What is a Burmese python?

The Burmese python ( Python bivittatus ) is a constrictor snake native to southern and Southeast Asia. They are known for their exceptional size and adaptability, inhabiting diverse environments like mangrove forests, rainforests, and swamps. Adults typically grow to 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) long and can weigh up to 90.7 kg (200 pounds), with the largest reaching 5.8 meters (19 feet) and 97.5 kg (215 pounds). They are apex predators, preying on small mammals but also larger animals like deer and alligators, suffocating them with their powerful coils. The IUCN lists them as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss and harvesting for food, hides, and the pet trade. They have also established themselves as an invasive species in southern Florida.

What do Burmese pythons eat?

Burmese pythons are apex predators with a varied diet. While they prefer small mammals like rodents, rabbits, and raccoons, they also consume larger prey, including deer, pigs, goats, alligators, and domesticated birds. They strike and hold their prey with powerful jaws, coil their bodies around the victim, and suffocate it before swallowing it whole. As an invasive species in southern Florida, Burmese pythons have significantly reduced the populations of deer, bobcats, raccoons, and opossums in the Everglades.

How do Burmese pythons catch and kill their prey?

The Burmese python is an apex predator that hunts a variety of prey, including small mammals, large mammals, reptiles, and domesticated birds. These snakes are ambush predators. They wait until their prey is within striking distance, then use their powerful jaws to grab and hold on. After capturing its prey, the python coils its body around the victim, suffocating it before consuming it whole. Snakes also have a specialized sensory organ called Jacobson's organ , which helps them hunt and track prey. They use their tongues to collect scent particles and transfer them to this organ, which then sends sensory messages to the brain. Some also have heat-sensitive pits on their heads that can detect warm-blooded animals in the dark.

Why are Burmese pythons considered an invasive species in places like Florida?

Burmese pythons are considered an invasive species in areas like southern Florida because they were introduced to the region and have thrived, causing ecological harm. The pythons were initially brought to the U.S. as exotic pets, and some were released into the wild when they became too large to manage. Additionally, some snakes escaped after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. These pythons have significantly reduced the populations of various native species, such as deer, bobcats, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and rabbits, in the Everglades. By 2010, they began challenging the American alligator for dominance in southern Florida's wetlands.

How do Burmese pythons affect the ecosystems where they become invasive?

Burmese pythons, native to Southeast Asia, have become a significant invasive species in southern Florida. They were introduced to the U.S. as exotic pets, and breeding populations were established by 2000. These pythons have greatly affected the local ecosystems, challenging the American alligator for dominance and causing severe declines in native mammal populations. In the Everglades, they have reduced the populations of deer, bobcats, raccoons, and opossums by 87% or more and have effectively eliminated foxes and rabbits. The Burmese python is listed as a vulnerable species.

Burmese python

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invasive species: Burmese python (Python bivittatus)

A person wearing black gloves and a light blue shirt kneels in dry grass, holding a large Burmese python by its body and head.

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Related Topics:: apex predator; Indian python

On the Web:: A-Z Animals - Burmese Python (Oct. 26, 2026)

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Burmese python

snake

Also known as: Python bivittatus, Python molurus bivittatus

Written by

John P. Rafferty

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 26, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a Burmese python?
The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is a constrictor snake native to southern and Southeast Asia. They are known for their exceptional size and adaptability, inhabiting diverse environments like mangrove forests, rainforests, and swamps.

Adults typically grow to 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) long and can weigh up to 90.7 kg (200 pounds), with the largest reaching 5.8 meters (19 feet) and 97.5 kg (215 pounds). They are apex predators, preying on small mammals but also larger animals like deer and alligators, suffocating them with their powerful coils.

The IUCN lists them as a vulnerable species due to habitat loss and harvesting for food, hides, and the pet trade. They have also established themselves as an invasive species in southern Florida.
2 Britannica Sources
1. invasive species: A global problem
2. Burmese python: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where do Burmese pythons live in the wild?
Burmese pythons are native to diverse habitats in southern and Southeast Asia, including islands of Indonesia. They can be found in mangrove forests, rainforests, swamps, grasslands, rivers, and rocky areas. Their range extends from Nepal, Bangladesh, northeastern India, and Myanmar eastward to southern China and southward to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, as well as the islands of Java, Bali, Sumbawa, and Sulawesi.

Additionally, Burmese pythons have established themselves as an invasive species in southern Florida. It's believed they were initially brought to the U.S. as exotic pets, and some were released into the wild when they became too large to manage.
2 Britannica Sources
1. invasive species: A global problem
2. Burmese python
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do Burmese pythons eat?
Burmese pythons are apex predators with a varied diet. While they prefer small mammals like rodents, rabbits, and raccoons, they also consume larger prey, including deer, pigs, goats, alligators, and domesticated birds. They strike and hold their prey with powerful jaws, coil their bodies around the victim, and suffocate it before swallowing it whole.

As an invasive species in southern Florida, Burmese pythons have significantly reduced the populations of deer, bobcats, raccoons, and opossums in the Everglades.
1 Britannica Source
1. Burmese python: Invasive species
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do Burmese pythons catch and kill their prey?
The Burmese python is an apex predator that hunts a variety of prey, including small mammals, large mammals, reptiles, and domesticated birds.

These snakes are ambush predators. They wait until their prey is within striking distance, then use their powerful jaws to grab and hold on. After capturing its prey, the python coils its body around the victim, suffocating it before consuming it whole.

