Python curtus brongersmai
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- Common names: Malayan short python, red blood python.
Python curtus brongersmai is non-venomous python subspecies found on the Malay Peninsula.[2]
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[edit] Description
Adults generally grow to 137-182 cm (4.5-6 feet) in length, with females usually a little longer than males, and usually weigh 5.4-9 kg (12-20 lb); much more than other snakes of similar length.
The color pattern consists of rich, bright red to orange to a duller rusty red ground color, although populations with yellow and brown are known. This is overlaid with yellow and tan blotches and stripes that run the length of the body, as well as tan and black spots that extend up the flanks. The belly is white, often with small black markings. The head is usually a shade of grey; individual snakes can change how light and dark the head is. A white postocular stripe runs down and back from the posterior edge of the eye.
[edit] Geographic range
The type locality given is "Singapore, Malay Peninsula."[1]
[edit] Behavior
These are nocturnal snakes, spending most of the day hiding under leaves, logs, and shallow water in the marshy forests they inhabit. They do not actively hunt; rather, they lie in wait for rodents and other small mammals to wander by.
[edit] Reproduction
Oviparous, with up to 30 eggs being laid at a time. The female coil around her eggs and shivers her body, producing heat to incubate the eggs properly.
[edit] Captivity
Once widely considered to be generally unpredictable and aggressive, these snakes are gradually becoming more common among herpetoculturists. Formerly, many of the specimens in captivity were wild-caught adults from Malaysia. These are known to be more aggressive than those from Indonesia (Sumatra), from which most of the wild-caught, wild-bred, and captive-bred stock are now descended. Captive-raised juveniles generally become mild-tempered, somewhat-predictable adults. This, combined with several new brightly-colored captive bloodlines, is helping to boost the popularity of these much-maligned snakes among reptile hobbyists.
[edit] Taxonomy
Elevated to a full species by Pauwels et al. (2000).[3]
[edit] See also
- List of pythonid species and subspecies.
- Pythonidae by common name.
- Pythonidae by taxonomic synonyms.
[edit] References
- ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- ^ Python curtus brongersmai (TSN 635074). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 12 September 2007.
- ^ Python brongersmai at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 15 September 2007.
[edit] Further reading
- Barker, Dave and Tracy (November 2007). "Blood Pythons," Reptiles Magazine. Bowtie Publishing.
