PYTHON

(subfamily Pythoninae) any of 20 to 25 species of snakes of the family Boidae, found in tropical and temperate regions from western Africa to China, Australia, and the Pacific islands. The dwarf python (Loxocemus bicolor) of Central America is sometimes placed in this subfamily. Pythons are not venomous; they kill by constriction. Most species are found near water; some are arboreal. All lay eggs15 to about 100, depending on body sizeand in a number of species the female incubates them for 60 to 80 days. Pythons are sluggish, docile snakes. The largest can swallow a small goat, pig, or deer but normally take much smaller prey; those that live in towns are often valued as ratcatchers. Many pythons are killed for meat and leather. The reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is a comparatively slender, splotched species ranging from southern Myanmar (Burma) to Indonesia and the Philippines. It commonly occurs in cities, usually near riverbanks, and is probably the world's longest snake (the anaconda reaches greater weight)often 8 m (26 feet). Specimens 9.6 m long are recorded. A python of this species is known to have eaten a 14-year-old Malay boy on the island Salebabu, in Indonesia, one of the few such authenticated cases. The Indian python (P. molurus) is common throughout southern Asia. It is thick-bodied and usually less than 4 m long but sometimes twice that length. This species is a favourite of carnival snake handlers. The 2.7-metre short-tailed, or blood, python (P. curtus) of Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo is reddish. The African python (P. sebae), also called rock python, often reaches a length of 7 m. The 1.5-metre ball, or royal, python (P. regius), confined to equatorial western Africa, curls into a tight ball with its head inside.