play an essential role in your Stimson’s python’s enclosure as environmental enrichment. Enrichment items encourage exercise, stimulate more interesting behaviors from your pet, and help promote overall wellbeing. And, of course, they make the enclosure look nice!

Stimson’s pythons favor rock outcrops, caves, and fallen timber, and they’re also capable of climbing on occasion. Keep these features in mind as you set up the enclosure’s “furniture”.

Décor ideas: additional hideouts/caves, flagstone*, cork logs, cork flats, cholla wood, ghostwood branches, Magnaturals ledges, artificial plants, drought-tolerant live plants

If you want to make a rock stack in your enclosure, make sure to anchor it to the bottom of the enclosure and reinforce it against shifting, which can potentially crush your pet! Gorilla Glue works well for sticking stones together in a terrarium. However, make sure to keep the interior of the stack accessible in case you need to get your snake out of there in a hurry.

If you want to use live plants in your Stimson’s python enclosure, you’ll want plants that are drought-tolerant and sturdy enough to survive the snake’s activities. Good options include haworthia, echeveria, snake plant, and aloe.

Feeding Your Stimson's Python

Stimson’s pythons are carnivores, which means that they need a diet of whole animal prey in order to get the nutrition that their bodies need. Juveniles should be fed every 7-10 days, and adults should be fed every 2-3 weeks, depending on the size of the previous meal. At each feeding, provide prey which totals around 10% of your snake’s weight, or 1-1.5x the snake’s width at its widest point.

Reference photos of healthy wild Stimson’s pythons to check your pet’s body condition. If the snake appears to be getting too fat, use smaller feeders. If too thin, offer food more often.

Although mice are the most common feeders, the key to providing a healthy, balanced diet for your pet snake is VARIETY. In the wild, Stimson’s pythons have a varied diet of lizards, frogs, rodents, bats, and small birds. Juveniles are particularly fond of lizard and frog prey.

Prey item ideas: mice, young rats, young hamsters, young gerbils, young quail, chicken chicks, green anoles, mourning geckos, Pictus geckos, Reptilinks

It’s best to offer frozen-thawed prey rather than live to your pet snake. This is safer for the snake and generally considered to be more humane as well. Prey should be thawed in a plastic bag in warm water to 90-100°F/32-38°C before offering. Use soft-tipped feeding tweezers to reduce the risk of getting accidentally bitten when the snake strikes, as Stimson’s pythons are very enthusiastic about food!

Supplements

Stimson’s pythons can survive without vitamin or mineral supplements, but using them occasionally is a good way to help prevent nutritional deficiencies. Every 4-6 feeds, lightly dust the prey item with a 50/50 mix of calcium and multivitamin before thawing.

Arcadia RevitaliseD3 and Repashy Calcium Plus are both good supplements to use.

Water

Your Stimson’s python should have free access to a small bowl of fresh, clean water daily. The bowl should be scrubbed out with veterinary disinfectant such as Rescue or F10SC weekly for good hygiene.

Handling Your Stimson's Python

You will need to wait a little while after bringing your new pet home to let it settle in. This usually takes about 2 weeks, but you shouldn’t start handling until it’s eating regularly.

Once your Stimson’s pythons is ready for handling, take it slow at first — just like any relationship. Baby Stimson’s pythons are more defensive than the adults, and may take longer to calm down. Some may rear and strike, while others may prefer to hide their head within their coils.

Start with brief handling sessions (no longer than 5 minutes), and don’t return the snake until it is calm. This teaches your pet how to behave during handling by using rudimentary positive reinforcement. Once this has been accomplished, you can work up to longer sessions. Handling should occur at least weekly if you want your pet to be hand-tame, but no more than once daily.

While handling your snake, be gentle. Rather than grabbing it, let it crawl onto your hand. Lift it from below rather than above, and support as much of its body as possible. Use slow movements and don’t walk around too much. Stimson’s pythons usually tolerate handling well and very rarely bite.

For excellent advice on choice-based handling techniques from a professional, visit Lori Torrini on YouTube.

Hygiene

Quarantine

If you have other reptiles in your home, it’s important to place your new Stimson’s python in a basic quarantine setup for up to 6 weeks, away from contact with your other pets. During this time, take your new pet to an experienced reptile vet for an initial checkup, do any relevant testing for disease or parasites, and generally monitor their health.

