Ball Python

Common Name: Ball Python
Scientific Name: Pythonregius

Introduction:

These snakes, which are non-venomous, are common in many African countries; the ball pythons are the smallest and they are one of the most traded pet snakes.

Description:

Adult Ball Pythons have an average length ranging between ninety and one hundred and twenty centimeters; the longest lengths ever recorded were one hundred and fifty two centimeters and one hundred and eighty two centimeters. Ball Pythons have a stocky structure; their heads are relatively small and the scales on their bodies are very smooth. Both the male and female Ball Pythons have two anal spurs on both sides of the vent. A person can identify a male by looking at the size of the anal spurs; the male Ball Pythons have bigger anal spurs while the females have either medium-sized or small anal spurs. The Ball Pythons have black coats that have brown or green dorsal patches; their bellies are either cream or white and some of them have black markings on them. The Ball Pythons that people keep as pets have numerous morphs; they have genetic mutations and have different patterns and colors.

Common Names:

People also refer to the Pythonregius commonly as the Ball Python due to its propensity to coil into a round shape; people also refer to it as the royal python.

Geographic Range:

These snakes are common in countries such as Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Ghana, Niger, Cameroon, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Benin. Other countries where the Ball Pythons are common include Chad, Sudan, Uganda and Central African Republic.

Habitat:

The Ball Pythons live in grassland areas, wooded areas and savannahs.

Behavior:

This terrestrial species defends itself strategically by curling and keeping still when one threatens it; it tucks its neck and head beneath the coil. Ball Pythons like to rest in mammal burrows or other hidden places where they are safe from danger; they also aestivate in the burrows during the summer season.

Feeding:

Ball Pythons feed on small mammals, which they trap in their burrows. Some of these mammals include shrews, stripped mice and rats. Ball Pythons feed on birds in the wild; while pet Ball Pythons feed on rats or mice.

Reproduction:

Female Ball Pythons lay between three to eleven eggs, which are normally large. Female Ball Python incubates the eggs for ninety days then they hatch. They become sexually mature depending on the sexes; males become sexually mature from twelve to eighteen months while female Ball Pythons become sexually mature from twenty-four to thirty-six months. A person can base the snake’s ability to breed on their weight; male Ball Pythons have a minimum weight of nine hundred grams while female Ball Pythons have a minimum weight of one thousand, five hundred grams.