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Python (snake)

Python (snake), common name for any member of a family of nonvenomous snakes of the python family. Many species of pythons are large and muscular and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until the animal suffocates. Although most pythons feed on small mammals, some large species can kill and swallow small pigs and goats. They have rarely killed humans. Pythons range from about 1 to 10 m (about 3 to 33 ft) long and weigh up to 140 kg (up to 300 lb). They are primitive snakes that, like boas, still show signs of their lizard ancestry, including two tiny hind limbs, usually better developed in the male. The female lays 15 to 100 eggs, varying with size and species, and broods them until they hatch. Pythons are sometimes found in or near water.

About 20 to 25 species of pythons exist, found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. The reticulated python of Southeast Asia is among the largest snakes, reaching a length of 10 m (33 ft). Other well-known pythons are the 7.5-m (25-ft) Indian python, a favorite of snake handlers; the 6.5-m (23-ft) African rock python, and the 1.5-m (5-ft) ball, or royal, python of equatorial Africa, which coils into a ball when molested.

Scientific classification: Pythons make up the family Pythonidae. The reticulated python is classified as Python reticulatus, the Indian python as Python molurus, the African rock python as Python sebae, and the ball python as Python regius.

Indian Rock Python

The Indian rock python feeds on warm-blooded animals. Like other constrictors, this snake wraps its muscular body around its prey tightly to suffocate it. Indian pythons grow to a length of approximately 4 meters (13 ft), although larger individuals have been reported. Pythons are members of the most primitive group of living snakes; they may hiss, but are essentially deaf and mute.

Dorling Kindersley