Blood Python (Python Curtus)
General Info :
Most of the beautifully patterned and colored blood pythons exported from Sumatra leave that country as
skins , not as pets . Each year some 60.000 of the darker morphs are turned into shoes , boots , belts ,
purses , and clothing . Several hundred of the brighter red morphs , the ones for whom the common name
'blood' was coined , are exported annually for the pet trade .
Appearance :
A short , fat python with complicated and variable markings . The back is brown , with lighter and darker blotches . The flanks are tan with pale grey blotches . In some forms , the brown is replaced with blood red . It has large heat pits .
Sizes :
To 2m usually less
Range & Habitat :
South-east Asia (Malaysian peninsula , Borneo , Sumatra) . Tropical forests .
Food :
Mammals , including bats , wallabies and other small marsupials , and birds . Young also eat lizards .
Breeding :
Egg-laying , with clutches of up to about 20 eggs which the female broods .
My Notes :
The important thing to remember when providing caging for a blood python , or indeed any short-tailed python
, is to be guided by the animal's weight , not its comparatively small size . The cage needs to be as big as it
would be for a thinner-bodied python of an equal weight . Make sure that the cage is long enough for your
short-tailed python to stretch out almost its full lenght , and broad enough so it can turn around . Being
able to strech out seems to help avoid the respiratory infections that are chronic problems with blood pythons . |
