Ball pythons (Python regius) are found at the edges of the forestlands of Central and Western
Africa. They are equally comfortable on the ground and in trees. They are crepuscular, active
around dawn and dusk. Called royal pythons in Europe, here in the United States we call them
"balls" due to their habit of curling themselves up into a tight ball when they are nervous, their
heads pulled firmly into the center. Like most pythons, ball pythons are curious and gentle
snakes.

Ball pythons typically reach 4 feet (1.2 m) in length; occasionally there are specimens that reach
5 feet (1.5 m). When properly fed, their bodies become nicely rounded. Like all pythons and boas,
ball pythons have anal spurs. These single claws appearing on either side of the vent are the
vestigial remains of the hind legs snakes lost during their evolution from lizard to snake millions of
years ago. Males have longer spurs than do the females; males also have smaller heads than the
females.

Ball pythons, like all pythons and boas, devour a variety of prey in the wild - amphibians, lizards,
other snakes, birds and small mammals. They do not eat mice in the wild, however, and do not
recognize the mice we offer them as being something edible. Thus, imported wild-caught ball
pythons tend to be very picky eaters, at least initially, and drive their owners to distraction in their
attempts to get them to eat something.

Ball pythons are reputed to be able to go for extended periods of time without food; wild-caught
ball pythons have gone for a year or more without food until finally enticed to eat lizards and other
snakes. This is not a healthy trait and must not be a reason for selecting this species. This should
also make you suspicious when a pet store tells you that their ball pythons are eating well.
Buying captive-born ball pythons reduces the stress on the threatened populations in the wild and
helps ensure you will get a healthy, established eater and a snake already used to contact with
humans. Buying from a reputable breeder will ensure that you will get the help and advice you
need to assure that your ball feels comfortable and secure enough to eat after you bring it home
and let it get settled for a week or so.

With the increased popularity of reptiles as pets there is increased pressure on wild populations.
In addition to the more than 60,000 ball pythons that are imported annually, ball pythons are killed
for food and their skin is used for leather in their native land. For some reason, despite their low
reproduction rate, wild ball pythons are the least expensive pythons on the market, generally
wholesaling for under ten dollars. Imported ball pythons also harbor several different types of
parasites which may go unnoticed by the novice snake owner. All around, it is better to buy a
captive-born hatchling or an established, well-feeding juvenile, sub-adult or adult than an
imported ball of any age.

In captivity, young ball pythons will grow about a foot a year during the first three years. They will
reach sexual maturity in three to five years. The longest living ball python on record was over 48
years old when it died. Egg-layers, female ball pythons encircle their four to ten eggs, remaining
with then from the time they are laid until they hatch. During this three-month period, they will not
leave the eggs and will not eat.

Selecting Your Ball Python
Choose an animal that has clear firm skin, rounded body shape, clean vent, clear eyes, and who
actively flicks its tongue around when handled. All ball pythons are naturally shy about having Ball
their heads touched or handled by strangers; a normal reaction is for the ball to pull its head and
neck sharply away from such contact. When held, the snake should grip you gently but firmly
when moving around. It should be alert to its surroundings. All young snakes are food for other,
larger snakes, birds, lizards and mammalian predators so your hatchling may be a bit nervous at
first but should settle down quickly.

Selecting an Escape-proof Enclosure
Select an enclosure especially designed for housing snakes, such as the glass tanks with the
combination fixed screen/hinged glass top. All snakes are escape artists; ball pythons are
especially powerful and cunning when it comes to breaking out. A good starter tank for a
hatchling is a 10-gallon tank (approximately 20"L x 10"W [50 x 25 cm]). A young adult requires a
20-gallon tank, and full adult may require a 30-gallon tank (36" x 12"W [91 x 35 cm]).

Select a Suitable Substrate
Use paper towels at first. These are easily and quickly removed and replaced when soiled and,
with an import, will allow you to better monitor for the presence of mites and the condition of the
feces. Once the animal is established, you can use more decorative ground cover such as
commercially prepared shredded cypress or fir bark. Pine and aspen shavings should not be
used as they can become lodged in the mouth while eating, causing respiratory and other
problems. The shavings must be monitored closely and all soiled and wet shavings pulled out
immediately to prevent bacteria and fungus growths. The utilitarian approach is to use
inexpensive Astroturf. Extra pieces can be kept in reserve and used when the soiled piece is
removed for cleaning and drying (soak in one gallon of water to which you have added two
tablespoon of household bleach; rinse thoroughly, and dry completely before reuse). Remember:
the easier it is to clean, the faster you'll do it!

