Use this guide as a starting point alongside the detailed sources below. Health concerns, unexplained changes in behavior, or feeding problems belong with a reptile veterinarian.
Adult enclosure recommendation
Our recommended minimum: 70.9″ × 29.6″ × 29.6″ (180 × 75 × 75 cm), length × depth × height.
Usable internal space for 1 adult animal. One Aspidites ramsayi up to ≈ 70.866″ (180 cm) total length. Larger southern individuals need the scaled example. Height is clear above the ≈ 3.937″–5.906″ (10–15 cm) digging layer.
Height is clear usable space above the substrate or water surface. Add their depth when planning the total internal enclosure height.
No separately supported numerical preferred target is established for the same animal. Prefer more usable movement and environmental choice; increases required by growth are new minima, not optional upgrades.
Our recommended minimum applies a published full-length snake-welfare proposal and rounds ≈ 28.346″ (72 cm) depth/height up to ≈ 29.528″ (75 cm). Species-specific burrowing provision is additional. This is an editorial welfare recommendation, not scientific consensus on a validated triplet.
Use at least actual total length, including the tail, for length and at least 40% for depth and clear height, retaining the ≈ 70.9″ × 29.6″ × 29.6″ (180 × 75 × 75 cm) baseline. A ≈ 94.488″ (240 cm) adult needs ≈ 94.5″ × 39.4″ × 39.4″ (240 × 100 × 100 cm), rounded above the ≈ 37.795″ (96 cm) calculated secondary axes.
Large adult up to ≈ 94.488″ (240 cm) total length
Our recommended minimum: 94.5″ × 39.4″ × 39.4″ (240 × 100 × 100 cm), length × depth × height. Worked full-length welfare rule; exceptionally large southern animals are reported. Add digging depth below the clear height.
- Floor space
- The ≈ 70.866″ (180 cm) example provides 14.5 sq ft (1.35 m²) of usable floor, with a continuous path around water and separate warm/cool retreats.
- Climbing space
- Provide low stable ledges or branches for optional exercise. Ground routes and digging take priority; vertical volume cannot compensate for a short footprint.
- Substrate
- Offer ≈ 3.937″–5.906″ (10–15 cm) of burrowable material as the specialist starting layer, with more where concealment requires it. Support heavy objects independently. This depth is additional to the clear height.
- Water
- Keep a stable bowl of fresh drinking water available continuously and inspect it daily. Do not withhold water to control humidity.
- Security and ventilation
- Use secure locks, controlled guarded heaters and measurable airflow. Check under bedding and behind fixtures; dimensions alone cannot establish a stable burrow or useful thermal gradient.
Meeting these dimensions alone does not establish suitability. Check the usable layout, environmental conditions, equipment clearance and the individual animal’s requirements before occupation.
Plan for a burrowing adult
Provide a sheltered habitat for Aspidites ramsayi, with opportunities to move above and beneath the surface. Womas are mainly nocturnal and use burrows; an exposed, uniformly hot desert display misses those choices.
Keep documented locality and parental measurements with the record. Many adults remain below 6′ (1.8 m), but southern animals around 8′ (2.4 m) are reported. A juvenile enclosure is temporary, and appetite does not predict the right rate of growth.
References: [2]
Give the adult usable floor space
We recommend at least ≈ 70.9″ × 29.6″ × 29.6″ (180 × 75 × 75 cm), length × depth × height of usable internal space for one adult up to ≈ 70.866″ (180 cm) total length. Height is clear above ≈ 3.937″–5.906″ (10–15 cm) of digging material, so the total internal height is at least ≈ 33.5″–35.5″ (85–90 cm) before fixture clearance checks.
A ≈ 94.488″ (240 cm) adult needs ≈ 94.5″ × 39.4″ × 39.4″ (240 × 100 × 100 cm) of clear space. The dimensions apply a published full-length welfare proposal and are not an experimentally demonstrated cutoff. More functional room is preferred, but no separately supported second numerical preferred target was found.
Build stable digging and retreat choices
Use ≈ 3.937″–5.906″ (10–15 cm) of suitable low-dust, burrowable bedding as a starting layer. Increase it if the snake cannot conceal itself, and also provide snug inspectable retreats at different thermal positions. Anchor rockwork to the base so excavation cannot collapse it.
