The species is kept as an exotic pet. They are often regarded as unpredictable and aggressive, but captive-bred individuals tend to be more docile than wild-caught specimens.
The Sumatran short-tailed python has been extensively harvested for [[leather]]; an estimated 100,000 individuals are taken for this purpose each year. The commercial trade regards thisthe various populations of ''P. curtus'' and ''[[Python brongersmai|P. brongersmai]]'' as a single species. Authors who elevate theseparticular island populations to species status note that the skins are readily distinguished.<ref name="keogh">{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2001.tb01350.x|last1=Keogh|first1=J. Scott |last2=Barker|first2=David|last3=Shine|first3=Richard|year=2001|title=Heavily exploited but poorly known: systematics and biogeography of commercially harvested pythons (Python curtus group) in Southeast Asia (abstract)|pages=113|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=73 |issue=1 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
