Diamond Pythons
Diamond Pythons (Morelia spilota spilota) are a non-venomous snake (a close relative of the Carpet Python) and are black in colour with cream and yellow patterns and are usually around 2 metres long, but can grow up to three metres in length.
They're found all along the New South Wales coastline, right down to Victoria, and in November become quite active when they're looking for mates and laying their eggs. Male pythons can travel up to 500m a day to follow a female's scent trail who's ready to mate.
They play an important role in the balance of wildlife and mild mannered and relaxed is their usual way, but what a dramatic change happens when they sense a rat or mouse nearby, or even better, a nice fat rabbit. After a delicious meal, their time is taken up lazing in the sun, looking glamorous while slowly digesting the big lump in their tummy. Occasionally these beautiful creatures make a slight error – which brings us to the ‘Tale of Dorothy’.
They're found all along the New South Wales coastline, right down to Victoria, and in November become quite active when they're looking for mates and laying their eggs. Male pythons can travel up to 500m a day to follow a female's scent trail who's ready to mate.
They play an important role in the balance of wildlife and mild mannered and relaxed is their usual way, but what a dramatic change happens when they sense a rat or mouse nearby, or even better, a nice fat rabbit. After a delicious meal, their time is taken up lazing in the sun, looking glamorous while slowly digesting the big lump in their tummy. Occasionally these beautiful creatures make a slight error – which brings us to the ‘Tale of Dorothy’.
The Tale of Dorothy
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Dorothy is a big, healthy girl, all of two-and-a-half metres and as pretty as an Arabian carpet. Her territory is rather large as she patrols around “Tahlee” keeping vermin (rats, mice, rabbits) under control and her tummy happy into the bargain.
One unfortunate day she sensed a rabbit nearby and went on the hunt, in through a mesh fence only to find she was stuck. A concerned passerby, thinking to solve the problem, pulled her back through the mesh accidentally opening a large wound on her side. Enter the Wildlife Rescue people, who took her into care. Being nearly Winter, Dorothy needed a heat pad to keep her from hibernating which would slow down the healing. A nice big comfy box to live in and a sunroom to call home. Add an occasional ‘tap’, ‘tap’ at the front of the box with a defrosted mouse or three and Dorothy began the healing process. Soon she recognised me as a friend and would happily allow herself to be carried out into the sun then later back to her warm box. |
Diamond Pythons need to shed their skin quite regularly, with a lot of wriggling and rubbing against rocks and so on. The old worn skin is peeled back along the body till there you are – a bright, shiny new coat. A big scar can be a problem as the old skin can catch on this point and bunch up until it becomes a tourniquet that can gradually strangle.
Many times during shedding, I had to cut away this bunched up constriction until the wound was quite healed and shedding was no longer a problem. Eight months later, fully mended, Dorothy was released back into her territory at Tahlee to continue the good works. David Matheson | Wildlife Care May 2016 |
