Burmese Python (thing)

These reptiles are brown in color, marked with a network of broad cream to buff bands bordered with black. There is a complete dark arrow on top of the head.

Found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indo-China, and western Indonesia, the Burmese or Indian Python prefers forested areas, particularly near water and rocky escarpments. Mainly nocturnal, they climb and swim well and often submerge in water. Becoming remarkably tame in captivity, they are perhaps the most popular of the larger boids.

A young specimen can be kept in a small terrarium, but it will soon outgrow this. Unless you have space for a larger terraria, you should not start with this species (unless you decide to allow your python to have free range in your home, as I do). Females and males should be kept separately outside the breeding season. Feed small specimens on mice/rats, larger ones on rabbits/chickens.

This species probably breeds more readily in captivity than any other boid. The female lays 25-60 eggs and coils around them for incubation. The best results occur if the female is allowed to brood naturally rather than attempting artificial incubation. The young, each about 70cm (28in) in length, hatch in about 60 days. Albino and pied specimens are becoming quite common, and some experts are entering into the realm of reptilian color breeding with this species.