After customs officials at the Kapikule border crossing in Edirne province in northwestern Turkey seized a shipment containing 67 live pythons hidden inside socks, the officials were handling the seizures casually, extracting them one by one from the socks, as if what they had in their hands was not a snake.
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In addition to this behavioral trait, there are physical characteristics that are popular with reptile enthusiasts, as Muhammad lists. Among them is that it is a relatively short snake, compared to other types of pythons, as its length usually ranges between 90 and 150 centimeters for females. Therefore, it does not need to be housed in giant or very complex tanks compared to huge snakes, and this allows it to be easily moved from one place to another. It is also characterized by slow movement, which makes it easy to deal with, so that it can be tamed so that humans get used to it.
The most striking feature is the amazing diversity of colors and genes, as these snakes have an exceptional ability to produce incredible genetic mutations in colors and patterns, making them an enjoyable hobby for breeders interested in producing rare and beautiful forms.
Above all, it has the advantage of "long lifespan," as it can live in captivity, when provided with proper care, for between 20 and 30 years, making it a long-term companion for those who care about raising it.
Because all these qualities are combined in the royal python, its prices, according to reptile selling platforms in Turkey, range between 13,000 and 19,000 lira per snake, which means that the deal of 67 snakes that was thwarted by Turkish customs was worth an amount ranging between 871,000 and 1.27 million lira.
According to the prices of animals in the reptile market, this value is described as high, so it was not surprising that a scientific study that analyzed international trade data for snakes listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) revealed that pythons accounted for 38.8% of the total snakes traded, topping the global trade in these animals.
The reticulated, royal, and Burmese pythons were among the most prominent species in trade, but the reticulated and Burmese species stood out especially in the leather trade, while the royal was closely associated with the live animal trade.
From the wild to commercial farms
The royal python belongs to the snakes of West and Central Africa, and its range extends from Senegal and Sierra Leone to parts of Sudan and Uganda.
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