Say hello to the Children’s Python!

It’s funny, right up until I starting researching this post, I always thought that the Children’s Python was called that because it’s a good pet for children. Like, if your kid really wanted a pet snake, you got them a Children’s Python because they’re fairly chill and friendly?

Turns out I’ve just completely made this up in my head. It’s actually just named after some old white dude named John George Children (to be fair, I also just found out that Johnny was the founding president of the Royal Entomological Society, so that’s pretty cool).

That being said, this python here was indeed quite chill and friendly, and was happy to pose for as many pictures as I wanted!

These gorgeous snakes are found right across Australia’s Top End and grow to around one metre in length – which actually makes them one of the smallest pythons in the world.

They have a varied diet but are particularly adept hunters of microbats. Children’s Pythons are known to slither into caves, dangle from stalactites, and pluck the bats out of the air as they fly past!

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Children’s Python (Antaresia childreni), Kakadu National Park, Australia