Rough-scaled python

The rough-scaled python is able to grow to around in total length. It has a triangular-shaped head with a conspicuous constriction at the neck area. ==Captivity==

They are now available to private owners, originating from a few wild-caught specimens, as they were found to breed readily in captivity. Three males and two females were collected and transferred to the Australian Reptile Park in 2000 and had produced 71 offspring by 2012. These, in turn, had produced another offspring. ==Distribution and habitat==

These snakes are found in Australia, in northwestern Western Australia in the lower sections of the Mitchell and Hunter Rivers, just inland from the coast. The type locality given is "Mitchell River Falls, Western Australia (14°50'S, 125°42'E)" [Australia]. They are present in the Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley region. The species is often associated with fruit-bearing trees, possibly indicating a preference of ambush sites for herbivorous animals, and also close to permanent fresh water. ==Behavior==

So far, they are reported to be strictly crepuscular. Their temperament is quite docile with rarely any attempts to bite. ==Reproduction==

This species is confirmed to be an egg-layer (oviparous) like other pythons. The mating season is between July and August, after which the female will typically find a vacant mammal or reptile burrow (or an otherwise dark, secluded location) to occupy for a number of weeks, effectively converting the space into a nursery. Females usually lay around ten semi-soft, leathery, oval-shaped eggs, which they then incubate with their body heat for several weeks, abstaining from all food or water, not wishing to deprive any essential warmth to the developing eggs until they hatch. Once the eggs do begin cracking, and the young pythons finally take their first breaths of air, the likely starving and parched mother leaves her offspring in-search of nourishment, never to return. She does not take care of the babies, which are instead born with a hunter's instinct. The snakelets begin their lives by hunting larger insects, such as beetles or large crickets, before gradually moving-on to mammalian prey. ==Media==

This species was only filmed for the first time by wildlife conservationist Malcolm Douglas, and shown on his Kimberley Adventure Part 1. (1997) ==References==