Care Sheet for Ball PythonsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 3.67 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 01/09/2006 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Ball Pythons |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Anonymous |
Years Experience: | 10 to 15 Years |
Species: | Ball Python |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | N/A |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Your vet must determine the gender of most snakes or someone experienced with probing them. External features are usually not a reliable indicator of gender. Probing Ball Pythons is dangerous in the wrong hands. Have someone experienced do this.
Ball pythons reach sexual maturity anywhere from 18 months to 4 years of age. Breeding season in captivity typically ranges from November to March |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | I use Coco bedding for my ball python. He loves to dig in it. You could also use newspaper. Newspaper is real cheap and easy to get. A lot of people use Aspen but I try to stay away from it because i just dont like it.
Stay away from- Pine, Cedar, Sand, and anything else that produces poisonous toxins |
Lighting and UVB: | No special UVB lighting required but i do use one.
ceramic heat emitters are great for the nighttime and the daytime. These are the most commonly used |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Temperature for a Ball Python should be kept around 85°F daytime and 80°F at night. A basking site in the range of 90-95°F is also needed. If temperatures are allowed to stay too cool, refusal of food, regurgitation of food, digestive problems and respiratory infections will be right behind!
Humidity should be at a constant %60 for a nice environment. During shedding, its best to raise it up to %80 humid for a nice clean shed. Humidity can be produced by a mister or by simply placing your pythons water bowl underneath a light, heat lamp or putting it over a under tank heater.
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Heating and Equipment: | I just use a heat emitter and a U.T.H and it works pretty good. |
Caging Provided: | A 10 gallon is good for a baby, but eventually you need to upgrade. A 40 to 55 gallon are the minimum size for an adult. Just remember, bigger is better. If you go big, make sure you have enough plants and hiding spots. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | You really should start your Ball python on rats as soon as possible. Transitions from mice to rat is sometimes hard to do. The thickest part of the python is what determines how big the rat should be. A little bit snug isn’t a problem, but you don’t want to be feeding a baby snake a huge rat.
Babies- Eat 1 prey item every 5-7 days.
Adults- Eat 1 prey item every 7 days or every 12-14 days. This depends on the handlers choice.
Never force your Ball to eat its a big NO NO. If you speed feed your python (as in you feed 2 big prey items every 4-5 days), in the future you will have health problems and it may cause death. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | None for a healthy snake. But a common problem with inexperienced pet owners is dehydration of the snake.
If your snake is dehydrated (which can be seen because of lateral folds in the skin) give it Gatorade *registered trademark of the Gatorade Company* because it will restore electrolytes and rehydrate better than water. Consult a vet before doing this though to be sure it is dehydration and not parasites. |
Maintenance: | Again very little maintenance for a healthy snake. Just make sure it is being fed right, always has fresh water and has a clean cage which is actually pretty easy, but there are always exceptions especially in a sick snake when you have to put in extra effort. Now I will explain another big problem that is easy to prevent, Obesity. Your snake will usually eat a lot but this is not always good. Pythons in the wild have to work to get a meal, but a prekilled mouse doesn’t exactly put up as much of a challenge believe it or not. Obesity can be seen because the snakes skin can be seen between the snakes scales. The scales should be nicely set next to each other not spaced out. This signals obesity and your snake should be fed less cut the amount of food you feed it down. Don’t starve it as this can hurt the snake but lower the rations you feed it until it goes back to the right weight. |
Some Words on this Species: | They are great snake and with the proper care they can live up to 40 years |
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