Reptiles

Pythons

Many people become confused when trying to differentiate between pythons and boas. Both groups of snakes generally inhabit tropical or scrubland areas of the world. Both families contain a number of "giant" species. Pythons and boas still retain visible remnants of legs, lost long ago. These small "spurs" are located near the pelvic girdle towards the tail end of the snakes. There are differences between the two, however to an untrained individual, these differences would be hard to recognize. One easy characteristic that sets the two apart is that while pythons lay eggs, boas are live-bearers. All species of pythons provide parental care for a clutch of eggs. This is contrary to the behavior of most reptiles. Females can even change the outside temperature around their eggs by contracting their muscles, which raises their own body temperature and in turn heats their eggs. Quite a feat for an ectothermic (cold-blooded) animal!!!

There are twenty-six species of pythons found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and some islands in the Indo-Pacific area. Some of the python species reach three feet in length, many are in the 15-20 foot range, and several of the species grow even larger. There are undocumented claims of reticulated pythons growing to over 30 feet long and weighing hundreds of pounds. Pythons are usually marked with a blend of patterns of browns, reds, yellows, oranges, and blacks. However some are more of a solid color and one species is bright green. The animals typically have slender, triangular-shaped heads (no, they are not venomous) and heavy, muscular bodies. The arboreal species are somewhat slimmer in build. The eyes feature a cat-eye like slit in the pupils. Pythons, like boas, are constrictors. They suffocate or contrict around their food to kill. Their prey consists mainly of mammals, some small and some large, and birds. Pythons are adept at swimming and climbing.

Some species of pythons are popular as pets. The captive breeding and sale of offspring take much of the pressure off of wild populations. However, the continuation of the skin trade in these animals has caused a marked decline in the numbers of some species. San Antonio Zoo has children's python (Anteresia childreni), spotted python (Anteresia maculosa), black-headed python (Aspidites melanocephalus), Bismarck ringed python (Bothrochilus boa), Savu Island python (Liasis mackloti suvuenis), green tree python (Morelia virida), Borneo blood python (Python curtus breitensteini), reticulated python (Python reticulatus), Angolan python (Python anchetae) and ball python (Python regius).