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The largest snakes in the world: anaconda, reticulated and tiger pythons. Dark tiger python

The nursery rhyme about Robin the Bobbin, which was eaten by forty people, ceases to be funny and absurd when it comes to ... pythons. Scientists in Florida were shocked by what they found after the autopsy of a Burmese python in its stomach.

A new study, published in the journal BioInvasion Records, records a case of rather unusual and rare snake behavior. A female Burmese python ate three white-tailed deer within 87 days. She set a kind of gluttony record. Native to Southeast Asia, this aggressive specimen was captured (and subsequently euthanized) by scientists at the Florida Everglades in 2013.

Snakes are part of the ecosystem of the whole world and know how to penetrate into the most inaccessible places. In southern Florida, the Burmese python has made its way through thousands of square kilometers, including the territory of the Everglades National Park.
The presence of pythons in the Everglades has marked a marked decline in the numbers of medium and large animals, including deer, rabbits, lynxes and raccoons.
When scientists found this specimen, its length was 4.32 m, weight - 48.3 kg. A subsequent autopsy revealed a huge amount of feces in the snake's colon, which was 79 cm long and weighed 6.5 kg. Examination of the undigested mass of bones, teeth, and hooves inside the python showed that the snake ate three white-tailed deer. Incredibly, each of the deer represented 93%, 35% and 27% of the python's mass. Obviously, the small "lobes" are cubs, which are approximately 14 to 30 days old. The python hid in the water, capturing the deer when they came to the watering hole.

“This is the first known autopsy of a Burmese python, whose intestines contained the remains of several white-tailed deer,” the researchers commented. “Even the largest snakes in southern Florida are not capable of consuming medium-sized mammals. Consequently, pythons brought here from other territories pose a new threat to the white-tailed deer population in their habitats.
Eating three deer in three months indicates the snake's impressive metabolism. A mammal of roughly the same mass will not survive eating three times every three months. However, even with such a small sequence of meals, predatory snakes are clearly disrupting the ecosystem of Florida.
Snakes are a particularly successful group of "invasive species" because of their slow metabolism, low energy requirement, variety of species eaten, and high reproductive potential.
Indeed, a wonderful specimen with three deer in its intestines perfectly demonstrates this. As the authors of the article write, “the significant amount of energy received during the consumption of deer clearly contributed to the deposition of large amounts of fat and the development of follicles found inside the female python, which the snake needs to move to a high growth rate and ensure reproductive success - the most important components of implementation in any new ecosystem ".

How often do Burmese pythons eat? and got the best answer

Reply from *** T @ chian @ *** [guru]

Interestingly, with such an "uncomfortable" diet, the python digests its food quickly enough. Otherwise, having in the digestive tract, for example, a swallowed calf, the snake naturally becomes extremely clumsy and can easily become someone's prey.

Answer from Victoria[guru]
He often hunts animals that come to drink. In addition to ungulates, monkeys and rodents, it attacks small crocodiles, monitor lizards, agamas and other reptiles.
Burmese pythons - some of the largest snakes in the world - reach eight meters in length and weigh up to 180 kilograms. As a rule, these snakes are shy of people. They are considered quite dangerous, as they can, curled up around a person, easily crush him to death.
Quite recently, it was reported that the USA of the Python, who tried to digest a two-meter alligator, tore it in half. Today it is known about a new episode of the Burmese python, which was found to have a suspicious bulge on the body. In the American state of Florida, a Burmese python with a suspicious bulge in its living was subjected to an x-ray examination, which showed that the reptile ate a Siam cat. Just before Sunday, the Rodriguez family discovered a 3.5-meter python in the forest of their year in Miami. A large convexity was observed in the digestive tract of the nasal mucus. Since the seven-year-old Siamese cat named Frances was gone for a long time, the Rodriguez suspected the worst. “I'm sure I'm not inside the cat,” said Andres, one of the sons. His mother, Elidia, also had suspicions, but she said she needed to be sure. “I always want to know that you’re living with the mind and name,” the woman said. The found python was taken to the customer, where we did an X-ray examination, which determined that we had eaten the python ourselves. “X-rays showed that the bulge in the stomach of the python is the cat that it ate,” said veterinarian William Chavez.

