Pythons can eat the equivalent of their body weight in one meal. Reticulated pythons have been known to eat pigs weighing more than 130 pounds (59 kg), and African rock pythons regularly eat warthogs, antelope, goats and even crocodiles. Pythons are also one of the few types of snakes known to kill and eat humans, although humans are not their food of choice.
More facts about pythons:
- Pythons fast for a long time between meals — usually several months. The longest recorded fast of a python lasted two years.
- After a meal, pythons become extremely lethargic and try not to move. This isn't only because they're digesting. The hard parts of a meal can actually tear through a python's skin if it moves too vigorously, so some pythons actually throw up their meals if they are forced to move after eating.
- Eating so much at one time appears to be good for pythons' hearts. The infrequent but huge meals mean that whenever the python does eat, its metabolism escalates tremendously, which makes the heart beat very fast and get stronger.
