- Pythons are strictly carnivorous and their diets consist almost exclusively of vertebrates, including mammals and birds, but they also sometimes eat amphibians and reptiles.
- Small pythons and juveniles typically eat small mammals like rodents, bats, and shrews.
- As they grow larger, their diets expand to include larger prey such as rabbits, hares, and birds.
- Some of the largest python species, such as the reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) and the Burmese python (Python bivittatus), are capable of preying on deer, pigs, and even livestock like goats and cows.
- Pythons are ambush predators. They typically lie in wait, camouflaged in their surroundings, and strike when prey comes within reach.
- They kill their prey by constricting it with their powerful muscular bodies, causing suffocation. Once the prey is dead, the python swallows it whole, starting with the head.
- Pythons have flexible jaws and expandable skin that allow them to swallow prey much larger than their head size.
- After a large meal, pythons may go for several weeks or even months without eating as they digest the food.
- While they mostly eat live animals, some python species have also been known to scavenge on dead animals.