As the 2026 Florida Python Challenge is underway, one Florida restaurant will let you cash in your catch for a pizza.
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The python challenge kicked off on Friday as avid and amateur hunters alike compete for cash prizes as they work to rid the Everglades of the ravenous, invasive Burmese python.
The ultimate grand prize is $10,000, but another $15,000 in cash is available across different categories.
This year’s event, hosted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District, features Everglades National Park as a partner and one of eight official competition locations.
What to do with your python?
After successfully catching the invasive reptile, one common question most people ask is what do you do with it
One thing hunters can do is take their python to a check-in station. There are several stations throughout Florida.
The next step is to humanely euthanize them.
NBC6 spoke to an expert who said there is a two-step process to killing pythons, which includes loss of consciousness and then the complete destruction of the brain.
Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta and Python
A restaurant in Everglades City called Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta and Python will accept pythons in exchange for a free pizza.
“I’m the first place in the world to accept python as currency,” said Dustin Crum, owner of Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta and Python. “So you can trade in a python for a pizza. We do python toppings, python pizza, iguana, you know, whatever. “
At Wildman’s, customers will get to learn everything they need to know about pythons, and be able to buy items made from python skin.
“The fat I use to make the snake oils for the skin, creams, soap,” Crum said. “The bones we make jewelry, everything gets used.”
Although there are health regulations when it comes to making python pizza, Crum found a way to get around that.
“Yeah, I can’t sell that stuff, I just gotta give it away for free,” he said.
The 2026 Python Challenge ends at 5 p.m. on July 19.
You can sign up here, on the challenge’s official website, up until the last day of the competition—but only after you’ve read and understood all the rules, completed the online training and passed the quiz with a score of at least 85%.
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