Reticulated Python Facts
The Reticulated Python is one of the gigantic snakes in the world. It is also one of the few snake species, which can be kept as pets. Read on to know some interesting facts about it.
- It is found in Southeast Asia in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
- It is also known as Java Rock Python and Regal Python.
- Its scientific name is Python reticulates.
- It belongs to the python genus and the phytonidae family. It has not yet been found to have any subspecies.
- It is considered the longest snake in the world, with the longest specimen that has been recorded to date to be about the same, or a little larger than the longest anaconda.
- Reticulated pythons range 10-20 feet in average, yet the largest one was recorded at an immense 33 ft and weighed in well over 300 lbs (136 kg).
- These snakes are hard to spot in the wild, because of their camouflaged markings.
- Reticulated pythons hatch from eggs. The female snakes may lay over 100 eggs at a time. The eggs are white in color and have a soft, leathery shell. The female pythons wrap their powerful bodies around their eggs until they are ready to hatch. This particular behavior is known as brooding and it prevents the eggs from getting too warm or too cool. The eggs need to remain close to 89 degrees Fahrenheit during the incubation period, which lasts around eighty-five days. The young pythons come out by cutting a slit in the eggshell with their egg tooth.
- The young pythons do not take long to grow independent, and can begin searching for their food themselves in no time at all. It must use its coloration and reticulated pattern to hide from predators and to hunt for food. Some of the hatchling pythons are eaten by other animals such as hawks, wild pigs, cobras and monitor lizards. The hatchling pythons are 26 to 35 inches in length and weigh around 4 to 5 ounces. From the time they hatch these pythons are also predators and they can kill and eat small mice, rats, lizards and frogs.
- It has the largest girth of snake species.
- It lives on a variety of small to medium sized mammals as well as birds. It has on rare occasions, killed and consumed humans.
- It will typically wait in hiding for the prey to move close by before striking. It catches its prey with its backward-curving teeth, and coils its powerful body around it, squeezing until the victim dies. Then it swallow its food completely.
- Reticulated pythons are at home on the ground, in caves or in trees and they have adapted to live near the human habitation where they hunt rats, chickens, ducks, domestic dogs, cats and pigs.
- It has a color pattern which is a very complex geometric pattern that incorporates numerous different colors. Its back has a series of diamond shapes, which are laid between some smaller markings with light centers. In this python species, there can be several diverse colors, sizes and markings.
- In spite of being dangerous, these pythons make good captives. But the keeper should be trained well enough in handling such large species, so as to ensure safety of himself and as well as that of the snake. They are non-venomous creatures, having an attractive appearance that makes them quite popular among snake lovers and by the leather industry. People working with these snakes have often reported them to show exceptional intelligence as well as awareness.
- Small pythons can easily be captured and tamed, but adults are dangerous as they can deliver vicious bites, and their powerful coils may be too much for a human being to handle.
- The largest snake that ever lived in a zoo was a reticulated python called ‘Colossus’. It was kept at the Pittsburgh Zoo in Pennsylvania. It was 28 ˝ feet in length. Its girth measured 37 ˝ inches and its weight was estimated to be more than 320 pounds.
- Among some of the largest items documented to be eaten was a female sun bear of 23 kilograms that was eaten by a 23 ft specimen. It took the snake over 10 weeks to digest the meal.
- Its lifespan in the wild is up to 20 years and in captivity it is known to live more than 20 years.
- It is a nocturnal and solitary snake.
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