59 



people are even under the impression that a python 

 will deliberately pursue, catch and make a meal of 

 you. Pythons are easy to tame if caught young, 

 and when they are properly tamed, and have lost 

 their fear of you, will put up with almost any 

 treatment and handling without hissing or striking. 

 These snakes are very hardy, and require little 

 attention. I have been keepmg pythons for over 

 two years, and for the last year have had as many 

 as thirteen, and out of all these only one has died 

 — a very old snake, that had been very much cut 

 about by coolies, who saw it in the jungle which 

 they were cutting down. 



The amount of food consumed by these Feeding 

 snakes varies a great deal with individuals ; some ^ 

 eat once a month, some once in two months, 

 according to the size of the snake, the size of the 

 previous meal, the temperature, and the period. 



Their food may be composed of chickens or 

 small mammals, especially rats, which seem to be 

 the favourite food of snakes of all kinds. Except 

 for feeding and giving them water, the pythons 

 require little or no attention. They are fond of 

 water, and will often lie in it, though their habits 

 are not so aquatic as those of the " Boas." 



Both " Boas" and Pythons kill their prey by 

 constriction. Seizing the animal by the neck, the 

 snake turns it over and, turning a sort of somer- 

 sault, rolls its coils round it. After the animal is 

 dead, the python salivers over it with its tongue in 

 order to digest it easily, and bringing its coils over, 

 crushes it again as it swallows. 



A python's mouth is more expansive than that 

 of any other snake, and it is possible for a young 

 python four feet in length, and, with a normal 

 circumference of five inches, to swallow a chicken 

 with a circumference of ten inches. 



