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Ball Python Care Species: Python regius Family: Pythonidae Origin: Eastern Africa, predominantly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Life Expectancy: 20-30 years, though the oldest recorded record for a ball python in captivity was 48 years. Housing: The recommended enclosure for a ball python is a aquarium around half the snakes length and 1.5 to 2 ft wide. An ideal sized aquarium for a ball python is 3ft by 2ft. Height is not important, although they will climb if given the chance. They tend to be clumsy climbers and fall easily, so make sure they cannot fall too far and injure themselves. The minimum aquarium size for a baby ball python is 18 inches long by 12 inches wide. For adults a aquarium that is 36 inches by 24 inches would suffice. Size: Hatchlings range from 10 inches for runts to 17 inches. Adults range from 3 to 5 feet, although reports of ball pythons reaching 6 feet is not unheard of. Introduction: Ball pythons are a terrestrial species and spend much of their time on the ground in the savannas or grasslands of west Africa. Temperature: Ball pythons need relatively high temperatures to do well in cativity. In the snakes aquarium the ambient daytime temperature should be 80-85 degrees farenheight. Ball pythons are cold bolded animals that need to thermoregulate. You can do this by creating a warmer basking basking area which should reach 90-95 over one third of the total surfice area of the aquarium. Its critical that ball pythons also have access to cooler ambient temperatures. At night the ambient temperatures may drop to 75-80 as long as a heat source remains available for basking. Health: As a snake grows, it sheds its outer skin. The first sign that this is about to happen is when it goes into the “blue” stage. This is when the eyes appear a cloudy blue colour and the overall appearance of the snake is dull. It may be that the snake loses its appetite during this time and spends more time in its water bowl. This phase will last around 2 to 5 days and then it will clear. A few days later, the snake will slough. A healthy snake should slough in one whole piece, and providing a rough area of bark or something similar will give it a good place to rub its head to begin the shed. The shedding will occur in a matter of minutes. A shed that is in small pieces is usually a good indicator that there is not enough humidity. Always check the shed to ensure that the whole skin has been removed, paying particular attention to the eyes and tail tip. It is very common for the tip of the tail to be left behind and can result in the tip eventually being lost if this occurs over a period of time and the dead skin is not removed. Gently rubbing it with water should remove this remaining piece of shed. Close observation of your royal will soon enable you to spot any possible changes in behaviour or health. If you do spot something that gives you concern, it is always recommended that you consult your veterinarian to seek professional advice damaged. Humidity: One thing which commonly gets over looked is the level of humidity in the tank. Since ball pythons spend a lot of time underground in burrows or in termite nests, they are more sensitive to relative humidity. I recommend the ambient humidity be at least 60%, and you may want to provide a hide box which has a higher percent (70-80%). Low humidity can cause incomplete shedding, dehydration, and sometimes a lack of appetite. To either add or remove humidity, you can provide bigger or smaller water bowls. You can restrict, but not stop, air flow from the tank. You can use porous substrates (i.e. mulch) that will hold some moisture and mist the cage every so often. I feel that if you provide a big water bowl with a hole cut in the lid, the snake will use it as another hide and soak/re-hydrate itself as needed. Feeding: Feed your ball python an appropriately sized rodent weekly. By "appropriately sized" we mean prey items that are no bigger around than the python at its largest point. Ball pythons can eat rats from the time they are young - starting off with rat pups or "crawlers" for younger snakes & moving up in size as the animal grows. Do not handle your snake for at least a day after feeding, as this can lead to regurgitation. Ball pythons can be converted to feeding on frozen/thawed or pre-killed rodents. Be prepared for the possibility of your snake going off feed, and keep an observant eye on the snake's overall condition and body weight. This is typically nothing to worry about with healthy, well established pythons, although it can be extremely frustrating to the keeper. If your snake is healthy continue your husbandry routine as usual, yet reduce the amount of handling the snake receives to a minimum. Offer your ball python food every 10-14 days until interested in eating again, as the snake will eventually "turn back on" and resume feeding normally. |