RETICULATED PYTHON

The 'Reticulated Python' ('''Python reticulatus''') is a huge python. Together with the Green Anaconda, this is the longest snake species alive today; the world record length of living snakes is held by the present. It is a species of the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, from Bangladesh and Myanmar to the Philippines, and southwards into the Wallacea.

Contents

Description

Ecology

Reticulated Pythons killing humans

In captivity

Variations

Farming

Footnotes

References

External links

Description

With a maximum recorded length of 10.05 meters (c.33 feet) ^[1], the largest specimen was somewhat longer than the longest Green Anaconda reliably recorded. The Reticulated Python can weigh up to nearly 160 kg (350 lbs). It should be noted, however, that it is relatively slender, and therefore not the ''largest'' existing snake species: the Green Anaconda can be roughly twice as heavy at the same length. More commonly, the Reticulated Python reaches some 6-7 meters in length when fully adult, although the "dwarf" island subspecies only grow to about half that size.Mattison (1999)
A supposedly 14.85-meter (c.49 ft) long specimen was captured in Jambi province, Sumatra, in 2002^[2]. However, the snake - eventually nicknamed "Fragrant Flower" and winding up at a zoo in Curug Sewu (Kendal Regency, Java) - was later shown to be only half as long as claimed^[3].
The reticulated pythons's appearance is a complex geometric pattern that incorporates numerous different colors. The back typically has a series of irregular diamond shapes which are flanked by smaller markings with light centers. In this species' wide range, much variation of size, color, and markings commonly occurs.
Three subspecies are usually accepted:

★ '''Python reticulatus reticulatus''' (called "Retics" in herpetoculture)

★ '''Python reticulatus jampeanus''' ('Kayaudi Dwarf Reticulated Python' or "Jampea retics") - Tanahjampea in the Selayar Archipelago south of Sulawesi

★ '''Python reticulatus saputrai''' ('Selayer Reticulated Python' or "Selayer retics") - Selayar Island in the Selayar Archipelago and also adjacent Sulawesi.
The latter two are "dwarf" subspecies. Apparently, the population of the Sangir Islands north of Sulawesi represents another such subspecies, but it is not yet formally described.^[4]
The proposed subspecies ''dalegibbonsi'', ''euanedwardsi'', ''haydnmacphiei'', ''neilsonnemani'', ''patrickcouperi'' and ''stuartbigmorei'', as well as separation of the Reticulated Python in the monotypic genus '''Broghammerus'''^[5], are rejected by most professional and amateur herpetologists, and most if not all of these taxa are generally considered ''nomina dubia''.

Ecology

The Reticulated Python is an egg layer that lays between 60 and 100 eggs per clutch; at an optimal incubation temperature of 31-32°C (88-90 °F), these eggs take an average of 88 days to hatch.
In the wild, they eat mammals and occasionally birds. Small specimens - up to 3-4 meters (10-14 ft) long - eat mainly rodents such as rats, whereas larger individuals switch to prey such as Viverridae (e.g. civets and binturongs), porcupines, pangolins, and even primates and pigs. Near human habitation, they are known to snatch stray chicken, cats and dogs on occasion. Among the largest prey items that are actually fully documented to have been taken by a wild Reticulated Python was a half-starved old female Sun Bear of 23 kilograms that was eaten by a 6.95 m (23 ft) snake and which took some 10 weeks to digest, as well as pigs of more than 60 kg (132 lb). As a rule-of-thumb, Reticulated Pythons seem able to swallow prey up to one-fourth their own length and up to their own weight.Fredriksson (2005)

Reticulated Pythons killing humans

Attacks on humans are rare, but the Reticulated Python has been responsible for several human fatalities in both the wild and captivity. This species is among the few snakes that have been fairly reliably reported to eat people, although only 1-3 cases of the snake actually eating rather than just killing a human seem to have been verified:

★ Two incidents, apparently in early 20th century Indonesia: On Salibabu, a 14-year-old boy was killed and supposedly eaten by a Reticulated Python 5.17 m (c.17 ft) long. Another incident involved an adult woman reputedly eaten by a "large Reticulated Python", but few details are known.^[6]

★ Franz Werner reports a case from Burma (now Myanmar) either occurring in the early 1910s or in 1927. A jeweller named Maung Chit Chine, going hunting with his friends, was apparently eaten by a Reticulated Python 6 m (20 ft) long when he sought shelter from a rainstorm on or under a tree. Supposedly, he was swallowed feet first, contrary to normal snake behavior but the easiest way for a snake to actually swallow a human.Bruno (1998)

★ In Burma, an 8-year-old child was supposedly eaten by a Reticulated Python 6 meters (20 ft) long in 1972.

