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Antaresia childreni
Can anyone ID these pythons? Small, about 80 cm in length, brown/grey with irregular darker spot pattern, and white belly. The two snakes were spinning and coiling around one another, as in a dance. I thought this might be courtship or perhaps, two males, "wrestling". Any suggestions welcome.
Dry grassland with sparsely wooded waterways, in the Gulf Country of northern Queensland.
I think they could be children's pythons.
I agree with children's pythons. And to me it looks more like 2 males fighting rather than courtship. USUALLY for courtship they don't wrap the whole bodies together like this, that is much more common for fighting. Can't be sure without seeing it in person though! Very cool spotting either way :)
An awesome spotting, Felix. Just to throw confusion into the mix, this could also be a Spotted Python (Antaresia maculosa), similar to, but often confused with, the Children's Python - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antaresia_... The Spotted Python is saw had the mast amazing iridescent blue scales - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/325...
Thanks Hema Shah, I've been trying to find out more about these guys, but without success. Haven't even been able to ID them either, I think they could be children's pythons...
Hopefully Lisa and Ashley T see this. They are snake experts and might be able to provide more insight into what exactly is happening.
There's wasn't a third one (female) around... You're probably right with the territorial fight.
i have pictures of rattle snakes mating. This one could be a territorial dispute.
i had seen two gopher snakes in a similar situation. i did not have a camera then. One fell in the water and the other moved on.