African rock python (Python sebae sebae)
The African rock python likes to be near water and the edges of forests.
Like all snakes, pythons are cold-blooded; they are the same temperature as the environment.
They continue to grow all their lives, getting bigger and bigger each year.
At 9 meters in length and with a weight of up to 110 kg it is the third largest snake in the world.
They look like they would be slimy, but they are dry and smooth to the touch.Like all snakes, the African rock python moves by slithering its body over the ground.
All pythons kill by constricting their prey.
The African rock python can live for up to a year without food if the animal it eats is big enough to sustain it. Starch ligaments hold the jaw together, which stretches out like a rubber band allowing it to eat prey as big as an antelope.
Small teeth surround its jaw.
The teeth are used to hold prey as the python coils its body around it.
The African rock python is dependent on water and becomes dormant during the dry season.
It can lay up to 100 eggs.
Their mother incubates them for 2-3 months and aggressively defends her eggs.
The hatchlings are 40-60 cm in length.
The newly hatched pythons have brighter colors than their parents.
They live up to 30 years.
This animal lives alone and hunts alone.
The python stops eating during their dormant period.
When the snake is small, predators, such as monitor lizards, crocodiles, birds of prey, cats, and pigs hunt the python.
It's funny that when this snake is all grown up, it hunts these animals for food.
It has few predators as an adult, except for man, it is killed for its beautiful skin, meat, and fat (used in tribal medicines).
Other predators include crocodiles, badgers, and mongooses.
The African pythons eat crocodiles, pigs, goats, birds, gazelles, and cats.
They don't chew their food but have strong acids in their stomach that digests their food well.
Normally they eat small animals but if hungry enough they will eat very large animals.
Farmers think the rock python is useful because they eat large cane rats.
The African python is not endangered but it is on CITES App ll and listed as vulnerable.
This means you need a special permit to capture it.
The rock python is killed for its skin and meat.
Rock python's skin is made into hand bags and shoes.Source.
: The photos from our trip! Overhere! Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c