The woma python, aka Ramsay’s python, the sand python, or the woma, is like all pythons, a constrictor, and therefore not venomous. They hail from a majority of Australia. They face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of the farming practice of cropping (cutting, trimming, or harvesting the land with troweling equipment). The trampling of their burrows is another issue they face as their burrows are destroyed by residential and commercial developments. However, these snakes are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their population trend is listed as unknown at this time, as they are burrowing snakes and thus difficult to track.
First the Stats…
Scientific name: Aspidites ramsayi
Weight: Up to 11 lbs.
Length: Up to 7 feet
Lifespan: Up to 35 years
Now on to the Facts!
1.) These pythons were first discovered by naturalist, zoologist, and herpetologist Sir William John Macleay in 1882.
2.) They are 1 of only 2 known species of pitless pythons. They lack loreal pits on the front of their faces because they are burrowing snakes and have devolved the lack of heat sensing pits to avoid clogging them with dirt while burrowing.
3.) Even though they lack heat sensing pits, they do come equipped with a rostral scale. This is single, central plate located at the very tip of a snake’s or other reptile’s snout that touches the opening of the mouth and is mainly used for digging, but can also help detect prey movements.
4.) Their preferred habitats are sandy deserts, spinifex grasslands (hardy, spiny-leaved grasses native to Australia), and shrublands with loose soils and sparse vegetation.
5.) The Adelaide Zoo in South Australia has been co-ordinating a captive breeding program for these snakes, and the offspring that were raised have been released into the Arid Recovery Reserve in the northern states without success due to predation by the venomous mulga snake.
But wait, there’s more on the woma python!
6.) During the day they dwell in hollow logs or under leaf litter. When traveling across hot sands or other hot surfaces they lift their body off the ground and reach far forward before pushing off the ground again, having only a few inches of their body touching the ground at a time.
7.) These snakes are nocturnal (active at night).
Did you know…?
These pythons were named in honor of Australian zoologist Edward Pierson Ramsay.
8.) Mice, rats, small marsupials, birds, and lizards are all on the menu.
9.) These pythons are typically covered in scars because they will often hunt their prey in their burrows. Seeing as there isn’t enough room to wrap their body around their prey and constrict it, they will pin their prey agains the burrow wall and crush it. Seeing as this isn’t as effective as traditional constriction methods, they prey has a chance to retaliate.
10.) The generic name, Aspidites, translates from the Greek word meaning “shield bearer” in reference to the symmetrically shaped head scales.
But wait, there’s still more on the woma python!
11.) Females produce a single clutch each season of up to 20 eggs that hatch in up to 3 months.
12.) They are among of the hardiest python species in captivity, often over-enthusiastically accepting a variety of prey items. 1 made the headlines in May 2015 for needing surgery to remove the feeding tongs it had swallowed along with its meal.
13.) Mutitjulu Waterhole at Uluru marks the site of the battle between 2 Australian ancestral beings Kuniya (woma python, female) and Liru (king brown snake, male). Kuniya avenged the death of her nephew, who was fatally speared by Liru, by stabbing him with her digging stick.
Now a Short Woma Python Video!
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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN
