That Reptile Blog – Reptile, Amphibian and Exotic Pet Care and Information

 

Please see The Natural History of the Ball Python: Pythons in the Wild, for information on the natural history of the ball python.

General

Ball pythons are now very well-established in the pet trade, and captive born animals are readily available.  They have much to recommend them as pets, including a mild disposition and manageable adult size.  Particularly unique is that they offer a “big constrictor feel” in a small package – thick bodied and muscular, ball pythons put one in mind of a much larger snake.

I heartily recommend this species for those interested in boas and pythons, but who lack the space required by larger snakes.  The very real safety issues involved in keeping giant constrictors are also not a factor with ball pythons, yet they display all of the behaviors exhibited by their larger relatives.

Ball pythons are available in an amazing array of color morphs and unusual patterns.

Captive Habitat

The Enclosure

Hatchlings may be started off in a 10 gallon aquarium and moved to a 20 long style aquarium as they increase in size.  Such might accommodate a small adult as well, but larger specimens do best in a 30-55 gallon aquarium.  Screen cover clips or metal cover screen locks are absolutely essential.

Heat, Humidity and Light

Ambient temperature should be maintained at 80-85 F, with a basking site of 90 F.  Temperatures can be reduced to 75-80 F at night. A ceramic heat emitter or under tank heat pad can be used to warm the air and create a basking site.  You can also use, in combination with these or solely (depending on terrarium size) an incandescent bulb.  The Coralife Reptile Spot Brightlight provides UVA and heat.  Ball pythons do not require UVB light, but may benefit from the provision of UVA.

The R Zilla Nightlight Red Halogen bulb or other night viewing bulb will provide heat at night without disturbing your pet’s natural day/night cycle.  It will also enable you to view the snake’s nocturnal activities.  The ceramic heat emitters and under tank heaters mentioned earlier also provide heat without visible light.

A water bowl should be provided for drinking and soaking.  Fill it only to a level such that it will not overflow when the snake submerges its head or body.  The terrarium should be kept dry…moist conditions will lead to bacterial skin infections (“blister disease”).

Substrate

R-Zilla Douglas Fir Bedding or Zoo Med Aspen Snake Bedding are good substrate choices.  Both allow for easy “spot cleaning”.  All substrate should be removed and the terrarium cleaned with R Zilla Terrarium Cleaner on a regular basis (i.e. once monthly).

Physical Environment – Habitat Type and Terrarium Decorations

Your ball python should be provided with a secure retreat….R Zilla Rock Dens and Hagen Hiding Caves are ideal.  A piece of freestanding driftwood will provide a rough surface upon which your snake can rub when in the process of shedding its skin.

If space permits, consider adding a log or piece of driftwood for your snake to climb upon.

 

 

I’ve come across several of the 11 unique snake species known as sand boas, and have had the good fortune of working with breeding groups of an Asian and African species. Following are some remarks drawn from my notes and conversations with colleagues.

Indian Sand Boa

The Indian sand boa (2 possible subspecies) ranges widely through India and Pakistan.  Those I have kept have reproduced without a winter cooling period (this likely varies among the various populations).  It is a good deal larger than the more popularly kept Kenyan sand boa, sometimes reaching 40 inches in length.  Unfortunately, this impressive burrower is not commonly kept in the USA.

Courtship

Males in breeding condition go off feed and actively search for females.    During courtship, the male attempts to unearth the female’s tail (she is generally below the sand when found) with his head.   His spurs stand out slightly from the body and are rubbed along the female’s back.  Copulation seems a quite awkward affair, with the male burrowing below the female and flipping more or less unto his back.

The Young

The young are born alive after a 4 month gestation period.  They are larger than those of related species, averaging 10-11.5 inches in length.  A bit of umbilical cord usually remains attached for a few days, after which time it dries up and falls off.

The young shed within 2 weeks of being born, after which most accept pink mice.  In common with other members of the genus, young Indian sand boas likely prey heavily upon small lizards in the wild.  “Scenting” pinkies with a lizard may encourage reluctant feeders.

East African Sand Boa (Kenyan and Egyptian)

The East African sand boa is frequently classified as two separate subspecies, the Egyptian and Kenyan, with the Kenyan being the more brightly colored race.  However, taxonomists disagree on this point, with some considering the entire species’ name invalid (please see reference below).

Their reproductive mode parallels that of the Indian sand boa, but breeding is more likely if they are subjected to a winter cooling period (70F ambient, with a warmer basking site and a drop in temperature to 65F at night).

