What Are the Characteristics of a Python Snake?

Pythons vary in type from the common ball python to the giant reticulated pythons found in the wild that grow large enough to eat deer and other large animals. Pythons are of the constrictor type of snake. The python will strangle its food with its coils to kill it before eating it. Pythons are not poisonous and are generally not aggressive unless provoked. Most ball pythons that come into contact with humans are bred in captivity by python breeders.

  1. Size

    • Male ball pythons are between 4 and 5 feet in length and about 4 inches in diameter. Female ball pythons will grow to between 5 and 6 feet in length and can be between 4 and 7 inches in diameter. Wild reticulated pythons can grow between 15 and 25 feet with a diameter of between 18 and 24 inches.

    Colors

    • The color of the python will vary depending on the environment from which it originates. Most semi-domesticated pythons are brown and tan in pattern with darker middle strips forming triangles or diamond shapes. Pythons found in rainforests can be bright green, yellow or white.

    Sex

    • All pythons have "anal spurs" that look like curved spiked teeth that are to the left and right of the python's anal cavity. Males will have longer spurs, while females will have very small spurs or they will be completely tucked up inside the body near the anal cavity.

    Behaviors

    • Pythons will not bite or spew poison to defend itself. Instead, it will curl up into a small ball, flattening out and "sucking in" as much of its body as it can to hide its head in the center of the coils for protection. Pythons eat as much as twice a week during the first three or four months of its life. After this, pythons will eat once every two weeks to once a month. Pythons eat less as it grows in size. A python can eat anything that will squish into its body. Pythons will eat less during colder months of the year.

    Growth

    • Pythons grow the fastest in the first 12 to 18 months of life. Captive pythons will grow in direct proportion to the snake's cage size. All pythons will shed skin to grow. As new scales grow, the old begin to dry out and become white. A foggy white lens will appear on the eyes. The shedding begins at the eyes and then the python will rub itself over rock or tree branches to help scrape the rest of the skin off. If a python is healthy, the skin comes off all in one piece. Pythons do not eat as much while their bodies prepares for the shedding process. If you own a python and you notice it is going through the shedding process, it will tend to be cranky as its new skin is tender when it is first exposed to the air. Pythons generally eat within two days of shedding.