The Reticulated Python, the largest snake in the world

There is one type of snake found in Borneo which is not venomous but has something more lethal, the hug of death. It can grow so long you can imagine. There have been confir

med reports of 30 feet individuals and in the past have eaten human being. It is the world’s longest snake yet it is one of the most elusive snakes. However, they are commonly caught in urban areas especially for people who are rearing chickens, but in the wild, due to its’ camouflage ability, it is rarely seen.  This creature is known as the Reticulated Python.

This snake is the largest species of python living today.  Some people believe that the giant South American water boa, known as the anaconda may grow larger or heavier, but the longest snakes that are found in the wild or that are living in a zoo today are reticulated pythons.

Reticulated python hatch from eggs.  Very large females may lay over 100 eggs at a time. The eggs are white and have a soft, leathery shell. Female pythons usually wrap their powerful bodies around their eggs until they are ready to hatch.  This behavior is known as brooding and it prevents the eggs from getting too warm or too cool.  The eggs need to remain close to 89 degrees Fahrenheit during the incubation period, which lasts about eighty-five days. The young pythons emerge by cutting a slit in the eggshell with their egg tooth.

Once free from the egg, they are on their own. They must use their coloration and reticulated pattern to hide from predators and to hunt for food. Some of the hatchling pythons get eaten by other animals such as hawks, wild pigs, cobras and monitor lizards.  The hatchling pythons are 26 to 35 inches long and weigh only 4 to 5 ounces. From the time they hatch these snakes are also predators and they can kill and eat small mice, rats, lizards and frogs.

Like all snakes, pythons have sharp teeth that are curved towards the back of their mouth. They use their 100 teeth to capture their prey by biting. Their curved teeth hold onto their prey and they kill the animals they catch by performing the ‘hug of death’ where they wrap and squeeze their victims. The animal is quickly unable to breath and its heart may be unable to pump blood.  Pythons can kill their prey in minutes and they swallow their food whole.  The entire animal is digested in the snake’s stomach except for fur or feathers, which are passed along with the snakes’ waste.

Other than that, reticulated pythons live in tropical forests on the continent of Asia. Their range extends from Myanmar and India, across Southeast Asia and on many of the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia. They are at home on the ground, in caves or in trees and they have adapted to living in towns and cities where they hunt chickens, ducks, rats and domestic cats, dogs and pigs. Large reticulated pythons have eaten monkeys, wild boar, deer and even people. There are not many cases of these pythons capturing and eating people, but it has been reported even in recent years.

However, in Brunei Darussalam,  we have received calls to rescue these pythons from people’s homes, usually after snatching their chickens. Once, Miss Iffah form Beribi called us to get a 14- foot python from her house. Then, there is also that time when Cikgu Qawi,  a school teacher from Tutong who caught a snake at his school. In addition, The Fire Department of Brunei ‘ Bomba’ gets almost daily calls to get these pythons removed and we are proud to say that they always release them back in to the wild in a new location. They have caught some of the biggest snakes of records and they are true heroes of giving these pythons a new chance in life.

The kingdom of Brunei has amazing wildlife, The Retic python is just one of them.