Blood python, Malaysian blood python, Red blood python, Red short-tailed python, Sumatran blood python
The Brongersma's short-tailed python (Python brongersmai) is a nonvenomous snake from Southeast Asia. It is named in honor of Dutch herpetologist Leo Brongersma.
The color pattern of Brongersma's short-tailed pythons consists of rich, bright red to orange to a duller rusty red ground color, although populations with yellow and brown are known. This is overlaid with yellow and tan blotches and stripes that run the length of the body, as well as tan and black spots that extend up the flanks. The belly is white, often with small black markings. The head is usually a shade of grey; individual snakes can change how light and dark the head is. A white postocular stripe runs down and back from the posterior edge of the eye.
Brongersma's short-tailed pythons are found in peninsular (Western) Malaysia, Sumatra east of the central dividing range of mountains, Bangka Island, and other islands in the Strait of Malacca, including the Lingga Islands, Riau islands, and Pinang, Thailand, and Vietnam. These snakes prefer to live in forests, marshes, tropical swamps, and plantations.
Brongersma's short-tailed pythons are solitary and usually active around dawn and dusk. They live on the ground where they also hunt their prey. They will hide under the cover and may wait patiently for hours until potential prey passes by.
Brongersma's short-tailed pythons are carnivores and prey on various rodents.
Females of this species are oviparous and lay up to 30 eggs at a time. After laying her eggs, the female then coils around them and shivers her body, producing heat to incubate the eggs properly. Hatchlings typically measure from 25-43 cm (10-17 in) in total length (including tail).
Brongersma's short-tailed pythons suffer from the commercial harvest for leather. There is evidence to suggest that there are clear indications of misdeclared, underreported, and illegal trade involving tens of thousands of these pythons; howver, there are questions whether this trade is sustainable.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of Brongersma's short-tailed python total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are increasing.
