Ball Python

Looks how to spot one

Smooth scales, heavy-bodied constrictor

A stocky, thick-set python with a broad head sitting on a noticeably narrower neck. Wild-type animals are dark brown with rounded light-brown to tan patches along the back and sides, sometimes with pale stripes running from the nose through the eye, and a creamy ivory underside. Heat-sensing pits line the lips.13

Personality what they are like

Generally gentle and unhurried. Rather than striking when it feels threatened, a ball python usually tucks its head into the middle of its coiled body and waits for the moment to pass. It is mostly active around dusk, dawn and at night, and spends much of the day resting in a snug hiding spot.134

Daily activity how busy a day looks

A fairly sedentary, ground-dwelling snake that becomes active in the evening and at night. Adults appreciate low branches or ledges to explore, since males in particular will climb a little, and a roomy enclosure gives space to move and stretch.135

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Keep a large bowl of clean tap water available and refresh it every two to three days. Check temperatures with a digital probe thermometer or an infrared temperature gun, and keep humidity in the recommended range so the snake can shed its skin in one piece. Handle calmly and support the body.67

Home where they are happiest

Adult enclosure of at least 120 x 60 x 60 cm (about 0.74 square metres of floor space, with around 60 cm of height). Provide a warm hide at 30-32 °C and a cool hide at 22-27 °C, with night temperatures of 21-26 °C and air never above 35 °C. Humidity around 60-80% by day, rising higher at night. At least two snug hides, one on each end of the temperature gradient.57

Food basics what goes in the bowl

A carnivore that eats whole prey, mostly rodents. In captivity, appropriately sized rats or mice are the usual choice, with prey weighing roughly 10-15% of the snake's body weight. Frozen-thawed prey, thawed in the fridge and warmed to about 37-38 °C, is the convenient and recommended option. Wild adults eat only around ten meals a year, and captive snakes may skip meals for a season.613

Company who they like around

A solitary species that does not need company. It does best housed on its own and is content with quiet, gentle handling sessions.14

The story where it all began

Europeans first knew this python through Albertus Seba's illustrated natural history of 1735. In 1802 George Shaw formally named it Boa regia, the species name meaning royal, and in 1803 François Daudin created the genus Python for non-venomous constrictors of this type. The name Python regius was settled by Duméril and Bibron in 1844. In its homeland the snake has long cultural importance: the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria regard it as a symbol of the earth because it moves so close to the ground, and communities in north-western Ghana tell stories of pythons helping people escape danger. From the late 20th century it became a staple of the international pet trade, with tens of thousands exported to the United States each year, and captive breeders went on to produce thousands of colour and pattern varieties. Today it is widely described as the most popular pet snake.312

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Currently listed as Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1); older summaries list it as Least Concern.3

IUCN Red List (as reported by Animal Diversity Web)

Least Concern, citing its wide range and large population.1

The Reptile Database

Accepted species Python regius (Shaw, 1802).2