Answer from Cover Vladimir[guru]
Three subspecies of these reptiles are known: this is the Indian light tiger python Python molurus molurus, a medium-sized snake, usually not exceeding 4 meters, but six-meter specimens are also known. Distributed in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. The coloration of this subspecies is lighter than the other two. Due to the intensive development of natural habitats, the range of the Indian python has sharply decreased. Currently, pythons are found in protected and national parks in the south and southeast of India. The Indian light brindle python is protected by law, included in the national and international Red Data Books, and in the first appendix of CITES lists. It is bred in captivity, but is extremely rare in amateur terrariums.
Ceylon Tiger Python - Python m. pimbura is the smallest of the tiger pythons. Usually its length does not exceed 2 - 3 meters. Outwardly, it looks like a light tiger python, with which it was previously combined into one subspecies. It differs from the Indian python in addition to size and head shape. Python m. pimbura is an endemic of the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), inhabiting the few forests and jungles preserved in their original form. It is included in the national and international Red Data Books, and in the second appendix of CITES lists. Due to its small size, for lovers of a terrarium, a desirable species for keeping, but quite expensive and rare, is bred in captivity.
And finally, the Dark Tiger Python - P. m. bivittatus is the largest, brightest and most common python from this group in the collections of zoos and terrariumists. Colored darker than other subspecies (hence the name), inhabits mountain rain forests (it is he who is called "mountain Burmese python") of southern China, Vietnam, Cambodia, North Thailand, Laos, Burma. In the mountains rises up to 1800 m above sea level. Reaches a length of up to 7 m, but in a terrarium it is usually about 4-5 m, and some of its morphs are even less. P. m. bivittatus is included in the second appendix of CITES lists. At the present time, there are many morphs and color variations of this python in the world.
Young pythons are fed 1 time in 7-10 days, adults 1 time in 10-20 days, corresponding in size to food items: mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, poultry. Usually, pythons are not picky about food and absorb any food of suitable size supplied to them, although sometimes there are exceptions specializing in one food preference, for example, a bird, so when purchasing an animal, you need to inquire about its taste preferences. Sometimes adolescent pythons and adult animals can refuse food and starve for 1-6 months without harm to health. This is due to the imitation of natural seasonality, wintering, skin change, sexual behavior, etc.

Answer from Igor pavlov[guru]
Burmese pythons can eat only a few times a year, digesting their prey without a trace. According to research by biologist Robert K. Pope of Indiana University South Bend and his colleague Jean-Hervé Lignot of Université Louis Pasteur, the secret natural "talent" - in a special type of cells, previously unknown to science.
The digestive features of Burmese pythons are truly amazing. These animals manage to absorb food weighing twice their weight in one sitting. In addition, they rarely eat.
Interestingly, with such an "uncomfortable" diet, the python digests its food quickly enough. Otherwise, having in the digestive tract, for example, a swallowed calf, the snake naturally becomes extremely clumsy and can easily become someone's prey.
The mechanical basis of this process lies in the ability of the internal organs of the python to stretch. But for a long time it was not clear how the assimilation takes place - after all, the Burmese python somehow digests food completely (with the exception, perhaps, of feathers and down).
As Pope and Ligno discovered, this digestion is facilitated by a special type of cells, which they called trap cells. These cells are shaped like depressions in the intestinal walls. During digestion, they come into contact with food, and the microvilli of neighboring cells "catch" its particles, placing them inside the trap cell.
In these cells, bone particles accumulate, which are then subjected to further splitting.
According to Pope, the main "job" of trap cells is to help absorb as much calcium as possible.
Researchers claim that cells of this type are not found in other living beings. !!!

