Pygmy Python

Adults grow to about 50 cm (19.5 in) in length and have a weight near 210 grams. Neonates are about 8 inches (20 cm) in length and about 4 grams in weight. After a year they average about 25 grams in weight. This makes them smaller than both the Children's python, A. childreni, and the spotted python, A. maculosa. A. perthensis usually has a redder background ground color than these other species and their spots fade, or become less distinct, as they mature. In contrast, the ground color is lighter in childreni and maculosa, while their spots stay better defined throughout their life.

The pygmy python is native to Australia, primarily endemic to the northwestern regions of the state of Western Australia and on some coastal islands. The type locality given is "Perth, West Australia" (Western Australia), an erroneous assumption of the place where the specimen was collected. This historical unfamiliarity of Europeans with the place of a specimen's collection has given rise to other 'naming peculiarities'. According to L.A. Smith (1985), the type locality is unknown. The pygmy python has a number of confirmed visual sightings entered on iNaturalist (a global biodiversity website, app and nature-minded social network); sightings have been documented in and around several areas of Western Australia, including Cape Range National Park, Dampier, De Grey, East Lyons River, the Hamersley Range and Karijini National Park, Marble Bar, the Murujuga (Burrup) Peninsula, Pannawonica, Peedamulla, and Port Hedland.

The pygmy python is oviparous, with 5-8 eggs per clutch. The females will stay coiled around the eggs (lifting them off the substrate) and incubate them until they hatch, which is usually after 50–60 days.