Scientific Name:
Python bivittatus
Distribution
SΕ Asia (Bangladesh; Cambodia; China; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Thailand; Viet Nam)
Diet:
Carnivore. Rodents and other mammals, some birds, amphibians and reptiles.
Facts
Habitat: Tropical forested areas near water (rainforests, river valleys, woodlands, scrublands, grassy marshes, and semi rocky foothills)
Incubation: 100 eggs max, 2-3 months incubation, ~40 hatchlings.
Social structure: Solitary (or in pairs during mating season)
Weight: 137 kg max
Dimensions: 7.6 m max (females are bigger)
Lifespan: 20-25
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Estimated population in the wild: Unknown
Threats: Harvested for food, skin for use in the leather industry, medicinal purposes, and the pet trade.
Did you know that:
- They have very poor eyesight but highly developed sense of smell, and heat pits within each scale along the upper lip, which sense the warmth of nearby prey.
- A female isolated from males produced viable eggs in five consecutive years; genetic evidence confirmed that the offspring were genetically identical to the mother, making the Burmese Python one of a few constrictor species known to exhibit parthenogenesis.
- To keep their eggs warm, they continually contract, or shiver, their muscles.
- it has been listed as Critically Endangered in two major areas within its natural range due to intensive harvesting for its skin
- The species is introduced and established in the wild in southern Florida, USA via the pet trade, where it has had detrimental impacts on native fauna, and has recently been blamed for localized declines of up to 99% in encounter rates of several common native mammal species since 2000 in some parts of the Everglades National Park.
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