World’s Longest Snake-Reticulated Python

World’s Longest Snake-Reticulated Python

Source:  "Python reticulatus сетчатый питон-2" by Mariluna. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Python_reticulatus2.jpg#/media/File:Python_reticulatusBD-2.jpg

1. The term ‘reticulated’ means ‘net-like’ referring to its skin pattern.

2. The Reticulated Python is considered the longest snake in the world and has been known to reach over 10 metres in length.

3. The python has a complicated, black, net like pattern, yellow-edged with large pale spots on the sides.

4. Reticulated pythons are found in Southeast Asia, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines. They inhabit steamy tropical rainforests, are heavily dependent on water, and can often be found near small rivers or ponds.

5. Although not venomous, Reticulated Pythons are very powerful and dangerous snakes.

6. Reticulated Pythons are carnivores and eat birds and mammals.

Source:  "Reticulated Python at Little Rays Reptile Zoo" by Pomakis - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reticulated_Python_at_Little_Rays_Reptile_Zoo.jpg#/media/File:Reticulated_Python_at_Little_Rays_Reptile_Zoo.jpg

7. They use their 100 curved teeth to hold onto their prey, and they kill the animals they catch by wrapping around them and squeezing. The animal is quickly unable to breath and its heart is unable to pump blood. Pythons can kill their prey in minutes and they swallow their food whole. The entire animal is digested in the snake’s stomach.

8. They have a low metabolic rate allowing them to go without food for long periods of time.

9. Females usually lay between 20 and 100 eggs, depending on her size. The eggs are white and have a soft, leathery shell. Female pythons wrap their powerful bodies around their eggs until they are ready to hatch. This 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. To accomplish this, the female will “shiver,” producing muscle contractions which serve to increase the overall temperature of the eggs.

10. Juvenile reticulated pythons are arboreal (tree dwelling) and terrestrial (ground dwelling). Adults are seldom found in trees. They are active at dusk and throughout the night.

11. The Reticulated Python is the world’s longest snake, while the Anaconda is the heaviest. 

12. If disturbed, Python reticulatus makes a hissing sound.

13. The hatchling python’s are 26 to 35 inches long and weigh only 4 to 5 ounces. From the time they hatch, these snakes are predators and they can kill and eat small mice, rats, lizards and frogs.

14. In the animated movie “Shrek”, a row of hanging reticulated python skins were used by the ogre as a room divider.

15. Reticulated pythons are the longest snakes found in the wild or living in a zoo.