ovies like Anaconda have may people believing that there are an abundance of giant snakes measuring well over 20m in length, and that many people are killed by them. The longest venomous snake in the world is the Reticulated python from Asia, and that reaches close on 8m in length, while the bulkiest snake is the Green Anaconda. It rarely reaches a length of 6,5 m.
People often speak of the African Rock Python but that refers to an East African Python (Python sebae). The Southern African Python (Python natalensis) used to be a subspecies of Python sebae but was elevated to full species status many years ago. Our python inhabits bushveld regions and does not favour rocks. While the literature mentions a maximum length of close on 6m, such large individuals are exceptionally rare, and in all my years of working with snakes in Southern Africa, I have never encountered a Southern African Python of over 5m in length.
Python attacks in Southern Africa are very rare, and on the odd occasion when a python does bite someone, it is always quick to release and move off, leaving teeth punctures that bleed profusely. The Southern African Python has around 84 sharp recurved teeth, and in cases where snake handlers get a good bite and pull the snake off, they often need to be stitched up. Fatal bites are unheard of, and the last recorded fatal python attack in South Africa was back in the 70’s, when a young man who was looking after cattle was attached and the snake coiled around him. His friend ran off to call for help and by the time they returned 20 minutes later, the young man had died.
Pythons are ambush hunters – they find a good spot where mammals and other warm-blooded prey pass by and hide in dense vegetation or grass where they wait patiently for a meal. This could take days or even weeks. When a prey animal like a monkey, large bird or small antelope passes within striking distance, the snake latches out, grabs its meal with its recurved teeth and quickly throws a few coils around it. The animal is not crushed nor is it slowly suffocated. The tight coils prevent the heart from functioning and death is quite quick. Bones are seldom broken in this process. This is also the only snake in South Africa that has heat sensors on the upper lip. It is like infra-red vision and enables the snake to detect warm-blooded prey in pitch darkness.
Prey is swallowed whole and head-first. If it is an antelope with horns, the antelope is swallowed head-first and the head is not left to rot off, as is often believed. Once a large meal is consumed the snake will move off to some dense bush where it will remain for a week or two while the meal is digested. If disturbed, it usually regurgitates its meal, and this could be problematic when an antelope with sharp horns was swallowed. Should you ever be fortunate enough to come across a python swallowing an antelope or any other large meal, remain at least 50m away, otherwise the snake may regurgitate its meal. Horns, hoofs, and hair is not digested but passed out with faecal matter.
Females get much bulkier and longer than males, and mating takes place in winter or early spring. A large female will lay 30-60 (or more than one hundred eggs) every year or two. The eggs are roughly the size of a tennis ball and are soft and leathery. Upon laying the female python loses more than a third of her body mass, and she then remains coiled around her eggs for the next three months.
Females with eggs go very dark in colour as they bask during the day and then share the heat with their eggs. Pythons favour aardvark holes and may return to the same hole year after year to lay their eggs. When the young are fully developed, they cut the shell from the inside with an egg tooth, that is situated in the front of the premaxillary bone, stick the head out of the egg and shed the egg tooth, and then absorb as much yolk as possible to keep them alive for the first few weeks while they seek their first meal. Hatchling pythons measure 50-70cm in length, and may remain with the female for a few days before they move off to find suitable habitat with sufficient food. Female snakes do not look after their babies.
The Southern African Python in a protected species in all provinces – it is usually protected by provincial laws, but is also covered by the Threatened or Protected Species Act. It is not endangered or threatened in any way, and is locally abundant, but many individuals are killed while crossing roads and sold to traditional healers.
