Burmese Python
Python molurus bivittatus

Reptiles Alive Names: "Sunshine, Moonlight, and Starlight"

Hissstory: Sunshine was abandoned at a carpet warehouse in Sterling, VA in 2000. The store owner called us to come and get her, and she was in pretty bad shape. We spent about a year rehabilitating her back to health. She has been healthy and growing ever since!

Moonlight was rescued by the Virginia Reptile Rescue from a pet store that was closed down and we adopted him in 2009.

Starlight was abandoned as an unwanted pet at the Alexandria Animal Welfare League where we adopted him in 2009.

RA Diet: Two or three frozen and then defrosted triple extra large rats every 2-4 weeks.

Range: India, Burma, and Southeast Asia.

Habitat: Pythons live in rain forests, farmlands, and fields.

Natural Diet: Burmese pythons will eat just about any mammal or bird they can fit into their stomach.

Size: Burmese pythons are one of the biggest snakes in the world. Their average length is 9-13 feet, but the record length is 23 feet. They can weigh over 200 pounds.

Lifespan: Burmese pythons can live over 40 years.

Reproduction: Female Burmese pythons can lay up to 100 large eggs, but typically lay 12-36. Unlike most snakes, mother pythons will coil around eggs and twitch their body to raise the temperature and help incubate the eggs. She will not leave the eggs until they hatch.

Conservation: Burmese pythons have become an invasive exotic species in southern Florida. People keeping pythons as pets either illegally released their unwanted animals into the wild or the snakes escaped improper caging. Either way, no one knows for sure the impact these giant snakes will have on the south Florida ecosystem as they reproduce and consume native animals, including alligators.

Cool Facts: Sunshine, Moonlight, and Starlight are all albinos, born without the black or brown pigment called melanin. The brilliant yellows and whites you see on our albino pythons would otherwise be covered over by the brown and black pigments found on normally patterned snakes.