Abstract on the topic:

Plan:

1 Description
- 1.1 Appearance
- 1.2 Spreading
- 1.3 Lifestyle
- 1.4 Power
- 1.5 Reproduction
2 Conservation status
3 Meaning for a person
4 Keeping in captivity
5 Invasive view

Introduction

Or Burmese python(lat. Python molurus bivittatus) is one of the subspecies of the brindle python.

1. Description

1.1. Appearance

The dark brindle python is the largest of the brindle python subspecies. It can reach a length of 8 m or more, but usually there are individuals about 5-5.5 m long and weighing about 70 kg. The record specimen reached a length of 9.15 m. This subspecies also included the heaviest snake kept in captivity - a tiger python named "Baby" (eng. Baby), who lived in the Snake Safari Park in Illinois (USA) and in 2005 weighed 183 kg with a length of 8.2 m. Females are usually larger and more massive than males.

Differs from light brindle python ( Python molurus molurus) by the following signs:

lack of light "eyes" in the centers of the spots located on the sides of the body;
a well-defined diamond-shaped spot on the head;
usually darker in color, dominated by dark brown, olive brown, brownish tones.

1.2. Spreading

The most widespread subspecies of the brindle python. Lives in Burma, East India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, southern China (including the island of Hainan), Malaysia, Indochina. It is absent in Borneo and Sumatra, but it is found in Java, Sulawesi and on some small islands in Indonesia.

The dark brindle python is unintentionally introduced to the state of Florida (USA).

1.3. Lifestyle

Tiger pythons live in tropical rainforests, jungles with open glades, swamps, rocky foothills, river valleys. They prefer to settle near permanent water bodies. Pythons swim and dive well, they are able to stay under water for up to half an hour. Young individuals climb trees well, but adult pythons, due to their large mass, prefer to lead a mostly terrestrial lifestyle. Sometimes pythons are found near human settlements, where they are attracted by the abundance of synanthropic rodents.

Pythons are active mainly at night.

In the northern part of its range, the dark tiger python can be dormant for several cold months of the year. At the same time, snakes are inactive, stop feeding and hide in empty tree trunks, holes or caves. This semblance of hibernation helps prepare the reproductive organs (both males and females) for the upcoming breeding season.

1.4. Nutrition

Tiger pythons, like all snakes, are predators and feed on various mammals and birds. Various rodents (including porcupines), monkeys, civets, waterfowl and chicken birds, pigeons, and sometimes large lizards (for example, monitor lizards) become prey for pythons. They can attack pets and birds. Large individuals are capable of killing and swallowing prey such as young or small deer, goats and pigs. There are known cases of attacks by large pythons on leopards and jackals.

The animals serving them as food are detected by pythons mainly by smell and by thermal radiation with the help of thermal radar pits located on the upper lip plates. They hunt from an ambush. The prey is seized by the teeth and killed by suffocating in the rings of the body. Pythons are able to swallow very large prey, but they can starve for a long time.

1.5. Reproduction

Tiger pythons can mate in early spring (March-April). Both the male and the female have small claws on the sides of the anus - the so-called anal spurs (rudiments of the hind limbs). In the male, the anal spurs are larger; when mating, he scratches the female with them and rubs against her body. Copulation lasts several hours. In June, 60-155 days after mating, females lay eggs. The clutch size of the tiger python is on average 12-36 eggs, but much larger clutches are also known. The number of eggs laid depends on the size and health of the female. The female remains close to the clutch for 55-85 days, curling around it. Female pythons are able to independently warm the clutch, increasing the temperature inside the rings of their body by several degrees due to muscle contractions. Juveniles hatch in August. Baby pythons often remain inside the eggs for some time. Young snakes begin to feed after the first molt.

2. Conservation status

The dark brindle python is listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention on International Trade.

3. Significance to humans

In Southeast Asia, tiger python meat is eaten by the local population. Various items of clothing and footwear are made from the skin of large pythons.

