Ball Python

Ball Python is the smallest of the nonvenomous African pythons and is popular in the pet trade, largely due to its typically docile temperament. The ball python is a good snake for a beginning snake owner. They can live for a long time with proper care - up to about 50 years, although 20-30 appears to be more typical. The natural range of the Ball Python is western Africa to central Africa, just north of the equator. It can be found in open forests, as well as drier savannahs. It is usually found in areas with good cover near open water where it can cool itself during hot weather, since temperatures often exceed 100ºF. It spends most of its time on or under the ground in confiscated burrows, although it can climb.

In the wild, their diet consists mostly of small mammals, such as African soft-furred rats, shrews and striped mice. Younger individuals have also been known to feed on birds. Pythons imported from the wild tend to be picky eaters and may not respond to food as well as captive-bred pythons, which usually do well on domestic rats and mice, either live, killed, or frozen-thawed. Live feeding a snake can be dangerous for the snake involved and should never be attempted by inexeperienced keepers; it should only ever be a last resort for a snake which has not ate for a considerable amount of time, and has lost weight. The size of the prey item given to a python should be equivalent to or slightly larger than the width of the largest part of its body. This python is known for being a picky eater and may not eat for months, particularly during the winter breeding season. While this is not odd, care should be taken to watch that the snake does not experience significant weight loss. Parasites can also cause the snake to not eat. Other causes of not eating are stress caused by overhandling, or too hot or cold temperatures and not enough areas to hide in the vivarium.

The female Ball Python is larger than the male, and can reach a length of up to 6 feet, although 4 feet is more common. Ball Pythons have very muscular bodies, which can be 4-6 inches in diameter; the male is generally more slender and has a smaller head. Male snakes have larger anal spurs. A sexing probe can be used to determine the sex of snakes less than 6 months of age, but it should only be done by someone proficient in its use. Young Ball Pythons grow about one foot in length for their first 3 years, and reach sexual maturity at 3-5 years of age.