Common Name(s): Ball Python, Royal Python, BP
Latin Name: Python regius
Ease of Care: Easy
Native To: West Africa
Adult Size: 3-5 feet
Life Span: 20-30 years
Clutch Size: 2-10 eggs
Appearance: Ball pythons are short, stocky snakes that are vibrantly colored with gorgeous browns and blacks. They snakes have a black background color with brown blotches up and down the sides of the snakes and it all ends in a white underside. Males tend to be smaller overall than females and have smaller heads and larger spurs at the cloaca. Ball pythons also have supralabial pits that are heat receptive to help them hunt nocturnally. There are many designer morphs in the pet trade now that range from leucistic (all white) snakes to the almost all black cinnamon morph. There are also many different patterns available now that add to the beauty of these great little snakes.
Temperament: Ball pythons are well known for being docile animals, but there are some feisty ones as well. They’re also known for their defensive mechanism that grants them their name – they ball up when an intruder or predator approaches with their head tucked well inside their coils. These snakes are great starter animals that are very difficult to entice into biting a handler.
In The Wild: Ball pythons are highly terrestrial snakes that are mostly found in the burrows of small animals. They are largely sit and wait predators that feed on small mammals, lizards, frogs, and birds. They are crepuscular in nature and can be found in and around their burrows during these times. Ball pythons are solitary animals that spend most of their lives as individuals, only truly showing “affection” when they are brooding their eggs after they lay. This is still only documented every once in a while, and the rest of the time these great little snake just try to live their lives one food item to the next.
Caging: Ball pythons are very insecure snakes and do not need a lot of room. It is easiest to keep hatchlings in a “shoebox” style cage that allows for them to feel secure but still allows for a temperature gradient and some space to move. At their largest size the most a BP ever truly needs is a 30 gallon tank or something that is similar in size. They need a hide at both ends of the tank (warm and cool) and a water bowl that is large enough for them to submerge and soak in. As for a substrate basically any non-toxic substrate will do. Most breeders keep their snakes on paper towels or newspaper, but if you prefer to keep yours on something a little more aesthetically pleasing then a good substrate is aspen shavings. Make sure all caging is properly secured as these snakes can be quite strong. This also means that any greenery or climbing branches you place in the cage should be sturdy as well because BPs will crush and move them without flinching. With these things in mind, go nuts with your tank and custom make it to however you want it while allowing for the right amount of space for your snake to live and move in.
Lighting: As with all snakes ball pythons do not need UVB light, but these lights do allow for live plants to be placed in vivariums and the presence of UVB light may have some benefits to your snake’s health. A 10-12 hour light period during the day can be beneficial as well.
Temperature & Humidity: Ball pythons come from West Africa so the conditions in this area should be recreated as best as possible, however these snakes make great beginner snakes because they can be forgiving of husbandry mistakes. I prefer to use heat tape or an under tank heating source regulated by a rheostat or thermostat, but overhead lamps can be used as well. I would shoot for a temperature gradient that is in the low 90s on the warm side and the low 80s on the cooler side. These temps can drop at night into the upper 70s if preferred, but I have experienced no problems with keeping the temps in this range 24/7. The humidity is fairly simple as well and can usually be kept at a good range by providing a properly sized water bowl. The humidity range needs to be between 40-60% to provide enough humidity for the snake to shed, but too much humidity can lead to respiratory infections that can be detrimental to the snake’s health.
Feeding: One of the points I would like to stress the most with ball python feeding is the need for a separate feeding bin. I say this because they can start to associate opening the cage with food, and it would be better for them to associate the bin with food than your hand coming into the tank to grab them. This species is generally very docile, but when feeding time rolls around they are known for eating with a voracity that will make you jump. I would suggest feeding from tongs to keep out of the range of the snake when eating because they can and will mistake your hand for prey. They have heat sensitive supralabial pits that will mistake your warm hands for prey and this can make for a nasty bite. An appropriately sized food item should be fed once a week for growing snakes and once every 10-14 days for full grown adults. Good sized food items for babies are hopper mice, and full grown females can normally take down a medium sized rat without any real difficulty. Problem feeding is the #1 problem with ball pythons! They can be very finicky eaters and will go through “anorexia” periods without warning. Problem feeders can be dealt with in a variety of ways, but most people like to freshly killed first and placing the snake in a dark, smaller container with the food item so that it is the sole concentration of the snake. Leave them for a few hours and see what happens. If this doesn’t work there are always live food items but these should be watched to make sure the mouse doesn’t harm the snake if the snake doesn’t show immediate signs of hunger. There are many more ways to try and get problem feeders to eat and these can be found at a variety of websites, but this caresheet is devoted to overall snake care and not specifically problem eaters. As for the anorexia, if the snake doesn’t eat for a while make sure you check your husbandry and continue to offer food items. The snake will normally start eating again, but if it doesn’t for a couple of months (3-4) there is always assisted feeding to get the snake back on track (this should only be used if the snakes health is obviously deteriorating and should only be done by an experienced keeper to keep the snake from stressing out too much and regurgitating the prey item).
