Adults grow to a length of 152–183cm (4.99–6.00ft). The color pattern consists of a series of brilliant orange and black rings in juveniles, but this fades in about a year as the snakes mature. Adults are usually a shade of brown with black rings, or a uniform blackish brown. Usually, there is a light spot behind the eye.[3] Some specimens may have black rings that are irregular, incompletely formed or even absent. The scales are highly iridescent.
Close up of an adult Bismarck Ringed Python.Young BRP with its characteristic bright orange and jet-black coloration.
Their diet consists primarily of small rodents, for which they actively forage. They have been reported to enter houses and agricultural structures in search of prey. Hatchlings feed on lizards and juvenile rodents.[3]
Reproduction
Oviparous, they lay up to a dozen eggs that are generally "brooded" by the female, although this is not always the case.[3]
12McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN1-893777-01-4 (volume).
123456Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN0-8069-6460-X.