Locals often keep tiger pythons in their homes for superstitious reasons, as well as to get rid of rats and mice.

Beautiful coloration, relatively calm and non-aggressive nature made the dark brindle python one of the most popular snakes kept in captivity. They are kept in many zoos and circuses. Despite its large size, this python can often be seen in exotic animal lovers' terrariums.

4. Keeping in captivity

Dark tiger python in the terrarium

For keeping tiger pythons, spacious terrariums horizontal type with good ventilation... As litter use sawdust, synthetic rugs or paper. Required large pool in which the python could swim. This is especially important for the snake to moult correctly. To give the animals the opportunity to climb, you can install thick and strong driftwood, tree branches in the terrarium or attach shelves to the walls of the terrarium. Plants are not placed in terrariums with pythons, as large, heavy snakes break them quickly. Temperature in a warm corner of the terrarium during the day - up to 30-32 ° С, at night - 24-26 ° С. To maintain the desired temperature, use special thermal cords and thermal mats... To maintain high humidity, the terrarium and snake are regularly sprayed with warm water.

Albino dark tiger python

Feed tiger pythons, depending on their size, feed rodents (mice, hamsters, rats), rabbits, guinea pigs, quails, chickens, adults, sometimes pigs. Cases of pythons attacking leopards and jackals are known. Young snakes are fed once a week, adults - no more than once every 8-10 days. It is important not to overfeed pythons, as they can eat a lot and rarely refuse food, but at the same time they are prone to obesity and often it leads to the death of the animal.

Tiger pythons breed well in captivity. Through selection, it was possible to breed and fix several color morphs of the tiger python, of which albino pythons are especially popular with terrariumists. In captivity, hybrids of dark tiger python with reticulated ( Python reticulatus), royal ( Python regius) and hieroglyphs ( Python sebae) pythons.

These snakes are characterized by fast growth rates, and often reach a length of more than 2 m at the age of one year, if they are properly looked after and well fed. At the age of 2.5-4 years, they become sexually mature (although a case of pregnancy of a female at the age of 1.5 years is known), but continue to grow slowly throughout life. The maximum lifespan of a tiger python in captivity is 25 years.

Despite the usually peaceful behavior and calm nature, even tiger pythons kept in captivity for a long time, if mistreated, can pose a certain danger to humans. The bites of small pythons are very painful, and a large snake can seriously injure or even kill a person by strangling it in the rings of the body. Most often, the python attacks the owner when the second forgets to wash his hands after the rabbit or other food animal, and since the sense of smell in pythons is very well developed, the snake, without hesitation, "attacks" the hand.

5. Invasive view

Distribution of the tiger python in the USA

Alligator caught a tiger python

The popularity of the dark brindle python as a pet in the United States has led to some unusual and rather serious problems. People who were tired of their pythons and those who could not keep the snakes that had grown too big, got rid of them, releasing them into the wild. This problem has become especially large in the state of Florida, where a large number of pythons released by former owners settled in the Everglades National Park. Thanks to the warm and humid climate of the southern state, they took root there well, began to multiply and became a harmful invasive species. In the Everglades, tiger pythons compete with Mississippi alligators for the dominant predator niche, with pythons sometimes attacking and eating alligators, and sometimes vice versa. As tiger pythons feed on rare and endangered birds and alligators, these snakes pose a new threat to the national park's fragile ecosystem.

The nursery rhyme about Robin-Bobbin, which was eaten by forty people, ceases to be funny and absurd when it comes to ... pythons. Scientists in Florida were shocked by what they found after the autopsy of a Burmese python in its stomach.

Snakes are part of the ecosystem of the whole world and know how to penetrate into the most inaccessible places. In southern Florida, the Burmese python has made its way through thousands of square kilometers, including the territory of the Everglades National Park.

The presence of pythons in the Everglades has marked a marked decline in the numbers of medium and large animals, including deer, rabbits, lynxes and raccoons.

