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I just returned from another SE Asia trip and thought this might be interesting for retic enthusiasts. I also keep retics but not as many as I used to have. I am no different from any of you, the typical understanding for any enclosure would be quite bare lacking branches for arboreal behavior.

We found three small retics in two days, all in trees. I would imagine that the arboreal habits might diminish in adults as their sheer mass would limit how many trees could support their weight. However, in the jungle there are plenty of trees of all sizes to choose from so that could be false. Regardless, I found the behavior interesting as it was very consistent. All perched in trees, all dropped quickly once disturbed and fell significant distances into water below. Two of the three had recent meals but prey was round in shape so I am thinking birds as opposed to animals that would elongate once swallowed like fish, frogs, or most four-legged mammals.

I felt very privileged to have had this opportunity to interact with retics in the wild, despite the leeches, horse flies, mosquitos and other unpleasant things that come with trips into the jungle.

DM Exotics

Wow, you are so lucky.... Awesome video!

Nice footage! Thanks for sharing.

There is very little information on the natural behavior of the reticulated python. I think that would make a great study! the isolation of it's habitat from western societies which could (for the sake of knowledge) fund and support the work makes it problematic.

Maybe someday a lucky graduate student or post-doc will be fortunate enough to get stationed in the SE Asian jungle. It would be very interesting to know how these giants live on their own turf.
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steve

Dan,
Nice video and you are definitely privileged to be able to see these animals in their natural environment. I’ve maintained a lot of species in captivity, but nothing ever beats seeing them in the wild. I watched an excellent nature show back in the late 1980’s that was filmed in central Borneo. It wasn’t your typically showoff production, but was well done by some people who really cared about and were really interested in this ecosystem. It was more of a documentary of their expedition and study. A couple of scenes that I will never forget were videos of them coming up on retics resting on the jungle floor. On two separate occasions, when they startled these resting retics, they both immediately shot up the nearest larger tree with unbelievable speed. They were both in the 12 to 14 foot range I would say, but showed incredible agility moving up the trunks of these trees in a matter of seconds. To accomplish this, they would pull their bodies up the tree trunk by alternately coiling around, pulling, and releasing the front part and then rear part of their bodies up the trunk. It was amazing how rapidly they could progress upward by this method. These were larger trees, and I could see why retics in smaller understory trees like you encountered, would be more likely to want to leave it. It would be interesting to see if they would have moved upward if the trees had been considerably larger and offered more in the way of height and structural protection. Thanks for sharing.

Kelly

Kelly
I thought of that same video. One of the scariest things I've ever seen. No limbs and (I estimated 14-15 feet retic) that snake flew up that tree.
The explanation I had heard was that it was in pursuit of a monkey. I felt that was wrong. Definitely looked more like a retreat than aggression.
Adult Rocks are fairly arboreal also but of the 4 giants I think retics are the most athletic.D.C.

I agree with you on that. Those retics were definitely not in hunting mode by crashing through the undergrowth and up those tree trunks like they did. Most obviously escape behavior. The best example I've seen for large retics climbing is the photo below. Taken at the Pittsburgh, PA zoo in the late 1950's by Bill Allen Jr. At the time of the photo she was 28 feet and over 300 lbs.

Kelly

I still wonder what potion of their calories are ambushed in trees throughout life, if they use large trees to seek refuge while digesting a meal, and what the relationship is between size and time spent in branches?
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steve

I have an old book it might be "Giant Snakes of the World". The author claimed xraying the contents of several large snakes.
Claimed one had an adult leopard in it. The snake had extensive scarring. Could have ambushed from the ground but more likely dropped on it from a higher limb.
I would think if he ate it in the tree he would stay there until he digested.
A big meal eaten on the ground I can't see climbing up a tree. D.C.

I haven't actually studied retics in the wild but I have seen a few. One I saw in the jungle was about 8' or so and climbed a tree exactly how described above. It was getting away from us and took to the high ground. It climbed with absolute ease and was quite fast. The others I have encountered in the night crossing roads from grassy areas and/or rice fields. I am sure they were hunting as do a lot of other snakes in those areas.
The photos included in this post were taken this year in Thailand in a location that I frequent. It was encountered on a trail by Thai rubber tree workers. They killed it for food as is the reality in areas where most of our exotic pets come from. This was a very large retic for what is typically encountered in the wild. In the stomach was a medium sized dog. There are many wild/feral dogs in this area of which most are a mix of Rhodesian Ridgeback (for those of you that know your dog breeds you can get a better idea as to the size).
This doesn't provide much information by way of hunting behavior or preferred resting location in relation to size but again, some will find it interesting. For those that are a bit open minded and can accept the fact that in some places snake can take the place of chicken or fish at the dinner table, retic actually tastes pretty good. I have reluctantly eaten snake in the past, mostly colubrids. This last trip I had retic for the first time in a stew....it had a good flavor. It was not the pictured animal but a smaller one about 10', they had the skin tacked to a board and were planning to sell it. The skin of the big one pictured in this post was purchased by the manager of a local hotel. We know her but I forgot to ask her about it.

DM Exotics

It is highly likely that the majority of the food intake of these larger retics consists of ground dwelling prey species. Arboreal prey species would most likely rarely ever have the body mass to sustain the energy requirements of these larger retics. However, there is no doubt that these larger pythons use the trees as safe refuges on a frequent basis. Thanks again for the photos.

Kelly

Kelly
Bringing back some memories here

Back in the early 80s I donated my 20 ft female to the Pittsburgh zoo to replace this Retic which died. Colossus or was that the Bronx zoo Retic?

Anyway, Bill was very surprised and pleased that when I arrived at the pittsburgh zoo with my girl, which filled a sleeping bag across the back seat of my car, that she was really as large as I had stated. Other " big" retics turned out to be 15 ft max.
I got her in 1975 after I adopted her from my local pet store once i turned 16 and could drive. For two years prior, I would walk over to the store and volunteered to care for her. She had become their Lilly (munsters) hidden in the back as no one would buy her at 15 feet and some customers were afraid of her and or would get angry at the store owners for what she ate- wabbits

Winslow

Ps
My girl also loved that tree shown in your pic, and the shallow drinking pool on the floor. "The Retic room" was 10 x 20 x 8 not bad place to land .....
except, there was a paramyxovirus (IBD) that ran through the zoo collection starting in the pit vipers and within 3 years hit all the pythons.

I got to spend some time saying goodby to my girl in the cage coming through that door seen in the back looking out at the visitors.

Winslow,
Thanks much for sharing that story, I would have really liked being involved with the Pittsburgh Zoo staff the way you where, and with the access to the facilities. I always wondered how large that cage unit was, and if it contained a pool. I worked at a zoo in the late 70's and really enjoyed my time there. It is so very unfortunate that your large female was to succumb to paramyxovirus, a very sad ending that started out so well. Thanks again,

Kelly

Actually there is a BBC video of a Retic going up a tree in that fashion to catch some monkeys...

http://www.arkive.org/reticulated-python/python-reticulatus/video-11.html

Very impressive climbing skills for a 15 ft snake!
Climbing Retc

Good to see. It's not toos urprising; I've seen captive burms and retics climb when given the chance pretty regularly.
The local zoo has 2 female burms on display that will climb their rock wall on a fairly regular basis (the albino's particularly good at it).

Hell, even ball pythons can climb; I had an escapee when I was a kid get into the ceiling
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
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