peekaboo cuddles hey guys it's Anne
today I'm back with another creature
feature the series where I tell you a
little bit more about an animal which
you may or may not know much about
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the corner that today's creature feature
is about the Burmese python today's
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creature feature is about the Burmese
python and I have a disclaimer for you
today or rather a hiss schema although
the vast majority of snakes kept in the
pet trade are well mannered and well
handled it's always best not to handle a
large constrictor alone I would
recommend if you have a snake over five
or six feet that you have somebody
around you who can also help out if
something does go wrong remember they
are a predator so don't take that
lightly
I personally have someone in the house
with me so if something does go wrong
I'm not by myself that said the snake
over here is very very gentle
his name is best and he's one of our
rescues the Burmese python is one of the
largest pythons in the whole world they
can grow to be about 200 pounds and well
over 13 feet Burmese pythons are
oviparous oviparous means that they
actually lay eggs the opposite of
oviparous would be viviparous and there
are some viviparous snakes as well for
example the anaconda as well as the boa
constrictor are viviparous so they give
birth to live young
but the Burmese python is oviparous it
lays eggs in a single clutch there can
be over 30 eggs usually between a 30 and
40 the Burmese python is a non venomous
snake they don't have any venom they
don't need venom what they'll do is
they'll sit and ambush their prey
they'll wait until an animal wanders too
close and then they'll strike at the
prey sink in their backwards pointing
teeth which are a lot like meat hooks
and then pull them into their coils
wrapping around their prey and squeezing
until their prey either dies from heart
failure or asphyxiated people tend to
get very confused over poison and venom
venom is injected into you poison is
something ingested so venom would be a
venomous snake bite or a spider bite or
even a jellyfish sting
however poison is something you eat for
example
mushrooms or pumpkin spice lattes please
in short if it bites you and you die
it's venomous if you bite it and you die
it's poisonous at first you might be
fooled into thinking that Bess's eyes
are blue but they're actually not
they're only this color because Bess is
getting ready to shed snakes don't have
any eyelids they can't blink they have a
special scale called the brill which
covers their eye to protect it when it's
time to shed a special fluid pushes the
old eye cap forwards while a new one
forms underneath it when the snake sheds
its skin the eye cap will usually come
off if a snake is unhealthy or the
conditions aren't quite right the snake
can actually retain the eye cap which
can lead to an infection Bess's eyes
look extra blue and bulgy even when he's
not in shed because he's a very very old
snake he was given to us as a rescue and
he already had cataracts he has been
seen by a special vet who monitors his
cataracts but don't worry he's not in
any pain here's a question for you is a
snake just a big head and a long tail or
does it have a body they do have a body
and a Burmese python has a very long
body so this is obviously best his head
right here all the way down here this
long train this is all his body until we
get to down here and if I turn him
you're going to see he's got vestigial
legs sticking out just a var and then
that's a little opening do you see that
little slit there
that's an opening that he has that's his
vent and it's only then from here
downwards which is his channel the rest
of him from here all the way up that is
his body snakes have a cloaca that's
where they store their reproductive
organs and where they go to the toilet
from it's only after the cloaca where
the true tale actually starts so really
the snake has a very long body and only
a deadly little tail it's a common
misunderstanding that snakes can
dislocate their jaws to eat their prey
that's not true
snakes don't dislocate their jaws to eat
their prey snakes don't actually have a
chin this means that their jaws are very
very flexible not having a chin means
that they can swallow their prey whole
after swallowing their prey they will
reset their jaws into alignment by
yawning really really wide next time
someone says that snakes dislocate their
jaws to eat their prey now you know
differently the Burmese python comes
from South Asia they're endemic to
Myanmar Thailand and even in Hong Kong
where I used to live they predominantly
inhabit the rainforest because they like
very humid environment although Burmese
pythons are native to Southeast Asia
they've made their way all the way over
to Florida in America so how did a
Southeast Asian snake end up in Florida
well there's two possibilities as to how
the snake managed to get all the way
from Southeast Asia to Florida back in
1992 Florida was hit by Hurricane Andrew
and Hurricane Andrew damaged a lot of
buildings this included animal
establishments such as zoological
collections as well as exotic animal
breeding facilities it's possible that
some of these specimens managed to make
their way into the Everglades where the
climate was correct for them to breed
and to thrive the other possibility is
simply due to irresponsible pet
ownership these snakes are often bought
when they're very cute and very small
where they're tiny a little snip - Boop
but given the right conditions Burmese
pythons can grow very quickly and very
large not everybody is prepared to keep
a snake of this size so it's possible
that a responsible pet keepers may have
released them into the wild as well very
few animals could predate on the Burmese
python when they get to this size it's
really only the alligator and humans
which would be a threat
- when they get to this size as
hatchlings of course Burmese pythons are
a lot more vulnerable but as I said
earlier there can be 30 to 40 snakes in
a single clutch so with the right
temperature and a perfect amount of
cover to keep them safe Burmese pythons
have thrived in the Everglades and
they're causing a real problem which is
why it's important that if you have a
pet snake you never release it into the
wild if you have to give up your snake
for whatever reason take it to a
wildlife center or a rescue where
they'll either be able to rehome your
animal or point you in the direction of
someone who could take it in life span
wise the Burmese python is quite a
long-lived animal in the wild they can
live between 20 to 25 years although due
to habitat destruction and interference
for a man for the meat trade and the
fashion trade it's unfortunately getting
less and less I think a lot of people
think that snake handbags are made from
shed snakeskin that's not the case at
all a shed from a snake looks completely
different to its actual skin it's almost
translucent hello handsome where are you
going someone's hogs can you see what
he's doing with his tongue there huh
it's a forked tongue and he uses that to
taste the air it can taste for moisture
particles in the air and that reports
back to an organ called the Jacobson's
organ that helps him to build a 3d
picture of what's going on around him
and he can detect heat he can detect
scent and he can also detect where his
mates are and his food any other snake
keepers out there will be able to
understand the frustration that this
story causes it's kind of an urban
legend that everybody tends to hear at
least at some point in their lives when
they talk about snakes and the urban
legend legend goes like this ooh
snakes my uncle has a friend who has a
snake and it used to sleep under his bed
every night and then one night the snake
wasn't under the bed anymore
it was sleeping alongside him he was
worried that the snake was sick so he
took it to the vet and the vet said your
snakes not sick he's measuring you to
eat you so the next time somebody tells
you that they have a friend or a family
member who has a snake and used to live
under the bed
a third of measuring them to eat them
it's total rubbish total rubbish thank
you guys all so much for watching I hope
that you managed to learn a couple of
new facts about snakes and to see just
how amazing and gentle they can be and
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say bye creatures