Rock Pythons

Today I want to write about one of the coolest snakes in the world, the African rock python.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These huge snakes are the largest in Africa and one of the largest in the world, regularly growing over 6 metres long.
2. Like other pythons, African rock pythons are not venomous, but use their enormous strength to catch and constrict their prey. They catch a wide range of prey, including large rodents, monkeys, warthogs, antelopes, bats, monitor lizards, dogs, goats and even small crocodiles, wrapping their coils around them and squeezing tighter every time the prey breathes out until they can’t fill their lungs with air any more. They don’t have fangs, but have small teeth all around their mouth and their very flexible jaws enable them to swallow their prey whole.
3. If their meal is big enough, they can go a whole year before they need to eat again.
4. At breeding times, females lay up to 100 eggs. They also incubate the eggs, warming themselves in the sun and then wrapping themselves around the eggs to keep them warm. The babies are about 50-60 cm long when they hatch.
5. African rock pythons live near water in forests and grassland throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are not considered endangered, although they are often hunted by people.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.