These data were collected from Burmese pythons removed from the Florida everglades as part of invasive-species management. After euthanasia, we sexed (male or female) and measured the snout-vent length (SVL; cm) and total body mass (g) for each python. We also measured total fat mass (g) by removing all visible fat bodies from the coelomic cavity and weighing this mass. For a subset of specimens, we recorded whether the pythons were put on ice after euthanasia and measured within 24 hours ('fresh') or whether the pythons were frozen after euthanasia, thawed, and then measured ('frozen'). These data were used to validate several body condition indices in Burmese pythons.

This dataset contains morphometric information from Burmese pythons collected from an invasive population in southern Florida between 1995-2021. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service curated this dataset as a repository for records of Burmese pythons found on or nearby federal lands in southern Florida, including Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, and Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. As such, numerous entities actively or incidentally involved in python research or management activities contributed specimens and/or data to this dataset, including but not limited to the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Florida, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Florida Water Management District, volunteers, and members of the public. The dataset includes python identification information, capture information, morphometric data, and necropsy data. The structure of the dataset is such that every row pertains to a single date that data were collected from a single python so that serial captures and morphological data collected from unique individuals can be tracked across time via different rows.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Burmese pythons captured in the ecosystem are euthanized, and in an effort to learn about this invasive species, all euthanized pythons are necropsied, during which time samples are collected. We analyzed the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in muscle samples from 423 Burmese pythons euthanized and necropsied between 2003-05-01 and 2012-09-02, and after processing and QA/QC, we were left with isotope ratios for 412 samples, which we reported here. We used these data to estimate the size of the isotopic niche of the Burmese python, commonly measured using standard ellipse areas, or SEAs. To put these SEAs in context, we conducted a thorough literature review to find published sizes of other isotopic niches, beginning in 2017-01 and finalized on 2018-06-12. We reported the papers we found during this literature review here. We then reviewed each paper and recorded any SEAs presented in the paper or its supporting information, and we presented those results here.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) water samples were collected at 15 tree islands containing wading bird breeding colonies (order Pelecaniformes) and 15 empty control islands in the central Everglades of Florida in spring of 2017 (April through June) and analyzed for the presence of eDNA from invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus). The Burmese python is now established as a breeding population throughout south Florida, USA. Pythons can consume large quantities of prey and may be a particular threat to wading bird breeding colonies in the Everglades. To quantify python occupancy rates at tree islands where wading birds breed, we utilized environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis—a genetic tool which detects shed DNA in water samples and provides high detection probabilities compared to traditional survey methods. We fitted multi-scale Bayesian occupancy models to test the prediction that Burmese pythons occupy islands with wading bird colonies in the central Everglades at higher rates compared to representative control islands in the same region containing no breeding birds.

The dataset contains 3 components: (1) acceleration data logger (ADL) data, (2) GPS location data, and (3) body temperature data. We have ADL data from pythons in captivity (N = 2) and in free-ranging snakes (N=4). We have GPS data for 3 out of 4 free-ranging snakes. We have body temperature data for all 4 free-ranging snakes.

Environmental DNA water samples were collected in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem between May 20-22, 2019 and analyzed to estimate Burmese python (Python bivittatus) occurrence. Twenty-eight sites were sampled in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, with 5 field replicate samples per site, for a total of 140 water samples collected. Python eDNA was detected at 25 of the 28 sampling sites using Droplet Digital PCR amplification. Data either are not available or have limited availability owing to sensitivity concerns. Contact the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center for more information.

This dataset provides morphological and blood-derived physiological data from invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) captured in Florida. Data were collected on pythons at capture in the field and in varying lengths of time in captivity. Samples were collected immediately at handling (baseline) and 1 hour post-restraint. Physiological data include circulating corticosterone hormone levels, functional immune assays, and blood cell counts. Also included is R code ( Python_captivity_capture_code.R ) to replicate analyses used in the publication "Scales of Stress: Effects of capture and captivity in an invasive snake". For reference, the following data files are relevant to each section of the corresponding manuscript: 1. Effects of different timescales of stressors: python_long.csv cellcountpart1.csv 2. Finer scale and non-linear relationships between metrics and captivity: python_wide.csv cellcountpart2.csv 3. Viral Infection Status: virus_data_full.csv

Morphometric data (mass, length, circumference, age) collected during an observation of a radio-telemetered female Burmese python (Python bivitattus) that ingested an adult female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), retained the deer within the digestive tract for 10 days, and then vomited the deer coinciding with a drop in air temperature.

Data in this release include oviposition, pipping, body size, and environmental temperature observations for three wild adult female Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus). Data are from two individuals that were free-ranging (Pythons # 1 and 2) in Big Cypress National Preserve, Collier County, Florida, USA and one wild-caught individual (Python #3) placed in an outdoor enclosure on the campus of the University of Florida Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Broward County, FL, USA.

Demographic and morphological data from an adult female Burmese python and a clutch of hatchlings produced July 2024 in Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida.