Calabar Python
Calabaria reinhardtii
A small, cylindrical burrowing python from Africa with a blunt tail used to mimic its head as a defense strategy.
- Venomous?
- Non-venomous
- Adult length
- 0.6-1 m (2-3.3 ft)
- Range
- West and Central Africa
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Overview
The Calabar Python is a highly unusual, small burrowing python native to the forests of West and Central Africa. Unlike most pythons, it is highly fossorial, spending much of its life underground or beneath leaf litter and debris.
A distinctive defensive trait is its blunt, similarly shaped tail, which it can present to confuse predators about the location of its actual head, a strategy sometimes called head mimicry.
How to identify it
- Small, cylindrical body with a uniform, glossy appearance
- Reddish-brown to dark brown coloration, sometimes with faint blotching
- Blunt tail resembling the head, used in defensive head-mimicry displays
- Small eyes and reduced head distinction, adapted for burrowing
- Rounded pupils
- Distinguished from other small African snakes by its cylindrical burrowing build and blunt tail mimicry
Habitat & range
Found in tropical rainforest and forest-edge habitats of West and Central Africa, largely fossorial, living in loose soil, leaf litter, and under logs.
Behavior, diet & reproduction
Secretive and burrowing in habit, rarely seen above ground. Feeds primarily on small mammals in underground burrows. When threatened, it may coil and present its blunt tail to mimic its head, distracting predators from its actual, more vulnerable head. Reproduces by laying eggs.
Frequently asked questions
Why does it mimic its head with its tail?
The blunt tail resembles the head and is presented to predators as a decoy, protecting the actual head from attack.
Is the Calabar Python venomous?
No, it is non-venomous.
Is it a typical tree- or ground-dwelling python?
No, it is unusually fossorial, spending much of its time burrowing underground.
Where is it found?
Forested regions of West and Central Africa.
Calabar Python guides
In-depth guides for identifying and understanding Calabar Python.