Use 50–70% RH (relative humidity) as a practical husbandry reference from Spinner’s account, with ventilation and dry resting surfaces. Measure beside temperature in both the retreat and open area; this is not a demonstrated optimum at every position all day. Keep a monitored moist refuge available during shedding without saturating the entire floor. Drinking water stays continuously available.
Measure a coherent active-care heat plan
Our recommended starting plan is a 90°F (32°C) basking surface, 82–86°F (28–30°C) daytime air gradient and 77–82°F (25–28°C) night air. These are the UV-Tool’s summer maintenance measurements for womas, kept separate from its winter-cooling columns.
Measure heated surfaces with an infrared thermometer and occupied air and buried refuges with probes. Control and guard heaters. Buried floor heating can create contact hazards where the snake digs; use an installation whose surface and retreat temperatures you can inspect. Provide a cooler refuge within the stated air range.
References: [4]
Give light, shade and dependable drinking water
Provide a 13-hour active-care day and 11-hour dark night, using the shorter of the UV-Tool’s stated summer-day options. Its Zone 1–2 assignment supports a measured low-UV (ultraviolet) approach. We recommend a broad accessible area around UVI (ultraviolet index) 0.7, decreasing to zero in full cover, as an editorial shade-method choice.
Measure at back height through the actual screen and recheck after changing furnishings. Keep fresh drinking water available all the time. An arid origin does not justify the older account’s once-weekly bowl routine.
Feed with tools and review portions
Offer appropriately sized thawed whole rodents. Use 5–7 day intervals for growing juveniles and 10–14 days for adults as the retailer’s starting routine, adjusting prey size and intervals to condition. Record food offered separately from food eaten.
Use suitable feeding tongs and remove them promptly after prey is taken. Womas may respond vigorously to objects near food; prepare the closure sequence before presenting a meal. Avoid overfeeding, and do not add routine powder supplements to a suitable whole-prey diet.
Where recommendations differ
Spinner describes 79–85°F (26–29°C) air with a 89.6 °F (32°C) hot spot, and Kellyville lists 91–95°F (33–35°C) basking with 68–72°F (20–22°C) nights. The UV-Tool explicitly separates a 89.6 °F (32°C) surface from warmer summer day and night air. We choose that clearly labeled active-care plan, rather than average different practices into a new number.
A cooler seasonal program may be appropriate for an identified, healthy animal under experienced management. It is not automatically a juvenile or ordinary maintenance schedule. None of these accounts establishes a controlled thermal optimum.
Older short cages and infrequent drinking-water provision are not equivalent alternatives to our housing and water recommendations. We retain useful species observations while providing full-length movement and continuous water.
Arrange arrival care and recognize illness
Arrange a reptile-veterinary examination within two weeks of arrival. Keep the previous feeding, weight and environmental records. Agree an individual quarantine and testing plan, with separate housing and dedicated tools.
Seek prompt assessment for wheezing, mucus or open-mouth breathing at rest, repeated regurgitation, skin lesions or unexplained weight loss. Keep dated readings available instead of treating illness by trial-and-error heat or medication changes.
Make daily service and backup care practical
Inspect the animal, water, closures and equipment daily. Remove waste and clean contaminated containers. Wash hands after care and keep cleaning equipment away from food preparation.
House one snake per habitat. Keep secure temporary accommodation, transport and a written backup-care routine. Rehearse water and refuge service in the empty enclosure, including how the animal can stay securely separated during major maintenance.
Sources & further reading
Read the full recommendations and check details for your animal, equipment, and local conditions.
- Warwick, Arena and Steedman 2019: Spatial considerations for captive snakes
- Leo Spinner: Woma python care and breeding
- Kellyville Pets: Woma and black-headed python care
- Baines et al. 2016: The UV-Tool
- VCA: Feeding pet snakes
- VCA: Common diseases of pet snakes
- VCA: Veterinary care, new reptile visit
- CDC: Reptiles and amphibians (CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Original Creature Corner guide. Editorial fact and citation checks are recorded; independent veterinary review has not been performed.
