RAVI the Reticulated Python is ready to stretch out and make Kyabram home. More than five meters long and weighing 22kg, Ravi is the newest addition to the Kyabram Fauna Park’s Reptile Habitat.
KFP life sciences coordinator Ellice Duncan said the 22 year-old python (which means sun in Hindi) is busy exploring, swimming in his own pond and basking under the heat lamps.
“It’s fascinating to watch this beautiful python slither around in the heated waterfall and pond, or bask in a coil shape that show off his yellow and black pattern,’ Ms Duncan said.
The world’s third heaviest snakes, Reticulated Pythons are powerful, non-venomous, ambush predators who strike their prey with rapid speed to devour them using body constriction. Fortnightly they consume mammals up to 10 times the size of their head.
“To enable hunting behaviour, keepers create a scent trail using his food,” Ms Duncan said.
“Feeding him using scent trails not only encourages Reticulated Python’s natural ambush behaviours, but also provides mental stimulation which is important for all reptiles.”
Reticulated pythons are native to South and Southeast Asia and are abundant in the rainforest and wetlands of Indonesia, India and China.
The longest recorded Reticulated Python measured was an astounding 10m.
Along with the Reticulated Python, Ky Funa Park is home to the world’s most deadly snake – the Inland Tipan – as well as 15 other species, which can be seen between 10am to 5pm daily.