★ The corpse of the 32-year-old Mangyan Lantod Gumilid (or Gumiliu) was recovered from the belly of a 7 m (c.23 ft) Reticulated Python on Mindoro, probably in January, 1998. The victim was about 160 cm tall and weighed 60 kg (154 lb).^[7]

★ Basanti Tripura, an 38-year-old Bangladeshi woman from Rangamati District was killed on November 18, 2003, by a "10-foot-long python". The animal was killed during its attempt to eat the woman; if the size is correct, it is almost certain that it would not have succeeded. Though the identity of the snake was not reported, it was either a ''Python reticulatus'' or an Indian Python based on location and size.^[8]
Considering the known maximum prey size, it is technically possible for a full-grown Reticulated Python to unhinge its jaws wide enough to swallow a human child, teenager, or even small adult, although the flaring shoulders of ''Homo sapiens'' would pose a major problem^[9]. At least in the 1998 and 2003 incidents, the victims were gathering food or wood in the forest when they happened upon the snakes. While there are no eyewitnesses for the 1998 case, Tripura apparently startled the snake so that the initial attack might have been defensive rather than motivated by hunger, as seems likely in the death of Chine (if the latter did actually happen). In any case, it is unlikely for any but the largest specimens to be able to kill, let alone eat, an adult human, except if the victim is caught unawares as in the 2003 incident.

In captivity

Reticulated pythons have increased in popularity in the pet trade largely due to increased efforts in captive breeding and selectively bred mutations such as the "albino" (technically amelanic) and "tiger" strains.
Reticulated pythons can make great and extremely rewarding captives, but the keeper should have previous experience with large pythons to help ensure safety to both animal and keeper. Although their interactivity and beauty draws much attention, some feel they are unpredictable. They do not attack humans by nature, but will bite and possibly constrict if they feel threatened or mistake a hand for food. While not venomous, large pythons can inflict very serious injuries, sometimes requiring stitches. Those who work with reticulated pythons often cite an unusual level of intelligence and awareness compared to other snakes.

Variations

Several variations of the Reticulated Python are currently being bred in captivity, including the "tiger", "super tiger", "albino" (white, lavender, dark lavender, and purple phase, depending on whether they are truly amelanic or have varying amounts of dilute eumelanin), "albino tiger", "albino super tiger", "genetic stripe", "sunfire", "golden child" (this morph may be soon renamed), "calico", "ivory/white flame", and many others.

Farming

Within the past 20 years, reticulated python farms have grown in many Asian countries, including Indonesia. It is rumored that European settlers introduced them to the region in 1558. Current estimates state that there are roughly 5,400 reticulated python farms throughout Southeast Asia. In countries such as Indonesia, reticulated pythons are said to outnumber humans 15 to 1. Native peoples first gained interest in farming them when they realized the skin could easily be sold for profit in the snake skin industry. Reticulated python skins are popular sources for purses and boots, such as the typical snake skin cowboy boot. Prada has also used reticulated python skins on some of their purses. The meat of these snakes is also considered a delicacy amongst local peoples and sells for as much at 50 USD per kilogram

Footnotes

1. Killed on Sulawesi in 1912: Raven (1946).
2. ''The Guardian'': Captured python said to be world's biggest snake. Version of 2003-DEC-30. Retrieved 2007-SEP-04.
3. ''The Guardian'': Stay still, will you?. Version of 2005-JAN-05. Retrieved 2007-JUL-16.
4. Auliya ''et al.'' (2002)
5. Hoser (2003, 2004)
6. Kopstein (1927)
7. Schmidt in Auliya (2003); see also here for somewhat disturbing photos purportedly documenting this incident.
8. ''Oakland Tribune'': Woman dies, swallowed by python. Version of 2003-NOV-22, archieved at findarticles.com. Retrieved 2007-SEP-04.
9. However, the victim would almost certainly be dead by the time the snake started swallowing.

References

★ (2003): ''Taxonomy, Life History and Conservation of Giant Reptiles in West Kalimantan''. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bonn.

★ (2002): Review of the reticulated python (''Python reticulatus'' Schneider, 1801[''sic'']) with the description of new subspecies from Indonesia. ''Naturwissenschaften'' '89'(5): 201-213. (HTML abstract, electronic supplement available to subscribers)

★ (1998): I serpenti giganti ["The giant snakes"]. ''Criptozoologia'' '4': 16-29. [Article in Italian] HTML fulltext

★ (2005): Predation on Sun Bears by Reticulated Python in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. ''Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'' '53'(1): 165-168. PDF fulltext

★ (2003): A Reclassification of the Pythoninae Including the Descriptions of Two New Genera, Two New Species, and Nine New Subspecies. Part I. ''Crocodilian'' '4'(3): 31-37. HTML fulltext

★ (2004): A Reclassification of the Pythoninae Including the Descriptions of Two New Genera, Two New Species, and Nine New Subspecies. Part II. ''Crocodilian'' '4'(4): 21-40. HTML fulltext

★ (1927): Over het verslinden van menschen door ''Python reticulatus'' ["On the swallowing of humans by ''P. reticulatus''"]. ''Tropische Natuur'' '4': 65–67. [Article in Dutch]

★ (1999): ''Snake''. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-4660-X

★ (1946): Adventures in python country. ''Natural History'' '55': 38-41.

External links

★ General Reticulated python information

★ Information on reticulated pythons from Thomson-Gale Animal Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-SEP-04.

★ Abstract of a study of reticulated python populations in northern Sumatra (Indonesia), and their viability in the face of commercial hunting.

★ Discussion forum on reticulated pythons.