Water Python

The Water Python is a large, non-venomous constrictor found in the monsoonal floodplains of northern Australia. It is best known for the striking iridescent sheen of its smooth, olive-brown scales, which shimmer with purple and green highlights in direct light.

These pythons are closely associated with wetlands and are highly seasonal in their movements, tracking the availability of prey and water across the wet-dry cycle of the tropics.

• Uniform olive-brown to blackish-brown dorsum with little or no pattern
• Pale yellowish belly, sometimes with dark blotches
• Strong iridescence on smooth, glossy scales, especially visible in sunlight
• Broad head distinct from neck, with heat-sensing labial pits
• Vertical pupils
• Distinguished from the similarly colored Olive Python by smaller adult size and habitat preference for wetlands

Found in floodplains, billabongs, swamps, and river margins across the tropical north of Australia and southern New Guinea. Strongly tied to seasonal wetlands, often congregating in large numbers near shrinking waterholes during the dry season.

Primarily nocturnal, though it may bask by day near water. Feeds mainly on rodents and other small mammals, with dusky rats forming a major dietary component during seasonal abundance. Females lay eggs and coil around the clutch to provide protection and thermoregulation until hatching.