Python Size Comparison: Just How Big Do the Different Types Get?

In 1803, the French zoologist François Marie Daudin gave the name python to any non-venomous, mottled snake with a forked tongue. The name now describes a genus of snakes that have shared phylogenetics, even as they live on different continents. Pythons are considered “primitive” types of snakes because they have two lungs and pelvic spurs. More advanced snakes have only one lung and lack pelvic spurs, which are what’s left of their hind legs. The python’s scales are smooth, small, and often come in beautiful patterns that put some species at risk of being hunted for their skin. They may also have heat-detecting pits in their lips. Most of all, pythons can grow to a great size. Despite this, some are kept as pets and are fairly docile and easy to care for. Here’s a size comparison of the different python species.

Reticulated Python

When it comes to size, this native of Southern Asia is the longest python in the world. Rare individuals have been known to grow longer than 20 feet and weigh well over 300 pounds. Females are considerably bigger than males. A snake that big is quite capable of killing a human by constriction. There are at least two cases of a reticulated python eating a human. In fact, this snake is one of the very few that hunt humans as a matter of course.

The reticulated python needs a wet climate where the temperature is between 75- and 93-degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll often find it near a body of water where it can hide from prey until it strikes, for this snake is an ambush predator. Water also gives it protection from crocodiles, which are the only animals big and ferocious enough to attack adult snakes.

These reptiles mate during late winter or early spring, and the females need to live in a place with abundant prey to successfully reproduce. She usually breeds once a year and lays from eight to 100 eggs in a clutch. She’ll incubate them for about three months. Rarely, females perform parthenogenesis, during which they have babies without male involvement. These babies are basically clones of their mother.

The reticulated python gets its name for the reticulated or netlike patterns of its skin. Indeed, it is hunted for the beauty of its skin. It’s also hunted for its meat and captured, sometimes illegally, for the pet trade.

Central African Rock Python

This python of sub-Saharan Africa can grow to nearly 20 feet long and weigh over 143 pounds. This allows the snake to tackle prey as large as antelopes or even crocodiles. The Central African Rock python mates in spring, and the female lays a great many eggs, which she incubates. She’s different from other mothers in that she’ll protect her hatchlings for as long as two weeks until they’re strong enough to fend for themselves.

Though there are no reliable accounts of this snake eating a human, but there are reports of human children being killed by them. In a couple of cases, the snake seemed to be trying to eat the child but couldn’t quite manage it. Indeed, the Central African rock python is more likely to be consumed by humans, rather than the other way around.

Burmese Python

This snake is famous for having found a home in the Florida Everglades. Bought as juveniles, a good number of Burmese pythons grew much too big for their owners to handle and were released into the wild. These snakes are native to Southeast Asia and can be found as far north as Bhutan and Nepal.

Biologists once considered this snake to be a subspecies of the Indian python, but now it’s recognized as its own species. It usually grows to 16 feet in length, though a snake named Baby was nearly 19 feet long and weighed 403 pounds when she died. Females are longer and heavier than males.

Burmese pythons are largely nocturnal, and when they’re younger and smaller they can climb trees easily. They also know how to swim. They brumate during Florida’s winters, which can get surprisingly chilly, and mate in early spring. The female lays between 12 and 36 eggs, which she incubates. She also shivers her muscles to raise her body temperature and keep them warm.

All pythons are carnivores. Though these snakes only need to eat every one or two months, they’re so invasive in Florida that they’ve become problematic. They have led to the decline of several species of mammals, birds, and reptiles. They also have no problem eating pets like dogs, cats, and chickens. Despite this, the snake’s conservation status is considered vulnerable.

Southern African Rock Python

This python, which usually grows to between 9 and 13 feet in length, lives in the savannas of Southern Africa. It looks very much like the Northern African rock python, but people describe its patterns and coloration as duller. It hides in rocky outcrops or the abandoned burrows of mammals.

These snakes are ready to breed when they’re between three and five years old, and they usually mate from November to March. Males and females stop eating, and the females won’t eat again till their eggs hatch. She lays between 20 and 50 per clutch, and they hatch about three months after mating. Like other pythons, she’ll curl herself around her eggs to incubate them but won’t shiver her muscles to increase the heat. The babies are independent immediately after they hatch.

African Rock pythons are known to be mean snakes that will bite or try to crush you to death if they’re harassed. Though they’re nonvenomous their teeth are large and can inflict painful bites that readily become infected. They not only don’t make good pets, they don’t do well in any sort of captivity.

Indian Python

As its name implies, this python is found around the Indian subcontinent and might be found in China and Borneo. Like the reticulated python, it likes wet habitats and foliage where it can hide.

The Indian python grows to around 10 feet long, though there are some who’ve reached 11 feet. Unlike the reticulated python, it does not hunt humans and is considered timid. It kills its prey by constriction, swallows it whole, headfirst, then rests. If it’s disturbed, it may vomit up the meal to prevent bones, claws, teeth and other hard parts of the prey from injuring it. If the python has fed really well, it won’t need to eat for a while. One python is on record for not eating for two years.

The Indian python reproduces when it’s between two and three years old. The female lays as many as 100 eggs, which she incubates for about three months. Baby pythons are independent immediately or very soon after they hatch.

Borneo Python

This python is only found on Borneo and can grow to around 7 feet, though most don’t grow past 4 feet long. Despite their length, these snakes have robust bodies and can weigh 30 pounds. Like most other pythons, it prefers to live around wet areas. This snake is harvested for its often-beautiful skin.

Ball Python

Native to central and western African grasslands and forests, this snake grows to only 6 feet. It gets its name because it curls up into a ball when it feels threatened. Since it prefers this strategy rather than biting, it is popular as a pet.

The ball python is active at night or twilight and spends its days in an abandoned mammal burrow. it also estivates, which means it goes into something like hibernation during the summer. You’re more likely to find males in the trees and females on the ground. Perhaps because of this, males are more likely to eat birds while females are more likely to eat mammals.

Females lay relatively few eggs, between three to 11, but they’re large, with leathery shells, and stick together. Like other pythons, she incubates them until they hatch, and the hatchlings stay close to her for a few months. Females are able to reproduce when they’re a little over two years old and reproduce until old age. One ball python lived to be 50 years old!

Angolan Python

This python is only found in Angola and Namibia in rocky grassland. It only grows to about 6 feet. It’s also different from other pythons because the scales on its head have a beadlike look and texture. It’s closely related to the ball python and eats birds and small mammals. Biologists aren’t sure whether the females incubate their eggs, but they do know they lay relatively few. Four to five eggs a clutch is about normal.

It’s unusual to find an Angolan python in captivity. The fields of Angola are still peppered with land mines from the civil war, and people are scared to go out and collect the snake.

Myanmar Short-Tailed Python

This python is only found in Myanmar, and its conservation status is listed as vulnerable. It remains something of a mystery to biologists because its description was based on a single female that was found in 2002. It wasn’t listed as a separate species until 2011. The holotype snake grew to about 6 feet but weighed only around 8 pounds.

Sumatran Short-Tailed Python

How can you tell a python’s tail from the rest of it? It’s simple. The tail begins where the ribs end, and this python is known for its very short tail. You’ll find it in the rain forests of Sumatra and nearby islands of Indonesia. It’s a robust snake that grows between 4.9 and 5.9 feet in length. It is harvested for the leather made from its beautifully patterned skin, which can come with blotches of red on a grayish-brown ground. This gives it its other name of “blood python.”