Mating usually takes place in June-August, and the young, 4-18 in number, are born in October-December.  They are 5-8 inches in length at birth, and reach sexual maturity at approximately 2 years of age (at which time they are approximately 16 inches long).

Sand boa taxonomy is currently in flux; you can review the species currently accepted by the American Museum of Natural History at:

http://www.jcvi.org/reptiles/search.php?submit=Search&genus=Eryx

 

Well, the name says it all – Titanoboa!

Snake-oriented web sites will be alive this week with news of the discovery of fossils belonging to a snake of unprecedented size.  Writing in the journal Nature, researchers from the Smithsonian Institute and the University of Florida note that Titanoboa was larger than the contrived serpent that “tries to eat Jennifer Lopez in the movie Anaconda” (Ms. Lopez and company appeared at the Bronx Zoo when that movie was in progress, seeking technical advice.  I was a reptile keeper at the time, but, sadly for me, the powers that be declined to become involved!).

Colombia‘s Anacondas…now and then

An artist’s rendition of the huge beast casts it much like a very large anaconda.  Indeed, the giant is believed to have kept to Colombia’s marshy areas, home to modern-day anacondas.  Titanoboa roamed Colombia during the Paleocene Epoch, just after the extinction of the dinosaurs (approximately 65 million years ago).

Chasing Today’s Giants

There is only one reasonably reliable account of a modern-day snake measuring over 30 feet in length.  A reward offered by the Bronx Zoo for another stood uncollected for nearly 100 years.

I’ve done my level best to find a record breaking anaconda, and I like to think that she is out there somewhere.  The largest anaconda that I came up with was just over 17 feet long and weighed in at 215 pounds – no Titanoboa, but then again not an easy animal to wrest from the muck of a Venezuelan swamp either.  For the full story and some photos of myself and others with that snake, please see my article Hunting Anacondas in the Venezuelan Llanos.

 

Click: The Natural History of the Ball Python, Python regius: Ball Pythons in the Wild – Part 1, to read the first part of this article.

Status in the Wild

This species is threatened across large areas of its range by collection for the food, leather and, in the past, pet trade.  Today the vast majority of animals in the pet trade are captive bred.  It is listed on Appendix II of Cites.

Diet

Grassland rodents comprise the majority of the diet.  Recorded prey species include cane rats, Nile rats, gerbils, jerboas, jirds and zebra mice.  They also feed upon shrews and ground-nesting birds, and hatchlings may take lizards.  Wild individuals often favor particular prey species, and may be difficult to habituate to commercially available rats and mice when taken captive.

Ball pythons often inhabit areas subject to long periods of hot, dry weather, during which food is scarce.  Animals in such populations may aestivate in mammal burrows or similar underground shelters for several months.  It is theorized that the internal circadian rhythms of these pythons may be responsible for the long fasts that captive animals often undergo.

Reproduction

Females produce typically 6-7 large eggs at yearly or less frequent intervals.  Eggs are typically laid in abandoned aardvark or rodent burrows, and hatch after an incubation period of 3 months.  In common with other family members, female ball pythons remain coiled about the eggs during this time, providing protection and temperature/humidity modification.

Female pythons of various species have been shown to actively raise the temperature of their clutch by coiling about the eggs and “shivering”.  In captive situations, I have observed incubating female blood pythons (Python curtus) and Burmese pythons (P. molurus bivittatus) to raise their eggs by 7F above the ambient air temperature.  Field research conducted with ball pythons, however, indicates that incubation mainly functions to conserve egg weight by preventing water loss.

The young measure 10-17 inches upon hatching, and reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age, by which time they are approximately 3 feet in length.

Economic Importance

Ball pythons are heavily utilized as food by people throughout much of their range, and are harvested for the leather trade as well.  Until captive bred stock became widely available, huge numbers were collected for the pet trade and exported to Europe, Japan and the USA.

Miscellaneous

The common name of this snake is derived from its habit of coiling into a tight ball, with the head hidden within the center, when threatened.  Once so situated, it is difficult to uncoil the snake, and it will remain so even if rolled about (not recommended!).  However, some ball pythons surprise attackers (and annoying keepers!) by biting savagely when disturbed.  Actually, a number of other pythons and unrelated snakes utilize a coiled defensive posture, but in none is it so well developed as the ball python.

 

An extensive CITES-generated study of ball python populations and management in Ghana is posted at:

http://www.stevegorzulapresents.com/study_royal_python_ghana.pdf

Ball Pythons in the Wild

 

As recently as the early 1990’s, the now popular ball python was considered a troublesome captive, due largely to the prevalence of wild caught adults in the trade.  Today it is widely bred in captivity, but certain of its natural traits continue to affect how we go about keeping it as a pet. We’ll take a look at some of those traits, and then go on to captive care in future articles.

