Python Pictures

Macabre Python Pictures

Good python pictures showing the snake devouring it's meal are pretty rare but the photo above shows exactly how this reptile goes about it.

The African Rock Python is the largest snake to be found on that continent and they can grow to be up to 5.4 metres (18 feet) in length.

Its diet consists of monkeys, pigs, deer, small apes, birds, and other animals. They have even been known to eat small crocodiles. After eating a large animal, the snake needs no food for a long time, and may rest for weeks. In this engorged state, it is most vulnerable to attack by predators.

They don't chew their food at all. They swallow it whole as the python photos show and then rely on their powerful stomach acids to do the job of digesting.

The female lays 30 - 50 large, almost spherical eggs and coils around her clutch to protect them, but does not incubate them by shivering. The young hatch in 65 - 80 days.

They are found south of the Sahara desert often near grasslands and water.

They are not dangerous to man being non-venomous but they can inflict a nasty bite if threatened.