Reticulated python

Identification

The reticulated python is tan or yellowish-tan, with a net of black lines along the back and down the sides that widen to enclose pale or white patches². Its skin shines with a rainbow sheen in sunlight². The name reticulatus is Latin for “made like a net”, after this pattern¹. Like other pythons it has heat-sensing pits in its lip scales; in this genus the pits on the lower lip are better developed than those on the upper lip¹.

It is the world’s longest snake, but most are far smaller than the famous records^4,6. Pythons harvested in Sumatra averaged 2.5–3.1 m from snout to vent⁴, and only 50 of more than 7,000 harvested in Indonesia and Malaysia exceeded 4.5 m from snout to vent⁵. Females grow longer and heavier than males⁵. The longest wild snake ever reliably measured was a female from Sulawesi, 7.22 m long and 96.5 kg, in 2026; a captive snake has been measured at 7.67 m³. An often-repeated 10 m snake killed on Sulawesi in 1912 was never verified³.

Distribution

The reticulated python is found in Bangladesh, north-eastern India and the Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and the Philippines¹. In Indonesia it occurs from Sumatra, Java and Borneo east to Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Moluccas¹. Three subspecies are recognised, two of them found only in south-western Sulawesi and on small islands nearby¹. It was long placed in the genus Python and moved to Malayopython in 2014¹.

Habitat

This python lives in a wide range of habitats, from forest to plantations, farmland and villages^2,7. In northern Luzon it is common in low- to mid-elevation country, including residential areas, plantations and disturbed forest⁷. About 80% of the pythons caught for the skin trade in Malaysia come from oil palm plantations or regrowing logged forest⁵, and it appears to have become more common in oil palm plantations⁴. It is closely tied to water, and field surveys in Sabah searched for it along riverbanks⁶.

Behaviour

Reticulated pythons are very secretive and can stay hidden for long periods, which makes them hard to study^4,6. They are active mainly at night: in the Philippines they have been seen hunting on the ground and in low vegetation after dark, and surveyors in Sabah found more pythons on dark, moonless nights^6,7. Although it lives mostly on the ground, it is a good climber².

Diet

The reticulated python eats mammals, from mouse-sized prey up to deer and pigs². It often eats long-tailed macaques and leaf monkeys, and its natural diet includes wild pigs weighing up to 60 kg⁸. One 6.4 m python killed in Luzon in 1982 contained a 14.5 kg pig⁸. Like other large constrictors, it kills its prey by squeezing it in its coils⁸.

Reproduction

The reticulated python lays eggs¹. In Indonesia and Malaysia, about half of females are mature by 2.55–2.65 m from snout to vent, while males mature at smaller sizes⁵. Larger females lay more eggs than smaller ones, but they breed less often⁵.

Venom and medical significance

The reticulated python has no venom; WHO groups large pythons with the non-venomous snakes¹⁰. It can still give a painful bite, and most people attacked by pythons in one Philippine community had bite wounds, often leaving lasting scars⁸.

Very large reticulated pythons have occasionally attacked and even swallowed people, mainly in Indonesia¹⁰. A 2025 review found 17 such incidents in Indonesia between 1927 and 2025, 13 of them fatal, involving snakes reported to be 5–8 m long; most were on Sulawesi⁹. Among the Agta people of eastern Luzon, interviews in 1976 found that 26% of adult men had survived a python attack, and six people had been killed between 1934 and 1973⁸. Anyone bitten should seek medical care.

Conservation

The reticulated python is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessed in 2018)¹¹. More than 300,000 wild reticulated pythons are taken each year in Indonesia and Malaysia for their skins, and the international trade is regulated under CITES⁴. Surveys of harvested snakes in Sumatra 20 years apart found no drop in their numbers, body sizes or breeding output^4,5.

Similar species

The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) shares much of the reticulated python’s mainland range and also lives on Java, Bali and Sulawesi^1,13. It is heavier-bodied and carries a clear arrow-shaped mark on top of its head¹³. Pythons of the genus Python also have a dark patch below the eye, which the reticulated python lacks¹. These differences are not a safe basis for handling any snake. Keep your distance from every snake you cannot identify.

In captivity

Reticulated pythons are kept in captivity, where the longest snake on record measured 7.67 m³. Large individuals are strong enough to kill a person^8,9. In 2015 the United States listed it as injurious wildlife, which bars importing live reticulated pythons without a permit¹².