How to Identify the Rock Python

Pythons are some of the most beautiful and dreaded specimens of snake in the world. Lacking any venom, rock pythons also have the distinctive trait of not just eating their prey, but crushing it to death. The rock python, meanwhile, is one of the largest snakes in the world. It has often been breed in captivity as an exotic pet, but rarely manages to fetch a high price: its nervous behavior and lackluster appearance make its upkeep both unappealing, and a challenge.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Look at the physical features of the specimen. The average length of a rock python is from 18 to 20 feet, with a typical maximum of 28 feet. Hatchlings, meanwhile, tend to measure from 18 to 24 inches in length, after an incubation period of two months. Rock pythons are generally colored brown, intermingled with patches of olive and tan, and sporting a whiter underbelly.

2. Determine its origins and habitat. Rock pythons are found in Africa, from south of the Sahara and central southern Africa and reaching all the way down to South Africa. They are found in grasslands and the savanna, sometimes at the edges of forests. They stay near water if at all possible, where they submerge themselves near the banks while waiting for prey.

3. Assess its behavior. Rock pythons are, in fact, so dependent on water that they become dormant during the driest parts of the year. Unlike the more well-known Burmese python, the rock python is actually quite a nervous animal. When stressed or threatened, it has a nasty tendency to bite any aggressor. This can be better to the alternative, however: its primary means of sequestering food is to kill its prey via constriction, before swallowing them whole.

4. Observe its hunting style. In line with its bad temper, rock pythons tend to feed on anything that comes their way. This usually amounts to a steady diet of small rodents, and many captive specimens subsist on rats and rabbits. When fully grown, however, rock pythons are fully capable of swallowing livestock such as goats, or even more wild meals like gazelles.

Tips & Warnings

• Rock pythons are widely available in the exotic pet circuit, and can adapt easily to captivity. Their personality and appetite, however, makes upkeep a challenge for even experienced snake keepers.
• Rock pythons rarely attack humans. Local populations usually know enough to stay far away. There are multiple scattered reports, however, of rock pythons feeding on human children.