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We’re almost halfway through the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, which means this year’s hunters have likely already sent in plenty of snakes. But what do you do with the body of a recently killed 15-foot-long Burmese python?Python Bivitattus), let alone multiple snake corpses? There are many options, but only one place accepts pitons as payment for pizza.
In Everglades City, about 75 miles west of Miami, a restaurant called Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta, and Python will accept snakes recently (and humanely) killed by customers in exchange for menu items. According to the establishment’s owner, Dustin Crum, it’s a fair deal for both parties: Visitors get food and Crum gets supplies for his business.
“We make python dips, python pizza, iguana, you know, whatever,” he recently told NBC Miami. “I use the fat to make snake oils for the skin, creams and soap,” Crum said. “We make jewelry with the bones, everything is used.”
Burmese pythons have put increasing pressure on the region’s native ecosystem since their introduction to the Everglades during the 1970s. Conservationists estimate that between 100,000 and 300,000 snakes currently live in Florida, where they are essentially predators of local wildlife populations. Pregnant females typically lay around 70 eggs at a time, while adult pythons typically reach around 13 feet in length.
The Florida Python Challenge debuted in 2013 and returned intermittently over the next several years before becoming an annual event in 2020. More than 900 participants signed up for last year’s Python Challenge, and potentially the same number are currently searching for snakes amid the 2026 competition. A $10,000 prize will be awarded to the person who catches the most snakes, with another $15,000 going around among other categories.
But whether or not you deliver a python to Crum’s doorstep, don’t expect to try and pay for a python pizza in cash. Florida health regulations prevent the actual sale of snake slices.
“Yeah, I can’t sell those things, I just have to give them away,” Crum explained.
Aspiring hunters can still sign up for the Florida Python Challenge after completing an online training course. The event ends at 5 pm EDT on July 19.
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