When scientists found this individual, its length was 4.32 m, weight - 48.3 kg. A subsequent autopsy revealed a huge amount of feces in the snake's colon, which was 79 cm long and weighed 6.5 kg. Examination of the undigested mass of bones, teeth, and hooves inside the python showed that the snake ate three white-tailed deer. Incredibly, each of the deer represented 93%, 35% and 27% of the python's mass. Obviously, the small “lobes” are calves, which are approximately 14 to 30 days old. The python hid in the water, capturing the deer when they came to the watering hole.

This is the first known autopsy of a Burmese python, whose intestines contained the remains of several white-tailed deer, the researchers commented. “Even the largest snakes in southern Florida are incapable of consuming medium-sized mammals. Consequently, pythons brought here from other territories pose a new threat to the white-tailed deer population in their habitats.

Eating three deer in three months indicates the snake's impressive metabolism. A mammal of roughly the same mass will not survive eating three times every three months. However, even with such a small sequence of meals, predatory snakes are clearly disrupting the ecosystem of Florida.

Snakes are a particularly successful group of "invasive species" because of their slow metabolism, low energy requirement, variety of species eaten, and high reproductive potential.

Indeed, a wonderful specimen with three deer in its intestines perfectly demonstrates this. As the authors of the article write, “the significant amount of energy received during the consumption of deer clearly contributed to the deposition of large amounts of fat and the development of follicles found inside the female python, which the snake needs to move to a high growth rate and ensure reproductive success - the most important components of implementation in any new ecosystem ”.

For many centuries, snakes have caused the most contradictory feelings in people: some adored them and considered them a symbol of wisdom, healing, renewal and resurrection. Others considered a creature that belongs to the other world and is in the service of the dark forces. It was fear that gave rise to many myths and legends, including those about their size, strength, bloodthirstiness and gluttony. Prostozoo will tell you which snake is the largest in the world.

There are many legends and stories about huge snakes, usually cannibals, the length of which reached 30 meters, in the girth they were like a huge tree, and when they crawled through the forest or planting, young trees broke. However, in fact, such giants did not exist in the entire history of the animal world. According to the latest archaeological finds, as well as research from the Smithsonian Museum and Research Center, the largest and longest snake in the world - Titanoboa - lived 60 million years ago and replaced the extinct dinosaurs. Its length was more than 15 meters and it weighed more than a ton.

Photo source: http://techno.bigmir.net

Modern snakes are somewhat smaller in comparison with their ancestors, but they are often impressive in their size. The real leaders are the reticulated python, giant (green), Burmese or dark brindle python.

All three species belong to the same family - false-legged. Their main feature is the presence of rudiments of the hind limbs. Powerful musculature allows snakes to kill prey by suffocation, while the bones of the victim do not break, as previously thought. The snake could itself suffer from the broken bone of the prey, so it only squeezes harder when the animal exhales, in which case inhalation is almost impossible. The color of the snakes of this family is very diverse, but even if it is variegated, it still allows the snake to merge with the environment on earth.

Reticulated python

Python got its name from its design, which resembles a fishing net thrown over snake skin.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

This is the main contender for the title of the largest snake of our time - according to official data, the record length is 12 m 20 cm.On average, the length of a reticulated python rarely exceeds 8-9 m.The main reason for its impressive size is favorable conditions for growth - temperature, humidity, dense green trees, a huge variety of food: birds, mammals, eggs, fish and even crocodiles.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

The main habitat of reticulated pythons is in Southeast Asia: Southern Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the islands of Indonesia and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

You can meet them both among the branches of trees in tropical forests and woodlands, where they sleep or wait for prey above the animal path, and on the slopes of mountains and glades, because they mainly lead a terrestrial lifestyle. Asian reticulated pythons are excellent swimmers, so they can often be seen near water bodies and even in the open sea, where they hunt fish or wait for prey near a watering hole.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

Pythons are not uncommon guests in the settlements of local residents, because there is a lot of food, for which you hardly need to hunt - livestock, rodents.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

Reticulated pythons are not afraid of humans, however, they are in no hurry to attack - only two cases of cannibalism are known, when a 13-year-old boy and an adult man - the expedition guide - were killed.

