Python anchietae l Angolan python

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Common names
Angolan python, Anchieta's dwarf python

Python anchietae is a nonvenomous python species found in Angola and Namibia. It is a rare species closely related to the royal python, P. regius. No subspecies are currently recognized.

Description
Adults may grow up to 183 cm (6 ft) in length. The color pattern consists of a reddish-brown to brown to almost black ground color overlaid with irregular white or cream colored bands and spots. The belly is yellowish. A rare species seldom seen in the wild or in captivity. The only known python to have "bead-like" scales.

Geographic range
Found in Africa in southern Angola and northern Namibia. The type locality given is "Catumbella [Catumbela]" near Lobito, Angola.

Habitat
Rocky outcrops or areas strewn with rocks in open brush or grassland.

Behavior
Diurnal, they shelter in small caves, overhangs and crevices. Exhibit similar temperament to their closest cousin, the Ball python. Are known to hiss, but are more bark than bite.

Feeding
Warm blooded animal.

Reproduction
Oviparous, with small clutches of 4-5 eggs being produced at a time. It is not known whether the females "incubate" their eggs as is typical for the members of this family. Hatchlings are 43-46 cm (17-18 inches) in length.

Captivity
Angolan Pythons are rarely found in captivity due to an almost 3 decade long civil war in Angola, and thus are rather expensive,Although the Angolan Civil War is over, the fields and forests are still covered with land mines, and few dare to risk their lives to catch these pythons.

Taxonomy
According to Broadley (1990), this species is most closely related to the royal python, P. regius, of west Africa.

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