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This page is about the slight Childrens Python (Antaresia childreni)


  • The Children’s Python (Antaresia childreni) is a non-venomous species of python found in Australia.
  • They inhabit many regions in Australia in the extreme north of Western Australia, the northern third of Northern Territory, and north-eastern Queensland and also on the islands of the Torres Strait.
  • It occurs specifically in the region spanning along the coast between the Kimberley’s in Western Australia to Mount Isa in north-western Queensland.
  • Adults grow to maximum of 1.5 m (5 ft). The crown scales are enlarged while those on the body are small and smooth, with a rainbow sheen that can be seen when exposed to direct sunlight.
  • The upper body is brown with darker spots in five or six longitudinal series. A dark streak on each side of the head, passes through the eye. Lips are yellowish, spotted with brown. The belly is uniformly yellowish.
  • The head is distinct from neck. Nostril is super lateral, in a large semi divided nasal. Eye is moderate in size, with vertical pupil. Body is slightly laterally compressed. The tail is short.
  • Their diet consists of reptiles, birds and small mammals, particularly microbats which they catch by dangling from stalactites in caves, which they commonly inhabit, and snatch them out of the air as they fly past.

    Click HERE for a Childrens Python care sheet.