Physical Description

Although small as far as pythons, go, this species is very thickly-built.  Ball pythons average 3-5 feet in length, with occasional (and now only rarely encountered) specimens reaching 6 and even nearly 7 feet.  It is the smallest African representative of the genus Python, but not the smallest African python per se.  That title goes to the West African burrowing python, Calabaria reinhardtii, which rarely exceeds 3 feet in length.

Ball pythons are dark brown to nearly black in color and marked with numerous, generally oblong blotches of tan, light brown, reddish-brown or yellow-orange.  The color of wild specimens varies tremendously among different populations, with pied and even albino individuals reportedly being encountered more frequently than is usual among other snake species.  This may account for the ease in which captive color morphs are produced, although incubation temperature seems to affect the color pattern as well.  The savannahs of Ghana are known for their predominance of yellow-orange ball pythons, which are much favored in the pet trade.

Range

Sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal on the west coast northeast through Mali to western Sudan and southeast through Guinea-Bissau to the Gulf of Guinea, then east to the Central African republic, possibly Zaire, and Uganda.

Although typically described as being native to “Tropical West Africa”, the ball python actually has a fairly wide distribution across central and into parts of east Africa.  In addition to the aforementioned countries, ball pythons have been recorded from Niger, Chad, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon.

Most of the parent stock of today’s captive population apparently originated in Toga and Ghana.

Habitat

Ball pythons are snakes of open, often arid habitats – savannahs and other grasslands, sparsely forested woodlands, overgrown fields and the borders of agricultural areas.  They typically shelter in mammal burrows, termite mounds or hollow logs.  Although largely terrestrial in some habitats, ball pythons will climb, and often occupy tree hollows where such are available.

Where undisturbed, they frequent barns, tilled fields and village outskirts, drawn by large rodent populations.   Ball pythons do not occur in forests or thickly-wooded habitats, but will colonize such areas when they are cleared for agricultural use.

 

Status in the Wild

This species is threatened across large areas of its range by collection for the food, leather and, in the past, pet trade.  Today the vast majority of animals in the pet trade are captive bred.  It is listed on Appendix II of Cites.

Diet

Grassland rodents comprise the majority of the diet.  Recorded prey species include cane rats, Nile rats, gerbils, jerboas, jirds and zebra mice.  They also feed upon shrews and ground-nesting birds, and hatchlings may take lizards.  Wild individuals often favor particular prey species, and may be difficult to habituate to commercially available rats and mice when taken captive.

Ball pythons often inhabit areas subject to long periods of hot, dry weather, during which food is scarce.  Animals in such populations may aestivate in mammal burrows or similar underground shelters for several months.  It is theorized that the internal circadian rhythms of these pythons may be responsible for the long fasts that captive animals often undergo.

Reproduction

Females produce typically 6-7 large eggs at yearly or less frequent intervals.  Eggs are typically laid in abandoned aardvark or rodent burrows, and hatch after an incubation period of 3 months.  In common with other family members, female ball pythons remain coiled about the eggs during this time, providing protection and temperature/humidity modification.

Female pythons of various species have been shown to actively raise the temperature of their clutch by coiling about the eggs and “shivering”.  In captive situations, I have observed incubating female blood pythons (Python curtus) and Burmese pythons (P. molurus bivittatus) to raise their eggs by 7F above the ambient air temperature.  Field research conducted with ball pythons, however, indicates that incubation mainly functions to conserve egg weight by preventing water loss.

The young measure 10-17 inches upon hatching, and reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age, by which time they are approximately 3 feet in length.

Economic Importance

Ball pythons are heavily utilized as food by people throughout much of their range, and are harvested for the leather trade as well.  Until captive bred stock became widely available, huge numbers were collected for the pet trade and exported to Europe, Japan and the USA.

Miscellaneous

The common name of this snake is derived from its habit of coiling into a tight ball, with the head hidden within the center, when threatened.  Once so situated, it is difficult to uncoil the snake, and it will remain so even if rolled about (not recommended!).  However, some ball pythons surprise attackers (and annoying keepers!) by biting savagely when disturbed.  Actually, a number of other pythons and unrelated snakes utilize a coiled defensive posture, but in none is it so well developed as the ball python.

 

An extensive CITES-generated study of ball python populations and management in Ghana is posted at:

http://www.stevegorzulapresents.com/study_royal_python_ghana.pdf