Details
Malayopython reticulatus
The reticulated python is an exceptionally long snake of Indomalayan forests and freshwater edges. Listed here as diurnal and solitary, it is an ambush carnivore.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It uses tropical forest, river edges, wetlands, and waterside areas near farmland. Cover, water, and abundant prey are important.
Length is about 300-700 cm and weight about 30-150 kg. A complex net-like pattern, narrow head, and very long muscular body define it.
It waits alone on the ground or near water along prey routes. It swims well and can move along rivers and between islands.
It is carnivorous, taking mammals, birds, and reptiles. Nonvenomous, it coils powerfully around prey before swallowing it whole.
Females lay eggs and coil around them for protection. Muscular shivering can generate heat that helps incubation.
Its status is listed as Least Concern. Its size is famous, but where people and snakes overlap, distance and habitat management matter.
