Os pongo la transcripción, un poco modificada y señalizada por mí, de una web que ya no encuentro disponible en Internet, yo la tenía guardada en el PC desde hace cierto tiempo www.leiopython.de , es bastante instructiva y está basada en bibliografía y la experiencia personal de su autor, al cual cito al final del texto.
General information
Scientific name
Leiopython albertisii
Common name
white-lipped python, D'Alberti's (rock) python
Distribution
The white-lipped python occurs throughout most parts of tropical New Guinea and nearby islands. Two geographical or colour races are known for common usage and pet trade.
The "northern" or "golden" race occurs north of the central dividing mountain range and are found all along the north of the mountain range from Sorong to the east coast of PNG. Populations are also known from Salawati island (West Irian, Indonesia), Biak island (West Irian, Indonesia), the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago (New Ireland, PNG). The "southern" or "black" race occurs in the south of the mountain range. Specimens of the southern race were collected as far west as Timika, (West Irian, Indonesia) to the east coast of PNG (Central District) and from the northern most islands of the Torres Strait, politically belonging to Australia.
Description
This is a medium sized unpatterned python with the head clearly distinct from the neck.
Depending on which geographical/color race the specimen is from, dorsal color of northern race specimens is either golden (mainly Sorong) or yellowish-brown to cupper-brownish (Mandang) with yellowish flanks. The southern race is blackish-blue fading to greyish over the flanks. Both races have white bellies. The white-lipped python has a long black head with a long snout with the typical vertical black markings at the anterior edge of the upper labials. The white-lipped python has big light gray eyes.
Morphology
McDowell (1975): "...Rostal with a pair of deep and slit-like pits; first and second supralabials with deep pits in the form of diagonal slits; third supralabial with feeble concavity or none; fifth or fifth and sixth, supralabials with a longitudinal depression on their dorsal portions ( this is not a sensory pit, but rather a suborbital depression associated with a distinct preorbital concavity of the head ). Supralabials 12 to 14, usually 13, normally with fifth to seventh entering the eye ( exceptions are AMNH 107150, from Wipim Western District, with only the fifth and sixth supralabial entering the eye; AMNH 107148, Lae, with only sixth and seventh supralabials entering the eye; and two species from Biak Island reported by Brongerma [1956] with only the fifth and sixth supralabials entering the eye, one having only 11 supralabials on one side). ... " (*6, 43)
Kluge (1993) mentioned that the white-lipped python has an enormous number of teeth with an average of 150 teeth. McDowell reported that "there is a rapid decrease in length behind the enlarged first six (or so) teeth, followed by a subequal series of short teeth extending to the rear of the dentry " (*6, 32).
Underwood and Stimson described a relationship between Leiopython albertisii and Bothrochilius boa and also Antaresia childreni. They suggest that these are at a relativly primitve evolutional stadium (*
.
Habitat
The
white-lipped python is mainly terrestrial and lives in rain- and monsoon forests
where he shelters under scrub or burrows. ( see the PERSONAL COMMENTS for information on captive care ).
Size
Cogger (1992)
reports an average size of 2.2 m for the northern populations (golden phase) with a maximum of about 3 m in length for the black race.
In my experience the golden phase white-lipps tend to stay smaller with about 1.8 - 2.0 m.
Diat
McDowell (1975), Shine & Slip(*3) and Barker & Barker(*1)
report rats as preferred prey. Captive held species will readily take almost everything of prey they can eat.
They have a huge feeding response so be aware to get your hands out quick !Sometimes the white-lipped python
throws up fureballs. Barker calls this "casting". I've seen all of my white-lipps do this.
CARE
Temperatures
The temperature should be around 30-34°C at day time and about 20-22°C at night. At these temperatures none of my white-lipped pythons has had any problems with respiration infections! White-lipped pythons actually do not bask much but will look for darker and cooler places over the day where they can hide and sleep. In their natural habitat they will shelter under fallen down leaves.
Humidity
The humidity should be around 70-85% constantly. This python is very sensitive to wet conditions or to low humidity (*1). The cage should be sprayed at least once a day to keep humidity up. But you shouldn't spray the python.
You can also provide damp moss where the python can lay down on.
Photoperiod
Should be 12 hours a day over the year.
Behaviour
Wild caught species are know for biting and from my own experience I know that this is true. But there are some horror stories told about this beautiful python being bad tempered. I'd rather take some of these pythons than a pit bull.
All the white-lipped pythons I've seen and owned yet were very alert snakes and very fast, too. CB's as well as WC specimen will hiss and try to bite when picked up out of the cage. They calm down after they are outside the cage being handled.
