Dates for the 2025 Florida Python Challenge — a ten-day event to remove invasive Burmese pythons — are set and registration for the event is open.

This year's hunt runs from July 11 to July 20, Florida Fish and Wildlife announced May 15.

Participants can win money prizes in several categories, including a $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize.

First identified in Everglades National Park in 2000, the Burmese python may be the most destructive foreign animal in the park's history.

Burmese pythons have put a stranglehold on Florida's wildlife, contributing to the decline of raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, and marsh and cottontail rabbits, according to a USGS study .

The massive snakes can grow to more than 18 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.

FWC works with partners and the public to hunt and kill the snakes , including the annual Florida Python Challenge.

Python Challenge 2025 dates: When does it start, how long does it last?

The 2025 Florida Python Challenge starts at 12:01 a.m. July 11 and ends at 5 p.m. July 20, Florida Fish and Wildlife announced May 15.

What prizes can hunters win in the Florida Python Challenge?

$25,000 in prizes are up for grabs for this year's hunt.

The top prize of $10,000 goes to the person who catches the most pythons. Those with the most catches in the Novice, Professional and Military categories win $2,500, while runners-up in each group receive $1,500, and $1,000 is awarded for the longest pythons caught.

Can you shoot Burmese pythons the the Florida python hunt?

There is no established firearm season during the time of the event. The use of firearms during the competition is prohibited.

What do they do with pythons caught in Florida?

Burmese pythons captured in Florida must be humanely killed . While they are not protected in Florida, anti-cruelty law still applies.

Where in Florida are Burmese pythons? How far north do they go?

The invasive snakes are distributed across more than a thousand square miles in the Everglades and southern Florida Burmese pythons have been found across the state and are slithering north . They may even reach Georgia .

Longest Burmese python on record was caught in Southwest Florida

A group of python hunters caught the longest Burmese python ever measured on July 10, 2023, in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County.

The monster snake was 19 feet long .

18-foot pythons captured in south Florida, Everglades

The previous record was held by python hunters Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis who captured a python measuring a whopping 18-feet 9-inches in 2020 .

In 2013, Jason Leon captured a then-record 18-foot python in southeastern Miami-Dade County. The massive snake weighed 128 pounds.

Licensed python hunter Mike Kimmel, alone on a spoil island in the Florida Everglades, caught a 17-foot python in 2020.

Heaviest python caught in Florida

Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists caught the heaviest Burmese python ever recorded in the Florida Everglades in 2022. The colossal female python weighed an eye-popping 215 pounds and was nearly 18 feet long.

A 198-pound Burmese python was captured in November 2023 in the Big Cypress Preserve, making it the second- heaviest ever caught in the Sunshine State. The massive snake was 17 feet, 2 inches long.

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