15 facts about pythons

Here are 15 facts about Pythons to help gain a better understanding of this fascinating reptile:

Pythons are non venomous snakes which means that they won't poison you if they bite you.

Pythons are constrictors and kill their prey by grabbing hold of it with their teeth and coiling themselves around it slowly suffocating the life out of it.

Once they have suffocated their prey they will swallow them whole in one go. Everything apart from the fur and feathers of their prey will be ingested. You can tell that a python hasn't ingested something as it will be found in their poop.

It really depends on the size of the prey for how long they will take to ingest it. Larger prey can take weeks or months to finally ingest. They will tend to eat 4-5 times a year.

They find their prey by keeping camouflaged and hidden in 5 reed and bushes. They blend very well with their environment. They will then use that time to scope out their prey and then ambush it.

The longest python is the reticulated python which can measure up to 30 feet long.

Pythons are slow movers and move up to 1 mile per hour

They have heat sensing organs that they use to sense where prey are.

The colours of their skin are usually very similar to their habitat that they reside in.

They are found in rainforests, deserts, and savannahs of tropical Asia and Africa

They won't attack humans unless they are provoked.

Pythons are very good swimmers

A female python will lay between 12-36 eggs and will protect them by coiling herself around them. Once they are born the mother will leave the nest and the young are left to fend for themselves.

Pythons can live up to 40 years.

They are cold blooded creatures but can increase their body temperature by basking in the sun.