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Water/Brown Water Python of Western Australia Liasis fuscus Harmless |
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Water/Brown Water Python of Western Australia Liasis fuscus Harmless |
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This snake is approx 2m in total length. It is found throughout the monsoonal belt of northern Australia, in parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. It does not occur in permanently arid regions. Water Pythons are generally nocturnal. They go both on land and in the water sheltering during the day in burrows, crevices and tree hollows. These pythons have shiny scales which are water repellant |
Photographed at the Armadale Reptile Center in Perth. |
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What does it eat? Eats a variety of vertebrates such as young crocodiles. But in all fairness the water pythons are also eaten by larger crocodiles. It also feeds on rats, magpie geese eggs, bandicoots, water birds and their eggs and possibly prey as large as wallabies that come to the water to drink. Mitchell's water monitors are also found around waterways. Juveniles feed on frogs, fish and lizards. Like all pythons they swallow their food whole. |
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Water Pythons tend to have a docile nature, rarely attempting to bite. |
They are sometimes mistaken for taipans. Water Pythons presumably mate in the cooler months, producing approx 11-19 eggs in spring. They may lay their eggs in an abandoned goanna burrow. More than one female may use the same burrow. These hatch in early summer to live young measuring roughly 30cm in length. This species does carry out maternal care of its eggs by coiling around them, but it appears unable to raise its body temperature by rapid muscular constrictions when doing so (Ross 1978). |
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