Ball Python

Python regius

Custom Search

The Ball Python (Python regius) can be found in West and Central Africa, from Uganda to Nigeria and then west to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. They live in savannas and deforested areas, usually near water.

Ball pythons can measure up to 1.8 meters long, but on average do not exceed 1.2 meters in length and about 2 kg in weight, making it the smallest of the African pythons. There are no recognized subspecies currently.

At birth they are between 20 and 30 cm. Usually females are larger than males. In diameter they will reach around 10 to 15 cm.
The head is narrow and oval-shaped, this snake has a narrow neck, a solid body and a relatively short tail. The skin is a shade of dark brown in the background with a pattern of round spots of golden yellow color, with a cream or whitish belly.

The color and pattern may also present many genetic variations called morphs, such as Albino, Piebald, Leucistic, Spider, etc., these are obtained through selective breeding, for the exotic pet industry.

In general they typically live about 20 years, however, a male of the Philadelphia Zoo in the United States, reached 47 years of life in captivity.

The Ball Python has nocturnal habits (taking refuge in rock crevices, hollow tree trunks or holes in the ground during the day), they are also excellent climbers.

The pythons are non-venomous snakes that kill their prey by constriction, holding them with their mandibles and wrap their body around these, immobilizing them and squeezing until they die from asphyxiation.

This snake species when in defensive stance, wrap around themselves, making a ball with the head protected inside, which gives them their common name, Ball Python.

This is one of the most inoffensive and less aggressive pythons that are known, which means it can be handled easily, making it ideal as an exotic pet. This has led it to be one of the snakes most desired by reptile fans, which produced massive imports of this animal for its holding in captivity.

Ball Python Diet

Ball Pythons feed on small mammals, mainly rodents and occasionally birds.

Ball Python Reproduction

This is an oviparous species. The breeding season runs from December to January, with the postures from February to April. During the incubation period (which is approximately two months in this species), the female do not eat and stays coiled around the eggs, and through contractions and muscle strains is able to slightly increase the temperature of the eggs.

The clutch is approximately from 5 to 10 eggs. This species reproduces only at intervals of two to three years. Sexual maturity is reached between the 2,5 years and 3,5 years old.

Ball Python Conservation status and main threats

This species is not globally threatened (by the International Union for Conservation of Nature). This is included in Appendix II of CITES, and the captures for the illegal trade of exotic species and hunting for the skin trade are the main threats. It is one of the most common snake species in the exotic pet trade.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Python
Species: P. regius

Ball Python range