Provide a Hiding Place
A half-log is available at pet stores. An empty cardboard box or upside-down opaque plastic
container, both with an access doorway cut into one end, can also be used. The plastic is easily
cleaned when necessary; the box can be tossed out when soiled and replaced with a new one.
The box or log must be big enough for the snake to hide its entire body inside; you will need to
eventually replace it as your snake grows. Ball pythons prefer dark places for sleeping and, as
they are nocturnal, they like the dark place during our daylight hours; they also like to sleep in
something that is close around them, so do not buy or make too big of a cave for its size. Place a
nice climbing branch or two in the tank with some fake greenery-screening part of it; your ball will
enjoy hanging out in the "tree."

Keeping It Warm
Proper temperature range is essential to keeping your snake healthy. The ambient air
temperature throughout the enclosure must be maintained between 80-85F (27-29 C) during the
day, with a basking area kept at 90F (32.5 C). At night, the ambient air temperature on the
coolest side may be allowed to drop down no lower than 73-75F (23-24 C) only if a basking area
of at least 80F (27 C) remains available. Special reptile heating pads that are manufactured to
maintain a temperature about 20 degrees higher than the air temperature may be used inside the
enclosure. There are adhesive pads that can be stuck to the underside of a glass enclosure.
Heating pads made for people, available at all drug stores, are also available; these have built-in
hi-med-lo switches and can be used under a glass enclosure. You can also use incandescent
light bulbs in porcelain and metal reflector hoods to provide the additional heat required for the
basking area. All lights must be screened off to prevent the snake from burning itself. All pythons,
especially ball pythons, are very susceptible to thermal burns. For this same reason do not use a
hot rock. New on the market are ceramic heating elements. They radiate heat downwards, do not emit light, and are reported to be long lasting. Plugged into a thermostat will enable you to adjust
the temperature inside the tank as the ambient room temperature changes with the seasons.
Buy at least two thermometers - one to use in the overall area 1" (2.5 cm) above the enclosure
floor, and the other 1" (2.5 cm) above the floor in the basking area. Don't try to guess the
temperature - you will either end up with a snake that will be too cold to eat and digest its food or
one ill or dead from overheating.

Lighting
No special lighting is needed. Ball pythons are nocturnal snakes, spending their days in the wild
securely hidden away from possible predators. To make it easier to see your ball during the day,
you can use a full-spectrum light or low wattage incandescent bulb in the enclosure during the
day. Make sure the snake cannot get into direct contact with the light bulbs as ball pythons are
very prone to getting seriously burned. Respect your ball's needs, however, and be sure to
provide a hide box, and expect them to use it!

Feeding
Allow your snake to acclimate to its new home for a couple of weeks. Start your hatchling (about
15" in length) off with a single pre-killed one week to 10-day old "fuzzy" mouse. A smaller sized
hatchling may require a smaller mouse; try a pre-killed 5-day old. Older ball pythons may be fed
larger pre-killed mice or pinkie rats. If you have not had any experience force feeding a snake,
you may not want to try it yourself until you have seen someone do it. Force-feeding, whether of a
mouse or with a formula inserted by catheter and syringe, is very stressful for the snake (and it
isn't much fun for the owner!). If your new ball has gone several months without eating and is
beginning to noticeably lose weight, take it to a reptile vet or contact your local herpetology
society and ask to speak to someone who is knowledgeable about ball pythons and feeding
problems. A good inexpensive book that covers some of the tricks to enticing reluctant ball
pythons to feed is The Care and Maintenance of Ball Pythons by Philippe de Vosjoli, or the new
edition, The Ball Python Manual, by de Vosjoli, Dave and Tracy Barker and Roger Klingenberg.

Water
Provide a bowl of fresh water at all times. Your snake will both drink and soak, and may defecate,
in it. Check it daily and change when soiled. Soaking is especially good just before a shed. When
they eyes clear from their milky opaque, or "blue" state, soak the snake in a tub of warm water for
ten minutes or so, then lightly dry it off, and return it immediately to its tank; it should shed cleanly
within twenty-four hours.

Health Problems
Routine veterinary care for newly acquired snakes is essential. Many of the parasites infesting
ball pythons and other reptiles can be transmitted to humans and other reptiles. Left untreated,
such infestations can ultimately kill your snake. When your snake first defecates, collect the feces
in a clean plastic bag, seal it, label it with the date, your name and phone number and the snake's
name, then take it and your snake to a vet who is experienced with reptiles. There it will be tested
and the proper medication given if worms or protozoan infestations are found.

