Python Snakes Background Information

Dozens of species of pythons inhabit the southern hemisphere. They average in size from a couple feet to as long as a house. They are one of the largest snake species in the world, rivaled in size only by boas. The python, which lives an average of 35 years, is a constrictor with four rows of teeth, none of which are poisonous.

  1. Types

    • Scientists have discovered 33 species of pythons, according to the San Diego Zoo. They range in size from the 23-inch ant-hill python to the 33-foot, 250-pound reticulated python, which is the longest snake species--the anaconda, a boa, is the heaviest--in the world (the record for longest is 49 feet). Other common species are Indian pythons, which includes subspecies Burmese python; green tree pythons; rock pythons and ball pythons, which are smaller and sometimes owned as pets.

    Habitats

    • Pythons' habitats stretch through most of Africa, Madagascar, south-east Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands. They live in rain forests, woodlands, swamps, savannas and grasslands. People have also introduced them to Europe and the Americas. Some species can climb trees as well as swim, which has led to theories that pythons swam across oceans to reach islands.

    Food

    • Contrary to some popular beliefs, pythons do not crush their prey with their bone-crushing power. They strangle their food. The snakes ambush their prey, lying and waiting in shrubbery or a shallow stream for an animal to walk by, then springing forward and wrapping around it.
      Along with forked tongues that help pythons detect scents, many species have temperature-sensing holes along their jaws, which help them track prey at night or in dark forests.
      They eat lizards, birds, rodents and some larger animals like monkeys, pigs and crocodiles.

    Breeding

    • One way pythons differentiate themselves from boas is pythons lay eggs while boas birth live young. Pythons mature between two and eight years. Pythons nest on the ground, sometimes covering their nests with dirt and leaves. Incubation takes 40 to 100 days, depending on the species, and they hatch in size from 10 to 27 inches. Mothers often wrap themselves around their eggs to keep them warm. If temperatures get too low, some species will contract their muscles to produce heat for the eggs.

    Predators

    • Despite the large sizes of many species, young and adult pythons have natural predators. Birds, insects, spiders, other snakes, mammals and some larger amphibians prey on young and small pythons. Large birds of prey, such as eagles, and some wild cats, including lions and leopards, hunt adult pythons.

    Endangerment

    • Two python species, the woma and Indian rock, are endangered. Other species are becoming rarer because of hunting and habitat destruction. The tree-dwelling Indian rock has decreased in population after centuries of over-hunting--as a food source, for rituals and out of fear--and rain forest destruction. The Brigalow, a breed of the Australia-inhabiting woma python, faces similar habitat destruction from land clearing and burning.

    Invasions

    • The introduction of Burmese pythons to North America has led the U.S. National Park Service to declare the snake an invasive species in the Florida Everglades. The service has removed more than 1,000 pythons from the Everglades since people first discovered them in 2002. Their "voracious appetites," according to the service, are damaging the natural wildlife.