Animal Diaries Archive

Tucker time for Lilly

27 October 2006

Now that the warm weather has hit and seems to be hanging around, it's time for one of Australia Zoo's greatest spectacles... Lilly's first feed for the season.

Can you imagine a snake that is seven metres long, 150kg in weight, and hasn't eaten for the last four months or so? Big Lilly's enclosure is not really a place I want to be.

Lilly is a Reticulated Python, the longest species of snake in the world and Australia Zoo's biggest snake. Reticulated Pythons are found throughout the jungles of South East Asia, the Philippines and parts of the Indonesian archipelago. They can grow up to 10m in length and weigh over 200kg, preying on large mammals, birds and reptiles.

Being that Lilly only gets fed during the summer months of the year, and the weather has started to heat up, she is quite active now and ready for a big feast. Only a select few of keepers at the Zoo are allowed to feed Lilly as she has a strike range of half her body length, and is one of few species of snake that see humans as a food source.Oh well, I'm pretty happy to watch from the other side of the glass with the rest of the crowd!

An amazing event that is facinating to watch.