Snakes also have a specialized sensory organ called Jacobson's organ, which helps them hunt and track prey. They use their tongues to collect scent particles and transfer them to this organ, which then sends sensory messages to the brain. Some also have heat-sensitive pits on their heads that can detect warm-blooded animals in the dark.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why are Burmese pythons considered an invasive species in places like Florida?
Burmese pythons are considered an invasive species in areas like southern Florida because they were introduced to the region and have thrived, causing ecological harm. The pythons were initially brought to the U.S. as exotic pets, and some were released into the wild when they became too large to manage. Additionally, some snakes escaped after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

These pythons have significantly reduced the populations of various native species, such as deer, bobcats, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and rabbits, in the Everglades. By 2010, they began challenging the American alligator for dominance in southern Florida's wetlands.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Definition of Burmese python
2. Burmese python: Invasive species
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do Burmese pythons affect the ecosystems where they become invasive?
Burmese pythons, native to Southeast Asia, have become a significant invasive species in southern Florida. They were introduced to the U.S. as exotic pets, and breeding populations were established by 2000.

These pythons have greatly affected the local ecosystems, challenging the American alligator for dominance and causing severe declines in native mammal populations. In the Everglades, they have reduced the populations of deer, bobcats, raccoons, and opossums by 87% or more and have effectively eliminated foxes and rabbits. The Burmese python is listed as a vulnerable species.
2 Britannica Sources
1. invasive species: A global problem
2. Burmese python: Invasive species
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Burmese python, (Python bivittatus), species of constrictor snake that is native to various environments in southern and Southeast Asia, including several islands in Indonesia, and is known for its exceptional size and its environmental adaptability. Burmese pythons inhabit mangrove forests, rainforests, swamps, grasslands, rivers, and rocky areas, in a range extending from Nepal, Bangladesh, northeastern India, and Myanmar (Burma) eastward to southern China and southward to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand north of the Isthmus of Kra, as well as the islands of Java, Bali, Sumbawa, and Sulawesi. In addition, the Burmese python has established populations in southern Florida, where it is considered to be an invasive species. It was classified as a subspecies of the Indian python (Python molarus) until 2009.

Natural history

Burmese pythons are among the longest snakes in the world. Adults tend to grow to between 3 and 5 meters (10 and 16 feet) in length and can weigh as much as 90.7 kg (200 pounds). The largest confirmed specimens have been measured at 5.8 meters (19 feet) long and 97.5 kg (215 pounds), but there are unconfirmed reports of 7-meter- (23-foot-) long individuals. The skin of an adult Burmese python has large dark brown patches set against a cream or dark tan background. Such cryptic coloration also occurs in juveniles, but they display a sharper separation between one color and the next.

Burmese pythons are apex predators that consume a wide variety of prey. Although they prefer small mammals (such as rodents, rabbits, and raccoons), they also eat larger prey—including large mammals (such as deer, pigs, and goats), other large reptiles (such as alligators), and domesticated birds (such as poultry). The Burmese python captures its quarry by waiting motionless until the prey is close enough for the snake to strike and hold with its powerful jaws. It then coils its body around the victim and suffocates it before consuming it whole. There are several reports of the snake attacking people, but such encounters have been rare, being limited largely to captive snakes that were provoked.

The species reproduces both sexually and through parthenogenesis (that is, a reproductive strategy that involves development of a gamete [sex cell] without fertilization). Mating—which may include one or more males breeding with a single female—occurs between December and March in mainland Asia, insular Indonesia, and southern Florida. A female deposits a clutch of eggs (which typically number fewer than 40 but in larger snakes can number as many as 80 to 100) between March and June. She incubates the clutch until hatchlings emerge some two months later. Most young Burmese pythons reach sexual maturity by age 2 or 3, males becoming sexually mature at an earlier age than females. Ecologists note that Burmese pythons can live for more than 20 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.

Invasive species

It is not certain how Burmese pythons became established in southern Florida. They were first brought to the U.S. as exotic pets, starting during the 1980s, and it is likely that when they grew too large to manage, some snake owners released them into the wild. Since these snakes cannot survive freezing or near-freezing temperatures, only those set free in southern Florida, where temperatures remain above freezing year-round, survived. Additional snakes were emancipated after Hurricane Andrew cut across southern Florida in 1992 and destroyed a reptile warehouse near Homestead.

By 2000 the snake had established breeding populations, and by 2010 it was challenging the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) for dominance of southern Florida’s wetlands. (There is evidence that the snake and the alligator prey on each other.) By 2012 Burmese pythons had become significant predators in the area, reducing deer, bobcat, raccoon, and opossum populations in the Everglades by 87 percent or more while effectively wiping out foxes and rabbits in the area.

Conservation status

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists the Burmese python as a vulnerable species. The snake’s wide distribution in mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia and the establishment of a population numbering at least several tens of thousands in the Everglades and other parts of southern Florida conceal severe population crashes of up to 80 percent in a single decade in some parts of its native geographic range. Ecologists note that Burmese python numbers have fallen throughout the early 21st century, because people in several countries harvest the snake for food, its hide, which is used to make leather garments and drums, and the pet trade. (By some estimates, more than 300,000 individuals have been exported to the U.S. since 1980.) Burmese pythons are also threatened by habitat loss, specifically the conversion of forest and marshland to agricultural land, a process that reduces prey populations and the snake’s ability to hide from hunters. The species is part of zoo collections around the world.