A 5-meter Burmese python in Florida lays nearly 100 eggs, becoming the largest recorded clutch for this species in the wild.
Eggs in the giant clutch of the female Burmese python. (Photo: USGS).
Amy Yackel Adams, a member of the research team from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) responsible for monitoring Burmese pythons, reported that a female python set a world record by laying 96 eggs. Yackel Adams and her colleagues published their findings on the record-setting python and its clutch in the journal Reptiles and Amphibians at the end of March 2023.
The python first attracted the research team’s attention on May 23, 2022, after laying an unusually large clutch of eggs. However, due to the way pythons incubate their eggs, researchers could only accurately count the enormous clutch when the eggs were close to hatching. Yackel Adams explained that Burmese pythons typically coil tightly around their eggs and vibrate to generate heat, keeping the clutch at a stable temperature. They then leave when the eggs are about to hatch.
Of the 96 eggs, 83 hatched, while the remaining 13 eggs appeared to be non-viable. Some of these eggs were misshapen and smaller compared to those that successfully hatched. The hatched eggs averaged 7.7 cm in length, while the non-viable eggs measured only 5.5 cm. The mother python resides in the Big Cypress National Preserve, bordering the Everglades wetlands in Florida. At 5 meters long, she is nearly as large as the biggest python recorded in the area.
According to Yackel Adams, local wildlife has been struggling against the increasing population of predatory pythons over the past few decades, to the point where no swamp rabbits or deer are observed in Everglades National Park anymore. Burmese pythons are not native to Florida and are typically classified as an invasive species, originating from Southeast Asia. Their numbers have steadily increased since the 1970s.
While they do not pose a threat to humans since they are non-venomous and generally avoid confrontation, the proliferation of Burmese pythons could lead to the extinction of native animals. Pythons subdue their prey by constricting until death, then slowly digest their meals.