Giant anaconda

For the first time about the giant anaconda, also known as the water boa, Pedro de Cieza de Leon told in his book "The Chronicles of Peru" in 1553.

The anaconda is a serious competitor to the reticulated python, the length of the largest member of this subfamily is 11.43 m. However, even with a shorter length, the anaconda significantly exceeds its rival in weight.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

There are practically no fundamental differences between the anaconda and the reticulated python.

The "water boa" spends most of its life, naturally, in the water, crawling out only occasionally on land to bask in the sun. Inhabits the lowlands of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, mainly in stagnant water, oxbows and lakes. If suddenly her body of water dries up, then she either goes downstream in search of a new refuge, or digs deep into the silt and falls into a deep sleep until the water returns with the onset of the rainy season. It can often be found in Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, northern Bolivia, northeastern Peru, and even on the island of Trinidad.

Photo source: http://upload.wikimedia.org

Contrary to legends, anacondas are not poisonous, the snake strangles its prey and pulls it under the water. An adult has practically no enemies, even a case is known when an anaconda feasted on a young 3-meter python, but young snakes can get on the tooth of a crocodile or other predator.

Despite the reputation that myths and legends have created anaconda, as well as cinematography, this snake not only does not attack people, but even tries to hide away, having caught a human scent. Unfortunately, due to the peculiarities and inaccessibility of habitats, representatives of this subfamily of pseudopods have been little studied by scientists.

Dark brindle(Burmese) python

The dark tiger python is the third largest snake on the planet, the longest representative was more than 9 m in length and weighed almost 100 kg.

Photo source: http://globuslife.ru

These snakes usually lead a terrestrial life due to their significant mass with a relatively short length, although they swim and dive well, and young pythons are wonderful at climbing trees.

Pythons live in tropical forests, swamps, river valleys of Myanmar, East India, Nepal, Cambodia, southern China, as well as on the islands of Hainan, Java, Sulawesi and some islands of Indonesia. Like all other large snakes, Burmese pythons are predators, but they are one of the few who can afford to hunt jaguars and jackals, which can offer serious resistance even to anaconda.

Photo source: http://animal.discovery.com

In the twentieth century, dark tiger pythons were very popular in the United States as a pet, but pets grew up, and few of the owners could keep an 8-meter snake. They were released outside the settlements, and after a few years, Burmese pythons became part of the fauna of the Everglades National Park in Florida, where there were the most such pets. Today, pythons are fighting a deadly war for survival with alligators living in the park, but herbivores, which are hunted by both sworn enemies, suffer primarily from this. Thus, due to human shortsightedness, some animals living in the park were on the verge of extinction.

Photo source: http://upload.wikimedia.org

Snakes and people

Recently, keeping exotic animals at home has become very popular. Quite often, in the homes of wealthy people, you can see a terrarium where a huge reticulated or tiger python lives. As a rule, snakes behave calmly, without showing aggression towards their owners, but you should never forget that this is still a wild animal, and therefore safety rules must be strictly observed. For example, remember that you can only touch the snake after you wash your hands thoroughly, otherwise, smelling the smell of food, the python will rush to your hand.

Photo source: http://ianimal.ru

Despite their frightening size and strength, both anaconda and pythons themselves most often become human prey - in their habitats, snake meat is considered almost an everyday dish among local tribes. The islanders sincerely believe that by eating the meat of this huge snake, they receive not only a particle of its strength, but also a little ancient wisdom, and most importantly - protection from its relatives. However, if the natives kill snakes solely for food, then the "civilized" snake catchers do this, first of all, for the sake of snake skins, which are widely used in haberdashery. Today, many countries have already introduced restrictions on the amount of exported snake skins.

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