It’s much easier to keep track of a reptile’s health in a quarantine setup than a fully-enriched habitat. For information on how to quarantine new reptiles, see this article and video: How to Quarantine Reptiles.

Keeping the Enclosure Clean

Feces and urates should be removed immediately, and contaminated substrate should be scooped out and replaced. Substrate should be completely replaced once every 3-6 months, depending on how diligent you are about spot-cleaning.

If water spots accumulate on the glass, use white vinegar and a paper towel to remove them. Rinse afterward to remove remaining residue and odor. If the odor of white vinegar bothers you, you can use lemon juice instead — although you will have to do a bit more scrubbing.

Every 6-12 months, do a complete cleanout of the enclosure. Remove all substrate and decor. Give the decor a good scrub with hot water. Wash the walls and floor, then follow with veterinary-grade disinfectant (Rescue, F10SC, or 10% bleach solution). Use the disinfectant according to the directions on the label, paying special attention to contact time and rinse requirements.

Snakes are particularly sensitive to scents, so having their scent suddenly removed from their enclosure during cleaning can be stressful. Scattering some of the old (but clean) substrate around the setup and inside the hides can help your snake feel more comfortable.

Handling Hygiene

Wash your hands, put on a new pair of disposable gloves, or at least put on some alcohol-based hand sanitizer before handling the snake.

Never eat or put anything else in your mouth during handling.

After handling the snake or performing maintenance on the enclosure, make sure to scrub your hands thoroughly with soap and water. If that isn’t possible, apply a generous amount of alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

If you were handling a snake of unknown health, remove and wash your clothes before coming into contact with your own reptiles, in addition to washing your hands.

References

Antaresia Species Caresheet (Stimson’s, Children’s, Spotted and Pygmy Pythons). (n.d.). The Unusual Pet Vets. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.unusualpetvets.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Antaresia-Stimsons-Childrens-Spotted-and-Pygmy-Python-Care-Sheet.pdf

Cogger, H. (2018). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia (7th ed., p. 818). Csiro Publishing.

Fyfe, G., & Green, D. (2003). Keeping Children’s Pythons. Australian Reptile Keeper Publications.

Houston, T. (n.d.). Stimson’s Pythons. Reptile Mountain. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.reptilemountain.com/stimsonspythons

Julander, J. (n.d.). Western Stimson’s Python (Anteresia stimsoni stimsoni). Australian Addiction Reptiles. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from http://www.australianaddiction.com/WesternStimsons_N.html

Julander, J., Mutton, N., & Birch, P. (2013). The Complete Children’s Python: A Comprehensive Guide to the Natural History, Care, and Breeding of Antaresia Species (pp. 73–99, 127–146). ECO Herpetological Publishing.

Low UV Species. (n.d.). Arcadia Reptile. Retrieved March 5, 2026, from https://arcadiareptile.com/lighting/low-uv-species/

McDonald, P. J., Luck, G. W., Wassens, S., & Pavey, C. R. (2011). Ecology of Stimson’s python (Antaresia stimsoni) in the MacDonnell Ranges of central Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology, 2, 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1071/zo11047

Mutton, N. (n.d.). Antaresia stimsoni. Inland Reptile. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.inlandreptile.com/stimsoni/antaresia%20stimsoni.htm

Swanson, S. (2007). Field Guide to Australian Reptiles (3rd ed., p. 326). Steve Parish.

Wilson, S., & Swan, G. (2021). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia (6th ed., p. 548). New Holland Publishers Pty, Limited.

Young, R. (2015, March 25). Stimson’s Python Care And Breeding Information. Reptiles Magazine. http://reptilesmagazine.com/stimsons-python-care-and-breeding-information/

The ReptiFiles Stimson’s Python Care Sheet is a simplified care summary, not a full ReptiFiles care guide. While I have done my best to ensure that the information contained is accurate, due to time constraints, the research behind ReptiFiles care sheets is not as thorough as the research involved with my full-length care guides. I strongly encourage readers to do their own research from high-quality, reputable sources outside of just this care sheet as part of preparing for your new pet reptile.