Snake family · Pythons
Pythonidae
Old-World egg-laying constrictors, including the longest snakes on Earth.
About the Pythonidae family
Pythons are non-venomous constrictors that, unlike boas, lay eggs and often coil around them to incubate. The family includes the reticulated python (the world's longest snake), the Burmese python, the popular ball python, and Australia's carpet pythons.
- Where they live
- Africa, Asia, and Australia. Burmese pythons are also an invasive species in southern Florida.
- How to recognize one
- Large and heavy-bodied with blotched or banded patterns, smooth scales, and heat-sensing pits along the lips. No rattle or fangs.
- Danger to people
- Non-venomous. Only the very largest species could be a physical danger, and bites are defensive, not venomous.
Species (36)
African Rock PythonPython sebaeHarmless
Amethyst PythonSimalia amethistinaHarmless
Anchieta's Dwarf PythonPython anchietaeHarmless
Australian Scrub PythonSimalia kinghorniHarmless
Ball PythonPython regiusHarmless
Bismarck Ringed PythonBothrochilus boaHarmless
Black-headed PythonAspidites melanocephalusHarmless
Bornean Short PythonPython breitensteiniHarmless
Burmese PythonPython bivittatusHarmless
Carpet PythonMorelia spilotaHarmless
Centralian Carpet PythonMorelia bredliHarmless
Children's PythonAntaresia childreniHarmless
Halmahera PythonSimalia tracyaeHarmless
Indian PythonPython molurusHarmless
Irian PythonApodora papuanaHarmless
Macklot's PythonLiasis macklotiHarmless
Malaysian Blood PythonPython brongersmaiHarmless
Mollucan PythonSimalia clastolepisHarmless
Northern Green PythonMorelia azureaHarmless
Northern White-lipped PythonLeiopython albertisiiHarmless
Oenpelli Rock PythonNyctophilopython oenpelliensisHarmless
Olive PythonLiasis olivaceusHarmless
Papuan Spotted PythonAntaresia papuensisHarmless
Pygmy PythonAntaresia perthensisHarmless
Reticulated PythonMalayopython reticulatusHarmless
Rough-scaled PythonMorelia carinataHarmless
Southern African PythonPython natalensisHarmless
Southern Green PythonMorelia viridisHarmless
Southern White-lipped PythonLeiopython fredparkeriHarmless
Southwestern Carpet PythonMorelia imbricataHarmless
Spotted PythonAntaresia maculosaHarmless
Sumatran Short-tailed PythonPython curtusHarmless
Tanimbar PythonSimalia nautaHarmless
Timor PythonMalayopython timoriensisHarmless
Water PythonLiasis fuscusHarmless
Woma PythonAspidites ramsayiHarmless
Genera in the Pythonidae family
8 genera with two or more species. Open one to read about the group and browse all its snakes.
Keep learning
- What Is a Snake? Anatomy and the BasicsA clear overview of what makes a snake a snake: limbless body plan, anatomy, evolution from lizards, species diversity, and why they are ectothermic.
- How Snakes Move, Hunt, and EatHow snakes move without legs, hunt as ambushers or active foragers, kill by constriction or venom, and swallow prey wider than their head.
- What Do Snakes Eat?All snakes are carnivores. Learn what snakes eat, how diet changes with size and age, how often they feed, and how they hunt and swallow prey.
- Venomous vs Nonvenomous: How to Tell the DifferenceThe folk rules for telling venomous snakes apart, where each one fails, and why location-based identification beats guessing by sight.