2.
1.
out of sight of the other fairly
quickly.
The most bizarre example of natural
aggressive behaviour in pythons is
surely that exhibited between male
Scrub Pythons during the mating
season (July to September). I have
seen dozens of lone males at this
time of the year basking in the sun
with horrible, slashing cuts that look
like they have been created by a
razor blade. I have never witnessed
the combat that produces these
extraordinary wounds, and I don’t
know if there is any retaliation
involved, but I think it must take
place in the morning when they
become active, as it often looks as if
it has just occurred. The raking cuts
are almost symmetrical and always
in the same fashion, and it is very
difficult to figure out how they could
be made by a python. Greg Slade
has some intriguing photos of an
instance when he was wounded on
the arm by a Scrub Python in a
similar way – he tried to explain the
process to me but I am still not sure.
Last year this happened for the first
time to one of my captive animals. I
didn’t separate the animals in the
aviary, but you need to be very
1.
&
2.
3.
These pictures were taken by
Greg Slade after his arm was
bitten by a captive scrubby in
the same manner that the
snakes use when combating.
3. Another image from Greg. His
wounds healed remarkable well
- rather like those of the
pythons themselves.
4. Female Green Tree Python with
a nasty head wound inflicted by
male during early mating.
5. In this slightly later picture, the
healing process is well under-
way.