The day I met an Olive Python - Birregurra Festival 2010

Olive Python
Liasis olivaceus

Description
As one of Australia’s largest snakes, the Olive Python can grow up to four metres in length and weigh up to a massive 25 kgs. Its colour ranges from a dull olive green to chocolate brown, with a pale belly. Olive Pythons have a high scale count, making them appear smoother than other snakes. All pythons are non-venomous but should still be treated with caution.

Habitat
Home for these reptiles is the northern fringe of Australia, from the Pilbara in Western Australia, through to the Northern Territory and parts of Queensland. The live in rocky crevices, deep gorges, hollow logs and burrows under rocks.

Diet
Like other pythons, the animal has infra-red heat pits along its lips that it uses to detect warm-blooded prey. Olive Pythons dine on mammals, including rock wallabies and fruit bats, various reptiles and birds. When hunting, they strike their target with their strong jaws and then coil their bodies around their victim, constricting it until suffocation occurs. Pythons will then eat the entire animal, head first, and are capable of swallowing meals that are several times bigger than their own bodies. After such massive feasts, a potential problem is that the temperature has to be sufficiently warm for digestion to occur properly, otherwise the meal may decompose in the python’s stomach, slowly poisoning it. Pythons only need to eat a few times a year.


Behaviour
Pythons are heavily built, muscular and slow-moving. They are generally nocturnal, but can be active during the day.


Reproduction
Breeding season is June and July, and males travel long distances in search of a partner. Clutches of 15-25 eggs are laid in November. These eggs hatch after approximately 50 days and the young measure 50 cms in length.

Lifespan
Pythons live for between 10-20 years.

Threats & Conservation Status
Like all snakes, Olive Pythons are protected in Australia. Although not listed as endangered, the subspecies Pilbara Olive Python is listed as vulnerable. Unfortunately, many Olive Pythons are mistaken for the highly venomous King Brown Snake and are often killed.

More Amazing Facts
- Although pythons are non-venomous, they all have sharp, backward-pointing teeth.
- Olive Pythons can detect temperature changes of less than 1/30th of a degree Celsius.
- In the sun, their olive green scales reflect the light at different angles, causing a rainbow sheen, known as “iridescence”.

Thanks to http://www.outbackwildliferescue.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:olive-python-&catid=43:reptiles&Itemid=67
for the info :)