Sexing: In ball pythons, the males tend to be smaller and have a smaller head than females as well as larger spurs near the cloaca. Ball pythons can be popped as well when they are younger but caution should be taken to make sure that the snake is not damaged during this process. The only 100% effective way to sex a snake is, once again, by probing is properly.
Breeding: Breeding ball pythons has become an art form in the pet trade. There are a countless number of new morphs being generated each year, and breeding these animals is not as easy as some believe. The first thing to consider is breeding size. Most males are able to breed when they are over 500g (minimum) and producing sperm plugs, which can be found on shed skins near the cloaca. The minimum size for females has been greatly debated, and while the minimum weight has been designated at 1200g, I prefer to wait a little longer and thing that they shouldn’t be bred until they are above 1500g. I feel that this weight is healthier for the female and will allow her to be more viable for a longer period of time in her life. The second thing is brumation. The most important aspect to consider when starting brumation is that the animals should not be fed during this time period and they should be allowed to digest their last meal before they go into brumation. For brumation of ball pythons it is best to use a photoperiod combined with a temperature drop starting in October. The best way to channel all of this easily is by attaching your lights and heat tape to a photocell that has access to a window. This way, when the sun goes down the lights go off and the heat goes off creating a normal, winter environment. It is best to allow the ambient temperatures to get down into the lower 70s during the night and then come back up to the mid 80s during the day. This brumation period should be sustained for 3-4 weeks before the light period is allowed to be longer and the heat is introduced 24/7 with the temperatures slowly getting back up to normal. When this is all done a food item should be offered to the newly brumated snake and allowed to digest for a few days. After the snake seems back to normal it is best to introduce the males to the females’ cages. Copulation can usually be seen within the first few hours, and males are normally capable of breeding multiple females in a single season. After the males have bred the females they will most likely lose interest and they can be separated. In January the females will start ovulating and follicles can normally be felt by palpating the snakes. A good sign to watch for is unrest and the female curling her water bowl. The body will swell during ovulation (late January) and this is when it is assured that your female is now gravid. A few weeks after ovulation, your female will go through what is known as a pre-lay shed, and she will start to prepare for her eggs by creating a “nest” in her bedding. Approximately 30 days after her pre-lay shed, she should deposit anywhere between 2-10 eggs and these should be collected as soon as possible to keep them from sticking together and because the less you move the eggs the better. Now is time for incubation. A good incubation chamber should allow for multiple clutches of eggs, be regulated by a quality thermostat, monitored by a good temp/hydrometer gauge, and have enough air circulation so that the air does not get stagnant but moisture is not allowed to escape at an unhealthy rate. There are many commercially available incubators that work perfectly, and homemade incubators can work very well too. The incubation medium can be sphagnum moss, vermiculite (preferred), or Hatchrite®. I prefer vermiculite and water should be added to the point where it clumps together, but no access water can be squeezed out. Water can always be added later, but too much moisture will ruin the eggs very quickly. A good size container to keep the eggs in is a shoebox style container with a few holes in the lid for air circulation. The eggs can then be placed into the incubator and the temperature should be kept at 88-90F to assure that the eggs incubate correctly and the babies are born in about two months at a healthy state. The biggest thing to remember is humidity! Humidity is vital and the humidity level of the incubation medium should be easily checked and checked often. If mold is seen on the eggs then humidity should be lowered, and if the eggs appear dry or dented in humidity should be added. In 55-75 days you should see your new babies pipping (breaking the egg) with their egg tooth. If the baby seems like it needs help or one or two eggs have not pipped within a week of the others then a razorblade can be used to create slits in the eggs and help the babies get out. This should be done very carefully to avoid damaging the neonate, and avoided if possible. At this point it’s all downhill and you have some brand new BP babies!
Care of Young: Upon birth, babies should be inspected for kinks or other deformities and separated into individual bins. Each baby should have a hide and a dish of water, and they should be kept on paper towels for best results. For the first week, humidity should be kept relatively high so that the babies’ first shed goes easily. This should happen in about 1-2 weeks after birth. After their first shed, babies can be offered a food item (normally a hopper mouse) and most ball pythons will take f/t mice right out of the egg. Problem feeders can normally be enticed to each with live fuzzy mice so that the food source is alive, but not threatening to the neonate. Humidity should also be decreased to a normal range for adults and juveniles (40-60%). It safest and easiest to use back-heat with babies in a shoebox style baby rack so that multiple babies are kept and maintained easily, and they don’t feel too exposed and insecure. The heat can be kept at the normal range for a juvenile or adult ball python, and babies should be monitored closely to make sure they are eating their food and having no problems digesting (i.e not regurgitating) their food. After the babies have started feeding regularly the care of young ball pythons is fairly simple and straight forward and no problems should really be encountered beyond this point. Enjoy your new ball pythons and have fun creating morphs all of your own!
In summary, Ball pythons are extremely rewarding snakes to keep as they are simple to keep and breed, and their genetic combination are more desirable than any other in the herp industry. These snakes are great for beginners and experts alike, and they are still probably one of the best first snakes in the industry. I hope that this caresheet has given you a good, brief look into the necessities and rewards of keeping ball pythons and you’ll find a place in your collection for these amazing animals.