Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Children's python (Antaresia childreni ) is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is named after John George Children. It is a nocturnal species occurring in the northern half of Australia and generally found on the ground although it often climbs trees. Usually growing to about 1.0 metre (3 ft) in length, it is typically a reddish-brown colour, darker on the upper surface, and with many darker blotches, especially on younger specimens. It feeds mostly on small mammals and bird and, as with other pythons, it constricts its prey before swallowing it whole. It is a popular pet amongst reptile enthusiasts.
Antaresia childreni adults grow to a total length (including tail) of about 1–1.5 metres (3–5 ft). The scales on the top of the head are enlarged while those on the upper surface of the body are small and smooth, with a rainbow sheen that can be seen when exposed to direct sunlight. The upper surface of the snake is brown with darker spots in five or six longitudinal series. A dark streak on each side of the head passes through the eye. The lips are yellowish, spotted with brown. The lower surface of the snake is uniformly yellowish. The head of the snake is distinct from the neck. The nostril is superolateral, pierced in a large semidivided nasal scale. The eye is moderate in size, with a vertical pupil. The body is slightly laterally compressed. The tail is short. There are 41 to 45 rows of dorsal scales across the snake's back, and 257 to 287 ventral scales along the lower surface. There is a single undivided anal scale immediately in front of the anus, and 38 to 53 subcaudal scales on the lower surface between the anus and the tip of the tail, all or mostly in two rows.
The rostral is broader than high, barely visible from above. The internasals are slightly longer than broad and are shorter than the anterior prefrontals. The second pair of prefrontals are in contact at the midline, or are separated by a small shield. These posterior prefrontals are sometimes broken into several shields. The frontal is 1½ times as long as broad, slightly shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, longer than the small parietals. There are 3 to 10 small loreal shields, some almost granular, and 11 to 13 upper labials. Three or four of the posterior lower labials have deep pits.
Taxonomy and naming
Antaresia childreni is one of four species in the genus Antaresia, a genus in the family Pythonidae. The genus Antaresia is named after the star Antares. John Edward Gray published the original description of the species in 1842, naming it Liasis childreni. Both the common name and the specific epithet, childreni, which is conserved in the current scientific name, are in honour of Gray's mentor, John George Children, a curator of the zoological collection at the British Museum around that time. No subspecies are currently recognized. Some species of the genus Altaresia were formerly assigned to the genus Morelia.
Distribution and habitat
Antaresia childreni is found in Australia in the extreme north of Western Australia, the northern third of the Northern Territory, and northeastern Queensland and also on the islands of the Torres Strait.
The type locality is given by Gray (1842) as "—?", is listed as "N.W. Australia" by Boulenger (1893) in his Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., and is listed as "unknown" in Stimson (1969).
The diet of Children's python consists of reptiles, birds, and small mammals, particularly microbats which it catches by dangling from stalactites in caves, which they commonly inhabit, and snatching them out of the air as they fly past.
A. childreni is oviparous, with up to 25 eggs per clutch. Females brood their eggs through a seven-week incubation period by coiling around them and occasionally shivering to keep them warm, which also affords the eggs some protection from predators. Juveniles are heavily blotched, but gradually become reddish brown or brown as they mature.
Children's python is often kept as a pet due to its good nature and less demanding requirements. The lifespan of captive specimens has been known to exceed 30 years. Juveniles are fed pinky mice (baby, hairless mice), while larger individuals can be fed on adult mice or small rats. Feeding should occur roughly once a fortnight.
- List of pythonid species and subspecies
- Pythonidae, valid scientific names
- Pythonidae by taxonomic synonyms
- Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Boidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Liasis childreni, pp. 77-78, 418 + Plate IV, figure 1).
- "Antaresia childreni ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
- Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Antaresia childreni, p. 53).
- "Antaresia childreni ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
- Gray JE (1842). "Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed Snakes, or Family BOIDÆ". Zoological Miscellany 2: 41–46. (Liasis childreni, new species, p. 44).
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antaresia childreni.|
- Antaresia childreni at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 19 September 2007.
- Children's Python (Antaresia childreni) at Antaresia.com. Accessed 4 May 2008.
- Antaresia pythons - breeding cycle at Antaresia.com. Accessed 4 May 2008.
- Children's Python Care Sheet at tinypythons.com. Accessed 19 September 2007.
- Children's Python fact sheet at Burke's Backyard. Accessed 19 September 2007.
- Reptile keeper's licence at NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Accessed 19 September 2007.
- Children's Python care sheet Accessed 31 July 2011.