Big Python attack Pet Animal

Pythons are nonvenomous snakes found in Asia, Africa and Australia. Because they are not native to North or South America, they are considered Old World snakes. The word python can refer to both the family Pythonidae or the genus Python, found within Pythonidae.Show more

There are 41 species of python found within the family Pythonidae, according to the Reptile Database. Though both pythons and boas are large constrictors, they are separate families.

Physical characteristics

The family Pythonidae contains some of the largest snakes snakes in the world, according to Sara Viernum, Wisconsin-based founder of The Wandering Herpetologist. “Most pythons are large snakes … such as the reticulated python (Python reticulatus), which can grow over 30 feet [9 meters] in length,” she said. “There are also small species of pythons such as the anthill python (Antaresia perthensis), which only grows up to 24 inches [61 centimeters] in length and is considered the smallest python species in the world.”

The coloration and size of different species of python vary widely. Depending on their local habitats and need for camouflage, coloring can range from elaborately patterned scales (such as those on the Burmese python, the ball python and many other species) to solid brown (leiopythons) to bright green (the green tree python), but scientists note some more subtle physical commonalities.