Aquarium Reptile Complex (ARC)
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| Scientific Name: Python reticulatus |
| Description: |
The reticulated python is one of the largest snakes in the world. Although a body length of up to 32 feet has been recorded, a snake of this size has not been documented in the past 50 years. The 10-year-old female reticulated python on display at Riverbanks is 17-feet long and weighs 150 pounds. She still has some growing to do, and will probably reach 20 feet and weigh in excess of 300 pounds.
Big snakes eat big prey, and adult reticulated pythons have been known to feed on such large animals as deer, wild boar, goats and even leopards. Attacks on people are rare, but humans have been included in the diet of these giant snakes.
Reticulated pythons can lay as many as 100 eggs at a time. Female snakes will coil around the eggs until they hatch 90-100 days later. Some species of pythons are able to increase the temperature of their incubating eggs several degrees above the ambient by twitching muscles in their bodies. After the young pythons hatch, they are on their own and receive no further protection from their mothers. |
| Range: |
| Reticulated pythons have a wide range in Southeast Asia, inhabiting such varied habitats as primary forests, swamps, cultivated areas and even suburban areas of cities. They are more arboreal than other species of large pythons and are usually found close to water. |
| Status in the Wild: |
| Reticulated pythons are still relatively common in parts of their range. However, habitat destruction such as deforestation and harvesting adult pythons for their skins and body parts used in traditional medicines have reduced their numbers to the point that they are considered rare, even endangered, in some areas. |
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