Pythons are among the largest snakes in the world. They grow to 8 or 9 metros in length and have enough muscle power to overcome and swallow a full-grown leopard. The two species of python found in India are the Indian rock python, which lives in both scrub forest and dense jungle throughout the country, and the regal python, which is found in north-east India and Nicobar islands. The one there is possibility of your seeing is the rock python although the snakeskin industry has all but wiped it out in many areas.
Rock pythons grow to 6 metres in length and are heavy bodied, smooth snakes with a brown blotchy pattern much like that of the common sand boa. An interesting feature of pythons is that they have "spurs". Snakes have evolved from lizard-like reptiles with legs, and the python and boas are the only snakes which has not completel
y lost their legs. They live in cool, damp caves, tree stumps and hollows. They hunt at night for small mammals and other prey. They can go for days without eating, but must have water. One specimen in a zoo didn’t eat for two years.
Female rock pythons lay up to 100 eggs between March and June and stay with them for the 80 days till they hatch. When herpetologists (those who study snakes) first discovered that pythons stay with their eggs, they thought that the snake was safeguarding the eggs from predators like the mongoose and the wild pig. We know that the mother python also keeps the eggs free from fungus, maintains them at the right dampness, and protects them from ants. But most wonderful of all, she can control the temperature at which they are incubating. She can raise her own body temperature by jerking her muscles. The faster she jerks the warmer she gets, thus warming up the eggs.
Discoveries like this are constantly being made about snakes, because there is still a lot to be learnt about these fascinating creatures. Studying snakes isthus not only interesting but there is also great scope for making newdiscoveries in the field.
Rock pythons grow to 6 metres in length and are heavy bodied, smooth snakes with a brown blotchy pattern much like that of the common sand boa. An interesting feature of pythons is that they have "spurs". Snakes have evolved from lizard-like reptiles with legs, and the python and boas are the only snakes which has not completel
y lost their legs. They live in cool, damp caves, tree stumps and hollows. They hunt at night for small mammals and other prey. They can go for days without eating, but must have water. One specimen in a zoo didn’t eat for two years.Female rock pythons lay up to 100 eggs between March and June and stay with them for the 80 days till they hatch. When herpetologists (those who study snakes) first discovered that pythons stay with their eggs, they thought that the snake was safeguarding the eggs from predators like the mongoose and the wild pig. We know that the mother python also keeps the eggs free from fungus, maintains them at the right dampness, and protects them from ants. But most wonderful of all, she can control the temperature at which they are incubating. She can raise her own body temperature by jerking her muscles. The faster she jerks the warmer she gets, thus warming up the eggs.
Discoveries like this are constantly being made about snakes, because there is still a lot to be learnt about these fascinating creatures. Studying snakes isthus not only interesting but there is also great scope for making newdiscoveries in the field.
