Blood python

A blood python living in its natural habitat will spend most of its time underwater.  While submerged in a river or stream, the blood python waits for its meal to cross its path.  Python curtus would then stalk the targeted prey and ambush it.  This aggressive characteristic is evident in other behaviors of the blood python.  For example, people who catch blood pythons in the wild have reported many violent, ill-tempered actions.  Wild pythons living near human settlements are more likely to be regarded as dangerous pests than as exotic pets.  On the other hand, blood pythons that are raised and bred tend to be more docile.  The people who catch the species Python curtus are mainly breeders and collecters of exotic animals.  Blood pythons have become endangered due to the fact that their beautiful skin is now in high demand on the exotic leather market.Blood pythons also have special features that differentiate them from other snakes.  These features include: lower jaw suspension for large prey; upper and lower jaws with palatine bones containing curved teeth for instant hold on prey; internal pair of hind legs in the shape of stout spurs that can leave a scratch in defense; these spurs are also used by the male to hang onto a female during mating.  Evidence of pits in the roof of the mouth suggest that pythons once were venomous snakes.Pythons have heat-sensing pits on the upper lip that help them to detect their warm-blooded prey.  Blood pythons have only two large pits on each side. With the ability to constrict their muscles, blood pythons can protect and defend themselves and their young.  When brooding females lay eggs, they will coil up into a tight ball over the nest generating heat needed for incubation.  Because of the energy used in shivering, a female may lose half her body weight during the incubation period.  Also, the constricting feature aids the blood python in killing its prey by suffocation.