Pythons are a subfamily of a group known as the Boid's ( boidae) which include Boa's and Pythons. All five of the giant snakes as well as some of the small to medium sized species are attributed to this family. They can be found in a wide variety of habitats around out planet which obviously has a lot to do with the diverse appearance and size of these snakes. Their most important anatomical features are flexible jaws along with a pelvic girdle and rear leg vestiges.

While it is widely stated a boa ( the anaconda) is classed as the largest snake in the world, pythons on the whole are classed as giants among the whole snake genus. There are to date 27 species of pythons found in Asia, Australia, Africa and one in Central America, several of these have been found to exceed lengths of over 25 feet (7.5m).

In my opinion some of the most attractive snakes are pythons, whose patternation can be a blend of rich bold yellows, russets, oranges and bright red's. On the whole the python species are known for being heavy bodied, although certain arboreal species retain a more slimmer profile. The eyes, as with boa's have a distinctive vertical pupil not unlike a cat's eye, also the skull contains 2 missing bones that are found in the advanced families of snakes - the supra-orbitals in the top of the head, and the coronoid bone in the lower jaw. ( Boa's possess the latter bone which helps to lend rigidity to the mandible).

Pythons are oviparous ( egg layers) and are known to possess a degree of parental care, with the female species curling around the eggs during much of the eggs developmental period. I have witnessed this first hand with one of my own Burmese Pythons, she laid a clutch of 42 eggs and attempted to curl around the eggs. I was moving within 2 weeks as this was an unexpected occurrence I removed the eggs by hand to an incubator, which let me tell you was not an easy task as my usually friendly Burmese became quite irate to put it mildly!

Here I will give a brief description of a couple of the more known python species:-

Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus)

The picture on the right at the top of the page is a reticulated python.

Found in South East Asia and surrounding Islands Such as Bali, Irian Jaya etc, the reticulated python is classed as the longest snake known to exist today, it cannot be classed as the largest due to the fact that the Green Anaconda can weigh in excess of 500lbs. The Retic has been known to reach lengths of 30ft+ although stories of snakes attaining lengths of 50ft are pure conjecture that should really be taken with a pinch of salt! As all pythons are constrictors these snakes kill their prey by grabbing it and overpowering the creature. A common misconception is that the snake crush the prey to death, whilst in fact they squeeze tightly stopping the animal breathing in. So when the animal breathes out the snake tightens its grip causing death by asphyxia.

Indian Python & sub-species(Python Molurus)

The picture top left shows one of my own Burmese Pythons(python molurus bivittatus)

To me this animal rates as number two on the size chart for all snakes, the record known length that I have heard as confirmed is over 27ft from a snake in Australia named "Baby"!! They are also a contender for one of the heaviest bodied snakes, my heaviest weighs approx 9.5 stone (135lbs) yet she is a lot smaller than some I have seen.These snakes easily reach 200lbs if conditions and food availibility are right. The Indian Python (python molurus) is lighter than the other subspecies and on the whole considerably longer. The Burmese Python (python molurus bivittatus) is from South East Asia and Indonesia, they are darker in colour with a more pronounced patternation of almost gold hues interlaced with the brown patterning. The third species is the Pimbura Python (Python molurus pimbura) is not really classed taxanomically as a separate species rather an off shoot of the Burmese, yet many enthusiasts believe it should be so classed.

I have owned over many years many varieties of Burmese and I find them to have in general the best temperament of the large boids which has helped make these one of the most popular breeds of snakes in captivity!

Green Tree Python (Chondropython viridis)

The picture in the centre at the top of the page is a green tree python.

Where two, extremely distant related,species of snake develop in a similar way at opposite ends of the earth the result is known as convergent evolution. This is the case with the green tree python of Papua New Guinea and surrounding area. This snake along with the Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus Canina) of South America are arboreal constrictors that have developed to catch birds in flight as well as young in the nest. Both snakes have the same brilliant green body colour with yellow markings down the spine and somewhat down the flanks. They both have prehensile tails to ensure a better grip on the branches they traverse. The young of these two species are born yellow or reddish which with age reverts to the standard green. They also rest in trees the same , that is with coils looping over narrow branches with their head resting on top of all the coils. These pythons usually grow to around 6ft (1.8m) this is due to their arboreal habitat where a larger snake would become too cumbersome.