Burmese Python

The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes. It is a dark-coloured, non-venomous snake with many brown blotches bordered by black down the back. It swims and climbs thanks to a prehensile tail and needs a permanent source of water. Until 2009 it was considered a subspecies of the Indian python. In the wild it typically grows to 5m, and specimens of more than 7m are unconfirmed (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occurs throughout southern and Southeast Asia, including eastern India, south-eastern Nepal, western Bhutan and south-eastern Bangladesh. Burmese pythons are mainly nocturnal rainforest dwellers and tend to be solitary, usually found in pairs only when mating. Much of what is written about it concerns the invasive population in Florida, which is not relevant to Nepal and is not used here.