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Status: Threatened due to habitat loss and pet trade. Diet in wild: Small rodents. Life span in captivity: 20 to 30 years. (Record in captivity is 48 years.) Size: Four to six feet at adulthood. Females are usually larger and heavier than males. Native habitat: Africa, from Ghana to Cameroon in forests, savannahs, and dry grasslands.
Black Pine Animal Park 1426 W. 300 N. P.O. Box 02 Albion, IN 46701 (260) 636-7383
©2008
Professional Animal Retirement Center, Inc.
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Ball Python This small snake, the ball python, is considered the most docile to keep as a pet, and has therefore become the most commonly sold in pet stores. In the United Kingdom, they're called 'royal pythons'.
Ball pythons love to burrow, and are usually found curled up tight, hiding away. This behavior is what gave the snake it's common American name. Their burrowing also helps them to follow prey such as gerboas and other small rodents right into their own burrows. They kill by constricting, and do not offer a poisonous bite. Ball pythons lay four to 10 eggs, with hatchlings emerging about 75-80 days later at nine to 17 inches in length. Life expectancy in captivity is 20 to 30 years, though in the wild, they often fall prey to leopards, birds of prey, and hedgehogs much sooner. Very adept hunters themselves, even a change of just 3/1000ths of a degree in temperature around a ball python is enough to alert them to a warm being nearby - possible dinner. It is wise if interested in having a snake as a pet to first consider adopting one that is no longer wanted, since overpopulation is such a problem in captivity. There is also much published about the benefits of captive-bred vs. wild-caught snakes, both of which can be found on the open market. In order to save these animals in the wild, it makes sense not to support any efforts to remove them from their natural homes. To learn more about keeping animals like these as pets, click here. |
The Animals
Native
to Africa, the ball python is native to the forests, savannahs, and
grasslands from Ghana to Cameroon. One of the reasons it is a
popular species in the pet world, and usually recommended for insistent
first-time snake owners, is that they grow to only four to six feet in
length.