Some people say that their CB's get quite tame with a frequent handling schedule. The black phased wlp's seem to be more docile then the golden ones.White-lipped pythons sometimes show a behavior that is uncommon to most other python species. Coming near to them they start to hiss without moving. It's a short repeated short hiss like *sss* *sss* *sss*. I noticed my first white-lipped python did this and all the other I have had and still have to do this but actually I didn't care about it because it seemed normal to me.
Other wlp owners report the same experience and describe it as follows:
[...] frequently hisses for no obvious reason. This hissing behavior I had never heard of [...] and it was something that I always interpreted as aggression. I have noticed a very distinct difference between the casual hiss(almost like short exhales) and the aggressive hiss (long, drawn out and loud), but would have never known the difference because this is something I've never read about in any book. [...]
Dave Barker describes it like this :
"WLPs "talk" using a series of small hisses. It's done on purpose. It's usually a friendly thing. Ringed pythons and reticulated pythons also do this, but WLPs are the most "vocal" snake I've ever dealt with." ( comment from Dave Barker ).
In my experience white-lipped pythons love to climb and often look for higher places for basking or shelter. For that reason you should make sure to protect the animal from getting burned by light bulbs or infrared heaters! My male white-lipped often wraps around a cage I built to protect the animals from getting burned be the bulb and crashes right into the water bowl *splash* when loosening the coils. This happens almost every night. I have yet not seen any serious wounds but some damaged scales. Other WLP keepers report the same, though.
They also love to get under the water bowl and spill all the water into the enclosure or "trash" the inventory.
When white-lipped pythons get into blue (prior to shed ) they get very gray and almost look like dead!
Another experience I've made with several white-lipped pythons is that they sometimes sleep with their head laying on one side or even with the head leaning against the cage walls. I have also seen this in Morelia sp. cheynei once.
Breeding
Sexual activity
Barker and Barker (*1) report the white-lipped python to be sexual inactive until the age of 5-8 years in captivity.
They seem to mature at the age of 4 years.
Time of mating
in Autralasia:
in the USA and Europe: December - February ( mine mated in January and April, in Germany )
Mating behaviour
There were no male-male combat reported by Ross & Marzec (*5). They reported that putting together two males of different size the bigger one has dominated the smaller one. At last the smaller male died because of dehydration because the bigger once threatened him so that he didn't leave the hide box for drinking.
I haven't seen any combat, too.
I've seen the female whipping her tail and and opening her cloaca when ready to mate. Walls (*10, 69) mentions that if caged together they would fight viciously and he also says cannibalism was reported. By now I couldn't find out the source where Walls read this anyway...
The male will stimulate the female with his spurs:
Gravity
Ross & Marzec noticed
signs of gravity in march and april. The python refuses to feed. The period of gravity is ( depending on the temperature ) 56 (Tarbet ,1983) to 60 days (*5).
Egg disposal
in Australasia:
in the USA and Europe: March - June
Clutch size
The clutch size
varies from 8 to 15 Eggs (*5). Tarbet(1983) reported a clutch size of 13 Eggs at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Incubation
Tarbet ( 1983 )
incubated with moist Vemeculite (1:1) at 31°C (+- 2°C). Removing the eggs from the breeding female can be a challenge because the female is very aggressive an will strike with her mouth wide open. Ross & Marzec report that at the IHR a female destroyed her clutch when trying to remove the eggs (*5).
I have incubated the eggs in damp perlite, keeping the humidity at about 90-100% and at a
temperature range from 30.5 to 32.5°C (86-90F). The neonates hatched after 68 (the first) to 70 (the last) days after egg disposal.
Hatch
in Australasia:
in the USA and Europe: April - August
Neonates
Neonates from the black phase are bigger then the golden ones and will feed readily.
Hatchlings from the golden phase are more difficult and you have to be quite patient getting them to feed. They should be serperated as soon as possible to avoid them biting each other. They will attack everything that moves. The neonates are about 40-50 cm long and have 30-40 g of weight (*1).
They are very sensitive to respiration diseases. Ross & Marzec report that they should be kept at 32°C for about 6 month (*5).
Rasing juveniles
Actually
I keep my babies at 32-28°C over the day and 24-20°C at night. They are healthy and quite active at night. Both are very alert and will even strike at the water drops when being sprayed. In fact the male is much more aggressive and strikes at almost everything moving.
Young white-lipped pythons seem to be quite aborial and will feed on fuzzy mice. I had two animals refused feeding on normal pinkies so I had to find something more interesting.
Movement stimulates the youngster'a feeding response and as baby mice don't run around that much I was looking for something of that size but more active. I found african dwarf mice and everything worked well. Now at the age of almost two years all feed on mice and rats.
Young white-lipped pythons are often looking for places to hide, such as under the water bowl or something equal. I've seen them dig a tunnel system in the substrate where they move in.
(C) 2000-2004 by Wulf Schleip
