Exotic Pets: Captive Ball Python Care

While ball pythons (Python regius) may be from the deep forests of west-central Africa, tens, if not hundreds of thousands are kept as pets in America by amateur herpetologists. Typically reaching fifty to sixty inches in length, they are significantly smaller than their more infamous cousins, Burmese and reticulated pythons. Also displaying a more docile behavior pattern than related species, ball pythons can be handled by a single pet owner rather than a team of herpetologists with extensive experience in handling large snakes.

Ball pythons need to be housed in moderately sized aquariums, considering they often reach five or six feet in length. I recommend a 40-gallon tank, lined with pieces of astroturf cut to size, furnished with a water bowl and a small, dark hiding place. The ideal environmental conditions range from eighty to ninety degrees at ninety, or five to ten degrees cooler at night.

When choosing a room to place the serpent in, remember that ball pythons are a nocturnal species; in order to avoid disrupting the snake's natural circadian rhythm, replace any standard fluorescent or incandenscent lights with colored dark bulbs.

Ball pythons need to be fed, on average, once every week for young specimens and as sparingly as every two weeks for older adults. Pre-killed mice are an excellent choice, although gerbils and hamsters have also been used to some success. However, although repeated food refusal is often an alarming health sign, it is typical for up to eight weeks during the wintertime, and should arouse no alarm if the snake maintains a healthy body weight. Yet another astounding difference between snakes and humans is their ability to go for extremely long periods of time without food.

Though ball pythons are quite simple to maintain, they sometimes develop mostly-manageable health problems. The two most common issues faced by owners are repeated refusing of food and parasitic infection. These problems are often alleviated by purchasing a captive-bred snake instead of one caught in the wild. However, captive-bred snakes will still sometimes not feed; this is typically due to stress, and is best alleviated with close examination of the snake and its environment. Covering the aquarium with bath towels to provide a darkened environment may be reassuring enough to coax the snake into eating.

For an exotic yet manageable pet, ball pythons are hard not to recommend for amateur herpetologists. With the proper housing, feeding, and veterinary care, many specimens can live for an impressive thirty to forty or more years!