Common problems encountered in captivity include retained eye shed (spectacles) and mites.
When snakes shed their skin, the layer of skin over their eye is also shed, and can be clearly
seen when looking at a piece of head shed. Always check your ball's head shed to assure it has
shed the spectacles. If one or both spectacles have been retained, bathe the snake again in
warmish water for about ten minutes. Before returning it to the enclosure, place a dab of mineral
oil on that eye with a cotton-tipped swab. The spectacle should come off within twenty-four hours.
If it does not come off, wrap your four fingers with transparent tape, sticky side out. Gently rock your fingers from left to right (or, from nose to neck) across the eye; the spectacle should come
off. If this does not removed the spectacle, then seek veterinary assistance.

Mites are a sign of poor environmental conditions. Adult mites are tiny reddish brown dots barely
bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. You may first notice them swarming over your
hand and arm after you have handled your snake (don't worry--they are harmless to humans) or
see them moving around your snake's body or clustered around the eyes. Mites are harmful to
snakes, especially ones that have not been kept properly. On the positive side, they are easy and
relatively inexpensive to get rid of, although the process is time-consuming. Read the article
Getting Rid of Reptile Mites to find out the best ways to eradicate them.

Snakes, including ball pythons, should routinely shed is one piece, from snout (including
spectacles) to tail tip. If a snake does not shed cleanly, it is a sign that something is not right,
either with the snake or with its environment. Newly acquired snakes may not shed properly for
the first month or two as they are getting acclimated to their new surroundings. This is a sign of
transient stress. If it continues, or begins to occur in a long established snake, the snake must be
evaluated for possible health problems, and the snake's environment must be evaluated for
humidity problems.

Humidity and Ball Pythons
Ball pythons are native to very warm, but not hot, dry areas in Africa. Many people make the
mistake of trying to keep them in a too humid overall environment, using damp sphagnum moss
or misting them frequently throughout the day. The problem with this is that keeping the overall
environment damp leads to conditions such as blister disease where in the skin, usually of the
belly, becomes covered with blisters, leading to bacterial infections of the skin, which in turn leads
to overall health problems.

In fact, all a ball python needs is an area within its dry enclosure to which to retreat when it
requires higher humidity. One way to accomplish this is to provide a water bowl large enough for
the snake to soak in when it wants. Depending on the ambient room (and thus enclosure)
humidity, this may be enough, or may be enough during part of the year. Another good, safe
option for a ball python is a humidity retreat box.

Handling Your New Snake
After giving your ball a couple of days to settle in, begin picking it up and handling it gently. It may
move away from you, and may threaten you by lashing it's tail and hissing; don't be put off - it is
usually just a bluff, and snakes, like most reptiles, are very good at bluffing! Be gentle but
persistent. Daily contact with each other will begin to establish a level of trust and confidence
between you and your snake. When it is comfortable with you, you can begin taking it around the
house. Don't get over-confident! Given a chance and close proximity to seat cushions, your ball
will make a run (well, a slither) for it, easing down between the cushions and from there, to points
possibly unknown. Always be gentle, and try to avoid sudden movements. If the snake wraps
around your arm or neck, you can unwind it by gently grasping it's tail and gently unwrapping it
from around your neck or arm - do not try to unwrap it by moving the head. Some snakes are a bit
sensitive about being handled soon after they have eaten. If you feed your snake out of its
enclosure, go ahead and replace it back into it's enclosure after it has finished eating. Then leave
it be for a couple of days. As the snake gets more comfortable with you, it will be less nervous
and less likely to give you back your mouse.

Inclusion Body Disease / Quarantine
Inclusion body disease (IBD) is a virus that affects boas and pythons (boids). It is always fatal in
pythons. Unfortunately, the lust to sell has overcome common sense in private breeders as well as pet stores and wholesalers, and an increasing number of boas and pythons are being sold
who are infected with this virus.

Always spend a considerable amount of time observing boids before you buy them, especially at
pet stores. Even reptile specialty stores have been selling infected stock so buying from such
stores is no guarantee that you are buying an uninfected/unexposed snake. Don't buy a boid
because you feel sorry for it, because it looks sick and the store isn't providing proper care for it -
you may lose every boid you own.

Always observe strict quarantine procedures when bringing in a new boid into your house if you
already have other boids. IBD may take several months to manifest itself. Owners have reported
their new snakes showing signs as little as one month after acquiring hatchlings to well over one
year after acquiring a new boid.

Always have boids who are not acting well (loss of appetite, regurgitating meals, mouth rot,
respiratory infection, contorted body positions, stargazing) seen by a reptile vet as soon as
possibly after symptoms are noticed. Warn the vet before coming in that it may be IBD so they
may take precautions to reduce exposure to other boids who may be in their office at that time.
Remember that it doesn't require snake-to-snake contact to spread the disease. You may
unwittingly spread it by handling other snakes without first thoroughly washing your hands.
Viruses are airborne - think twice about taking your snakes to places where they will encounter
snakes belonging to people who may not be taking proper precautions.

Caresheet by Melissa Kaplan.