Introduction

The white-lipped python is a much maligned and misunderstood member of the python family. It's size, spectacular colouring and iridescence should make it a must in all our dream collections and yet it is treated with some trepidation. My aim in this article is to dispel many of the myths about this fantastic captive, and hopefully help us all to see it with new eyes.

Taxonomy and range

To call the white-lipped python an Australian snake is very misleading, in every way this is a Pupua New Guinea / Iryan Jaya species. And has (to my knowledge) not been found on the mainland of Australia. There are unconfirmed sightings of this species around the Pasoe river of Cape York and it is possible that in this unexplored northern tip of Australia there are populations waiting to be discovered. However it is also very likely that these sightings were of the very similar looking water python.
Its range is extensive over PNG and Iryan Jaya and can be found in most monsoon forests, central palm forests and forest boarders below 1250m. It is also a common inhabitant of the archipelago around PNG including the islands of Salawati, Biak, Normanby and Mussau. It is likely that many of these island forms will later demand subspecies status as the animals of Mussau have. All the above-mentioned islands are closer to PNG than Australia.
Throughout the years albertisii has made it's home in more than one Genus, even with a brief stint into Morelia, but has spent most of it's time in either Liasis or as it is once again Leiopython. Looking at the similarity between the dark southern white-lip and the Australian water python (Liasis fuscus) I have asked myself if it may have been better left as Liasis. Their other common name is sometimes used D'Albertis python (after a Italian explorer), which over time has been bastardised into D'Albert's python as the first i was mistaken as an apostrophe.

Description

There are two distinct races of this beautiful python, the dark southern race and the golden northern race. Both exhibit fantastic iridescence - more so than even some of the best Brazilian rainbow boas. The northern race can be found everywhere north of a line draw east-west along PNG / Iryan Jaya with the southern race representing areas south of that and the island forms.
Most common in captivity is the golden form (northern race) as it is most common in Iryan Jaya, the Indonesian side where export laws are lax to say the least. It is smaller than it's southern brother, only reaching around 6.5 to 7 ft as opposed to the 8-9 ft reached by the darker animals. Both races are slender and have small scales for their size giving them a silky texture to hold.
Both are primarily terrestrial but as you may expect the golden form is more likely to venture into the branches than the black, and juveniles will often utilise a perch. Interestingly and contrary to popular belief they have only slightly over the average number of teeth for pythons of their size and of those teeth most are surprisingly small, in-fact compared to the mouth of an equivalent Morelia the white-lip is somewhat lacking in weaponry.

Captive care

For those of you who have read my articles before you will know what is coming, this is the part where I say that they need a large cage - 5.5 by 2 by 2 ft - and it must be well equipped with thick branches. These animals are so spectacular that if you were intending to make a centrepiece for your reptile room, or indeed front room, these are the snakes to do it with.
As youngsters they will have shedding difficulty if kept too dry so the use of a moss box around a shed will avoid difficulty and improve general health. And this can also be an issue with adults. They shed the thinnest skin of any snake for their size, so it needs to be super soaked to come off in one go, to do this a moss box introduced into the cage around a shed is a must. Other than that maintenance is as for other pythons, and if you have kept carpet pythons you will have little difficulty with white-lips.
A slight word of caution; white-lips just like jungle carpets are prone to respiratory infections and mouth cancer (rot) in captivity, however unlike the jungle carpet they do not cope with them well and may die before an unobservant keeper notices any symptoms. Stress, too much moisture and cool areas in the cage are all the main causes and gang together often to work in unison. Be aware that the white-lip, like most snakes, will chose security over thermal requirement so vigilance is required on the half of the keeper and it is for this reason that I suggest the cool end of the enclosure be kept warmer than usual (75 f ish) and a nice warm hot end (92 f ish). If even after a feed your animal does not frequent the hot end then rearrange cage furnishings so that the animal feels more secure up the hot end.
Being among the fastest and strongest of all the pythons for its size feeding white-lips is normally a "watch your hand" kind of experience. All the usual tricks apply. Separation of animals when feeding is a must, and having smelt food they will strike veraciously at any movement, even when that is their cage mate.

Breeding

Again standard python stuff, nighttime lows and day time highs. If you do not witness any mating behaviour after a couple of months of this try lowering the nighttime temperatures past the normal. Many keepers have noticed that it is these strangely low temperatures that initiate the breeding cycle in both male and female animals. To offset these low temperatures a higher daytime temperature is required to fend of respiratory infections. Interestingly during experiments at the IHS in the 70's a group of animals were hibernated in the low 60's, all animals died within the week. Sex determination is easily obtained by someone experience - and gentle - with a probe and adult animals can be sexed accurately visually, with males having much longer spurs (sometimes half a centimetre or more) and a clearly visible penile bulge below the cloaca.
Young hatch after 60 days incubation at 86-91 f and reflex feeding is the best way to get them started.

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER! - Are white-lips aggressive and can they be tamed down?

THE ANSWER! - No not at all, and yes easily it takes about 5 days to a week with adults that have not been regularly handled.

I often compare white-lips to chondropythons (sorry I of course mean Morelia viridis). Chondro's were surrounded in myths and legends and were once touted as being temperamental and delicate captives that were not to be handled and were near impossible to breed, when in-fact with multiple captive bleedings the opposite turned out to be true.
White-lips are said to be aggressive and I have heard the words mental, untrustworthy and untameable be uttered. All not true! In the words of the Barkers and straight from their world-renowned book Pythons of the World Vol 1

"A happy captive in good skin condition is one of the most beautiful snakes in the world"

and

"In our opinion a gentle white-lipped python in one of the finest captives a keeper could desire."

A good food response is desirable and should not be mistaken with aggression, and as a precaution always enter their cage with a snake stick just in case they are on high prey alert. These myths come about because most of the animals in captivity are not captive bred but wild caught or captive farmed (though I think most cf white-lips are actually wc). The abhorrent trade and import of these animals is bound to produce snappy captives and I would implore you to only ever buy captive bred, and boycott anyone or any shops regularly offering wc or cf animals.
Most of my experience lies with acquiring snappy and feared 6ft plus adults - "a task!" I hear you cry. Not at all, by gently removing and handling these animals twice a day they are happy, tame captives within a week. It is extremely rewarding to watch these animals calm over just the period of one handling session.
To handle them is a joy, their small silky scales and soft muscle structure makes them probably the nicest pythons to handle. I would go so far as to say these pythons were born to be handled but if you stick your hand in their enclosure - their territory - and get bitten remember my words "entering their vivarium always use a snake stick unless you are willing to take the risk, because they are good feeders."