Pythonidae

The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Some of the largest snakes in the world belong to this group. There are ten genera and 39 species recognized today. Unlike venomous snakes, pythons catch their prey by squeezing it tightly with their muscular bodies until it can no longer breathe. They then swallow their food whole.

Pythons live in warm parts of the Old World, including sub-Saharan Africa, tropical and subtropical Asia, and Australia. They hide and wait for their food, then wrap around it to kill it. Female pythons lay eggs, which they guard until the baby snakes hatch. Some people keep pythons as pets, but care must be taken with larger kinds because they can be dangerous.

Pythons are sometimes taken from the wild for their beautiful skins, and their meat is eaten in some places. They can carry germs that might make people sick. In parts of Africa, pythons are important in stories and traditions, and some believe their body parts can help heal different illnesses.

Distribution and habitat

Pythons live in many warm places around the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, southeastern Pakistan, southern China, the Philippines, and Australia.

Some pythons have been introduced to places where they do not naturally live. In the United States, Burmese pythons have become an invasive species in Everglades National Park since the late 1990s. These large snakes eat many local animals, such as birds, bobcats, and white-tailed deer. In Puerto Rico, there is also a population of reticulated pythons.

Conservation

Many python species have faced serious population drops because they have been hunted a lot. This includes the Indian python (Python molurus) and the ball python (Python regius), whose numbers have greatly decreased as a result.

Behavior

Most pythons are ambush predators, meaning they stay still and hidden before quickly striking at prey that passes by. They often hunt at night or in thick plants, using special heat-sensing pits along their jaws to find warm-blooded animals even in the dark.

When moving, pythons usually crawl in a slow, straight line using their belly scales and ribs for support. If threatened, some pythons, like the ball python, will coil into a tight ball with their head tucked inside for safety. While attacks on humans can happen, they are very rare.

Feeding

Pythons catch their food using sharp, backward-curving teeth arranged in rows on their jaws. Once they grab their prey, they wrap their strong bodies around it in coils. This squeezing stops the prey's heart, and the python then swallows its meal whole.

These snakes usually eat animals about the size of a housecat, but larger pythons can eat much bigger animals, like deer or even antelope. In rare cases, the reticulated python has been known to eat humans in parts of Indonesia. It can take days or weeks for a python to finish digesting a large meal.

Reproduction

Pythons lay eggs, which makes them different from boas, most of whom give birth to live babies. After laying their eggs, python mothers stay close to watch over them until they hatch. They can shake their muscles to generate warmth, helping to keep the eggs at the right temperature for the baby snakes to grow safely. While they guard their eggs, these mothers don’t eat and only leave occasionally to soak up sunlight and stay warm.

Captivity

Most python species are available as exotic pets. However, care should be taken with larger pythons, as they can be dangerous in rare cases.

Taxonomy

Pythons used to be grouped with boas in old classification systems, but scientists now know they are more closely related to sunbeam snakes and the Mexican burrowing python. Even though pythons look similar to boas, they belong to their own special family called Pythonidae.

Genera

Pythons have ten different groups, called genera, and there are 39 known species of pythons in total. These snakes live in Africa, Asia, and Australia, and some of them are among the largest snakes in the world.

Relationship with humans

Pythons have a notable relationship with humans, particularly in the areas of trade and traditional practices. Their skins are highly valued and traded internationally, often illegally, with much of the trade coming from Southeast Asia. Pythons are also hunted for their meat, which is consumed locally, and their skin is used to make accessories like bags, belts, and shoes in Europe and North America.

Pythons can carry infections like salmonella, which can affect humans. In some African cultures, python parts are used in traditional medicine. For example, in parts of Nigeria, python bodies and blood are believed to help with various ailments and protections. However, these uses can sometimes lead to health risks due to potential disease transmission. In areas where pythons are invasive, like in Florida, they can impact local ecosystems and potentially affect human health by changing the animals mosquitoes feed on.

Folklore

In northwestern Ghana, people believe pythons are protectors and have special rules to keep them safe. Their stories say a python once helped villagers escape danger by changing into a log so they could cross a river.

In Benin, some traditions see pythons as symbols of strength and spirit. People there keep pythons in temples and make offerings to them each year.